Author 丨 Song Doudou
Editor 丨 Zhang Ruosi
Figure Source 丨 Figure worm
Once again, the new car-making forces repertoire is re-enacted.
On the first day of 2022, a number of new energy vehicle companies such as Weilai Automobile, Xiaopeng Automobile, Ideal Automobile, GAC Aean and Dongfeng Lantu released the cumulative deliveries in December and 2021.
In terms of new car-making forces, the monthly sales of Weilai, Ideal, Xiaopeng and Nezha continued to exceed the 10,000-vehicle mark, of which Xiaopeng Automobile became the top seller of new car-making forces for three consecutive months with 16,000 vehicles in December. In terms of deliveries in 2021, Wei Xiaoli's three companies have exceeded the 90,000 mark, 98155, 91429, and 90491 respectively, which is only one step away from the annual sales of 100,000 vehicles.
The new energy brands launched by traditional car companies are also gradually finding their own market rhythm. GAC Aeon sold 16,675 vehicles in December, outperforming Xiaopeng Automobile by a slight margin, with cumulative sales of more than 120,000 vehicles in the whole year. In addition, sales of high-end electric brands such as lantu and extreme krypton launched by the Volkswagen ID. family and local traditional car companies are also rising.
Xiaopeng won the championship, Weilai and Ideal ranked second and third, just one step away from the annual sales of 100,000
"Today, no company has made it very clear that it has taken the lead... I once had a chat with Li Bin, 'We're all sitting at the card table, we're all in the qualifiers, we're not in the knockout rounds, we're not on the table yet.' Because today we are very small. Previously, He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, publicly stated that "selling 100,000 cars a year is the premise of all future possibilities." ”
The goal of selling 100,000 yuan per year is only one step away from "Wei Xiaoli" in 2021. Xiaopeng Automobile's sales in December increased by 181% year-on-year to 16,000 units, exceeding 10,000 units for four consecutive months, and the cumulative delivery volume in the fourth quarter reached 41,751 units, an increase of 222% year-on-year. Thanks to the strong growth in the fourth quarter, the total delivery volume of Xiaopeng Automobile in 2021 reached 98,155 units, 3.6 times that of 2020, ranking first among the new car-making forces.
It is worth mentioning that the Xiaopeng P5 continued to climb after the start of large-scale delivery in October this year, and the delivery of 5,030 vehicles in December hit a new high. At present, Xiaopeng has three models on sale, P7, P5 and G3i, covering the price range of 150,000-300,000 yuan. In addition, the Xiaopeng G9, which debuted at the Guangzhou Auto Show, will start delivery in the third quarter of this year.
Unlike Xiaopeng Automobile, ideal automobile has only one ideal ONE model, with 14,087 deliveries in December, delivering more than 10,000 vehicles for two consecutive months, and the ideal delivery volume in the fourth quarter was 35,221 units, exceeding its previous expectations in the third quarter report - the number of vehicles delivered in the fourth quarter is expected to be 30,000 to 32,000 vehicles. From January to December 2021, the cumulative delivery volume of Ideal Automobile was 90,491 units, an increase of 177.4% year-on-year, ranking among the top three new car-making forces. "User support, team strength, we continue to work hard." Ideal Auto CEO Li Xiang said so.
However, compared with the month-on-month growth of Xiaopeng and Ideal, WEIO's deliveries in December were 10,489 units, down 3.6% month-on-month. A relevant person from Weilai Automobile said that "there are a batch of chips that have delayed some time in customs clearance. In fact, since the beginning of this year, due to the shortage of chips and the impact of the epidemic on the supply chain, Weilai has lost the Iron Throne since August, and its single-month sales have fallen out of the top three many times, and sales in October have slipped to 3667 vehicles. From January to December 2021, the cumulative delivery volume of NIO was 91,429 units, losing the annual sales championship and ranking second among the new forces.
However, it is quite rational for ranking Weilai. Li Bin, founder and chairman of Weilai Automobile, said, "From the perspective of sales, we are almost equivalent to the amount of Tesla in 2017 today, that is, before the delivery of model 3." ”
Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of WEIO Automobile, said in an interview on NIO Day 2021, "Whether it is Xiaopeng, Ideal, and more startups, they are all companies born on the same track in the same era. However, as far as the product is concerned, it is in different market segments, and it is not possible to simply put some superficial things such as numbers and products together. ”
In Qin Lihong's view, no matter how the ranking is in the next 10-20 years, the total number of passenger cars in China has not changed, everyone is rising, this is today's mainstream phenomenon, not the contrast between Wei Xiaoli, is the competition between the two major lineups of new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles.
Compared with the new car-making forces, Weilai is more concerned about competition with the BBA. "We often say a word 'NBA' internally, as we enter the high-end, the replacement of mainstream high-end luxury fuel vehicles, but also hope that Weilai will improve to this level and turn the BBA pattern into an 'NBA' pattern." Qin Lihong said.
