The Chinese auto corps went to sea to "wrestle" the European market

In the face of multiple tests such as the epidemic and "lack of core", the growth momentum of China's automobile exports is still rapid.

According to statistics released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in January 2022, mainland auto companies exported 231,000 vehicles, an increase of 3.8% month-on-month and 87.7% year-on-year. Among them, the export growth contribution of new energy vehicles was 43.7%.

In the territory of the overseas journey of china's automobile corps, Europe is becoming a key area for various car companies to compete for layout. On February 17, SAIC Motor Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "SAIC Motor", 600104.SH) announced that it will fully develop the European market in 2022, and the sales of its own brands MG and MAXUS in Europe are expected to reach 120,000 units.

Also on February 17, Lantu Automobile, a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Dongfeng"), also announced that it has officially entered the European market, and its first stop will land in Norway, becoming the first brand of the "national team" of new energy vehicles.

According to the incomplete statistics of the "China Business Daily" reporter, in addition to mainstream car companies such as SAIC Motor and Dongfeng Company, Weilai Automobile, Aiways Automobile and Xiaopeng Automobile among the new domestic car-making forces will also extend their tentacles overseas, and most of them will be located in Norway in Europe as the first station for testing the waters and exporting to overseas markets.

In the view of Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, the biggest feature of China's new energy vehicles is that the market competitiveness is gradually increasing, and the competitive advantage is becoming more and more obvious. "The entry of Chinese car companies into the European market not only represents the increasingly perfect Chinese automobile manufacturing system, but also shows that the market competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing is gradually increasing."

Reverse export to Europe

In the development of the modern automobile industry for more than 100 years, Europe, as the origin of the automobile, has always maintained a pivotal position in the global automotive market.

At the same time as the rapid development of the domestic market, china's automobile corps has also begun to enter overseas markets, and all of them will target the European market in the main direction of export overseas. "For every three Chinese cars sold overseas, 1 is made by SAIC." As a leading enterprise in the domestic automotive industry, SAIC Motor is becoming one of the typical representatives of China's automobile corps going to sea.

The reporter noted that in 2021, SAIC Motor's overseas sales have ranked first among domestic car companies for 6 consecutive years. Especially in the European market, SAIC's own brands MG and MAXUS have sold 73,000 units in developed countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Sweden, of which more than 40,000 new energy vehicles have been sold and more than 800 marketing service outlets have been sold.

It is understood that in the face of the hot Sales of the European new energy vehicle market, SAIC Motor will launch "global car" MG EH32 and other new energy vehicle products this year, planning to expand the marketing service outlets to 1200, while accelerating the promotion of "European Raiders" and building the first "100,000-car" overseas regional market.

"MG EH 32 is a new electric vehicle tailored for the European market, with a length of about 4.2 to 4.3 meters, built with a vehicle architecture, which is also the first time that SAIC has applied the latest architecture in overseas products." Yu De, assistant to the president of SAIC, general manager of the international business department of SAIC Group and general manager of SAIC International, said that SAIC Motor will also have a number of new cars listed in the European market this year, and the investment in the European market will gradually increase in the next few years.

On the same day that SAIC Announced that it was accelerating its promotion of the "European Strategy", Landu Automobile announced that it had officially entered the European market and its first stop would be in Norway. It is understood that in June 2022, Landu FREE will make its debut in Norway, and the official delivery is expected that in the fourth quarter of 2022, the first Landu overseas flagship store will open in the center of Oslo, the capital of Norway.

Lu Fang, CEO of Landu Automobile, said: "Landu FREE export to Norway is the first step for Lando Automobile to enter overseas markets. After that, Lantu Automobile will gradually enter other European countries, and gradually enrich its product layout overseas, with innovative technology and service experience, to meet and lead the European consumer demand for high-quality intelligent electric travel. ”

Seize the market opportunity

According to the data, in 2021, the mainland completed sales of 3.521 million new energy vehicles, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years.

"With the growth of electrification demand, the European new energy vehicle market is somewhat close to the domestic market, with sales increasing by about 20% per year, and the growth rate is also very fast." Similar to China, the entire European country is also expanding the new energy vehicle market, including BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) models. Liu Xinyu, deputy general manager of SAIC International Europe, said.

The relevant person in charge of Lantu Automobile also said: "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, it is catching up with the best window period, and you can take the opportunity to build Chinese car brands in overseas markets. ”

Many new domestic car-making forces also attach importance to the layout of the European market. The reporter noted that in September 2020, the first batch of Xiaopeng Motors was sent to Norway; on May 6, 2021, Weilai Automobile also released the Norwegian strategy and began to officially enter the overseas market.

