Editor's note: Looking at 2021, the new car-making forces can be said to have no losers. But in 2022, will there still be no losers?
Judging from the sales volume in December and the whole year last year, the sales gap of the new car-making forces has been widened, and this gap may be even greater in 2022. It is certain that the competition in the new energy vehicle market in 2022 will be more cruel than in 2021, and even the "Wei Xiaoli" who is firmly in the first echelon cannot guarantee that it will continue to move forward in the future, not to mention the second-tier new forces.
What will they take to gain a foothold in 2022? Can we successfully pass the IPO mark and continue to attack the head enterprise "Wei Xiaoli", and then rewrite the competitive pattern of new car-making forces and even the new energy vehicle market? It will be one of the highlights of the new energy vehicle market in 2022.
United: Nezha attacked, keeping an eye on "Wei Xiaoli"
As the "business card" of Hezhong New Energy, in 2021, Nezha Automobile's performance is particularly prominent, not only making new progress in the financing process, but also making great breakthroughs in sales. The breakthrough is still continuing, on January 8, 2022, Nezha Automobile ushered in the 100,000th new car off the production line, becoming the fourth new car brand to mass-produce and break through the 100,000 mark after "Wei Xiaoli", and also made Hezhong a pioneer in the second-tier new force enterprises, and may even launch an impact on the first camp of "Wei Xiaoli".
According to the sales data of Nezha Automobile, in 2021, Nezha Automobile delivered a total of 69,674 vehicles, up 362% year-on-year. Moreover, in November and December, Nezha Automobile has achieved sales of more than 10,000 for two consecutive months, showing a good growth momentum. At the same time as sales are growing, the product system of Nezha Automobile is also constantly enriching. In 2021, Nezha Automobile has successively released Nezha U Pro, Nezha V Witch Edition, Nezha V Pro and other models, and the product matrix has been further improved. In 2021, the speed of Nezha's auto channel layout is also accelerating.
Up to now, Nezha Automobile has 331 offline channels, involving 25 provinces and 193 cities. Among them, there are 70 directly operated stores, covering 17 provinces and 28 cities; 261 city partner franchise stores, covering 25 provinces and 180 cities. First-tier cities Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and new first-tier/second-tier cities Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Suzhou, Nanjing, etc. have channel terminals. At the same time, Nezha Automobile is also speeding up the construction of a charging service network. As of November 2021, Nezha Automobile has built 1,637 free charging stations and 19,663 DC charging piles in 150 cities across the country, covering more than 95% of the user use areas. These have laid a good foundation for the continued rapid growth of Nezha automobile sales.
The upward breakthrough of Nezha Automobile is inseparable from its breakthrough in the capital market. In October 2021, United Auto officially announced the completion of a new round of financing of 4 billion yuan. The D1 round of financing was led by 360 Group with an investment of 2 billion yuan, followed by many well-known investment institutions such as CCB International, CITIC Securities Investment, Shenwan Hongyuan Hong Kong New Energy Industry Fund, and Jifu Venture Capital. After the completion of the two consecutive rounds of investment of 360 Group, the group will indirectly hold 16.5940% of the equity of Nezha Automobile, becoming the second largest shareholder of United Automobile. At the same time, Nezha Automobile also launched the next round of financing, and said it will be completed soon. Some insiders revealed that the amount of this round of financing should be more than 800 million US dollars. In addition, under the name of Nezha Automobile, United will also expect to achieve an IPO in Hong Kong in May 2022.
Riding on the rapid development of new energy vehicles in 2021, Nezha Automobile has attacked all the way, once posing a threat to the three strong "Wei Xiaoli". Judging from the current development momentum, in 2022, Nezha automobile production and sales still have the basis for rapid growth. Nezha Automobile proposed that the customer conversion rate in 2022 should exceed the current 20%, and strive in the direction of 40%.
A few days ago, the head of the relevant department of Nezha Automobile revealed to the "China Automobile News" reporter that in 2022, the first model Nezha S built by Nezha Automobile based on the Shanhai platform will be listed and delivered at the end of the year, and the annual model will be launched based on Nezha V and Nezha U; on the channel, it is planned to expand from 173 cities to 250 cities to comprehensively improve the user's experience and service quality. Moreover, Nezha Automobile will also officially open the Southeast Asian market in the first half of 2022; when Nezha S is delivered in the fourth quarter of 2022, it will also be released in the European market at the same time. At present, Nezha Automobile's European Business Department has been established, and preliminary preparations are underway. It can be seen that Nezha Automobile has become the leader of the second-tier new power brand, and constantly launched an impact on the first camp represented by "Wei Xiaoli".
