China News Finance, January 19 (Ge Cheng) In the post-epidemic era, although facing the unfavorable situation of "lack of core and less electricity", on the whole, China's auto market has overcome difficulties, leaving the "negative growth" era for three consecutive years, and automobile production and sales in 2021 have increased year-on-year, up 3.4% and 3.8% year-on-year, respectively. The performance of Chinese brand passenger cars was even more eye-catching, with cumulative sales of 9.543 million units in the whole year, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year, and a market share of 44.4%, an increase of 6 percentage points year-on-year.
Intermediate sedan - BYD Qin Pro released Zheng Xiaohong photo
As the leader of Chinese brands, Geely, Great Wall, Changan and BYD have gradually become veritable "bellwethers" in terms of brands and products through years of accumulation. In the past 2021, how did the sales of several leading Chinese car companies perform? Overall, the sales of the top three Geely, Great Wall and Changan have all exceeded 1.2 million vehicles, with a significant scale effect and widely recognized by consumers.
Although THERE is a gap between BYD and the top three in terms of magnitude, but the growth momentum is rapid, and its diversified layout also makes it particularly competitive, chips, batteries and other cross-field businesses have made it a "unicorn" among many car companies, which has been warmly welcomed by the capital market.
However, although these car companies can go hand in hand in terms of sales, they are very different in terms of growth potential. In 2021, Geely sat in the "top spot", with sales of up to 1.32 million units, but the growth rate was only 0.6%, while BYD sold only 730,000 vehicles, but the growth rate was as high as 75.4%. Is it Geely that touches the "ceiling", or is BYD about to start "spreading its wings and soaring"?
Geely: Won the Chinese brand "Pin Champion" for the second time
According to geely's official data, in 2021, Geely's auto sales totaled 1.328 million units. Sales were mainly composed of Geely, Geometry, Lynk & Co and Extreme Kr, with Geely and Lynk & Co brands as the main force, with sales of 1.06 million units and 221,000 units respectively.
Image source: Geely Auto's official Weibo
In terms of sales figures, although Geely Automobile still ranks first among Chinese brands in 2021, it has not been able to complete its own sales target of 1.53 million vehicles. In 2022, Geely set a higher sales target of 1.65 million vehicles.
In 2021, Geely Automobile set a sales target of 1.53 million units, an increase of 16% year-on-year, but only 0.6% in reality. The target for 2022 is "1.65 million units", an increase of 24.24% year-on-year. In 2022, how Geely will complete its sales target has attracted much attention.
However, Geely still has great potential in the field of new energy vehicles. In 2021, Geely brand new energy vehicle sales reached 80,600 units, an increase of 170.3% year-on-year; geely's total brand new energy vehicle sales reached 100,100 units, a record high, and the overall increase was remarkable.
At present, although Geely's sales in the field of new energy vehicles are temporarily lagging behind traditional Chinese brand car companies such as BYD, Great Wall and Chery, as well as new car-making forces such as Weilai, Xiaopeng and Ideal, they have not been able to squeeze into the top ten in the annual sales list of new energy vehicles, but as the annual passenger car sales champion of Chinese brands, Geely has a broad space for progress in this field, and new energy vehicles will also become an important fulcrum for Geely to complete its sales target in 2022.
The Great Wall: Novelty Marketing Creates "Blockbusters"
In 2021, Great Wall Motors sold more than 1.28 million new cars, an increase of 15.2% year-on-year, and the growth rate seems to be mediocre at first glance, but Great Wall Motors' series of novelty marketing has captured the hearts of many consumers and created a number of "explosive" products, which have been warmly welcomed by the market.
