I still remember when the SUV fire occurred in 2016, some industry experts and scholars predicted that in a few years, SUVs would replace cars and become the largest single market segment. The phrase "those who get cars win the world" may have to be changed to "those who get SUVs get the world".
However, the ideal is very full, and the reality is very bone. After 5 years, the SUV did grow "tall" quickly, but in the end it still failed to surpass the sedan.
Looking at the retail sales data of passenger car manufacturers for the whole year of 2021 released by the Association of Passenger Cars, the cumulative sales of cars last year were 9.846 million units, which was better than the 9.221 million units of SUVs. And in terms of year-on-year growth rate, the 6.4% increase is also better than the 3% of SUVs.
It can be seen that the car is still the top priority of major car companies and the place where soldiers must compete, and if anyone wants to mix well, the car must be done well first.
So, what kind of consumer trend does the car market show in 2021? What is the competitive landscape of the autonomous, joint venture and luxury sectors? Next, let's analyze it well, and it can be regarded as a comprehensive summary of last year's car market.
Autonomous: From individual combat to collective breakout
A few years ago, there was only one Emgrand in the A-class sedan market that was fighting with the joint venture brand, and at that time, the vast majority of independent brands focused on the SUV market, which caused very few independent A-class cars to be played, and it also seemed that Emgrand's figure was a bit lonely.
Now that Emgrand has been updated to the fourth generation, it is still the benchmark of independent A-class cars, selling 209158 vehicles in 2021 and successfully entering the top 10 of the 2021 car sales list, and even Civic is its defeated.
It is gratifying that the current autonomous A-class car has shown a collective breakthrough trend, and it is not a soft persimmon that anyone who wants to pinch it at the beginning.
The first thing to say is that Geely Xingrui, known as the "subversive of the family car", has changed the stereotype of young people for A-class cars with the strength of the super cup, and the listing is a net red car. In 2021, the cumulative sales of Xingrui reached 133596 vehicles, and if it were not for the shortage of chips, this data would be more beautiful.
Secondly, BYD Qin, which is blessed with DM-i, has accumulated thick and thin hair and finally soared into the sky, becoming the largest dark horse in the A-class car market. The data will not lie, in 2021, Qin won 188921 sales, the year-on-year growth rate soared to 226.8% against the sky, and the momentum of the surge was almost unstoppable.
In addition, a number of autonomous A-class cars have joined the battle of PK joint ventures. For example, Roewe i5, MG 5, Geely Binrui, MG 6, Venucia D60, Trumpchi Shadow Leopard, Arrizo 5 PLUS, Pentium B70 and other models, although the sales level must continue to work hard, but their strength can not be underestimated, perhaps the next net red model will be produced from them.
By the way, I almost forgot to say that the A00 class car sells the crown Hongguang MINI EV. As the top 3 models in 2021, it is second only to Xuanyi and Langyi, and is higher than the sales volume of the Corolla. It even opened up a new Wave Chuang culture, which has now become a big IP.
A simple summary of the independent car market in 2021, from the shape of the single shadow many years ago to the current multi-point blossoming, it can be seen that the change of independent brands is indeed a thousand miles a day, perhaps give these car companies a few years, then the joint venture can not be as comfortable as it is now, it is really not necessarily.
Joint venture: the differentiation of the first, second, and third lines is accelerated
A fact that cannot be ignored, although independent brands have achieved a breakthrough in the A-class sedan market, many powerful models have emerged. However, we must note that the initiative of the A-Class is still in the hands of the joint venture.
Looking at the top 10 car sales rankings in each month of 2021, you will find that all of them are Xuanyi, Langyi, Corolla, Leiling, Civic, Sagitar and other joint venture models, and this competitive pattern has been going on for a long time.
Taking the retail sales of the whole year of 2021 as an example, Xuanyi successfully won the championship, although there was a slight decline of 5.1% year-on-year, but the car sold 513207 units. To put it bluntly, a single model can win such data, which can completely beat most of the joint venture car companies. Langyi sold 432035 vehicles throughout the year, Corolla sold 330280 vehicles, and Yinglang sold 278578 vehicles, which is also the data that marketing executives of car companies will wake up laughing in their dreams.
