It has been 20 years since the 100,000 yuan family car Buick Sail was listed in the 10,000-person empty alley. In the past 20 years, the first decade has been 10 years of joint venture brands lying on the back to make money, and the second decade has been 10 years of China's rise and rapid development.
In 2001, Buick Sail was listed, which opened the prelude to the entry of cars into ordinary people's homes; in 2011, the launch of the Great Wall Motor Haval H6 allowed weak Chinese brands to see the huge opportunities contained in the sub-category market. As 2021 becomes history, the rapidly developing Chinese auto market officially enters a new era in 2022.
Rationality
Perhaps the best note of the Chinese auto market entering a new era is rationality and pluralism.
Consumers' perception of a car and their own needs is more rational - the car is not finished, the best for them is the concept - this concept has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
It is the germ of this kind of rational thinking that has given Chinese brands that are at a brand disadvantage have a solid consumption support in recent years. The previous argument that driving a domestic car has no face has also vanished in the process of the rational rise of consumer consumption concepts.
A few days ago, I went to the 4S shop, and happened to meet a user of Weipai Mocha to do maintenance, and learned in the chat that he also had a BMW 5 Series sedan at home.
When he decided to buy an additional SUV model, he first looked at the luxury brand, but inadvertently felt satisfied after seeing the mocha and test driving, and then swiped the car to pick up the car. He believes that buying a car in this era looks at the brand, but it is more important to look at the product.
Rationality, on the one hand, is an objective view of Chinese brands, on the other hand, it is a level view of joint ventures and even luxury brands. In August 2020, the debut of the Toyota Syna Chengdu Auto Show made the high-end MPV a hot model, and the grand situation of the media queuing up to shoot the car was repeated again. Since then, the fact that the price increase of 70,000 has been criticized by booking users and the media.
Manufacturers thought that Sai Na would be the same as the previous Highlander, the more scolding the more fire, but what they did not expect was that consumers unsubscribed in front of the price increase abounded. According to the latest data, the sales of Sai Na in December were only more than 2,000 units. Whether it is the result of the insufficient supply of Toyota "chips" or the deliberate creation of a gimmick of "scarce things are expensive" is unknown. But it is undeniable that the rise of consumer rationality has taught the Xena team a vivid lesson.
An objective view of Chinese brands is not limited to the Chinese market. In Russia, Chery's high-end brand Xingtu Lanyue is selling for more than 3.5 million rubles, which is basically at the same level as the Toyota Highlander of 3.68 million rubles. And sales in Russia are still doing quite well.
Although Russia is very different from the Chinese market, what is behind the "high price" of Xingtu Lanyue is that Chinese car brands are already confident from the heart. This kind of self-confidence is also a rational cognition of the self, not arrogant and self-effacing, nor blindly arrogant.
Judging from the current production and sales data released by mainstream Chinese brands such as Chery, Great Wall, and Geely, the overseas performance in 2021 is very eye-catching, with Chery's cumulative exports of more than 260,000 units, an increase of 136% year-on-year, Great Wall Motor's overseas sales of more than 140,000 vehicles, an increase of 107% year-on-year, and Geely's overseas sales of 115,000 vehicles, an increase of 58%.
There is no doubt that since the Chinese auto market entered the new normal in 2018, the core driving force for the development of Chinese brands is also slowly changing; in the future, the key market for larger head Chinese brands will no longer be domestic, but international.
From another point of view, the failure of the Suzuki and Renault brands, as well as the lack of optimism of second-tier joint venture brands such as Hyundai, Kia and the French system, are also the most vivid portrayal and proof of the rationality of the automobile market. Whether it is Haval H6 or Boyue, the price is already higher than that of Korean peer models (such as Beijing Hyundai ix35, Kia Zhipao, etc.), but in terms of sales, it is far higher than these models.
In addition, at the core technology level, the progress of Chinese brands is obvious to all. Three years ago, hybrid technology led by Toyota and Honda was still delicious, but now advanced plug-in hybrid models such as BYD DM-i and Great Wall DHT-PHEV are already selling well on the market.
It is an indisputable fact that the trend of Chinese brands and joint venture brands is clear.
Multi-element
Under the rational trend, there must be solid pluralism. A mature market must also be diversified.
The development of Chinese brands mostly depends on the launch of urban SUV products, but today's most "inner volume" segment is the urban SUV market. When the product strength of SUV products in various brand cities is seriously homogenized, consumers' consumer desire will naturally decrease.
However, people like Geely Icon and Haval Big Dog are personalized products that "jump out" in the urban SUV market with serious homogenization. Especially the Haval big dog, the positioning of the 3/4 scale car, more than the city SUV, more than the off-road more comfortable product performance, quickly recognized by consumers, now the monthly sales are basically more than 10,000.
Bydir took advantage of its own advantages in electrification technology to take the lead in popularizing DM-i hybrid technology in its product lineup, and the price of green cards, subsidies and prices equal to those of the same level of fuel vehicles made BYD the biggest winner of Chinese brands in 2021 - annual sales exceeded 730,000 vehicles, an increase of more than 75% year-on-year.
The Haval Dog is the success of product differentiation, while the BYD DM-i is the success of technological differentiation. But whatever success it is, it's a proactive innovation in response to the need for diversification.
Some time ago, Li Bin, the founder of Weilai Automobile, said bluntly: I don't understand why anyone still buys a gas car. But what he did not expect was that in 2021, Li wanted to almost equal the sales of the entire brand of Weilai with the ideal one car of the electric car that "can burn oil". Some people say that the ideal One's range-extending technology is to take off the pants and fart, but consumers have voted in favor of Li Wanting with real money and silver.
Recently, it has been reported that Weipai, a high-end brand of Great Wall Motor, will launch a DHT-PHEV model, with a pure electric mileage of more than 200 kilometers and a comprehensive mileage of more than 1,000 kilometers. Very noteworthy.
Fuel, hybrid, extended range and pure electric coexistence in the Chinese market, a market of more than 20 million passenger cars, is the best proof of diversification.
In addition, under the joint action of double integration and "double carbon" goals, new energy has become hot, and the popularity of plug-in hybrid and pure electric seems to tell the world that the era of "pure fuel vehicles" is coming to an end. And this is also the reason why Li Bin issued a question of "I don't understand why anyone still buys a gas truck".
However, we also need to see another "scene" under the diversified demand - the fuel vehicle tank 300 of the hardcore off-road vehicle continues to stage "a car is difficult to find" in the entire 2021 auto market - waiting for 4-6 months to pick up the tank 300 is a norm.
The data shows that in 2021, the cumulative sales of tank 300 will exceed 84,000 units. And it is quite interesting that the second-hand car of tank 300 once appeared "price upside down" with the new car, and the second-hand car is more expensive than the new car, which is enough to show that consumers recognize and pursue it.
Some people are willing to buy Weilai to enjoy the comfortable charging service car of Weilai fuel to the community charging, and some people directly buy a tank 300 such a hard-core off-road fuel vehicle to find happiness outdoors.
In 2022, the decline of the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles and the complete launch by the end of the year will allow new energy vehicles to go outdoors from the "greenhouse" and participate in the competition of the automobile market fairly. The same budget, buying fuel vehicles, or buying new energy vehicles, the choice of untainted interests is truly handed over to consumers, which is a respect for consumers, but also a respect for automotive technology and the automotive industry.
The next 20 years of China's auto market will be more exciting.
Note: Images are from the Web