Introduction: Looking back at the 2021 auto market, what else can you think of? Lack of chips, lack of batteries, or a chicken feather user operation? Is it Tesla's ride, or Wei Xiaoli's infinite scenery? Is Toyota finally electrifying, or is Volkswagen's transformation pain? The front wave, born to death; the back wave, complacent; the barbarian, the tiger. There is Huawei, which is star-studded, and of course, there is also the loneliness of Evergrande Automobile. And so on, all of which are wonderful.
In the post-epidemic era, China's power is growing rapidly in the world: China's economy is developing rapidly, and in the automotive field, especially in the field of new energy vehicles, the technology and industrial chain of Chinese enterprises have formed a part of the leading edge, and Chinese auto brands are more influential and competitive in the international automotive market than before.
In the past few decades, German, Japanese, American and other foreign cars have occupied almost the entire traditional fuel vehicle market. Although local car companies have been catching up, due to the lack of core technology, the brand positioning is low-end, and the final results are minimal. In the case that the Chinese market is difficult to stabilize, many attempts by local car companies to go to sea have also failed.
However, the wave of electrification in the automotive industry has brought historical opportunities for Chinese car companies to go to sea, especially in markets such as Europe.
Export "volume and price rise"
As an important way for local car companies to participate in global competition and prove their strength, "going to sea" has become the only way for almost all independent car companies. Especially in the past two years, as local car companies continue to exert efforts in new technologies such as electrification and intelligence, and gradually form a leading trend in the world, the overall export scale and influence of Chinese auto brands overseas have also continued to increase.
According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, in November this year, China's automobile exports were about 217,000 vehicles, an increase of 69.5% year-on-year, and the export amount reached 3.61 billion US dollars, an increase of 99.2% year-on-year; from January to November this year, China's automobile exports totaled 1.928 million vehicles, an increase of about 100% year-on-year, and the export amount was 31.38 billion US dollars, an increase of about 120% year-on-year.
The first-mover advantage of China's automobile industry in the field of new energy vehicles has also begun to appear in the international market. In addition to Southeast Asia, West Asia, South America, Russia and other places, some Chinese brand cars have been exported to Developed Countries such as Norway, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany, becoming the main driving force for the growth of Chinese brand car exports.
It can be seen that whether from the perspective of automobile export volume or export amount, China's automobile exports have shown a new trend of sharp surge.
Many people believe that the epidemic has a certain impact on the export of Chinese brand models. Indeed, China has created a miraculous and rapid recovery during the pandemic, with factories and the overall economy fully on track in the second half of last year. Overseas, on the other hand, the epidemic continues to rage, and a large number of factories have stopped production, resulting in a shortage of product supply for many overseas auto brands.
On the other hand, the continuous chip shortage affects the production rhythm of overseas car companies, while the supply of independent brand chips is more stable, effectively resolving the pressure of chip shortage, which brings some opportunities for independent brands to go overseas.
In recent years, with the shortcomings of independent brands in terms of quality and technology being effectively compensated, china's exported auto products have improved significantly compared with before in terms of quality and grade, so some boutique models have also been recognized by more and more overseas consumers, which is also one of the important factors for the growth of overseas market share of independent brands.
But more importantly, China's influence in the world is now increasing, and the acceptance of Chinese manufacturing in overseas markets is also increasing, reflecting that China's auto industry is entering a new stage of high-quality development.
Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, predicted that China's overall automobile export market will reach a scale of 2 million vehicles in 2021, and China's automobile export volume will also maintain a high growth in 2022.
The overseas layout has a remarkable effect
With the explosive growth of scale as the dividing point, China's automobile exports are entering the 2.0 era. In the past, automobile exports were mainly fuel vehicles, mainly cost-effective, while the automobile exports of the 2.0 era began to be driven by new energy vehicles, and relied on excellent product quality to begin to re-establish the brand image. According to data from the China Automobile Association, from January to November this year, China's new energy vehicles exported a total of 291,000 vehicles, an increase of 189.9% year-on-year, accounting for more than 16% of the overall export of vehicles.
