Less than a month before the launch of new energy vehicle insurance, the new domestic new energy car-making forces represented by Weilai can't wait to grab the blue ocean.
According to Tianyan, on January 19, NIO Insurance Brokers Co., Ltd. was established (hereinafter referred to as "NIO Insurance Brokers") with a registered capital of 50 million yuan and 100% controlled by NIO Holdings Co., Ltd. This also announces that after Tesla, Weilai will also cut into the car insurance track in the form of setting up an insurance brokerage company.
It is particularly noteworthy that Weilai is also the first new energy vehicle company in China to set up an insurance brokerage company. Previously, Xiaopeng Automobile had established an insurance agency company in July 2018.
In fact, for the move of Weilai to set up an insurance brokerage company, the market has long expected that at the end of 2021, when the first batch of new energy exclusive car insurance is launched, in response to the increase in premiums of some models, Weilai has specifically stated that "the possibility of setting up Weilai automobile exclusive insurance products is being evaluated."
However, from the perspective of layout speed, Weilai's rapid action still surprised the market. Launching the "first shot" of weilai to enter the car insurance in 2022, why is it so urgent, and what logic is worth thinking about behind it, which may be a new point of view that cannot be ignored in the new energy vehicle insurance market in 2022.
Domestic head players enter
Weilai wants to get its first insurance brokerage license?
Judging from the industrial and commercial registration information, NIO has set up this insurance brokerage company in its headquarters in Hefei, China. In terms of business scope, it mainly covers insurance brokerage business, insurance agency business, insurance concurrently agency business, and exclusive insurance agency business and insurance valuation business within the scope of insurance company authorization.
It is worth mentioning that the legal representative, executive director and general manager of NIO Insurance Brokers is Qu Yu, the current vice president of finance of NIO Automobile, who is currently mainly responsible for the financial control and management of NIO, and directly reports to Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO.
Whether it is from the perspective of the high initial registered capital, the location of the place of registration or the choice of the legal representative, it is not difficult to feel the importance that WEIlai attaches to this insurance brokerage company.
In fact, the layout of insurance business by automobile companies is not a new thing in China, such as the establishment of Zhongcheng Insurance as a controlling shareholder by GAC Group as early as 2011, and SAIC Motor Group also has a SAIC Motor Insurance Sales Company. In March 2021, Geely Holdings was also approved to take a stake in Hezhong Property & Casualty Insurance.
However, compared with traditional car companies, new energy car companies that are still in the early stage of market development do not have many involved in the insurance field, and as of now, only Xiaopeng Automobile officially obtained an insurance agency license in 2018.
However, with the continuous growth of new energy vehicle sales and the acceleration of the promotion process of new energy vehicle insurance, the enthusiasm of new energy vehicle companies in laying out the automobile insurance business has increased significantly.
On August 6, 2020, Tesla, a new energy vehicle giant from the other side of the ocean, preemptively registered an insurance brokerage company in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone through its subsidiary Tesla Motors Hong Kong Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 50 million yuan.
Now, after Tesla, WEILAI has also followed up with a registered insurance brokerage company, which also marks that Weilai has become the first new energy vehicle company in China to lay out insurance brokerage licenses.
However, from business registration to regulatory approval, it is likely that there will be a long waiting period.
In the view of professionals, there is still a certain difference between the registered insurance brokerage company of the car company and the establishment of an insurance agency company. The former is more inclined to represent the interests of customers and facilitate deeper product customization cooperation with traditional insurance companies in the future, while the latter means that insurance companies have more say.
Of course, as the representative of the head domestic new energy vehicle company, in the follow-up competition to grab the license, whether Weilai can be approved before Tesla has also become a major attraction.
The project manager of new energy vehicle insurance of a large property insurance company said bluntly to "A Smart Insurance" that from the perspective of industry competition and regulatory risk control, as a domestic new energy vehicle company, WEIlai is expected to have a better advantage in the speed of license approval.
New energy vehicle insurance is online
Cost control will become the core demand
Just as the so-called "no profit is not early", behind weilai's huge investment in the establishment of insurance brokerage companies, there must be its reasonable business intentions. From the perspective of core demands, new energy vehicle companies that put user experience first undoubtedly expect to achieve the level of customer satisfaction as much as possible in terms of insurance services.
But the reality is that the right to speak in the pricing of car insurance has always been in the hands of professional insurance companies. In the face of new energy vehicles with high insurance rates, expensive maintenance, and easy loss-losing underwriting, insurance companies are often "daunted".
According to China Bancassurance data, from 2016 to the first half of 2020, the overall insurance frequency of new energy vehicles was 3.6% higher than that of non-new energy vehicles, and the insurance rate of household new energy vehicles was even higher than that of non-new energy vehicles by 9.3%.
Of course, even if the insurance company is willing to underwrite, it will also increase the self-pricing coefficient and increase the premium to avoid the potential risk of loss. This is also the reason why the premiums of some new energy models have risen to varying degrees after the launch of new energy vehicle insurance. NIO also made a special statement, saying that it is "evaluating the possibility of establishing a captive insurance product for NIO Motor".
Although under the hot discussion of the rise in new energy vehicle insurance premiums, insurance companies have subsequently made price adjustments quickly, and the level of public opinion has gradually returned to rationality, this obviously cannot fundamentally solve the "anxiety" of new energy vehicle companies in a passive position in insurance pricing, after all, high maintenance costs and high insurance rates are difficult to improve in a short period of time.
