In 2021, affected by the epidemic, chip shortage and other factors, the production planning of car companies cannot catch up with the changes, the phenomenon of delay in the delivery of new cars is much more serious than in the past, the terminal transaction price is also rising, and the new car discount is greatly narrowed. In this context, the demand for automobile consumption has been suppressed, transmitted to terminal sales, and the year-on-year decline is almost the mainstream trend.
However, according to the wholesale sales of passenger car manufacturers according to the statistics of the Federation of Passenger Vehicles, there are still many car companies that have achieved a certain degree of growth. For reference, let's take a look at the top car companies in 2021, how are they performing?
German, Japanese and American cars are still the mainstream
From the sales volume of the top 15 car companies, it can be seen that the top and runner-up were won by FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC-GM and Geely Automobile respectively, and the sales of the three reached 1.8 million, 1.34 million and 1.32 million. Among them, the only one in the top three to achieve positive year-on-year growth is Geely Automobile, and it is not easy to maintain micro-growth in the case of a large base.
Combined with the overall performance of foreign-funded enterprises in the Chinese market, the overall sales of Volkswagen's two enterprises in China (FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen) exceeded 3.04 million units, accounting for one-seventh of the 21.098 million units of the annual wholesale sales of narrow passenger cars in China. If you add the sales data of German brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, it is not difficult to find that the position of German cars in the Chinese auto market is still quite strong.
Japanese brands also have a good harvest, toyota's two companies in China cumulative sales of about 1.66 million vehicles. Among them, FAW Toyota's annual sales volume was 830,000 units, and GAC Toyota's annual sales were 828,000 vehicles, and the gap between the two was less than 10,000 vehicles. Looking at the world, Toyota beat Volkswagen, defending the global sales championship with more than 10 million units, and even broke the myth of GM's 90-year sales crown in the North American market. Brother Reed believes that with the support of TNGA architecture and leading hybrid technology, Toyota has added a lot of advantages in the new round of market competition.
SAIC-GM stabilized the top three in 2021, with its three major brands Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac ranking second with cumulative annual sales of 1.34 million vehicles. It is worth noting that the proportion of SAIC-GM's high-end models has increased by 5% compared with 2020, and the transaction price of each brand has also increased by at least 6%, indicating that its high-end route has achieved certain results. Specific to each brand, Buick's cumulative annual sales of 830,000 vehicles, high-end model sales accounted for 60%; Chevrolet brand by the Mai Ruibao XL, pioneers and explorers composed of large car sales increased to 48.3%; Cadillac annual sales of 233,000 vehicles, an increase of 1.4% year-on-year, a record high.
The three giants of Geely, Chang'an and the Great Wall hold up a piece of the sky
If you look at independent car companies, you will find that the performance of independent brands is relatively bright. On the one hand, independent brands have made significant progress in car manufacturing level and marketing in recent years, and the market reputation has also been greatly reversed. On the other hand, independent brands have seized the development trend of electrification and intelligence, seized the market opportunity, and taken the lead in occupying the market in terms of new energy and intelligent vehicles. In addition, the operation of high-end brands has enhanced the value and influence of car companies to a certain extent, which in turn has played a role in promoting the growth of sales.
For example, in the top ten Geely, Changan and Great Wall, these three giants are the epitome of the rise of independent car companies, and they largely represent the development level of Chinese brands.
Geely Automobile's total sales in 2021 were 1.328 million units, and it has won the annual sales championship of Chinese brand passenger cars for five consecutive years, and the overall development momentum is relatively fierce. Among them, the cumulative sales of Xingrui and Xingyue L of Geely's "China Star" series reached 210,000 vehicles, accounting for nearly 20% of the total sales of Geely brands. The cumulative sales of the high-end brand Lynk & Co reached 220,000 units, an increase of 26% year-on-year. As the unit price of Lynk & Co's products reached 158,000 yuan, the strength impacted the core price range of the joint venture brand, and its high-end brand image was affirmed. However, the new energy field is still Geely's weakness, with cumulative sales of only 100,000 vehicles, which is not outstanding among a number of independent brands. The extreme krypton brand is still in the stage of delivery climbing, and the development trend must look at the performance of the new year to predict more accurately.
Changan Automobile sold 1.19 million units in the whole year, achieving a year-on-year increase of 22.3%, and the momentum was quite fierce. The SUV sector is the main growth point of Changan's sales, of which the annual cumulative sales of the Changan CS75 series exceeded 280,000 units, the annual cumulative sales of the Changan CS55 series exceeded 140,000 units, and the annual sales of the car sector, the Changan Yidong series, exceeded 170,000 units in 2021. Changan's layout in the high-end field has also achieved eye-catching results, with the annual sales of the "UNI" sequence exceeding 120,000 vehicles, with an average monthly sales of more than 10,000 vehicles, which is enough to prove that Changan occupies a place in the high-end market.
Great Wall Motor's full-year sales volume was 1.047 million units (according to the Association of Automobiles), an increase of 18.2% year-on-year. According to the official data of Great Wall Motor, the annual sales of the Haval brand were 770,000 vehicles, an increase of 2.6% year-on-year, of which the "national god car" Haval H6 sold 370,000 vehicles in the whole year. The Cumulative Sales of the Euler Brand in the whole year was 135,000 units, an increase of 140% year-on-year, and the overall performance was very impressive. Among them, the cumulative sales of good cats are 50,000 units, and the sales of black cats are 63,000 units, helping Euler stabilize the new energy market. Weipai sold 58,000 units in the whole year, and the cumulative number of users has exceeded 450,000. In terms of tank brands, the tank 300 reached 84,000 units in the whole year, making it stand out in the luxury hardcore market. Great Wall pickup trucks continued to have a bright performance, with cumulative sales of 233,000 units in the whole year, an increase of 3.6% year-on-year.
The increase in independent brands is higher than one, and the most cattle is it!
Although the head giant is larger, it does not mean that the performance of other brands is too weak. Thanks to their own internal reforms and the opportunities brought by the new energy vehicle market, some independent brands have outperformed the market in terms of growth, proving their strength.
For example, Chery Automobile ranked in the top ten with an annual sales volume of 865,000 units, surpassing the four joint ventures of FAW Toyota, GAC Toyota, GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda. According to The Brother, Chery Automobile's growth mainly depends on two aspects, the first is that the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles reached 109,000 units in the whole year, an increase of 144.6% year-on-year. In addition, the annual sales of the Tiggo 8 series exceeded 160,000 units, which gave Chery a wave of existence in the SUV market.
Also with the stronger increase was BYD Automobile. Thanks to the explosion in the field of new energy, BYD's annual sales exceeded 730,000 vehicles, an increase of 74.8% year-on-year, which is the largest increase among the brands on the list. Among them, BYD's new energy sales volume is nearly 600,000 units! As a hot-selling model under BYD, the cumulative sales of BYD's qin, Song and Han family car series exceeded 500,000 units, accounting for a relatively high overall proportion. The key factor driving BYD's sales surge is undoubtedly the launch of DM-i super hybrid technology. It can be seen that BYD's technical strength in the field of new energy has accumulated a lot of energy for it, which is very worth learning from other independent brands.
Write at the end
On the surface, there is no major reshuffle in the annual rankings of automakers, or these familiar faces are at the forefront. However, with the advent of the era of electrification, those car companies with leading technical strength will inevitably climb to new heights in the next few years. Who will have the last laugh? Stay tuned for what new models and new technologies they will introduce in the future.