Cao He, president of Allianz Auto Investment Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd., judged that in 2022, the new car-making forces will be more interesting and will form a preliminary competitive pattern. The "Wei Xiaoli" of the first-line camp will face the impact of second-tier new forces enterprises, and the new forces enterprises will also face greater competitive pressure.
Weima, zero running: waiting for the mid-range car market to blossom
In 2021, the sales of Zero Run and WM also made a new breakthrough in the second half of the year. According to the data, in 2021, the cumulative delivery of zero-run vehicles was 43,121 vehicles, and WM delivered 44,157 vehicles. The two car companies performed better in the second half of the year, and their monthly sales increased greatly compared with the first half of the year. Shen Hui, founder and CEO of WM Motors, said that WM's delivery volume will exceed 100,000 units in early 2022. Although due to the lack of chip supply, the monthly delivery volume of zero-run has not exceeded 10,000 vehicles, but the number of orders has been greatly improved, of which the total number of orders in November even exceeded 10,000 units, reaching 16,310 vehicles.
According to the data released by Zero Run, as of December 1, 2021, Zero Run has operated nearly 200 super stores, covering 90 cities across the country. Zero run proposed that the number of new supermarkets in 2022 or will double again; by the end of 2021, WM has access to more than 440,000 charging piles, covering 32 provincial-level administrative regions and 361 cities including Hong Kong, China, accounting for more than 40% of the total number of public charging piles in the country.
Unlike the new forces in the head of the continuous breakthrough in the high-end market, WM and Zero Run's products are more laid out in the mid-end market. In particular, WM, led by science and technology, the price of mass-produced models is concentrated in the range of 150,000 to 250,000 yuan. In the past few years, the mid-range market has been tepid compared to the high-end and low-end markets, which is the main reason why WM has not been able to rank among the first camp in terms of sales in the past few years. However, in Shen Hui's view, in 2022, the mid-end market of new energy vehicles in the mainland is expected to achieve a breakthrough, which is the opportunity of Weima. "By the end of 2021, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has exceeded 20%, and the market continues to improve."
Industry insiders are optimistic that by 2025, the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles is expected to exceed 50%. Among them, the mainstream market of 150,000 to 250,000 yuan will realize the transformation from 'dumbbell shape' to 'spindle shape', and the mainstream market will inevitably continue to improve. WM has always focused on the mainstream market in the price range of 150,000 to 250,000 yuan, and has the advantage of being a first mover. At the same time, we will always insist on playing at home. More and more friendly commercial car prices are approaching this area, proving that our positioning is accurate. Who can win the mainstream market crowd, who is the real winner. Shen Hui said.
In the past two years, the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle market has mainly benefited from the first breakthrough in the high-end and low-end markets, and the sales volume of related enterprises has also been greatly improved. The new forces of head car manufacturing such as Weilai and Ideal have achieved rapid sales growth precisely because they have seized the consumer demand of the high-end market. At the same time, in the low-end market, the sales of micro-small pure electric vehicles represented by A00 levels have also been continuously promoted with the continuous promotion of new energy vehicles going to the countryside and other activities, which has quickly opened the door to new markets, becoming the second vehicle for urban residents and a means of transportation for urban and rural residents, and achieving continuous breakthroughs in sales. However, the mid-range market, which should be the main sales force, has failed to achieve a big breakthrough with the ups and downs of the online ride-hailing and shared travel industries, and the private consumer market has also performed flat, which has affected the market expansion of related models to a certain extent, and WM is positioned in this market.
Although WM's related models have a good performance in terms of performance and intelligence level, they are not as popular with consumers as luxury cars and low-end models in terms of sales. "The mid-market is the hardest. In this field, consumers have high requirements for cost performance and vehicle performance, and there is still some gap between new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles, so the sales volume of this market has not been able to quickly gain the favor of consumers as high-end and low-end markets. Xu Haidong judged that once the mid-end market is opened, the new energy automobile industry may usher in a more rapid sales growth.
