Under the haze of the epidemic, new energy vehicles have become one of the few consumption tracks that rise against the trend.
A set of data from the China Automobile Association shows that people's enthusiasm for new energy vehicles continues to rise - in 2021, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in mainland China will be 3.545 million units and 3.521 million units, respectively, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, and the market penetration rate has reached 13.4%. At the beginning of this year, when we talked with shopping mall operators, we also found that shopping malls with more obvious growth recovery all talked about the introduction of auto retail.
Indeed, the situation of "beauty and jewelry domination" on the first floor of the shopping mall is being broken, and automobile retail has become the "new face" adjacent to the gold store - the "Xiao WeiLi" represented by the new car-making forces has almost become the standard of the mall, and traditional car companies such as BYD, Geely and SAIC are not willing to show weakness. As these behemoths move from the edge of the city to the bustling center, they show very different business logics.
So, how big is the role of auto retail in boosting the performance of shopping malls? Compared with traditional 4S stores, car brands are located in shopping malls, what is the difference in the location strategy behind them? In the long run, when Tesla withdraws from the first line and policy subsidies are tightened, will the emergence of new energy vehicle shopping malls usher in a receding tide?
Heavy money is thrown into shopping malls, and the brand's right to speak is difficult to hide its weakness
Nine years ago, when Tesla opened China's first experience store in Parkview Yerba Buena, domestic car companies also set off a channel revolution.
Previously, traditional automobile sales mainly adopted the franchise authorization model and were uniformly handed over to 4S stores for operation. This kind of store model with both sales (Sale), spare parts (Sparepart), after-sales service (Service), and information feedback (Survey) is generally opened in the suburban area far from the city center due to its large volume.
Tesla does the opposite - based on the principle of separation of sales and services, it mainly focuses on core business districts and opens direct stores, which is a subversive sales model that inspires the domestic automotive industry. Nowadays, the herd effect has attracted many "Chinese apprentices", according to the incomplete statistics of "Commercial Real Estate Observation", more than 80 car brands have opened store terminals into shopping malls in 2021, of which new energy occupies the absolute mainstream.
"Compared with mature fuel vehicle brands, new energy vehicles, as unfamiliar consumer goods, need to re-educate the market, so they must take the initiative to go to the crowd, guide the user experience, and reach the potential customer base to the greatest extent." A new energy vehicle sales manager said.
As a natural traffic entrance of the city, shopping malls are naturally favored by car companies. According to Ai Media Consulting's "Analysis of the Basic Portrait of China's New Energy Vehicle Users in 2020", 76% of mainland new energy vehicle users come from people aged 26-45, which highly overlaps with the main consumer groups of shopping malls. In addition, the attraction of automobile retail to male customers, and the precipitation of shopping malls for family parents and young customers have also produced a certain complementary effect of customer groups.
Shopping malls are clearly delighted with the change.
For shopping malls, auto retail has excellent leasing capabilities. "Commercial Real Estate Observation" learned from many parties that the rent of an automobile store in the benchmark project of Beijing's emerging business district is about 600-1000 yuan / ㎡ / month, and the mainstream shopping center of the core business district can reach 1000-3000 yuan / ㎡ / month, which is much higher than the traditional strong formats such as gold jewelry and electronic digital.
Due to the limited resources of high-quality business districts, car companies are also very fierce in grabbing food in prime locations. In June 2021, Xiaopeng opened the country's first flagship experience center in Sanlitun, with an overall area of about 500 square meters, this land Tesla also intended to compete, but finally Won with Xiaopeng's higher bid, the annual rent jumped to the level of tens of millions.
In fact, this "trench" also shows the brand's eagerness to establish an image.
Xiaopeng aims at young and trendy groups, and NIO positions the high-end route - the world's first NIOHouse (NIO Center) landed in Wangfujing Oriental Plaza, formerly the first AudiCity exhibition hall in Asia. From a distance, Weilaishuo's bright logo and fashionable façade all reveal their nobility. Naturally, the rent is also luxurious, with a space of 3,000 square meters on the upper and lower floors, and the net rent a year reaches about 80 million.