Image source: Great Wall Motor's official Weibo
In 2021, Great Wall Motors launched a variety of replacement and new models such as Haval Red Rabbit, Haval Divine Beast, Wei brand Maqiduo, Wei brand latte, Wei brand mocha, tank 300 city version, tank 500, Euler good cat GT, etc., collecting a variety of animals such as "cat, dog, dragon, horse", tasting a variety of coffees such as "macchiato, latte, mocha", and also from "mecha" to "tank", realizing the heavens and the earth, and the naming of each model is unique, with good recognition and exposure.
Great Wall Motor's newly established tank brand in the blink of an eye has created several "explosive" models, the hottest is that the "Tank 300" was listed for more than 3 months because the order volume was too large, and the manufacturer had to announce that it would stop accepting new orders. It can be seen that Great Wall Motors has found the right direction in creating "explosive" models.
Chang'an: The "hybrid" strategy has paid off
According to the official data of Changan Automobile, in 2021, the sales volume of Changan's Chinese brand passenger cars exceeded 1.2 million units, ushering in a substantial increase of 23.1% year-on-year. Among them, the sales volume of CS75 large-scale SUVs reached 280,000, the annual sales of the UNI series exceeded 120,000, and the annual sales of the Auchan brand reached 228,000 units, which became the leading models in their respective segments.
All along, Changan Automobile has been deeply cultivating hybrid models, forming its own "right to speak" in this field, and Changan iDD hybrid system has become a "benchmark" in the industry.
Image source: Changan Automobile's official Weibo
Different from the traditional hybrid technology, Changan iDD hybrid adopts a more advanced method, the cost is higher, and of course, the effect is better. In the original dual-clutch transmission, a clutch was added to form a three-clutch scheme. In this way, it is possible to realize the needs of "all-scenario" working conditions such as low-speed pure electricity and high-speed direct drive.
Thanks to the promotion of this technology, the hybrid model equipped with Changan iDD technology has achieved hybrid operation under full working conditions, the vehicle in pure electric mode is more fuel-efficient, the engine directly drives the vehicle under high speed, the power is better, and the UNI series models equipped with this technology are not low in price, but the sales volume has reached a new high.
BYD: New energy "this side of the scenery is unique"
In 2021, BYD's passenger car sales exceeded 730,000 units, an increase of 75.4% year-on-year, of which new energy vehicle sales exceeded 593,000 units, an increase of 231.6% year-on-year, and the overall sales volume accounted for 81%, winning the 2021 China New Energy Passenger Car Annual Sales Champion.
Image source: BYD Auto's official Weibo
As a pioneer brand of new energy models, BYD's position in this field is unquestionable, and its products have the characteristics of wide coverage, good economy and advanced technology. Consumers' recognition of BYD's new energy models is very high, as a traditional car brand, BYD's new energy models account for the highest proportion of sales.
In addition to automotive products, BYD's breakthrough in the field of power batteries is also obvious to all, in 2021, BYD ranked fourth in the installed capacity of global power battery companies, second only to ningde era, LG new energy and Panasonic, the blade battery it launched has been widely verified in terms of safety and economy, and the market prospect is unlimited.
New energy vehicles will become the "new explosive point" of the car market
The performance of Chinese brand passenger cars in 2021 can be described as "unexpected", Geely, Changan, Great Wall and BYD have continued to exert efforts on the tracks they are good at, and the production and sales and market share have increased simultaneously, handing over a "pleasing and convincing" report card.
According to Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the total sales of mainland vehicles are expected to reach 27.5 million in 2022, an increase of about 5% year-on-year. Among them, passenger cars are 23 million units, an increase of 7% year-on-year; new energy vehicles will reach 5 million units, an increase of 42% year-on-year, and the market share is expected to exceed 18%.
It can be seen that the overall production and sales of Chinese automobiles will continue to grow steadily in 2022, and the progress space of Chinese brand passenger cars is very large. At present, the new energy vehicle market has shifted from policy-driven to market-driven, and consumers' awareness and purchasing power of new energy vehicles are gradually increasing, from this point of view, new energy vehicles in the outlet will become the "new flashpoint" of the ignition car market. (End)