From the perspective of the premium level of customized car insurance that Tesla has launched, it is indeed more preferential than the product price of traditional insurance companies, and in some cases, the preferential rate of Tesla car insurance can even be as low as 30%. In fact, this also provides a reference experience for the majority of domestic new energy vehicle companies to study exclusive customized car insurance.
It is reported that as far as the current insurance services provided by WEILAI are concerned, Weilai is mainly presented in the form of insurance worry-free service packages, the main content of which is that customers purchase products from cooperative insurance companies through WEIlai to purchase traffic, three, and car damage insurance, while attaching a series of maintenance and other service rights and interests, priced at "insurance cost + 1680 yuan / year" Of Weilai exclusive services.
However, the project manager of the new energy vehicle insurance of the above-mentioned property insurance company also told "A Smart Insurance" that if the insurance company wants to truly achieve underwriting profits, it is still necessary to make up for the underwriting risk of the main insurance by allowing customers to insure additional insurance.
Build a business closed loop
Broaden the competitive moat
In addition to meeting user needs and improving user experience, car insurance, as a sustainable "business", is also an important factor coveted by new energy vehicle companies. The general consensus in the market is that the layout of the auto insurance business of new energy vehicle companies is conducive to building a commercial closed loop and enhancing their competitive advantage in the industry.
The auto insurance insight report (2021 edition) released by the E-Car Research Institute pointed out that in the first three quarters of 2021, in the auto insurance business, the users who purchased insurance products of 2001-3000 yuan were the most, accounting for 43.01%, and the proportion of 3001-10000 yuan relative to high-quality users was 39.53%, and the willingness of this group to buy car insurance directly operated by car companies was the strongest.
The report believes that although car companies are still in the marginal zone of the insurance industry, based on the analysis of internal and external factors such as the consumption upgrade of the car market and the increase in high-quality customers, it is basically predicted that car companies will usher in a golden period of development of car insurance business in 2021-2030, not only is the premium income expected to increase rapidly, but also has the ability to build a new ecology with the characteristics of car companies and become a new force in the insurance industry.
In addition, many professionals also believe that in the context of the increasingly fierce competition in the new energy vehicle market, if new energy vehicle companies can provide better insurance services, it will help increase customer stickiness and promote the sales of their models.
Judging from the 2021 new energy passenger car brand sales list released by Yiou, WEILAI ranked ninth among the top ten car companies, with annual sales of 91,000 units, an increase of 109.1% year-on-year, while Xiaopeng Automobile delivered 98,200 units throughout the year, a sharp increase of 275.2%. Some industry insiders pointed out that this means that Weilai Automobile is losing the throne of the first new car-making force.
However, no matter what the specific reason for the decline in Weilai's sales rankings, if it can be better in car insurance services in the future, it will be a big "plus".
The east wind of policy is gradually rising
New energy vehicle companies seize the opportunity
In fact, while Weilai registered and established an insurance brokerage company, it was also accompanied by the landing of many favorable policies.
Not long ago, in response to the rise in the premiums of some new energy models, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Association, spoke out to encourage vehicle companies to establish their own insurance varieties, expand the insurance business of vehicle companies, and establish their own low-premium insurance system supported by data.
Cui Dongshu also called for the state to give effective support to some problems in the insurance of new energy vehicles, so as to prevent the situation that new energy vehicles can afford but cannot afford to use due to the high price of new energy vehicle insurance, which is also conducive to the faster development of the new energy vehicle industry.
It is not difficult to see that from the perspective of the promotion of new energy vehicles, new energy vehicle companies represented by Weilai also have policy support for the establishment of their own exclusive car insurance.
In addition, from the perspective of the development prospects of new energy vehicles, on January 21, the National Development and Reform Commission and other seven departments issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting Green Consumption", which also proposed to vigorously promote new energy vehicles, gradually cancel the purchase restrictions of new energy vehicles in various places, promote the implementation of support policies such as free travel restrictions and right of way, strengthen the construction of supporting infrastructure such as charging and replacing, new energy storage, and hydrogenation, and actively promote the development of LNG for vehicles and ships.
A few days ago, the State Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan" energy conservation and emission reduction comprehensive work plan also proposed that it is necessary to increase the proportion of new energy vehicles used in urban buses, taxis, logistics, sanitation and cleaning vehicles, and by 2025, the sales volume of new energy vehicles will reach about 20% of the total sales of new cars.
According to the China Automobile Association, the total sales volume of China's automobile market in 2022 will reach about 27.5 million vehicles, an increase of 5% year-on-year. If it maintains a growth rate of 5% per year, by 2025, the total sales volume of the mainland automobile market will exceed 30 million, and the sales of new energy vehicles are expected to exceed 6 million, almost doubling the sales volume compared with 2021.
As a result, with the gradual cancellation of new energy vehicle purchase restrictions in the future, the application and popularization of new energy vehicles will accelerate and expand, and if new energy vehicle companies can advance the layout in the field of automobile insurance, they can also benefit from the business in this sector at the same time.
Everything is predetermined, and if it is not predetermined, it is abolished. Weilai New Year launched the first shot into the car insurance market, or this is exactly the truth.