At present, most of the models of WM and Zero Run are priced in the range of 150,000 to 250,000 yuan, especially WM, whether it is ex5, W6, or the upcoming Sedan M7, which has been mass-produced, locks in this target market. Shen Hui stressed that the global electric intelligent car field lacks a 50,000-DOLLAR explosive model, and WM, a new car-making force dedicated to being a technology inclusive person, is determined to open up the mid-range car sales market and let more consumers enjoy the travel services of smart electric vehicles. Zero-run cars also emphasize that 2022 is the tipping point of the intelligent electric vehicle market, and zero-running cars that choose core technology global self-developed roads will enter the high-speed growth period of the 2.0 era on the basis of 5 times the speed growth in 2021, and fully impact the first camp.
All parties predict that in 2022, China's new energy vehicle sales are expected to exceed the 5 million mark, and this huge sales volume will inevitably need the support of the mid-level car market, and the second-tier new forces represented by WM are waiting for this market to blossom. However, at present, most car companies have begun to lay out the mid-end market, and it is foreseeable that the competition in this market will be more intense in the future.
Skyrim, Aichi: Can we catch up after the gap is opened
Unlike the continuous upward breakthrough of Nezha, Weima and Zero Run, there are also some second-tier new forces that have not improved much in 2021, failing to catch up with the good time for the rapid development of new energy vehicles. With the gap widening, can they still catch up in 2022?
Although Skyline's sales centers in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and other places are expanding in 2021, it has not helped it increase sales. The reporter found in the Skyline sales center in Beijing, Chengdu and other places that there are not many customers who come to consult, which can be described as a snub in front of the door. In order to improve sales, Skyline Automobile once changed its course and launched a range extender model, hoping to break the sales dilemma with this model that is accepted by more consumers, but at present, the effect is not satisfactory.
According to official news, Tianji Automobile and Jingdong jointly created an A+ range extender electric SUV - Beijing selected the tianji ME5, using the self-developed iMES intelligent range extension system, with a comprehensive driving range of up to 1012 kilometers. But in fact, in 2021, Skyline Automobile did not set off any storm in the new energy vehicle market, and the company did not even announce the sales data for 2021.
The reporter only queried from various public data that the sales volume of Tianji Automobile in September 2021 was 74 vehicles, an increase of 3% year-on-year and a decrease of 34.51% month-on-month. From January to September 2021, The cumulative sales volume of Skyline Automobile was 1156 units, an increase of 19% over the same period of the previous year. According to the official data released by Tianji, by 2022, it plans to build 400 sales and service stores, covering the first and second tier cities and some third- and fourth-tier cities in the country, forming a perfect terminal service network. However, judging from the current indications, to complete this goal, Skyline Motors may have to overcome many difficulties.
Similar to skyline cars' struggles, Aichi cars have a hard time. The data shows that from January to November 2021, the cumulative sales of AIWAYS automobiles were only 2992 vehicles, which was even less than the sales of the head new force enterprises in one month. Aiways, which has been exploring overseas markets, has not performed too well under the situation of rapid growth in the export of new energy vehicles in the mainland in 2021. The relevant person in charge of Aiways Automobile said that Aiways Automobile exported 1676 vehicles in the whole year, with a total of 2705 exports. The Aiways U6, which was originally scheduled to be released in September 2021, was not delivered as scheduled.
However, AICHI did not stop "tossing". At the beginning of the new year, AIWAYS announced the completion of a new round of financing of hundreds of millions of dollars, and the company's management also made adjustments. The latest information on the official website of Aiways Automobile shows that at present, the chairman of Aiways Automobile has been changed from the original founder Fu Qiang to Chen Xuanlin, the CEO of the company is Zhang Yang, and Fu Qiang continues to serve as the president of the company. Gu Feng, another co-founder and vice chairman of Aiways, has now disappeared from Aiways' official website.
Public information shows that "post-80s" Chen Xuanlin, who has previously participated in several rounds of financing of Aichi, is also the capital of Aichi's latest round of financing, and has a certain capital strength. Chen Xuanlin began to get involved in the capital market during his study in the UK and established Guangwei Holdings. In February 2019, Guangwei Holdings took a stake in Shanghai Zhongtong Ruide Investment Group Co., Ltd., which was established by Chen Xuanlin in 2013. In addition, Chen Xuanlin is also the chairman of Shanghai Vientiane Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Up to now, Chen Xuanlin is a shareholder of 14 companies, serving as a legal person of 17 companies, an executive of 35 companies, and more than 300 holding companies. Aiways Auto officially said that Chen Xuanlin has rich experience in investment and operation in the automotive industry, he has always been optimistic about the new energy automobile industry, especially the technology and brand of AIWAYS Automobile, and Aiways Automobile and the founder team have also invited Chen Xuanlin to deeply participate in the company's equity investment and daily operations many times. The arrival of this round of new financing and new management team will empower AICHI with new development momentum and business prospects, and effectively improve the company's market channels, capital operation, user experience and digital development capabilities. However, industry insiders believe that it is obviously not easy for Aichi to change the current decline of the company through "changing the coach".
