In 1901, in order to please Cixi, Yuan Shikai specially spent 10,000 taels of silver to buy a Mercedes-Benz car from Germany as a birthday gift for Cixi, and the first page of Chinese automobile history was turned.
On July 15, 1956, Changchun First Automobile Manufacturing Plant, China's first automobile manufacturing plant, produced China's first Jiefang brand car, thus ending the history of China's inability to produce cars. This means that all of China's pre-1956 cars needed to be imported.
Due to the late start of China's automobile industry and the relatively weak foundation, neither product power nor brand power can be compared with most foreign automobile brands, and China's automobile industry has entered a difficult growth stage after this. It wasn't until the past 10 years that China's auto industry, which has accumulated a lot of money, has really begun to impress people.
Today, China is not only the world's largest single automobile market, but also the eighth country in the world's automobile export volume, which can be described as a must for the development of the global automobile industry. In Xiao Lei's view, the past 2021 is also the first year of China's new energy vehicles going to sea.
The new forces of car-making went to sea en masse
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to January 2021, China's cumulative exports of passenger cars exceeded 1.793 million units, an increase of 1.1 times compared with last year, of which the proportion of exports of new energy vehicles was particularly prominent.
According to data from the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, China's new energy vehicle export volume in 2021 will be 310,000 among the new energy vehicles exported overseas, and the most popular one is mainly the new car-making force. Although aiways automobile's sales performance in China is tepid, it is a pioneer in exporting overseas.
Since the first batch of exports in May 2020, AIWAYS has successfully landed in 11 countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Sweden, with a cumulative export volume of 2783 vehicles, of which 1676 vehicles were exported in 2021 alone.
Following Aichi, Xiaopeng, Weima, Weilai and other new energy vehicle companies represented by new car-making forces have also gone to sea. In September 2020, with the departure of 100 Xiaopeng G3i from Guangzhou Xinsha Port, the first batch of orders for Xiaopeng Automobile in the European market was officially shipped for export.
In November 2020, WM signed an intention agreement with Uber, Europe's largest ride-hailing operator, to export the WM EX5 to more than a dozen European countries, including the United Kingdom, becoming an optional model for Uber's drivers. Obviously, WM hopes to use the travel market as a breakthrough to open up the new energy vehicle market in Europe.
On September 30, 2021, NIO's flagship SUV ES8 was launched in Norway, and the first overseas NIO center on Karl Johann Avenue in Oslo, The Norwegian capital, was also opened the next day.
In fact, as early as a dozen years ago, SAIC, Chery, Changan and Haval and other traditional car companies have been exported to overseas products, of which SAIC Motor only exported 515,000 vehicles from January to November last year, and its export volume of this car company is already higher than the sales volume of all new energy vehicles in China.
In addition, Chery's export volume reached 269,000 units last year, ranking first in the export volume of Chinese brand passenger cars for 19 consecutive years. You know, chery's annual sales last year were only 96.2 vehicles. This means that exports account for 27.96% of Chery's annual sales.
The traditional fuel vehicles exported from China are mainly sold to third world countries with underdeveloped economies such as South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Russia, or countries with underdeveloped automobile industries.
In Xiao Lei's view, the reason why Chinese brands can have a place in these countries is mainly because the cheap Chinese manufacturing is more suitable for these places, and the new energy vehicles going to sea and the traditional fuel vehicles going to sea are two completely different concepts.
Going to sea to show off your muscles?
Traditional fuel vehicles can run as long as they are refueled, and gas stations, as infrastructure facilities that have been developed for decades, have long been all over the world. In addition, although the mainland's traditional car brands have been working overseas for decades, Chinese cars, which focus on high quality and low prices, will not compete with overseas auto giants with deep roots.
New energy vehicles are different from traditional fuel vehicles, the former has only risen suddenly in recent years, only some countries with economic foundations have the strength to lay out the energy replenishment network of new energy vehicles, and the new energy vehicles exported by the mainland are also targeting these developed countries with strong economic strength.
In the vast overseas market, Europe is the main battlefield for China's new energy vehicles to go to sea. You know, Europe is the birthplace of the automobile, but also the most demanding market for cars on the earth, it has the most sound automobile culture, and there are many strong people.
In the domestic new energy vehicle market, Weilai and Xiaopeng have proved through strong product strength that Chinese car brands will not lose to foreign brands of the same price such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen.
In Xiao Lei's view, the successful entry of new car-making forces into the European market means that chinese car brands no longer only focus on the third world market with high quality and low prices, and Chinese new energy vehicle brands also dare to directly challenge many European century-old car brands that are transforming.
In fact, whether internationally or domestically, China's independent car brands have always been in a weak position, and achieving curve overtaking with the development of new energy vehicles is a major strategy set by the mainland for the development of the automobile industry. Judging from the sales of new energy vehicles in China, China's new energy vehicles have changed the chinese people's perception of Chinese cars.
Corner overtaking is not a closed door, China's new energy vehicles should not only be recognized by the Chinese people, but also should go abroad. Chinese auto brands show global consumers the charm of Chinese cars in the era of new energy vehicles, changing the stereotype of China's auto industry in overseas markets.
It's easy to go to sea, it's hard to stand firm
Although at this stage, China's new energy vehicles have opened the overseas mode, which has launched an impact on the new energy vehicle market in overseas developed countries, but the number of exports is not large. In Xiao Lei's view, there are still many difficulties for mainland auto brands to gain a foothold in overseas markets such as Europe and the United States.
First, brand awareness. The car companies that have launched an impact on the new energy vehicle market in developed countries such as Europe and the United States are mainly new car-making forces. The so-called new car-making forces, that is, the new brands born in recent years to take advantage of the development of new energy vehicles, some new car-making forces even in the domestic brand awareness is not high, especially in the overseas auto market.
As a large commodity worth tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan, brand awareness is crucial for it. Whether it is the Chinese market or overseas markets, there is no shortage of competitive products in various price segments. In fact, even if I let Xiao Lei choose, I will choose products with higher visibility at the same price.
Taking the European market as an example, Germany's Volkswagen ID series model product line has been fully rolled out, and under the support of Volkswagen's brand background and technical background in the automotive field, their performance in the European new energy vehicle market is like a bamboo, which can be called Tesla's number one strong enemy.
According to the 2021 global sales data released by the Volkswagen Group, of the nearly 4.9 million new car sales, Volkswagen's new energy vehicles contributed 390,000 units, of which 263,000 were pure electric vehicles. In addition, Europe, as the base camp of the Volkswagen Group, the Volkswagen ID series models have been stationed in the front row of the European electric vehicle sales rankings, and the Volkswagen Group has accumulated orders for 95,000 ID series models.
However, the Volkswagen Group is just one of many European companies that are actively transforming new energy vehicles. According to data released by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, in the German electric vehicle market, the market share of traditional car brands such as Volkswagen, Renault and Hyundai is close to 2/3. In addition, Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory is also put into operation. These car companies will become strong competitors for China's new energy vehicles to enter the European market.
Note: The material for this article comes from the Internet