In the summer of 2020, Wei Jianjun of the Great Wall issued a warning in an open letter: "Will Great Wall Motors survive next year?" Now, 2021 has come to an end, and this sentence has become a good perspective to observe the development trajectory of independent brands.
Today we will take a look at the cold winter of the automotive industry in 2021, those independent brands that have "survived", who have the best performance, who has greater potential.
Note: The sales data are quoted from the narrow passenger car wholesale volume published by the Association of Passenger Vehicles, which may differ slightly from the manufacturer's data.
Geely Automobile: Flag bearer ready to go
Geely's cumulative sales in 2021 were 1.328 million units, up 0.6% year-on-year.
The flag bearer has never been so easy to do, Geely should have a deep understanding, in the case of the decline in sales of the whole industry, Geely tenaciously and difficult to maintain the positive growth trend, continue to defend the champion of independent brand sales.
At the same time, Geely once again failed to cross the high point of 2019 (1.36 million vehicles), and annual sales continued to move out of the sideways trend.
Whether it is a champion or a sideways one, Geely is more noteworthy this year is actually a leap in the quality of development.
From the perspective of energy layout, in the field of traditional fuel vehicles, Geely has completed the jump in the strength of fuel vehicle products and the continuous coverage of product lines through a new generation of architecture with CMA as the core, and in the intelligent electric vehicle track, it has quickly approached the first echelon with a very kryptonian turnaround.
From the perspective of brand layout, Geely, Lynk & Co and JiKr have achieved continuous upward brand power under the blessing of CMA, SPA and SEA architectures.
From the perspective of technical layout, the emergence of the Thor Power brand means that Geely does not intend to bypass the huge internal combustion engine market, but is ready to reserve all the power technology reserves and disks, and will compete with veteran players such as Toyota and Volkswagen in the next decade.
So, flag bearer Geely's 2021 is more like a comma, preparing for the next exclamation point.
Changan Automobile: The charm of good design
Changan Automobile's cumulative sales in 2021 were 1.193 million units, up 22.3% year-on-year.
On the basis of catching up in 2020, Changan Automobile in 2021 is very close to Geely at least in terms of sales, and the situation of "double dominance" of independent brands is almost formed.
Advances in design may be one of the most important reasons for Changan Automobile's rapid rise.
At a time when other independent brands are still trying to benchmark and catch up with the design level of joint venture brands, Changan has completely completed the transcendence of the international mainstream design level with the UNI series and the new generation of CS75 PLUS, CS55 PLUS and other models, and the sales volume also proves that consumers are willing to pay for the good design of Chinese brands.
Of course, the design is only a long piece of wood in the Changan Automobile system, Changan Automobile can complete more than 20% of the increment in such a volume in a very unfavorable market environment, and the power of other links is also indispensable, and the popularity of Blue Whale Power and intelligent system has always allowed Changan Automobile's product strength to always be at the forefront of the market.
It is particularly worth mentioning that Changan Automobile has completed these achievements as a state-owned enterprise, which can undoubtedly bring enlightenment to several other state-owned enterprises to develop their own brand business.
SAIC Passenger Cars: All-around player
SAIC's cumulative sales of passenger cars in 2021 were 800,000 units, up 21.7% year-on-year.
There are not many Chinese car brands that can be described as "all-round players", Geely, Changan new energy plate has not yet made efforts, the Great Wall lacks a car layout, Chery is trying to catch up in the design field, BYD is performing in the field of fuel vehicles and exports, it seems that SAIC passenger cars seem to be the closest to this title.
In terms of design, SAIC Passenger Cars has already shaped and consolidated a high-value image in the automotive circle with models such as the Roewe RX5, MG ZS and the latest MG ONE.
In terms of power technology, SAIC passenger cars, whether it is fuel engines, electric vehicle platforms or hybrid technologies, have hard goods to hand.
On intelligence, the Zebra system has been perfected after several iterations, and in the field of intelligent electric vehicles, SAIC passenger cars are also well laid out.
In terms of exports, SAIC Passenger Vehicles has gained a lot of success in important markets such as Europe, Australia and New Zealand, with exports of more than 290,000 units in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 68%, especially worth mentioning that SAIC Passenger Vehicles exported a record 5,716 new energy vehicles in December, and the annual export volume of new energy vehicles exceeded 45,000 units.
Today, when the comprehensive combat capability of the world is increasingly tested, SAIC passenger cars may be one of the most undervalued and one of the independent brands with the greatest sales potential.
Great Wall Motors: The King of Segmentation
Great Wall Motor's cumulative sales in 2021 were 1.048 million units, up 18.2% year-on-year.
The bones of the Great Wall are engraved with the gene of "deep ploughing market segmentation", if there is no in-depth study of the market segment and the ultimate polishing of the product, there will be no success of Haval H6 and Great Wall, and in 2021, what the Great Wall does is to replicate this success.
With big dogs, tanks in the hardcore off-road and urban SUV border area to kill the new road, by cutting into the female pure electric vehicle market to accelerate the development of Euler, the Great Wall can see the "deep ploughing" gene in play at almost all new sales flashpoints.
Buying a car queue of tanks is the best example, than its off-road is not its intelligence, than its intelligence is not its handsome, than it is handsome than its off-road is not cheaper, not only to meet the soul of chasing personality, but also to do their duty in the city and the wild, not to be strange. The continuous growth of Great Wall's overseas sales also proves that the return of satisfying consumers to the extreme is actually no different country.
This may be the core logic behind the Great Wall's transformation of Weipai and the launch of the Mecha Dragon – everything is aimed at creating a market segment – which is costly, but for the Great Wall, it is useful.
Chery Automobile: The counterattack of the technical house
Chery Automobile's cumulative sales in 2021 were 865,000 units, up 36.8% year-on-year.
The flag bearer of the independent brand ten years ago is one step closer to the glory of his past.
The roar of the 2.0T engine resounded throughout the Chinese SUV market, Tiggo's overseas power brought a steady stream of orders and dollars, Jietu, Small Ant continued to give strength, Xingtu finally stood firm, began to move towards the overseas high-end car star sea.
It is true that Chery's explosive models are still too few, and the overall design level of the product has a certain gap with the market's first-class products, but it is undeniable that it is precisely because of the paranoid insistence on technology research and development that Chery can get out of the trough and embark on a new peak.
Chery's sales counterattack in 2021 is also enough to make the technical house in the Chinese brand gain due recognition and even praise.
BYD: The king of the new "track"
BYD's cumulative sales in 2021 were 735,000 units, up 74.8% year-on-year.
The birth of blade battery and DM-i technology is like a magic spell on BYD's product line, accompanied by BYD's popularity, sales and stock price, which once again defends BYD's identity as the leader of China's new energy automobile industry.
Just when people thought that BYD would be content to enjoy the current dividends, The Boatman Brother came up with a new e-platform 3.0 and the Ocean Series, creating new sales growth points while boldly innovating product lines and channels.
Calling 2021 the "BYD year" of China's new energy automobile industry should not be opposed by anyone.