The second echelon counterattacked
When the first echelon of the new car-making forces broke through the goal of delivering 10,000 vehicles in a single month, the second-line head enterprises were also counterattacking, and the pattern of "Wei Xiaoli" was once broken. Different from the top three main high-end markets, Nezha Automobile and Zero-run Automobile are aiming at the A00-level pure electric market segment, respectively, relying on their main sales models Nezha V and Zero-run T03 to achieve growth in order volume and delivery.
In December, the delivery volume of Nezha automobile was 10,127 vehicles, and the delivery exceeded 10,000 for two consecutive months, with a total of 69,174 vehicles delivered throughout the year, an increase of 361.7% year-on-year, and Nezha Automobile repeatedly broke into the top three single-month sales of new car-making forces as a "dark horse". Nezha Automobile said that among the users of Nezha Automobile in 2021, users from first-tier, new first-tier and second-tier cities accounted for about 64%.
"The current new energy vehicle market presents a 'dumbbell-shaped' pattern, and smart cars are the most popular market segment." The brand voice and sales volume of zero-run cars have continued to increase this year. Zero-run deliveries reached 7,807 units in December, up 368% year-on-year, with a total of 43,121 units delivered in 2021.
"The future is infinitely bright, but the finals are limited. To put it bluntly, the vast majority of brands will wither away in this most beautiful era. Zhu Jiangming, founder, chairman and CEO of Zero Run Technology, said on the sixth anniversary of Zero Run a few days ago that the sales of new energy vehicles in 2022 will most likely peak 5 million vehicles, and the annual penetration rate of 20% + is inevitable, and it is not surprising to break through 30%. From policy-led to market-led, smart electric vehicles have finally revealed their absolute strength to compete with traditional fuel vehicles. Next, the waist and sinking market will be awakened, and the sales structure will evolve rapidly from "dumbbell type" to "spindle shape".
After re-announcing the delivery volume in September, WM Motors delivered about 5,000 vehicles for four consecutive months, and in December, WM Automobile delivered 5,062 vehicles, with a total of 44,157 deliveries for the whole year, an increase of 96.3% year-on-year. From september 2018 to the end of 2021, WM has delivered a total of 88,686 smart pure electric vehicles. In contrast, Weilai, Xiaopeng and Ideal have all exceeded 100,000 vehicles.
A few days ago, WM's first intelligent pure electric car WM7 was released, and it is expected to be mass-produced and delivered in 2022, and the two-line layout of WM's "SUV + sedan" was officially launched, "WM is confident to return to the first camp of new car-making forces in 2022." Shen Hui, founder, chairman and CEO of WM Motor, said.
It is worth mentioning that this year, Nezha, Zero Run and Weima have achieved sales and capital blossoms on both sides. At the end of October, Nezha Automobile announced the completion of the D1 round of financing of 4 billion yuan, of which 360 Group led the investment of 2 billion yuan. In less than a month, CATL will participate in the D2 round of financing of Nezha Automobile and fully open strategic cooperation in the fields of technology research and development and supply chain assurance.
Zero-run auto completed two financings in 2021, accumulating 8.8 billion yuan. Including the 4.3 billion yuan B round of financing completed at the end of January 2021, and the new round of financing of 4.5 billion yuan completed in August, led by CICC Capital, Hangzhou State-owned Assets Investment of 3 billion yuan, CITIC Construction Investment and CITIC Dicastal and other joint shares.
WM Motor received more than $300 million in D1 round financing in early October 2021, and announced on December 1 that D2 round of financing has received $152 million, of which Agile led the investment of $140 million, Jinhu Shanghui and others participated in the financing as financial advisers, as of now, the total financing amount of D2 has reached $457 million, and the total amount is expected to exceed $500 million.
Traditional car companies collectively counterattacked
In 2021, the new forces of car manufacturing have been soaring, but in 2022, they are still facing a lot of pressure: on the one hand, they must face the challenges of the supply chain such as chip shortages and raw material price increases, balance the relationship between the continuous expansion of high investment and cost pressure, on the other hand, they must also face the increasingly competitive new energy vehicle market, Volkswagen ID. series, Eian, Lantu and other latecomers have launched a fierce attack, and Tesla's wild running has also caused a lot of pressure.
Volkswagen, which dominates china's fuel vehicle market, has begun to exert efforts in the electric vehicle market. In December, the ID. family delivered a total of 13,787 vehicles, which has exceeded 10,000 for four consecutive months; since its launch at the end of March 2021, the ID. family has delivered a total of 70,625 vehicles. At present, the Volkswagen ID family has launched 5 models in the Chinese market, with product lines covering compact cars, compact SUVs and medium and large SUVs, and the Chinese market is also one of the fastest growing regions of the Volkswagen ID family in the world. The transformation of foreign traditional car companies, the advantages that came with it before cannot be ignored.