At the same time, such a ranking also reflects a reality on the side, that is, German and Japanese cars have almost "divided" the mainstream A-class car market, while the American and Korean cars that are also joint ventures are currently only supported by individual models such as Yinglang and Elantra, and the rest are the role of accompanying the prince to read.
Interestingly, this Matthew effect is more pronounced in the B-segment car market. Intuitively, the "Japanese Three Masters" Accord, Tianlai and Camry are the top three sales of the B-class car (except for the BMW 3 Series) almost every month, especially the Camry and Accord are even more powerful.
Looking at the entire 2021 sales ranking, the annual sales of Accord and Camry are 217724 and 197742 vehicles respectively, forming an absolute first echelon. The amount of insurance in Tianlai is 162264 vehicles, which is also higher than the 153617 vehicles of the Passat and the 151017 vehicles of The Maiten.
In the past, the "Ashkenazi double male" Maiten and Passat no longer had the glory of the day, relying on price reductions to support sales. The former "Di Si Sanbao" Sonata, K5 and Mai RuiBao, there is no sound in the market. However, as independent high-end sports cars, Lynk & Co 03 and Changan UNI-V have let the world see the charm of Chinese manufacturing, and they have great hopes to compete with "Japanese Three Masters" and "German Double Heroes" in the future.
To briefly summarize the joint venture car market in 2021, the trend of users concentrating on the first echelon is more obvious, and the marginalization of the second and third echelons is accelerating. No way, the car market competition is so cruel, the market abandons who, never say hello to you.
High-end: New energy has become the X factor
Although in 2021, China's auto market suffered a double blow of multi-point sporadic epidemic and chip shortage, the luxury car market is the only one. This is all due to the fact that the Chinese auto market has now entered the era of exchange and additional purchase, and mass consumer groups have begun to buy a luxury car into their own rigid demand.
This is not, from the recent release of the Insurance Regulatory Commission in 2021 luxury car brand insurance volume TOP10 point of view, only three brands have a single-digit sales decline year-on-year, the rest of all the red, who does not see this performance? In particular, the independent brand Hongqi can harvest 271,500 vehicles on the risk, which shows that the luxury car market is indeed standing on the cusp.
Of course, through this list, the BBA is still the well-deserved first echelon, whether it is the "56E" guarded by the large and medium-sized luxury car market, or the "34C" advantage of the luxury medium-sized car market, the German brand troika has eaten the vast majority of market share, and the second- and third-tier luxury brands can only rely on reduced prices to drink some broth.
Interestingly, electrification has given many brands the opportunity to overtake in curves. As many netizens lamented, although we can't shake the position of BBA in the era of the internal combustion engine, this new energy era is different, and it is not certain who will die.
No, Tesla Model 3 turned out to be a world, and the annual insurance volume in 2021 actually soared to 151237 vehicles, which is higher than the annual insurance volume of Mercedes-Benz C-class and Audi A4L.
Autonomous forces are not to be spared. BYD Han staged a surprise drama, the annual risk volume reached 108732, followed by the Xiaopeng P7, and also gained 60,072 vehicles. To be honest, it is indeed not easy for independent medium- and large-sized cars to achieve this performance and rob BBA of so many existing customers.
In addition, there are also Extreme Kr 001, Polar Fox Alpha S, Weilai ET7, Zhiji L7 and other models have also launched or will soon launch a fierce attack, the BBA that has long ruled the medium and large high-end car market for many years, in the face of the call of new forces, the good drama has just appeared.
【Conclusion】Under the background of the new crown epidemic and the continuous chip famine, the auto market in 2021 is difficult but also difficult to stop the light. Based on this, many people in the industry are optimistic about the 2022 Chinese auto market, including the China Automobile Association and other industry institutions are predicting that in 2022, the total sales of passenger cars will reach 23 million, and new energy will be 5 million. Maybe at this time of 2023, we will summarize the car market in the past year, and there are more points to watch.