Editor-in-Chief | Zhong Kun
Author | Hulu Man
Edit | Chen Shuhao
Reports from car hoist circles
On October 25 last year, the Xiaopeng P7 was officially listed in the Norwegian market. Before that, G3i had taken the first step for Xiaopeng to open up overseas markets.
Not only Xiaopeng, but also other new Chinese forces have embarked on a journey to sea.
NIO's first store in Europe, NIO House 丨Oslo in the heart of Oslo, the capital of Norway, was officially opened on October 1 last year, and the ES8 became the first model to enter overseas markets.
Earlier, Aichi officially released the European version of U5 as early as March 2020, becoming the first Chinese electric passenger car brand to successfully land on the European market.
At present, the coverage area of AIWAYS in overseas markets is still expanding, and has been sold in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Israel, French Reunion and other countries or regions.
Not only that, while releasing the right-hand drive version of Nezha V in September last year, Nezha Automobile also officially announced that it would "go to sea" and enter the ASEAN market. In addition, Nezha S will also enter the European market after its listing this year.
It is not difficult to find that China's new forces have ushered in a boom of "going to sea" in recent years.
For these new forces, which have no historical background, what is the driving force behind them to set their sights overseas? This makes many people curious.
Is it the best time to "go to sea"?
Driven by Tesla, China's automotive industry ushered in a wave of car-making boom a few years ago. With the help of electrification and intelligent Dongfeng, a large number of new car-making forces have emerged and challenged traditional car companies.
Whether it is Internet companies, technology companies or real estate developers, they have crossed the border into the automotive industry, which makes many people think that it is so easy to build cars.
But the truth is that only those who are in it know the difficulties of building a car. After all, Weilai Li Bin said that without 40 billion, don't think about building a car. It can be seen that building a car is not something that can be built if you want to build, and without strong financial support, it is difficult to even take a step forward.
This also explains why the first round of reshuffle came quickly after ushering in the first wave of car-making boom, killing most of the new forces in swaddling, leaving no chance of growth at all.
And the very few who remain are destined to be the top of the top students. Among them, there are the above-mentioned Weilai, Xiaopeng, Nezha and so on.
Their actual performance is also very convincing.
Under the multiple unfavorable factors of the epidemic, lack of core, and subsidy decline, the new forces will continue to buck the trend in 2021, constantly refreshing records such as market value and sales.
Especially on the sales side, Xiaopeng, Ideal, Weilai and Nezha delivered more than 10,000 in a single month in December last year. Among them, Xiaopeng Automobile set a new high in the monthly delivery volume in the history of new forces, reaching 16,000 units. In addition, the delivery volume of zero-run cars in December last year also reached 7807 units, which is close to breaking 10,000.
Not only that, from the perspective of deliveries in 2021, Xiaopeng, Weilai and Ideal all exceeded 90,000 vehicles, with a year-on-year increase of 263%, 109.1% and 177.4% respectively. Nezha followed, and its annual delivery volume was nearly 70,000 vehicles, an increase of 361.7% year-on-year.
The year-on-year increase in delivery volume shows the market's recognition of these new power brands, and further shows that they have formed a good reputation and brand power. It can be seen that in 2021, the new domestic forces ushered in a collective outbreak.
The improvement of the local market has continuously consolidated the position of these new Chinese forces. Relying on the service system that is completely different from that of traditional car companies, the new forces are also more confident to copy their advantages to overseas markets.
What really promotes the collective "going to sea" of new forces is the outbreak of overseas new energy markets, of which the European market is particularly obvious.
According to the data, the European new energy market has surpassed the domestic new energy market. Its root cause lies in the policy stimulus of many European countries. Europe's emission regulations have always been quite stringent, which can be seen from the vigorous development of small-displacement turbocharged engines and three-cylinder engines by European car companies in the past 10 years.
Not only that, in the context of global "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality", many European countries have also adopted corresponding stimulus policies for the new energy market.
At present, almost all of the EU 27 countries have formulated corresponding stimulus policies, which is similar to the new energy stimulus policies implemented in China many years ago.