In addition, as a new energy brand launched by traditional car companies, GAC Aeon continued to fight steadily, with terminal deliveries of 16,675 units in December, an increase of 119% year-on-year. From January to December this year, GAC Aean's cumulative terminal sales reached 123,000 units, surpassing a number of new car-making forces. It is worth noting that the production capacity of the Aeon plant is 100,000 vehicles per year, and the capacity utilization rate has exceeded 140%. Gu Huinan, general manager of GAC E-An, said: "The expansion of the first plant with a capacity of 200,000 will be completed in early 2022, while the second plant with a capacity of 200,000 will be completed and put into operation at the end of 2022, with a capacity of 400,000 in 2023. ”
Xiao Yong, deputy general manager of GAC Aean New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., previously said in an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald that in the field of traditional fuel vehicles, the annual production and sales of 200,000 or even 150,000 vehicles, the brand can survive. However, the threshold for new energy vehicles is increasing, and if the annual production and sales do not reach 500,000 vehicles, the brand cannot become mainstream in the next 3-5 years.
"There are two trends in the future development of the new energy automobile industry: one is the rapid growth of the industry; the other is the aggregation effect. By 2025, the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China may exceed 30%, when the key to the competition in the new energy vehicle market is intelligence, and pure electricity is only the foundation and threshold. Xiao Yong thought.
At the same time, in the past two years, the high-end intelligent electric vehicle brands launched by domestic traditional car companies have begun to increase. In December, 3,796 vehicles were delivered, an increase of 88.7% month-on-month, and since the end of October, the number of vehicles has risen steadily to 6,007 units so far. A few days ago, the first MPV spy photo of Extreme Kr was also exposed, and the official MPV is the second model of Extreme Kr, which will be officially launched in 2022.
In addition, Lantu Automobile also showed a significant month-on-month growth, Lantu Automobile delivered 3330 Lantu FREE vehicles in December, an increase of 192% month-on-month, and achieved a month-on-month increase for five consecutive months since the start of delivery in August, with a total of 6791 deliveries. Lantu officially said that the average transaction price of Lantu FREE exceeded 338,000.
However, it is worth noting that with the high sales of new energy vehicles and the continuous improvement of penetration rate, the development of new energy vehicles in China has entered a new stage. On December 31, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "2022 New Energy Vehicle Promotion Subsidy Plan", which requires that the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles in 2022 be reduced by 30% on the basis of 2021.
In this context, many new energy vehicle companies continue to move on prices, or directly increase prices, or transition price adjustments.
For example, on the last day of 2021, Tesla once again raised the price of its models. According to Tesla's official website in China, the price of the Model 3 rear-wheel drive version was adjusted to 265,652 yuan, and the price of the Model Y rear-wheel drive version was adjusted to 301,840 yuan, which was increased by 10,000 yuan and 21,088 yuan respectively from the previous price.
A few days ago, Weilai and Xiaopeng also launched a "limited-time insulation" policy. WEIO issued an announcement that users who paid a deposit to purchase ES8, ES6 and EC6 before December 31, 2021 (inclusive), and who pre-car on March 31, 2022, can still enjoy subsidies in accordance with the 2021 national subsidy standard, and the difference will be borne by NIO. Xiaopeng issued a notice saying that it can lock in the subsidy in 2021 before 24:00 on January 10, 2022, and the part of the decline will be borne by Xiaopeng Automobile.
However, the industry generally believes that the new energy vehicle market has shifted from policy-driven to market-driven, and the impact of subsidy decline on the overall market growth of new energy vehicles is limited. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, said: "The subsidy decline of 30% will have a certain impact on the growth rate of new energy vehicles, and car companies are facing the challenges of the post-subsidy era and will inevitably adjust prices." However, price increases are a short-term phenomenon, and if car companies want to remain competitive, price declines are a long-term trend. ”
Cui Dongshu judged that the original expected sales of new energy passenger cars in 2022 was 4.8 million units, and should now be adjusted to more than 5.5 million units, and the penetration rate of new energy passenger cars has reached about 25%. New energy vehicles are expected to exceed 6 million units, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles is about 22%. With the significant increase in domestic consumers' recognition of the new energy market and the stability of policy subsidies, it is bound to promote the surge in China's total sales of new energy vehicles in 2022 and continue to maintain the leading position of more than 50% of the world's super share.
When the dividend fades, it becomes clearer who is swimming naked. As the new forces of car manufacturing have stepped over the threshold of 100,000 annual sales, Extreme Kr, Lantu, Jihu, etc. have begun to move, and models such as Xiaomi and Baidu that have come across the border have opened mass production and delivery, and the competition in the second half of new energy vehicles will be more intense - spelling products, fighting production capacity, fighting costs, fighting technology, fighting user needs...
"Probably between the end of 2023 and 2025, it will be the next 'shuffle moment' for the industry." A few days ago, He Xiaopeng said that in his opinion, whether to go or stay at that time will become very clear.
This issue is edited by Li Yutong Intern Lin Xiying