[Editor's Note] In recent years, the automotive industry is in the midst of a drastic change, with leaps and bounds almost every year.
Just in the past 2021, new energy vehicles accounted for more than 10% of china's auto market, lidar was installed in mass production models for the first time, Robotaxi officially opened commercialization, and major car companies have released carbon neutral targets...
The time has entered the year of the 2022 non-Yin Tiger, and the automobile travel related industries will continue to step on the waves and accelerate their development.
Yiou Automobile specially launched the special topic of "Nonyin Acceleration - Insight into the Development Trend of the Automobile Travel Industry in 2022" to explore new trends in the capital market, segmentation and product technology related to the automobile travel industry in 2022 for the reference of industry insiders.
This article is the fifth in a special series.
In the past 2021, China's new energy vehicle market ushered in explosive growth.
According to data disclosed by the Ministry of Commerce in mid-January, in 2021, China's new energy vehicle sales increased by 1.6 times year-on-year to 3.521 million units, accounting for 13.4% of new car sales, an increase of 8 percentage points year-on-year.
According to the "Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022" issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Development and Reform Commission and other four departments, in 2022, the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles will decline by 30% on the basis of 2021.
But 2022 is also the last year that China's new energy vehicles will enjoy financial subsidies. Faced with this last opportunity, a large number of car companies decided to invest in heavy new products this year to share the cake. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's new energy vehicle sales are expected to achieve a breakthrough of 5 million units in 2022.
After combing through hundreds of products that will meet consumers in 2022, Yiou Auto has selected the 22 most anticipated smart electric vehicle models. The expectation of these models is not because they have the potential to become blockbusters, but because they all represent new breakthroughs.
From the perspective of powertrain, among the 22 models counted by Yiou Automobile, 17 are pure electric models, accounting for 77.3%. In addition, there are 2 plug-in hybrid models, 1 extended-range hybrid model and 2 models with two power options: extended-range and pure electric.
From the category point of view, the lineup of SUV products is the strongest, accounting for 50%, while the number of cars (including coupe models) is 9, and the remaining 3 models are MPV. From the perspective of countries, 14 models are Chinese brands, and only 8 overseas brand products.
Yiou Automobile divides the above 22 most anticipated products into five major segments. Among them, Chinese brand models occupy three major sectors, namely important products that launch the first shot of new brands, new flagships that help brands continue to advance to a price ceiling, and strategic models that expand new markets for brands; overseas brands are divided into two major sections, namely German brands that explore upward or downward, and American and Japanese models that truly open the era of brand pure electricity.
01 The first shot was fired
Since Tourer NV/Zhiji L7/Sharon Mech Dragon/WEY Dream/Avita 11
Even if it has entered the last year of China's new energy vehicle subsidies, there are still a large number of new energy vehicle brands that have just entered the historical stage.
Just in the middle of January 2022, the first model of Ziyoujia - Ziyoujia NV official map was officially released. The new car is positioned as a medium to large 5-seat SUV, providing pure electric and extended range two powertrains. The release of the official map of the new car has only been one month since The official launch of the electric vehicle brand "Self-Touring Home" by Maverick Electric.
Youjia NV is scheduled to start trial production in March 2022 and be delivered in September. Can the maverick who proves that he can do a good job of two-wheeled electric vehicles use this new car to prove his ability on four-wheeled electric vehicles? September 2022, we will wait and see.
Unlike Xiaoniu Electric, which independently builds its own cars, Alibaba Auto has chosen to cooperate with SAIC, China's largest automobile group, and the zhiji automobile jointly built by the two sides has also received support from the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai's Pudong New Area.
(Since youjia NV and Zhiji L7 / Source: car company official)
As the first model of the Zhiji brand, the Zhiji L7 is positioned as a medium and large sedan, with a 100-kilometer acceleration of 3.87s, a cruising range of 708km, and a 39-inch large horizontal screen, a 12.8-inch central screen, and a lidar version is optional. The new car angel wheel version is priced at 408,800 yuan, has ended booking, and the A round version is accepting reservations.
In 2022, Zhiji Automobile, which is backed by China's leading Internet company, China's largest automobile group and China's most developed city, will officially deliver its first model, zhiji L7, to consumers. Whether Ali's car can usher in a good start depends on the market performance of this new car.
When it comes to lidar, it is necessary to mention the first mass production car "Mecha Dragon" of Salon Motors, which is equipped with the most 4 lidars in the industry.
