"SAIC Motor has ranked first in overseas sales of Chinese car companies for six consecutive years, and 'SAIC Intelligent Manufacturing' has entered more than 80 overseas countries and regions." On February 17, as the representative of China's automobile manufacturing industry and the main force of the "Made in Shanghai" brand, SAIC Motor announced that it will launch China's first intelligent electric "global car" within this year and take the lead in listing in Europe. At the same time, the European market will become SAIC's first overseas "100,000-vehicle" market.
Behind the "100,000-class" figure is SAIC's determination to prosper to the sea and to the sea. Yu De, assistant to the president of SAIC Motor, revealed that in the future, the MG brand will strive to rank among the top ten single brands in the world.
The New York Times — China is trying to become
A significant player in the global automotive market
The strong performance of China's new energy vehicles in the European market has attracted the attention of many foreign media. Recently, the New York Times pointed out that the arrival of Chinese automakers comes at a time when the penetration rate of electric vehicles has surged, electric vehicles account for nearly 10% of new car sales in Western Europe, and consumers have accumulated savings during the epidemic and they are willing to buy. At the same time, traditional European automakers are cutting production due to chip shortages.
MG already has 350 distributors in 16 European countries and is still expanding. Two other Chinese automakers, NIO and BYD, are entering Europe through Norway, the world's largest electrification market. Great Wall Motors also announced plans to start selling a battery-powered compact sedan and a hybrid SUV in Europe in 2022. Since 2020, Polestar, which is based in Sweden but controlled by China's Geely, has been selling a Chinese-made battery-powered model in Europe and the United States.
SINCE 1984, MG's owner SAIC has been Volkswagen's partner in China. Now, the group is moving into Volkswagen's core market. THE ZS, a small electric SUV sold by MG in Europe, starts at 30,420 euros, or about 225,320 yuan. If you include government incentives for electric vehicles, they can probably be bought for 24,000 euros. This is also 4000 euros cheaper than Volkswagen's ID.4.
"The sous chef is going to open his own restaurant." Analyst Matthias Schmidt said. SAIC said in a statement that cooperation with Volkswagen remains a "win-win strategic partnership."
Julian Emrich, a dealer north of Stuttgart, Germany, said cheap electric cars were already in short supply. "A lot of people are interested, but there's no product, at least not a normal price."
Chinese automakers brand themselves as international brands and downplay their origins. MG designed cars in London, thus retaining some of its British character. NIO's global design center is located in Munich, and Polestar's headquarters are located in Gothenburg, Sweden, near Volvo Cars, which is also owned by Geely. (Excerpt from The New York Times: "China is striving to become a significant player in the global auto market")
Creating the first "Global Car"
"Tailor-made" for overseas markets
The more we are in the automotive industry, the more we must seize the rare window period.
"The rapid development of the smart electric vehicle market has given us the opportunity to compete with world brands." Yu De said. For SAIC, this is a period of strategic opportunity to promote the high-quality development of overseas business.
According to the data, in 2021, SAIC Motor's overseas sales reached 697,000 units, an increase of 78.9% year-on-year. Among them, independent brands account for more than 60% of overseas sales. The MG brand has become the main force of SAIC's "going to sea": last year, the brand's global delivery volume exceeded 470,000 units, ranking among the top ten single brands in 17 countries around the world.
In overseas markets, for every three Chinese cars sold, one is made by SAIC. "This year, SAIC will accelerate the launch of new products. Among them, the MG EH32, which is 'tailor-made' for overseas markets, will be the first to be released in the European market. Yu De said.
There is no doubt that mg EH32 is regarded as a "fist product" of SAIC's integration of local advantageous resources aimed at the global market.
In fact, from the beginning of the project, MG EH32 has undergone global market research, including the exclusive architecture of electric vehicles, intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving, etc. Innovative technologies have been widely applied to this car, thus creating a new product that meets the high standards of the global market. Yu De said, "It can be said that this is the first 'global car' in China's automotive industry built by SAIC. ”
Create the first "100,000-vehicle" market
Become a "Global Player"
"We're almost all two or three people carrying bags and going out into the world." Liu Xinyu, deputy general manager of SAIC Europe, said. Last year, the team overcame the covid-19 pandemic and tripled sales of the MG brand in continental Europe.
In 2022, SAIC's overall overseas sales are expected to reach a new level, and will accelerate the promotion of "European Raiders": this year, European sales will reach 120,000 vehicles, and the number of marketing service outlets will be expanded to 1200. This means that Europe will become SAIC's first overseas "100,000-vehicle" market.
"From MINI (micro-car) to SUVs to light passenger products, SAIC has a complete product spectrum, which is our confidence in opening up overseas markets." Yu De introduced that at present, SAIC has more than 30 independent brand new energy vehicles competing in overseas markets. Among them, the MG brand focuses on the passenger car market, and the MAXUS brand focuses on the commercial vehicle field.
In Mexico, the SUV model MG RX8 has only been sold for three months, and it has become a local hit, with a market share of 7.9%; in just 14 months after entering the local market, the MG brand has become the first Chinese brand in the Mexican market.
In the future, SAIC's main models in overseas markets will focus on electric smart models. "Overseas market space is vast, and 'internationalization' is SAIC's long-term strategy." Yu De said.
Strengthen supply chains
The hand with the world is tighter
Last year, the global automotive industry faced many challenges such as the epidemic and lack of cores. But Riveting has set a goal, and SAIC will go all out.
Previously, affected by the epidemic and the Suez Canal accident, the Baltic Composite Freight Rate Index quickly climbed from a pre-epidemic low of $700 to a record high of more than $7,000, or even $10,000. Not only is the freight price expensive, but also the shortage of capacity, containers, ro-ro ships are difficult to find, a ship is difficult to find.
In order to cope with the challenge, SAIC has deployed some domestic trade ships from its own fleet SAIC Anji Logistics to foreign trade, and has also opened more European routes during the epidemic period, and has so far successfully built 6 international routes in Southeast Asia, Mexico, South America and West, europe, etc., providing cross-ocean logistics support for the Chinese and even global automotive industries, which has also become the "resilience" guarantee for SAIC to go to sea.
In fact, in the past year, SAIC's overseas sales performance is enough to prove its "hard power". The reason why it was able to turn the crisis into an opportunity and achieve good results, Yu De said, is that SAIC has played a role in the layout of "going out" in the past few years. Because to achieve the "whole industry chain" to go to sea, it is not a one-time effort.
After experiencing the exploration period of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" and the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", SAIC Motor has initially established a set of automobile industry chain integrating research and development, marketing, logistics, parts, manufacturing, finance, and second-hand cars. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, it will gradually form a system and become SAIC's "all-round, all-weather system" in overseas markets.
Running on the new track, SAIC, facing the sea, embraces the future.