Lantu officially announced its entry into Europe: China's new energy vehicles went to sea "in progress"

21st Century Business Herald reporter Du Qiaomei Beijing reported that on February 17, Lantu Automobile and China Dongfeng Motor Industry Import and Export Co., Ltd. signed an agreement to announce its entry into the European market and its first stop in Norway.

According to the plan, in June this year, Landu's first model Landu FREE will be unveiled in Oslo, the capital of Norway, and the first Landu overseas flagship store will be built in the Oslo Palace business district in the center of Oslo; in the fourth quarter of this year, Landu will open the delivery of Lando FREE for Norwegian users.

It is reported that entering the Norwegian market this time is the first step for Lantu to go to the European market. In 2022, Lando will gradually improve its sales and service network in the Norwegian market. In the future, Lantu will gradually enter other European countries and gradually enrich its product layout in Europe.

At present, according to the consumer demand, regulatory requirements and market environment of Norway and other European countries, Lantu Automobile has been developing and testing corresponding products in a targeted manner to better meet European users.

This time, Lantu's overseas model will adopt the form of cooperation with China Dongfeng Motor Industry Import and Export Co., Ltd. According to reports, China Dongfeng Motor Industry Import & Export Co., Ltd. is the first foreign trade company approved by the state in China's automotive industry, and its export trade business covers more than 100 countries and regions in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

According to the data, as the first model under the Lantu brand, The Landu FREE was officially listed in China in June 2021, with a price range of 313,600 to 363,600 yuan, and has been delivered in August 2021. As of December 31, 2021, Lando FREE's cumulative sales volume was 6,791 units.

It is worth mentioning that with the rapid development of the European new energy vehicle market and the improvement of the competitiveness of China's new energy automobile industry, more and more enterprises will aim at overseas markets.

According to the incomplete statistics of the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, since 2020, a number of local new energy vehicle brands, including BYD, Weilai, Xiaopeng, AIWAYS, Euler, skyworth, have successively entered the European market. The industry generally believes that China's new energy vehicle exports have ushered in a better time.

Chinese cars accelerate to sea

After years of development, China has become the world's largest automobile consumer market, but unfortunately, Chinese brand cars have not been recognized enough overseas. China's automobile exports are mainly in economically underdeveloped areas such as Southeast Asia, and have not been able to enter Europe, the United States and other places where the automobile industry is more developed.

However, under the global semiconductor shortage and the supply crisis caused by the shutdown of overseas factories, the Chinese automotive industry, which took the lead in resuming work and production, ushered in new development opportunities.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2021, mainland automobile exports exceeded 2 million for the first time, an increase of 101.1% year-on-year, achieving a breakthrough of about 1 million vehicles that has been hovering around 1 million in the past 10 years.

Specifically, in 2021, SAIC Motor's total annual export volume of passenger cars reached 290,000 units, an increase of 68% year-on-year; Chery's annual automobile export volume reached 269,000 units; Great Wall Motor's export volume was 143,000 units, an increase of 103% year-on-year; Changan Automobile's annual cumulative overseas sales exceeded 110,000 units; Geely Automobile exported 115,000 units, an increase of 58% year-on-year, and its Lynk & Co brand was welcomed in Europe. In addition, Weilai, BYD and others have also brought Chinese electric vehicles to the market of developed European countries such as Norway.

At the same time, the direct investment model has played an important role, with SAIC, Great Wall, Geely and other enterprises building factories overseas, accelerating the promotion and layout of Chinese auto brands in overseas markets.

It is worth mentioning that the development of new energy and intelligent networked vehicles has also brought new opportunities to China's automobile exports, and the export of new energy vehicles has exploded.

In the already coming 2022, Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, expects that the growth rate of mainland automobile exports will be around 20%.

A few days ago, the latest data released by the Association of Passenger Vehicles showed that in January this year, 52,000 new energy vehicles were exported, maintaining strong growth. Among them, Tesla China exported 40,499 vehicles, accounting for about 80% of the total exports of new energy vehicles; SAIC Passenger Vehicles exported 4814 new energy vehicles, Dongfeng EasyJet exported 4267 vehicles, Geely Automobile 444 vehicles, Great Wall Motors 408 vehicles, SAIC Maxus 406 vehicles, BYD 313 vehicles, and other car companies' new energy vehicles are mainly based on the domestic market.