In addition, the tentacles of another new car-making force, Aichi Automobile, have reached belgium, Denmark, Israel, Switzerland, Italy and Portugal, and achieved key coverage in the markets of southern Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Central Europe and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries.

In the process of china's auto corps entering the European market, the Norwegian market is becoming the first choice of most car companies. In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Weilai Automobile told reporters: "From the perspective of the proportion of electric vehicles in the overall sales of passenger cars, Norway is the world's leading market, and the sales of electric vehicles in 2020 have accounted for more than half, reaching 54%. If NIO can succeed in this market with vane significance, it will lay a solid foundation for subsequent global market expansion. ”

The relevant person in charge of Lantu Automobile also said: "Norway has the world's highest penetration rate of new energy vehicles, perfect supporting infrastructure, great policy support, coupled with the Norwegian people's love for the concept of environmental protection, which has promoted the layout of Lantu Automobile's globalization strategy in the Norwegian market." ”

The reporter learned in the interview that Norway once became the world's third largest new energy vehicle market, and it is also the world's first "clean country" where annual electric vehicle sales exceed fuel vehicles, and will ban the sale of fuel vehicles in 2025. In 2021, new car sales in Norway will grow by 25% to a record 176276, of which 65% will be pure electric vehicles, up from 54% in 2020.

"Norway is an EFTA country, not an EU country. It is precisely because of its new energy vehicle stimulus policies introduced in the early years, including vat exemption, that the country's new energy vehicle market penetration rate is in the leading position in all European countries. The relevant person in charge of AIWAYS Automobile said, "At the same time, we should see the trend of the mainstream market in Europe such as Germany, France and the Netherlands, which are still in the rising period of the introduction of new energy vehicles, the market potential is huge, and the future growth is also considerable." ”

In the view of Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automobile Industry Innovation Research Center of The North China University of Technology, "Chinese car companies are now entering the European market, on the one hand, the international brand awareness of some new car-making forces needs to be improved; on the other hand, under normal circumstances, car companies need to have a certain market foundation in their own country for exporting overseas, but now the new car-making forces have not yet formed economies of scale, and the sales volume in the domestic market is not high, and it is difficult to achieve profitability if the sales volume in foreign markets is low." ”

Layout according to local conditions

In fact, access standards to the European automotive market have always been known for being stringent. This means that automotive products sold to European countries are subject to rigorous audits and certifications.

"In terms of safety, Europe has recently introduced a large number of globally leading requirements and standards, such as column collisions on the side, which will not be designed and considered in the production and manufacture of non-global models in China." Zhang Liang, deputy general manager of SAIC's data business department and chief digital officer of SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicles, said.

In Jiang Han's view, for domestic car companies entering the European market, in addition to facing traditional regulations, the core is to strengthen the cognition and understanding of different domestic and foreign markets. "In the layout of market channels, consumer-oriented publicity, especially in after-sales service, there are still many things that need to be done, and it needs to be systemized and output throughout the chain."

In terms of dealer cooperation model, Liu Xinyu introduced: "We will deploy accordingly according to the situation of each country. Some countries are relatively small and may adopt the general model; some countries are relatively large, and may consider direct sales and distributor franchise models, each operating model is determined according to the local market and consumer conditions. ”

It is understood that SAIC Europe is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, but in order to better serve the European market, the company has also set up 5 subsidiaries in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal. At present, including the United Kingdom, MG has been sold to 17 countries in Europe.

The relevant person in charge of Weilai Automobile also said: "In the European market, the general idea is to establish a direct sales and service network with direct operation as the main idea. In European countries, each country has its own particularities, and many implementation details should be more respectful of local conditions and user habits, etc., and in general, better integrated into the local environment. ”

"The company adopts a combination of direct operation + distribution model overseas, unites local partners, and does a good job in local sales localization experience according to local conditions." The relevant person in charge of Aiways Automobile told reporters that the company's official website in Europe has been officially launched, and will provide the basic model data of AIWAYS U5, the appointment of test drives and the configuration information of selecting models.

"According to the consumer demand, regulatory requirements and market environment of Norway and other European countries, Lantu Automobile has developed and tested the corresponding products in a targeted manner to better meet the needs of European users." The relevant person in charge of Landu Automobile said, "In 2022, Landu Automobile will gradually improve its sales and service network in the Norwegian market. ”

"The past two years should be the golden period for Chinese car companies to enter overseas markets, and the best window period for the export of new energy vehicles should be grasped." At present, the layout of international car companies such as Volkswagen and Toyota in the field of new energy has just started, and after the situation is opened and sales rise, it may pose a challenge to Chinese car companies. Zhang Xiang said.