When it comes to the car market in 2021, new energy is undoubtedly the hottest topic, and 2021 can be said to be a new energy vehicle year.
In 2021, new energy vehicles ushered in explosive growth, but also faced with multi-party pressure such as rising raw material prices. From product form to industrial development, new energy vehicles in 2021 show a variety of trends.
What will these trends tell us about the upcoming year of new energy vehicles in 2022?
Annual sales exceeded expectations and penetration increased rapidly
In 2021, the sales volume of new energy vehicles will increase rapidly under the impetus of independent brands and new power brands.
BYD once again set a new record in China, with annual sales of new energy passenger cars reaching 593,700 units in 2021, up 231.6% year-on-year.
In the camp of new car-making forces, the total sales of Xiaopeng Automobile, Weilai Automobile and Ideal Automobile in 2021 are among the top three, and the annual sales volume has exceeded 90,000 vehicles. In the second echelon, Nezha, Weima, etc. began to make continuous efforts, and joint venture car companies such as Volkswagen also had a good performance.
According to the latest forecast of the China Automobile Association, the sales of new energy vehicles will reach 3.4-3.6 million units this year, far exceeding the 2.4 million vehicles expected at the beginning of the year.
Electrification accelerates, the market is more "lively"
In 2021, the penetration rate of the new energy vehicle market will continue to increase, and consumers' awareness and acceptance of new energy vehicles will continue to increase, which will also allow more car companies to see the attractiveness of the new energy vehicle market.
The second wave of new car-making forces, represented by the transformation of traditional car companies and Internet giants, has attracted a lot of attention.
Under the trend that the "double carbon" goal has become a world trend, international auto giants and joint venture car companies have increased their investment and strategic layout of new energy vehicles.
As more traditional car companies move towards electrification and intelligence, market competition will further intensify.
The cross-border entry of high-tech Internet giants such as Huawei, Baidu, Xiaomi, and Apple cannot be underestimated, which will have a huge impact on the existing market pattern competition situation.
The market has become more "lively", and it will also be a situation that will inevitably appear in the new energy vehicle market in 2022.
The product line of new energy vehicle companies is more abundant
In 2021, traditional car companies have developed to high-end new energy vehicles, and new car-making forces have also begun to sink a more people-friendly market.
In the process of accelerating the transformation to electrification, traditional car companies have directly laid out high-end intelligent electric vehicles through their advantages in vehicle manufacturing, supply chain, capital chain and other aspects.
Dongfeng launched the high-end electric brand Lantu, Geely launched the extreme krypton, SAIC launched Feifan Automobile, and participated in Zhiji Automobile, in addition to Hongqi and other brands have also continued to launch an impact on high-end.
Different from the traditional car companies impacting the high-end market, Wei Xiaoli, Nezha and other new car-making forces have already had a certain market share in the high-end model market by virtue of their early entry.
Under the premise of maintaining the high-end intelligent electric market, new forces have also begun to lay out 100,000-200,000 low-end markets, such as Xiaopeng's P5 and so on.
Intelligence has become the mainstream direction
In the new energy vehicle market in 2021, intelligence has become the mainstream development direction.
In terms of automatic assisted driving, by September 2021, the proportion of L2-level intelligent networked vehicles has exceeded 42%.
Nowadays, the realization of L3 level and above high-level automatic driving based on lidar has become the mainstream route of the industry, including Xiaopeng, WM, Great Wall, BAIC, Mercedes-Benz, Aiways, GAC Aeon and other car companies have released lidar models.
With the reduction of the cost of lidar, more car companies will release models equipped with L3 level autonomous driving in 2022.
In addition, with the cross-border entry of domestic technology giants such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Baidu, the intelligence of new energy vehicles will become the theme of competition.
Richer marketing model
In terms of marketing model, the new forces of car manufacturing have no longer followed the traditional dealer 4S store model and have launched diversified sales models.
Tesla is the pioneer of the direct sales model, and the new forces of car manufacturing have also kept up, and the updated batch of new forces car companies are constantly looking for new marketing models.
At present, new power brands generally adopt the combination of online and offline methods, online through APP malls, communities, etc. for user operations, offline through the way of experience centers to provide model introduction and other activities. The new energy vehicle experience center is generally located in the commercial center with large traffic, which is mainly used for brand display and user experience, which can greatly enhance brand awareness.
At the same time, traditional car companies that were once based on the sales model of 4S stores are also actively changing their marketing and service models.
With the improvement of the degree of intelligence of new energy vehicles, the automobile marketing model will also develop into a form of online and offline in the future.
In the end, how to sell new energy vehicles, car companies are still actively exploring, but factory direct sales, experience centers, and community operations are becoming the most popular marketing models for new energy vehicles.
Marketization-driven acceleration
China's new energy vehicle market can achieve a first-mover advantage, new energy vehicle subsidies are indispensable, and now the policy orientation is changing.
On December 31, 2021, the four ministries and commissions jointly issued the Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022, which clarified that from January 1, 2022, the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles will be reduced by 30% on the basis of 2021.
In the short term, it will have a certain impact on the popularity of new energy vehicles. However, in the long run, the decline and cancellation of subsidies will promote the development of the industry to be more mature, so that car companies pay more attention to the product itself.
New energy vehicles will also enter the market-oriented driving stage of relying on product power competition, which is more beneficial than harmful for the entire industry.
The sinking market has broad prospects
With the continuous increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the market is also constantly covering the third- and fourth-tier cities.
Affected by policies, prices, etc., the early stage of the development of the new energy vehicle market was mainly concentrated in several large cities with automobile restrictions and purchase restrictions.
Nowadays, with the continuous improvement of infrastructure and the continuous improvement of the recognition of new energy vehicles with the increase in popularity, the sales of new energy vehicles in third- and fourth-tier cities have begun to grow.
At present, the number of cars in China's fourth-tier cities accounts for nearly 30% of the country's car ownership, but the electrification rate is only 0.6%. This also shows to a certain extent that electric vehicles in third- and fourth-tier cities still have a lot of room for development.
With the opening of the "racing" mode of charging pile construction, the new energy vehicle market will also accelerate its sinking.
2022 Revelations
The rapid development of the new energy automobile industry in 2021 has allowed the entire industry to see the potential for the growth of the new energy vehicle market. By 2022, with the continuous enrichment of the product lines of new car companies, the acceleration of transformation and expansion of traditional car companies, and the cross-border entry of Internet giants, the competition in the new energy vehicle market will become more intense.
Factors such as the decline in new energy subsidies and the rise in upstream costs will bring more uncertainty to the entire industry. However, whether subsidies decline or market competition is more intense, it will prompt car companies to enhance their product strength.
For car companies, they must face the more competitive market in the new year, but the more competitive market will also bring more harvest opportunities.
Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Hu Xiong
For more exciting content, please download the "Morning Video" client in the app market. Press leads are welcome and are paid as soon as they are adopted. Breaking news WeChat concern: xxcbwx, 24-hour report hotline 0731-85571188.