At the beginning of each year, when the three new car-making forces of "Wei Xiaoli" are excited to release the sales performance announcement of the previous year, people's eyes are focused on the front-line camp of the new car-making forces. However, there are already dark horses in the second-tier camp, and WeiMa, Zero Run, and Nezha are trying to catch up later. Moreover, Gaohe Automobile, which began to be officially launched in the second quarter of 2021, also showed strong aggression from the beginning.
According to the latest collected data, among the three major new car-making forces in 2021, the highest sales volume is Xiaopeng Automobile, with annual sales of 98,155 vehicles, nearly 4 times that of 2020; NIO's annual sales of 91,429 vehicles, more than twice that of 2020; and the ideal sales of 90,491 vehicles, nearly 3 times that of 2020.
Xiaopeng Motors is the biggest winner in 2021, mainly due to the fact that Xiaopeng's P7 sales are very hot, while its P5 sales are also steadily rising. In contrast, NIO's ES6, ES8 and EC6 models did not show explosive growth. Ideal has always had only one ideal ONE model, but last year's sales growth rate was also very amazing.
However, in the second camp, the performance of the new three major forces is also very eye-catching. In 2021, Nezha sold 69,674 vehicles, more than 4 times that of 2020. WM sold 44,157 units, nearly twice as many as in 2020. Zero-run cars sold 43,121 units, nearly four times more than in 2020. Because of the short launch time, Gaohe Automobile has no reference for the time being, but Gaohe Automobile is positioned in the high-end market, and its HiPhi will press brands such as Aichi and Hechuang as soon as it is listed, fully demonstrating its growth potential.
Obviously, in the second camp, Nezha Motors is the most likely member to join the first camp. If Nezha Automobile continues to maintain the rapid growth momentum of last year this year, then it will be able to directly challenge "Wei Xiaoli" this year. In addition, the growth rate of zero-run cars is also very impressive, and it will not be long before there is a chance to be promoted to the first camp.
In the second camp, Nezha Car performed the most prominently, followed by zero-run cars. However, this phenomenon is mainly related to the sales strategy of enterprises.
Nezha Automobile's N01 began selling in October 2018, with a market price of 60,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan. Looking at the country, this price is relatively small. However, because of the low-end positioning at the beginning, it is easier to cut into the market. The reason is the same as the previous popular Wuling Hongguang. However, although low-end brands can quickly seize the market, the follow-up force is certainly insufficient. Because the entry threshold of the low-end market is low, the competition is fierce, and it is easy to fall into the vortex of price war. To this end, Nezha listed the second mass production car Nezha U in March 2020, with a market price of 140,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan, and its benchmark is WM Auto EX5. However, the sales of Nezha are still supported by low-cost models, and the price of low-cost cars is lower than that of the first N01.
The first production car of a zero-run car was the S01. Moreover, the S01 is not an SUV that new car-making forces are keen on, but a small pure electric car, with a market price of between 100,000 yuan and 150,000 yuan. Zero-run cars employ a misplaced competitive strategy. Avoid the competitive SUV battlefield and cut in from the sedan instead. However, the facts are positive, this strategy of zero running is a failure, and it is not unreasonable for the new car-making forces to abandon the car. S01 was a flash in the pan, and the first battle was lost. In 2020, Zero Run chose the right path and launched the second mass production car, T03, which is a micro SUV with a market price of about 70,000 yuan. This car is also the main model of the current zero-run.
WM Motors' first mass-produced model was the EX5, which was named the most popular model in 2021, with the market price between 100,000 yuan and 200,000 yuan. After that, WM has successively launched new models such as EX6 and W6. However, although the iteration speed of WM's products is fast, the sales growth rate is obviously not as good as that of Nezha and Zero Run. This is still related to its pricing strategy. WM Motors' positioning is a low-end market, directly fighting with Xiaopeng and Ideal, and it may be too early for a brand in the second-tier camp to directly challenge the opponents of the first-tier camp.
The strategy of Gaohe Automobile is different from the above three, one is to position the high-end market, and the market pricing of HiPhi is more than 350,000 yuan. This means that Gaohe Auto directly challenges Weilai Automobile. As a rising star, Gaohe has shown strong potential as soon as it comes up, and the current competition in the high-end market is not fierce, and it is unknown whether Gaohe can break out of the cold.
According to the report data released by the third-party agency LandRoads Research, in the domestic new energy vehicle market, the better reputation is still the old car companies. In the first-line camp, the gap between ideal cars and the other two is more obvious. In the second-tier camp, on the contrary, the reputation of Gaohe Automobile is better, and the attention of Weima, Zero Run, and Nezha is significantly lower.
Of course, the data in this report will be slightly biased because of the differences in the respondents. For example, the main customer groups of Nezha Automobile are concentrated in third- and fourth-tier cities, while the research objects focus on first- and second-tier cities. Therefore, differences in survey respondents lead to differences in results.
However, on the other hand, this also means that in the domestic middle class, the new car-making forces in the second-tier camp still need to increase their promotion efforts and build brand awareness. In just over half a year, Gaohe Automobile's brand value has reached the same degree as THAT of GAC Aean and Extreme Krypton, and it is close to the ideal of the first-line camp. Relatively speaking, the development potential of Gaohe Automobile is greater than that of "Wei Zero Na".
The second-tier players in these new car-making forces are keeping up with the first-tier faction. In the traditional concept, these second-tier brands have a big gap with the first camp in terms of sales, technology, and brand. But maybe a batch of unexpected dark horses will suddenly emerge. Just like the e-commerce market that was previously chartered by Ali and JD.com, everyone originally thought that the market had been preempted, but Pinduoduo suddenly emerged and became the third force in the e-commerce industry.
For these second-tier players, it's important to note that they have to catch up with the first camp before the incremental era ends. Once the incremental era of new energy vehicles ends, the market will inevitably enter a brutal stage of stock fighting. At that time, the reshuffle tide of the entire industry must be bottom-up. The last to survive are often the players of the first-line camp.
Editor-in-charge: Huang Shengjun
Layout design: Lin Han
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