There is not much time left for Aichi and Skyrim to break through. Whether from the domestic market or overseas markets, the new energy vehicle market will face greater competitive pressure, which not only comes from the lack of funds, management, and talents faced by the new car-making forces themselves, but also from the competition between various types of car companies at the market end.
Chinese Express: How to go on the road of luxury electric
In 2021, Huaren Express's first mass-produced model, the Gaohe HiPhi X, began to be delivered. According to the data, in November 2021, the delivery volume of Gaohe HiPhi X reached a new high of 763 units, an increase of 51.4% over the previous month, the highest monthly sales since its launch in May 2021. In the months after the listing of Gaohe HiPhi X, which cost 680,000 to 800,000 yuan, it has repeatedly ranked among the top ten lists of electric vehicle sales of more than 500,000 yuan. As of now, Gaohe has delivered 3500 vehicles. On November 6, 2021, Gaohe also released its second mass production car, the Gaohe Digital GT-HiPhi Z mass production finalized car, and plans to open the booking at the 2022 Beijing Auto Show and achieve mass production delivery within this year. Judging from various public information, this is another electric vehicle priced at more than 500,000 yuan.
Among the many new power car brands, Gaohe can be said to be a different kind. According to public data, at present, the delivery price of Gaohe's first car is 570,000 to 800,000 yuan, breaking the price ceiling of Chinese car brands. Ding Lei, founder, chairman and CEO of Huaren Express, even said: "We use technology to define luxury, and the price of 800,000 yuan is really very unwilling." ”
Summarizing the luxury of Gaohe, Ding Lei stressed that this is not luxury in the traditional sense, but focuses on experience, and uses technology to enhance the user's sense of experience. He stressed that the level of black technology of Gaohe is at least two years ahead of the friends (in the cooperative development with suppliers, the exclusive scheme is clear, and the technology used by Gaohe can only be used by the friends after two years). He defines Gaohe users as the most cutting-edge, most technology-loving, and very innovative people, which is undoubtedly a very "science fiction" positioning.
However, Huaren Express is not limited to the luxury car market of more than 500,000 yuan. Ding Lei revealed that the third mass production car of Huaren Express will be a product for the public. For the future development, including the current gap with "Wei Xiaoli", Ding Lei did not care too much. In Ding Lei's view, China's new energy vehicle market is very large, the proportion of "Wei Xiaoli" is very small, the inclusiveness of this industry is very strong, and it needs the joint efforts of various enterprises, including new forces, in order to provide users with a better experience, and Huaren Express not only has luxury models, but also Volkswagen models in the future.
Judging from the current development, the path of Chinese Express is somewhat similar to Tesla. Tesla is also the first to cut from high-end models, starting from luxury cars priced at more than one million yuan, leading consumption all the way, and even redefining the car, and then on this basis, the price of vehicles continues to decline, harvesting more consumers at the consumer level. At present, the price of Tesla-related models in the mainland has dropped to 200,000 yuan, but its luxury car or vehicle technology attribute label has not been diluted.
"A Tesla of more than 200,000 yuan cannot be said to be a luxury car." As Wang Qing, deputy director of the Market Economy Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said, Tesla has labeled itself as a high-tech luxury car and made consumers fully accept this definition, even if the price of its vehicle continues to decline, this brand attribute will not be lost, which has become a weapon to open up a broader market.
Judging the market development of Gaohe, the key at present is whether it can "copy" Tesla's path, obtain the label of high-tech luxury cars as desired, and open the market door of more than 500,000 yuan? At present, from the perspective of sales alone, Gaohe is obviously far from this goal. Although Ding Lei is full of confidence in this: "China's such a large market, there will not be only one type of enterprise, it will certainly be able to accommodate the integration and development of all kinds of car companies." "But obviously this road is not easy to follow. 2022 may be a crucial year to test whether its path can be followed.
Text: Wang Jinyu Editor: Sun Huanyu Layout: Wang Kun