Under the wave of global electrification, Chinese car companies are accelerating their going to sea with advanced technical reserves and excellent product quality. Europe is the "new continent" of Chinese car companies going to sea in the era of new energy vehicles, and the ministry of commerce data shows that more than 60% of the new energy models exported last year were sold to six European countries (Belgium, Britain, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden), and now, whether it is traditional car companies or new car-making forces, they will focus on this "base camp" of automobiles that is difficult to overcome in the era of fuel vehicles.
In fact, Chinese auto brands are achieving breakthroughs in more overseas markets, ranking in many markets is also rising, and word of mouth is increasing.
Specifically, in 2021, SAIC's total annual exports of passenger cars reached 290,000 units, up 68% year-on-year, continuing to maintain the status of China's single-brand overseas sales champion. Up to now, SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle has entered the market of 66 countries and regions, the product penetration rate has been continuously improved, and it has ranked among the top ten single brands in 17 countries around the world, and is also known as the Chinese brand of "China's automobile electrification and intelligence walking in the forefront of the world".
In the past two years, Great Wall Motors has also intensively focused on overseas markets, and has formed a global sales layout covering more than 60 countries and regions in Central and Eastern Europe, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America. Among them, in 2021 alone, the Great Wall has successively opened up emerging markets such as Nepal and Brunei, and further landed in Pakistan and Laos in October, which has provided an important boost to the growth of Great Wall's overseas sales. In 2021, Great Wall Motor's overseas sales exceeded 140,000 units, an increase of 103.7% year-on-year, accounting for 11.1% of sales, with cumulative overseas sales of more than 900,000 vehicles, and the complete vehicles were exported to more than 170 countries.
Geely Automobile ushered in an explosive period in the overseas market in 2021, with overall sales of more than 110,000 vehicles, an increase of about 58% year-on-year, business footprint covering 28 countries, 24 new sales outlets, and 227 overseas sales and after-sales outlets, geely automobile's brand image and influence in the international market continue to improve. Among them, the first geometric C models to go to sea reached 2486 cumulative orders in the month of listing in Israel; in the Philippines, Geely Automobile's monthly sales set a new record; in Qatar, Geely Automobile's market share ranked among the top ten positions.
From January to November, 2021 Lynk & Co's globalization strategy continues to accelerate, has successfully shipped 11,680 vehicles overseas, with the opening of the 2020 European plan, Lynk & Co innovatively proposed the "subscription system" business model in the European market, and was highly recognized by European users, more than 29,000 users became members of the "subscription system"; in the second half of 2021, Lynk & Co "Asia Pacific Plan" was launched, and Lynk & Co 01 also completed the listing in Kuwait.
BYD officially entered the Philippine passenger car market in 2013. After nearly a decade of development, ATD's market share of new energy passenger cars in the Philippines has exceeded 80%, ranking first in the Philippine market share.
In September last year, Hongqi Motor's strategic model, the pure electric intelligent SUV E-HS9, announced its export to Europe, achieving an important breakthrough in the overseas high-end new energy vehicle market.
It is not difficult to see that the baton of Chinese cars going to sea is passing from traditional fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles. For the first time, Chinese car companies and overseas car companies stand on the same running line of electric vehicles, and Chinese car companies have a first-mover advantage, which is expected to usher in the opportunity to overtake in curves.
In the medium and long term, China has a huge population base and market, leading overseas electrification of local supply chains, high-speed iteration of intelligent electric vehicle products, Chinese electric vehicle companies are expected to take Europe as a starting point to open up a larger global market space.
Electrification and intelligence help to enter the automobile powerhouse
The rise in China's automobile export volume shows that the acceptance of China's automobile brands in overseas markets is constantly improving, highlighting the international influence of Chinese automobile brands, and also reflecting that China's automobiles are entering a new stage of high-quality development.
Europe is the birthplace of the automobile industry, and foreign brands have been difficult to break through. In the era of traditional fuel vehicles, few domestic passenger car brands have really entered the European market.