As the most expensive pure electric model under Great Wall Motors, the Mech Dragon is positioned as a medium and large pure electric sedan, equipped with 38 intelligent sensing elements, with 3.7 seconds of 100 km acceleration, 33 meters of braking distance, and 802 km cruising range. At the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show, Salon Mech Dragon debuted a global limited edition priced at 488,000 yuan. The 101 cars are booked out in less than half a day.
In addition to the large number of configurations, another focus of the Mech Dragon to attract consumers is the strong mecha style design. But the sample size of the limited edition is too small, and the emergence of more versions in 2022 is the time to really test consumers' recognition of the mecha style.
(Salon Mech Dragon and WEY "Dream Realization" Retro Tide Driving / Source: Car Company Official)
Also at the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show, WEY, another high-end brand of Great Wall Motors, also released a new style of model - "Dream Realization" retro tide driving. The mech dragon represents the futuristic, and the dream is full of retro style.
"Dream Fulfillment" positioning medium and large SUV, the theme style of the interior and exterior design seems to be a classic car of the 1940s and 1950s, but the LED headlights and fog lights, the large horizontal screen that runs through the car to the front of the passenger seat tells the sense of technology of this product.
In the future, "Realizing dreams" will also be extended into a new series of car series. The first product of the "Dream Come True" series is expected to meet consumers in the first half of 2022. At that time, we will see whose dreams have come true with retro models.
While Great Wall Motor incubated a new brand internally, Changan Automobile chose to pull the industry's leading enterprises to build a new high-end new energy brand.
In November 2021, Changan Automobile, Huawei, and CATL jointly created the high-end brand Avita (AVATR), and the first model Avita 11 was unveiled.
(Avita 11 / Source: Car Company Official)
For Avita 11, Huawei and Avita will jointly build a full-value chain link such as R&D, channels, services, and ecology to provide full-stack intelligent vehicle solutions, while CATL will provide intelligent electric vehicle power battery technology for new cars to achieve the integrated design of batteries and vehicle chassis.
Avita 11 is equipped with 3 laser radars, 6 millimeter wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, 13 cameras, with 400TOPS computing power, cruising range of more than 700 kilometers, 100 kilometers of acceleration in less than 4 seconds.
Is Avita 11, which combines the strength of three well-known companies, worthy of its own aura? In the second or third quarter of 2022, we will be able to see the difference.
02 Ceiling opening
Hongguang MINIEV Convertible Edition / Kopeng G9 / Ideal X01 / Mocha DHT-PHEV
It's not just the first model of a new brand that's significant, it's also strategic to help brands explore upwards. They determine the brand's price ceiling for at least a few years.
In 2022, the convertible version of the Hongguang MINIEV will be launched. This product will directly pull the ceiling of the convertible from more than 200,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan. But for Hongguang MINIEV, which currently has a price of less than 50,000 yuan, this product has played a role in significantly lifting the ceiling.
(Hongguang MINIEV Convertible Edition / Source: Car Company Official)
Although it will sell more than 420,000 units in 2021, hongguang MINIEV has a very limited profit margin due to the low price. Only when the ceiling is raised, Hongguang MINIEV can launch higher-priced products to increase profits in the future.
The premise of the real increase in the price ceiling is that the Hongguang MINIEV Convertible Edition can harvest enough customers. From now on, this new product has at least gained a lot of heat.
Unlike the Hongguang MINIEV convertible version, the Xiaopeng G9, which will be launched in 2022, is responsible for lifting the price ceiling of the entire Xiaopeng car.
As a medium-sized pure electric SUV equipped with two lidars, the main sales price of the Xiaopeng G9 is expected to hit the 300,000 yuan level upwards, facing the NIO ES6 and the ideal ONE. The current price ceiling of Xiaopeng Automobile is the starting price of Xiaopeng P7 at 224,200 yuan.
In addition to lidar and size upgrades, the Xiaopeng G9 is also the first mass production car equipped with XPower 3.0 power system and XPILOT 4.0 intelligent driving assistance system. In 2021, Xiaopeng Automobile won the sales championship of China's new car-making forces. After the start of delivery in the third quarter of 2022, how much can the Xiaopeng G9 contribute to the increase in sales of Xiaopeng Automobile?
Not only the Xiaopeng G9 is eyeing the ideal ONE, but also the mid-to-high-end brand WEY under Great Wall Motors.
In January 2022, the WEY brand launched the MOCHA DHT-PHEV model. This medium and large SUV with a wheelbase of more than 2.9 meters can achieve a pure electric endurance of more than 200km, and the pre-sale price is about 300,000 yuan.