The imbalance between supply and demand also puts shopping malls in a favorable position in the transaction between the two sides. A car company practitioner told Sir Guan, "New energy is in the outbreak period, shopping malls do not worry about no brand coming in, it is difficult to negotiate prices, and even price increases often occur." A bicycle booth in the atrium can rent more than 100,000 yuan per month, and the limited-time pop-up shop is priced on a daily basis, and the daily rent is as high as 150-200 yuan / flat. ”
Another consequence of scarcity is the prevalence of car companies "getting together" to open stores. Nowadays, it is not new for a shopping mall to have more than 5 car brands at the same time.
Guangzhou Yuehui City, which opened in September 2020, is the second largest single commercial project in Guangzhou, and currently has the largest number of car brands, reaching 20, not only including new energy sources such as Tesla, Xiaopeng, Weilai, Lantu, Gaohe, Jihu, Nezha, etc., but also settled in well-known luxury cars such as Cadillac and BMW; chain shopping centers such as Longhu Tianjie, Wanda Plaza, and Joy City rely on the layout network to spread car brands to all parts of the country, and the collective store matrix is also a large Shopping Mall digested quite a bit of area.
Behind the new energy cultivation system, what is expensive is right?
After paying a high cost, have the car companies reaped the desired results? The answer varies.
In Beijing Chaoyang Hopson Hui, it houses 9 resident car brands, and according to relevant personnel, the average monthly sales can reach 30 million. Last year, Xiaopeng Automobile's sales volume ranked first in the country, and it could sell hundreds of vehicles in a single month, mainly benefiting from the sales of P7 and P5 models. Similarly, in Beijing's Blue Harbor, Ideal and Weilai have also created sales of more than 150 units and 200 units in a single month, and the enabling role of shopping centers can be seen.
According to the latest data released by the Association of Passenger Vehicles, as of the end of January 2022, the historical cumulative delivery volume of "Xiaoweili" exceeded 150,000 vehicles, 176,700 vehicles and 136,400 vehicles respectively, and these three brands are the main forces of shopping malls. In the same month, there were 11 car companies with new energy vehicle sales exceeding 10,000, including BYD, GAC E-An, Nezha, and Chery.
In addition to the experience store model, shopping malls are also keen to open car shopping festivals, city exhibitions, etc., to provide consumers with one-stop car purchase services. The effect of this large-scale exhibition and sales activity is very impressive - "Commercial Real Estate Observation" learned that the Beijing New Energy Automobile Car Purchase Festival held in Chaoyang Hopson Hui in 2021 covers a total area of 3,000 square meters, gathering a total of 23 new energy brands, lasting for more than 1 month, attracting nearly 3,000 test drives and nearly 300 on-site bookings.
However, under the prosperity, the market polarization situation is also opening up. Some less recognized brands, although also running in expensive shopping malls, but the delivery volume is less than 10% of the head, can only become a denominator-like existence.
In the rise of new energy car-making forces, a factor that cannot be ignored is the embrace of Internet thinking. It can be seen that from the sales model, the ordering process to the service system, the new power car companies pay more attention to user experience, community operation, and lifestyle, which coincides with the pursuit of current shopping malls.
The stores that burn money are given multiple meanings, they are the "façade responsibility" of the brand, and they are a vivid "advertising billboard". It can be observed that new energy vehicle brands are mostly located at the entrance of the first floor of the mall and the escalator to attract attention to increase exposure. It is understood that the assessment indicators of new energy experience stores for employees are no longer a single sales, but also include multiple dimensions such as customer retention, invitations, test drives, satisfaction, conversion rate, etc., the purpose is to do a good job of "brand impression".
In terms of the car purchase process, the direct operation model ensures the national unified price, reduces the price comparison link, with the help of the official mall, all vehicle orders can be completed online, and the work of car pick-up, loan, after-sales service is handed over to the 4S store. This model of "front-end sales, back-end services" further subdivides the work of personnel, greatly improving the efficiency of orders, and the consumption mode of "offline experience and ordering on the official website" also makes buying a car as simple as buying a mobile phone.
It should be pointed out that according to the "2020 China Automobile Sales Channel Development Report" released by Renhedao, at present, among the major new energy manufacturers, only Tesla and Ideal are completely self-operated, and the GAC And Ethiopia Safety Department is an authorized dealer, and the proportion of authorized dealers in WM is nearly 90%.
