New energy vehicle companies grab the "big cake" of the market segment

From millennials to "Generation Y" and "Generation Z", the sales layout and brand positioning of various new energy vehicle companies show that domestic new energy vehicle companies are "resonating with the same frequency" with the urbanization process and accelerating the "big cake" of the market segment.

The new energy vehicle market has undergone profound changes

2021 is undoubtedly a "blowout year" for new energy vehicles, and various car companies have also announced their market sales.

A few days ago, SAIC-GM-Wuling announced that as of December 31, 2021, the overall sales volume of Hongguang MINI EV exceeded 550,000, of which the cumulative sales volume of the whole year of 2021 426452 units, winning the annual sales of new energy.

Luo Jing, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of Guangxi Normal University, said: "'Three closeness' is the key to SAIC-GM-Wuling's ability to quickly attack the city in the field of new energy vehicles. After that, new energy brands including Weilai, Ideal, Chery, Jianghuai, Dongfeng, Geely, Changan and so on have also rushed into this track. ”

Fu Deshen, an expert who has been studying the changing trend of mainland consumption for many years and a professor at Guilin Tourism Institute, believes that since 2015, with the young consumers of the "millennial generation" (adulthood after 2000), the "Y generation" (born from 1983 to 1995) and the "Z generation" (born in 1995 to 2000) becoming the main force of the market, the mainland new energy vehicle market has begun to undergo profound changes, from the past focus on "practical", "durable" and "economical", to newer, faster and more personalized" Small fresh" direction of development.

This trend precisely reflects the trend of "rapid transformation of the track" in the mainland automobile market. From 2015 to 2019, the sales of traditional fuel vehicles continued to decline, at the same time, new energy vehicles rose rapidly: on the one hand, some brands represented by Tesla insisted on taking the "high-end route" and became the leader in the medium and large new energy vehicle market; on the other hand, more brands represented by the above automobile-GM-Wuling and Great Wall Euler were close to life, close to the people, and close to the times, through the way of smaller models, lighter travel, and more novel forms. It quickly gained the favor of China's younger generation.

Taking the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with strong purchasing power as an example, the "Insight Report on the Population of New Energy Car Owners in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" recently released by well-known data service providers shows that among the new energy car owners in the Greater Bay Area, the new energy car owners aged 18 to 34 account for nearly 60%, of which the proportion of young people aged 18 to 24 is 4.85%, which is higher than the proportion of car owners in the national new energy car owners and high-end fuel car owners in the Greater Bay Area, showing that young people in the Greater Bay Area prefer new energy vehicles.

"Internet + her economy" has become the core of competition

At the beginning of 2022, data from many car companies such as Euler, Wuling, Ideal, and Weilai showed that female car owners became the main buyers of small new energy vehicles in major cities.

According to the data of the Association, A00-class micro-electric vehicles are popular, and in the A0-class car sales rankings, Wuling, Fit, Chery eQ, Euler Good Cat and so on are at the forefront.

Xu Yi, a doctor of global economic history at Utrez University in the Netherlands, believes that there is a close relationship between the Internet and consumer groups of "organic integration", and the pace of urbanization in China is also prompting the automobile industry to shift from the traditional "funnel type" to the "hourglass type", and the automobile sales have been upgraded from a generation life cycle to an iterative life cycle. "This means that if you can't quickly, accurately and efficiently launch car companies that meet the needs of Internet services and major consumer groups, they are likely to miss the 'big cake' of the new energy vehicle market."

In addition, with the popularity of the "she economy", more and more car companies have begun to cater to female consumer groups. At present, for female drivers or female passengers, many brands have launched exclusive configurations.

In the industry's view, the main selling point of Hongguang MINI EV is that the body is small, easy to open and park, cute appearance, high appearance, these points have accurately hit the pain points of female users, and the reason why Euler can "run" in the forefront of the new energy vehicle market is precisely because it firmly grasps the hearts of female consumers.

It is reported that SAIC-GM-Wuling, on the basis of the great success of Hongguang MINI EV, once again innovatively launched the Baojun KiWi EV model to meet the needs of young people, especially young women.

Domestic car companies focus on "lane change overtaking"

The market performance in 2021 has made the industry generally optimistic about the sales volume of the new energy vehicle market. A few days ago, the China Automobile Association and the China Automobile Association set the annual sales targets of new energy vehicles in 2022 at 5 million and 6 million vehicles respectively, which was significantly higher than the previous forecast target.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, said: "According to the previous market law, the consumer market will seize the last opportunity of the new energy vehicle subsidy policy to purchase cars to enjoy the preferential treatment of the subsidy policy, especially in the second half of this year, there is a high probability that there will be a new energy vehicle rush market." In this context, I think the new energy vehicle market will bring greater surprises to people this year. ”

The "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" previously issued by the State Council proposes that by 2025, the competitiveness of the mainland new energy vehicle market will be significantly enhanced, and the sales volume of new energy vehicles will reach about 20% of the total sales of new vehicles. It is foreseeable that policy changes have prompted the new energy vehicle market to perform more actively. The industry generally believes that the domestic new energy vehicle market share is expected to climb to 20% in advance.

In addition to market share, under the framework of new technologies, new models and new ecology, the innovation speed of domestic car companies is also accelerating, and more new consumption scenarios are being excavated. It is not difficult to analyze the success of brands such as Ideal, Euler, saic-GM-Wuling and other brands, and it is not difficult to find that it is precisely because of the precise layout of different subdivision tracks that these car companies have not only created a new consumption scenario, but also brought good market performance.

Fu Bingfeng, secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that the competition in the domestic automobile market is becoming increasingly fierce, forcing car companies to accelerate their transformation in order to gain consumer recognition. In a sense, today's new car market highlights the "user first" consumption concept, so that independent brands must pay attention to products and services.

Therefore, many people in the industry believe that in the face of changing markets and demands, whether it is the traditional car companies moving towards the new energy field, or the sudden emergence of new car manufacturing forces, it is a brave attempt by Chinese car companies to "change lanes and overtake" in the field of new energy, and the next 5 to 10 years will become a key period for global new energy vehicle standard competition, format competition and brand competition.

Author: □ reporter He Fenglun and Li Tangning reported in Beijing

Source: Economic Reference