(Xiaopeng G9 and WEY Mocha DHT-PHEV/Source: Car Company Official)
Thanks to the advent of two-speed DHT motors, the MOCHA DHT-PHEV not only has a longer pure electric endurance, but also achieves significant fuel savings while using only fuel power. It can be said that this point is directly aimed at the biggest shortcoming of the ideal ONE. As a range-extended hybrid model equipped with a large battery pack, the high-speed driving of the ideal ONE is extremely fuel-intensive under the condition of power loss.
At a time when ideal ONE's competitors are increasing, ideal cars' higher-level SUV model X01 has also entered the countdown to mass production.
"X01" is only the model code of this large SUV, and the final name of the new car has not yet been officially announced. Deliveries of the new flagship model of Ideal Motors are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2022.
Judging from the product planning previously released by Ideal Auto, the body size of the Ideal X01 reaches 5150/1980/1800mm, and the wheelbase is 3100mm, which is 120mm, 20mm and 40mm more than the length, width and height of the Ideal ONE, and the wheelbase is lengthened by 165mm. At the same time, the new car will be replaced by a 1.5T four-cylinder engine instead of the 1.3T three-cylinder engine that the ideal ONE is equipped with.
However, a larger size undoubtedly means higher costs and a higher selling price. To reap the popularity of the ideal ONE, the ideal X01 also needs to come up with new selling points.
03 New cake
BYD Sea Lion / Lantu Dreamer / Extreme Kr "EF1E" / Gaohe HiPhi Z / NIO ET7
While some brands continue to explore upwards, some brands have chosen to change opponents or change tracks to try.
In 2022, BYD's "Seafood" series will usher in the most important product - Sea Lion.
In terms of body size, the overall size of BYD Hiace is between the Song PLUS EV and the Tang EV, and the length and wheelbase are slightly better than the Model Y. This means that China's leading new energy vehicle brands have officially begun to set their sights on the hottest models of the world's leading new energy vehicle brands.
In terms of power, Hiace provides three kinds of power, divided into single motor two-wheel drive, dual motor four-wheel drive version, motor power of 160kW, 200kW, 200+160kW, 100 km acceleration time is 7.8/6.3/3.9 seconds, the maximum speed exceeds 180km/h.
("Sea Lion" design prototype - BYD X-dream concept car / Source: car company official)
It is reported that BYD Hiace may be equipped with lidar provided by Huawei, with a cruising range of more than 700 kilometers and a starting price of between 200,000 and 250,000 yuan.
At a time when BYD intends to confront Tesla's Model Y, a new american power in the United States, Lantu, a high-end electric vehicle brand under Dongfeng Group, chose to "shoot" at the commercial MPV Buick GL8 of the veteran American car company General Motors.
In 2022, the second model of the Lantu brand, the "Dreamer", will officially meet with consumers.
Lantu Dreamer positions medium and large MPV, with a length, width and height of 5315mm, 1980mm, 1810mm, wheelbase of 3200mm, and a full range of compact Buick GL8 in size. The new car offers both range extender hybrid and pure electric power, and the economy of use is also more than that of the GL8. This is also the only MPV with dual-power layout in the world.
It is worth mentioning that the Lantu Dreamer four-seater version also provides a retractable Xiaomi TV option package for rear passengers.
(Lantu Dreamer/Source: Car Company Official)
Also eyeing the MPV market is Geely Automobile's new high-end pure electric brand Extreme Kr. According to the previously released product plan, Extreme Kr Automobile will launch an MPV model codenamed "EF1E" in 2022, which is expected to be named Extreme Kr 002.
It is reported that the wheelbase of the "EF1E" will reach 3.3 meters, and the length of the car is expected to exceed 5.1 meters. Although this product has not yet been unveiled, from the test car spy photos, the new car adopts a dual A-pillar design, which will provide drivers with better field of view, reduce blind spots, and retain the family-based split headlight group design.
Although the krypton "EF1E" has not yet been officially unveiled, it has at least begun road testing. The HiPhi Z, which Is about to be brought to market in 2022, is still in the concept car stage.
On November 6, 2021, the second flagship Gaohe Digital GT-HiPhi Z mass production finalized car of the Gaohe brand was officially released.
Gaohe said that Gaohe HiPhi Z is positioned as a medium and large sedan, 95% of the mass production content has been locked, and will open reservations during the Beijing Auto Show in April 2022, and complete mass production delivery in 2022.