Grab the European new energy vehicle market

On February 17, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released data showing that the top ten countries in China's new energy vehicle export volume in 2021 are Belgium, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, India, Thailand, Germany, France, Slovenia, Australia and the Philippines. In 2021, 424,000 new energy vehicles will be exported to the above ten countries, accounting for 77.8% of the total exports of new energy vehicles. The European market has also become the main incremental market for China's new energy vehicle exports.

In fact, affected by the carbon emission policies of European countries and the subsidy policies of new energy vehicles, the new energy vehicle market in Europe has experienced explosive growth in the past two years, and it will replace China as the largest new energy vehicle market in 2020. In 2021, the sales of electric vehicles in Europe have also achieved gratifying results. A total of 2.332 million electric vehicles were sold in the European market, accounting for 19% of new car sales.

It is understood that in 2022, Germany, France and other European countries will continue to support the sales of electric vehicles through subsidies. Some institutions predict that under the impetus of subsidies, the sales of electric vehicles in Europe will continue to maintain strong growth.

In this context, Chinese new energy automobile companies have set their sights on the European market.

"Europe has the most mature electric vehicle market in the world, and the market is developing rapidly, and the annual penetration rate of electric vehicles in Europe is close to 20%. Now entering the European market, just in time for the best window period, you can take this opportunity to build China's own car brand overseas. Lan Tu said.

In May 2021, NIO released its Norway strategy to build a complete operating system in Norway, including vehicles, services, digitalization and lifestyle processes, and create a community starting from cars. In addition to Oslo, NIO also plans to build four NIO centers in Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Kristiansand in Norway; in 2022, NIO will also build five cities in Norway to replace power stations and plan to enter five European countries.

Taking Norway as the first stop to enter the European new energy vehicle market, whether it is Weilai or Lantu, has the same considerations.

"China's creation is becoming China's core competitiveness, and Chinese auto brands are leading the development of smart electric vehicles in the world. Landu FREE exports to Norway and is the first step for Lando to enter overseas markets. Norway's culture of environmental protection and its high recognition of new energy vehicles provide a good market foundation for Landu FREE to go to sea. Lu Fang, CEO of Lantu Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., said.

It is understood that Norway is currently the country with the highest penetration rate of electric vehicles in the world, once becoming the world's third largest new energy vehicle market, and the world's first "clean country" with annual electric vehicle sales exceeding fuel vehicles, and will directly ban the sale of fuel vehicles in 2025. New car sales in Norway rose 25 percent in 2021 to a record 176276, of which 65 percent were pure electric vehicles, up from 54 percent in 2020. The Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association expects that in 2022, electric vehicle sales will account for 80% of the Norwegian automotive market.

At the same time, Norway has a perfect charging infrastructure, Norway currently has more than 1100 public fast charging stations and 7500 public ordinary charging stations, as an area of 385,000 square kilometers (an area equivalent to Yunnan Province), high-density coverage of the charging network, breaking the Norwegian consumers' anxiety about the range of electric vehicle travel.

In addition, Norway is one of the countries in Europe that pay the most attention to the concept of environmental protection, the Norwegian government not only actively layout charging facilities, but also launched a number of policies to support the transformation of electrification, including exemption from 25% value-added tax on electric vehicles, exemption from import duties and exemption from road maintenance tax, and also provide free municipal parking lots, free road and bridge fees. On the contrary, the purchase of fuel vehicles requires the payment of a wide range of taxes with higher tax rates.

Based on Norway's mountainous and high-altitude geographical characteristics, large-scale new energy SUVs such as Landu FREE and NIO ES8 are also highly competitive.

However, opportunities and challenges coexist. It is not easy for China's new energy vehicles to enter the European new energy vehicle market. As the birthplace of the automotive industry, the European automotive market has always been a difficult market for foreign brands to enter. At the same time, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Renault and other local car companies in Europe have also accelerated the pace of electrification transformation, showing their determination in electrification transformation, and from 2022, a large number of new energy models will be available.

In addition, with the development of intelligent and connected vehicles, countries have increasingly stringent requirements for data security. "Especially for new car manufacturers, for them, the most critical thing is data, including user information, driving data and so on." As long as the smart car carries the chip, who will grasp the collected data? Is the use of data compliant? These issues are potential risks. A few days ago, some insiders familiar with the global auto market said in an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald reporter.

"In the process of China's new energy vehicles going to sea, the risks caused by the stored data of intelligent networked vehicles must be avoided in advance." The above-mentioned industry insiders stressed.