This is largely related to the lack of core technology in traditional models by Chinese car companies: the traditional "three major parts" of automobiles - engines, gearboxes and chassis - have deep technical barriers, and Chinese car companies have been weak despite years of research and development. The "three major pieces" are related to the dynamic performance of the car, the smoothness of the handling, the comfort of the ride and many other experiences, which are the core aspects of the power of traditional automobile products.
In the era of new energy vehicles, the core "three major parts" of the car have become three electric systems - batteries, motors and electronic controls. After the automobile drive system is converted from the engine + gearbox to the "three electric" system, the hardware barriers are weakened, and the software barriers such as intelligence are improved. Chinese companies will accelerate the iteration of electric smart models in 2017-2021, and have now reached the global leading level in product performance.
In the process of automobile electrification, China is at the forefront of the world, and has cultivated a large number of outstanding enterprises in the field of core components of new energy vehicles such as the three-electric system, and the industrial chain is more mature.
At present, in the new energy vehicle industry chain, China not only has the Ningde era and BYD such a leading power battery enterprise, in the field of electronic control system, intelligent driving, China has a global competitive enterprises, and intelligent transformation of production lines has become the "standard" of China's automobile industry.
Domestic car chips, especially smart driving chips, are also catching up. Horizon CEO Yu Kai said at the release of a new generation of chips that Chinese cars have become the source of global intelligent car innovation, the world's top chip companies' latest autonomous driving chips, mass production debut is in China's own brand of new energy vehicles. Horizon has become a company that can provide mass production of vehicle-grade driver assistance chips on a par with Mobileye and NVIDIA.
The wave of electric intelligence provides an opportunity for Chinese enterprises to catch up with foreign car companies, and the development path and final form of electric intelligent vehicles have not yet been finalized, independent brands seize the opportunity to actively enter the game, high-end new energy vehicle brands accelerate the establishment, and high-end new energy vehicles are intensively listed. In 2022, independent brands such as BYD, GAC E-An, SAIC R Automobile, etc., new forces such as Ideal, Xiaopeng, Weilai, WM, etc., will launch high-end new energy vehicles, based on their differentiated advantages in space, endurance, fast charging, intelligence, etc., according to the statistics of relevant agencies, it is expected that more than 200,000 yuan of new energy passenger cars in 2022 is expected to exceed 1.91 million, achieving 60%-70% growth.
Behind the high sales growth, independent brands are redefining the form of automotive products. With the growth of independent high-end new energy vehicle sales, the market share of China's independent brands is expected to surpass joint ventures and foreign investment in 2022, and it is expected to reach 65% in 2025, and independent brands are redefining the form of automotive products.
Abroad, Chinese brands already have the ability to compete with other brands in overseas markets. Taking NIO As an example, the starting price of its NIO ES8 model listed in Norway is 609,000 NOK, which is about 432,000 yuan, which is basically the same as the domestic price.
After years of industrial accumulation, Made in China has long been rid of the label of low price, Chinese products with outstanding performance and cost-effective advantages have won wide recognition from consumers around the world, and the influence of Chinese brands in the world is constantly improving.
Kanche said
In the past two years, Chinese car companies have shown a full blooming trend in exports, in addition to southeast industry, Brazil, Australia and other countries, began to win a place in Europe. It should be known that Chinese brands have tried to enter the European and American markets many times, but they have returned home, and the product quality, safety, and reliability at that time do not have the strength to compete with international auto giants. However, after years of learning and progress, Chinese brands have made rapid progress in product modeling, quality, safety and reliability under the premise of mastering certain core technologies, especially in some scientific and technological configurations, and have won the recognition of some consumers in the international market.
With the advent of intelligence and electrification, the product form of the automobile is undergoing tremendous changes, the original barriers no longer exist, Chinese brands have taken a certain advantage in this process, the response speed to the market is faster, Chinese brands really go overseas, and it is more worth looking forward to becoming an international brand.