In terms of design, Gaohe HiPhi Z also uses mecha elements similar to the concept of Sharon Mech Dragon, but the difference is that the former's digital mecha elements are more sci-fi. Of course, judging from the price of Gaohe HiPhi X, the price of this product will also be much higher than that of the Salon Mech Dragon.
The HiPhi Z is equipped with The HiPhi Pilot Intelligent Driver Assistance System developed by Gaohe. The intelligent assistance system, which has 31 driver assistance sensors including a lidar, will be powered by NVIDIA's next-generation, highest-end car chip, Orin X.
(Gaohe HiPhi Z and NIO ET7 / Source: car company official)
Unlike Gaohe HiPhi Z, which has just debuted in the concept version, NIO's first medium- and large-sized sedan ET7 has been unveiled for more than a year, but it has still not been delivered. At the end of March 2022, the first sedan product of NIO will finally be officially delivered.
The NIO ET7 debuted at NIO Day 2020 held in Chengdu, positioning itself as a medium and large flagship sedan with a vehicle length of more than 5 meters, a wheelbase of more than 3 meters, and a starting price of 448,000 yuan without subsidies.
Due to delivery delays, the biggest rival of NIO's flagship sedan may be its own little brother. Shortly after its debut, THE NIO ET5 basically copied the intelligent technology and model of THE NIO ET7, but the starting price was 120,000 yuan lower.
04 New Ashkenazi frontiers
Volkswagen I.D.Buzz/ Audi e-tron GT/BMW 3 Series Electric Edition/Smart Genie #1
When China's smart electric vehicles have begun to roll inward, the new energy layout of overseas giants has just started.
I.D., a pure electric sub-brand of the Volkswagen brand, will release a new model ID.Buzz on March 9. The new car is the first MPV model of the I.D. brand and a vertical replacement of Volkswagen's legendary MPV Volkswagen T1.
ID.Buzz built on Volkswagen's MEB platform, sharing components with ID.3 and ID.4 electric vehicles. It is reported that the new car will have a single and dual motor configuration and have a range of up to 550 kilometers. In the face of China's new energy MPV, the paper strength of this product is indeed weaker.
In addition to the Volkswagen brand, the Audi brand of the Volkswagen Group will also expand its boundaries in pure electric vehicles.
(Volkswagen I.D.Buzz and Audi e-tron GT/Source: Car Company Official)
According to faw-Volkswagen's plan, Audi's pure electric sports coupe e-tron GT will be officially introduced to the Chinese market in 2022. The new car will also be the second spin-off model after the Audi e-tron sportback.
The Audi e-tron GT is based on the same platform as the Porsche Pure Electric Coupe Taycan, and the body size is also relatively close. The new car is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous drive motor with a maximum power of 434 kW, the cruising range of WLTP conditions may be greater than 400 km, and the acceleration of 0-100 km/h takes only 3.5 s.
For comparison, the Porsche Taycan starts at $888,000. The e-tron GT has the potential to become the price ceiling for Audi's all-electric models. Compared with Chinese rivals such as Weilai ET7, the challenges facing new cars are not small.
Unlike Audi's new model price upward exploration, BMW will launch a new model with a downward price in China.
In 2022, the electric version of the BMW 3 Series (i3) will be produced at the Shenyang plant, becoming BMW's first domestic pure electric sedan. This product will replace the iX3 as the lowest-priced i-series pure electric model of the BMW Group.
In 2021, the pure electric BMW iX3 sold more than 21,000 units in the first full sales year, accounting for more than 40% of bmw group new energy models in China. The lower price BMW i3 makes the BMW Group's new energy vehicle market in 2022 more imaginative.
In terms of the price of pure electric vehicle models, Mercedes-Benz's downward exploration is probably greater than BMW.
(BMW 3 Series Pure Electric Edition and Smart Genie #1 Concept Car / Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Car Company Official)
In 2022, the mass production version of the SUV concept car Genie #1 launched by Mercedes-Benz's mini car brand Smart will officially land on the market. Officially unveiled in September 2021, the concept car is 4290/1910/1698mm in length, width and height, with a wheelbase of 2750mm and a cruising range of about 430km.
In mid-January, the genie #1 mass-produced version of the domestic road test spy photo was exposed. From a design point of view, the production version of the model has a high degree of restoration of the concept car. This new car is the first product launched after the joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely, based on the Geely Haohan platform, and is also the first pure electric platform model under the Smart brand.
The new car will be produced in China by The Smart Motor, a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely, which is also the first Smart model to be produced in China.