For example, Germany has promulgated a corresponding subsidy policy for new energy vehicles, as long as you buy pure electric vehicles below 40,000 euros by the end of 2021, you can get 6,000 euros of federal subsidies and 3,000 euros of manufacturer subsidies, and enjoy the policy of car tax exemption.
At the same time, many European countries have also accelerated the pace of infrastructure construction in the new energy market in the past two years. This has also greatly accelerated the popularity of new energy vehicles in Europe, benefiting European consumers who buy new energy vehicles.
More importantly, in the new energy market, Europe has not restricted the production of foreign vehicles, which to a certain extent reflects Europe's desire for new energy vehicles, and further creates favorable conditions for China's new forces to go to sea.
All this seems to indicate that the present is the best time for China's new forces to "go to sea". But can they really replicate their success in China to overseas markets?
Obstacles make the road to sea difficult
Many people think that it is easy for China's new forces to export overseas, just like importing foreign brand models at home. In fact, China's new forces will face many obstacles on their way to the sea.
Unlike imported brands, which have laid out numerous distribution networks in China, even if the head of China's new forces such as Weilai has only a few overseas distribution outlets. Therefore, the first difficulty facing them is the layout of the distribution network.
The network system of the new forces is different from that of traditional car companies, most of which adopt a direct operation model, which leads to the need for corresponding investment in order to expand their business in overseas markets. In other words, the cost of a sharp increase is something that must be considered for the new forces that are still in the loss stage.
Especially for Weilai, which regards service as the fundamental, whether it is the construction and labor of the substation, or the management and maintenance of the experience store, the delivery center, and even the brand-level publicity, it will be a huge cost.
At the same time, even if the new forces are highly praised in the domestic service system, they may not be recognized by overseas users.
Because, the difference between European consumers and domestic consumers is that they only use the car as an ordinary means of transportation, and see the new energy vehicle as a way to meet the needs of the policy and realize the equal replacement of fuel vehicles.
As for better service, perhaps in their view, an ordinary family scooter, no matter how good the service will only increase the cost of car purchase, is not necessary expenditure. Of course, it is certainly not excluded that there are European consumers who also eat this set of quality services, after all, people are emotional, and everyone expects to become the object of service by others.
In addition, European consumers' love for local brands is still difficult to shake.
Looking at the European automobile industry, there are many brands with a history of more than 50 years, and brands with a history of more than 100 years are not uncommon. In this context, the loyalty of European consumers to these brands has been cultivated after the baptism of time.
Not only that, stimulated by the policies of many European countries and in the context of increasingly stringent emission regulations, a large number of traditional European car companies are also rapidly transforming and blossoming in the new energy market. Even if it is changed from the field of pure fuel to the field of new energy, these old European car companies will not lose their original competitiveness.
According to the latest data from EU-EVs.com, a website that uses government-verified data to track the number of electric vehicle registrations in 11 countries, including Europe and the United Kingdom, the Renault Zoe sold 50,514 units, ranking second. Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 ranked third and fourth, respectively, with 49,502 ID.3 units sold and ID.4 cumulatively selling 41,711 units.
It can be seen that The old European car companies are still in the new energy market and have an absolute dominant position.
However, in addition to these veteran European car companies will become an obstacle to China's new forces, Tesla must be an obstacle that they cannot bypass. In the data of EU-EVs.com, the first is the Tesla Model 3, which is likely to become the best-selling electric vehicle in the European market in 2021.
In addition to facing these adversaries, transportation will also become a major obstacle to China's new forces on the way to the sea.
Affected by the uncontrollable factor of the epidemic, many ports have been congested. This also causes the transportation time to be uncontrollable, making the delivery period longer, and is not conducive to the new Chinese forces that are still in the pioneering stage.
The road to sea for China's new forces is difficult to say in one word.
Write at the end
Things work themselves out.
Even if the road to sea is difficult, as long as you dare to take a small step, it may become a big step towards success.
As Li Bin said, "Now entering the global market, we are a seed, do not hope that this seed can immediately grow into a towering tree to blossom and bear fruit, which is not in line with the objective law of things." ”
Indeed, every towering tree grows from an inconspicuous seed. This seed, which has just been planted in overseas soil, will eventually grow into a towering tree that can be admired if it is properly cultivated.
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