05 A new era of the United States and Japan
Cadillac LYRIQ/Toyota bZ4X/Honda e: NP1/Nissan Ariya
When German car companies have begun to land pure electric platform models on a large scale, Japanese brands and American luxury brands have just started in the field of pure electric.
In mid-January, cadillac's first pre-production vehicle, the LYRIQ' first all-electric model, rolled off the production line at its Spring Hill, Tennessee plant. This marks a true delivery capability for the car.
As early as the 2021 Guangzhou International Auto Show, LYRIQ has officially unveiled and released a pre-price of 439,700 yuan. The car is positioned as a medium to large SUV with body dimensions of 5003/1978/1635mm and a wheelbase of 3094mm. In terms of power, the LYRIQ will be equipped with a drive motor with a maximum power of 255 kW and a peak torque of 440 Nm, with a cruising range of up to 650 km.
According to the plan, LYRIQ will be delivered to Chinese users in mid-2022.
(Cadillac LYRIQ /Source: Car Company Official)
Under the trend of pure electric power, American cars are only slightly slower for some brands to respond, while Japanese car companies are lagging behind the trend in an all-round way. Before 2022, Toyota and Honda have not launched any models from pure electric platforms, and Nissan has only had a global pure electric model for a long time.
Among the three major Japanese car companies, the slowest response is Toyota, the largest. But the car company's reaction was also the most intense.
In December 2021, Toyota President Akio Toyoda announced Toyota's new strategic plan: launch a total of 30 electric models by 2030 and plan to contribute $35 billion in revenue.
At the same time, Toyota released 15 new pure electric vehicle models in one go, showing a strong "Evergrande wind". Even Evergrande, which was ridiculed, only released 6 models in one go.
The bZ4X, which will be officially launched in 2022, is the first of Toyota's 15 pure electric models to land. The new car is built based on the Toyota e-TNGA platform, positioning pure electric medium-sized SUVs, and the WLTC has a range of more than 500 kilometers. In 2022, Toyota's two joint ventures in China, FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota, will launch a mass-produced version of the car on the market under different car names.
The earliest reaction to the trend of pure electric is Honda, which also plans to "eat two cars". However, the so-called early response is only two months earlier than Toyota.
In October 2021, Honda China, Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda, two joint ventures in China, jointly held the Honda China Electrification Strategy Conference and released a new intelligent and efficient pure electric platform e:N Architecture.
At the same time, Honda Motor announced that it will launch two pure electric small SUVs, e:NP1 and e:NS1, respectively at Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda. Both models will be equipped with Honda's most advanced HMI system, with a 15.2-inch thin bezel central control screen, and a 10.25-inch color full LCD digital instrument, with a maximum range of more than 500 kilometers.
GUANGQI Honda e: NP1 will be introduced to the market earlier. But Dongfeng Honda e:NS1's MIIT data flowed out earlier. The new car has a length, width and height of 4390/1790/1560mm, and a wheelbase of 2610mm. It is expected that there will be only a slight difference in size between the two.
A month after Honda China announced a shift to electrification, Nissan couldn't hold back.
(Toyota bZ4X, Honda e: NP1 and Nissan Ariya / Source: Car company official)
At the end of November 2021, Nissan announced its Ambition 2030 (Vision 2030) electrification strategy, planning to spend 2 trillion yen (about 112.1 billion yuan) over the next five fiscal years to launch 20 new e-POWER hybrids and pure electric vehicles, and plans to launch 23 new electric models by 2030, including 15 pure electric vehicles.
In 2022, Ariya, based on Nissan's latest CMF-EV platform, will officially land in the global and Chinese markets. As the first product of the all-electric strategy, the new car directly enters the hottest compact SUV market at present, with dimensions between Qashqa and X-Trail.
Nissan Ariya features a dual 12.3-inch screen simulcast design, a Nissan ProPILOT 2.0 driver assistance system, and an X-MODE function developed in conjunction with Subaru, with a WLTC range of 483km.
05 Conclusion:
2022 will be the last year for China's new energy vehicle market to enjoy financial subsidy dividends. Some experts believe that in about three years after the subsidy decline, the entire market pattern will become relatively stable.
In order to occupy as much of consumer minds as possible in the window period before 2025, Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturers have opened an arms race at multiple levels such as sensors, computing power, and endurance. However, from the perspective of any of the above three dimensions, there are almost no "can be beaten" in the new products launched by overseas traditional car companies.
When the brand reputation accumulated over the past hundred years has become a heavy historical burden, how many traditional giants can be left in the global automotive market that has entered the era of intelligent electric vehicles? The era of automobiles belonging to Chinese companies is really near.