On the other hand, the new forces are interested in the operation of the circle. For example, NIOHouse is not only selling cars, but also includes kitchens, libraries, cafes, parent-child centers, co-working areas, etc., like a lifestyle community that extends from the car culture, where car owners can enjoy and socialize and build a deeper understanding of the brand. Xiaopeng Automobile launched the "Pengyou Time" car owner play circle of friends, committed to planning high-quality life activities, creating a diversified life sharing platform, and deeply cultivating the user ecology.
Tesla turned, car companies first-line store boom faded?
As the leader of new energy vehicles, Tesla's every move has attracted much attention. The latest wave was according to the "First Finance" report: Tesla intends to reduce the number of supermarket experience stores in first-tier cities, and instead build more traditional 4S store outlets in the traditional automobile business circle to improve exhibition and after-sales service capabilities.
According to win-win big data, Tesla currently has 226 experience centers across the country, accounting for about 30% of the total in the north, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and nearly half of them are located in shopping malls. This also shows that if the plan is true, Tesla's retreat will be a big move.
Such a sharp turn in the plot, in fact, there are traces to follow. All along, in order to expand the brand effect, car companies have borne heavy cost pressure.
According to The financial report of Xiaopeng Automobile's interim results, its [sales, general and administrative expenses] for the six months ended June 30, 2021 amounted to 1.751 billion yuan, accounting for 55.6% of total operating expenses, an increase of 119.2% over the same period last year, mainly due to the increase in marketing expenses and the expansion of the sales network. During the period, The net loss of Xiaopeng Automobile was 1.981 billion yuan, and the loss amount expanded by nearly 60% year-on-year. Ideal Auto is also in an unprofitable state, with a loss of 559 million yuan in the same period, a loss of nearly three times; NIO plans to go to Hong Kong on March 10, with a loss of nearly 1.9 billion yuan in the first nine months of last year.
In the situation of not being able to make ends meet, some people can't stand it. According to The China Business Daily, in 2019, Tesla, which has been operating in Beijing's Chaoyang Joy City for three years, chose to close due to higher costs such as rent and water and electricity. Today, WM Motors has also closed the experience center in Chaoyang Joy City, and more brands have reduced rent pressure by building temporary exhibition halls, mobile booths, pop-up stores and other short-term cooperation.
It is worth noting that the macro environment for the development of new energy vehicles is also tightening. In January this year, the Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022 made it clear that the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles in 2022 will be reduced by 30% compared with 2021; the subsidy policy for the purchase of new energy vehicles will be terminated on December 31, 2022, and vehicles licensed after December 31, 2022 will no longer be subsidized.
It can be seen that when new energy vehicles enter a stable growth stage, the industry begins to face a change from policy-driven to market-driven, and car companies have also come to consider the future development and long-term return ratio. So, to what extent will the policy affect the direction of the industry? When Tesla withdraws from the front line and the subsidy is zero, will the brand's strategy of locating shopping centers change?
In this regard, Qian Ting, secretary general of the Beijing New Energy Automobile Industry Association, said that the society has long had psychological expectations for the withdrawal of subsidy policies, the factors affecting the delivery of new energy vehicles are comprehensive, policy factors such as national subsidy support, city number restrictions, etc. are only external factors, and the product strength, service quality, infrastructure popularization, and customer recognition of the automobile brand itself have a more critical role in the long-term development of the industry. With the establishment of the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in the mainland and the world, the rapid iteration of car-making technology, and the continuous improvement of consumer acceptance of new energy vehicles, green travel has become an irreversible trend.
In terms of site selection, at present, new energy vehicles can not get rid of the dependence on shopping malls, on the one hand, it is still an important channel for car companies to publicize new products and recognize new brands. On the other hand, new energy vehicles to open up the sinking market, the preferred base is still the core supermarket. However, in the later period, with the increase in automobile sales, the corresponding after-sales service should also keep up, and new energy brands should also consider establishing service centers throughout the city to form a closed loop of products.
Indeed, the "walk on two legs" strategy is being widely adopted. In July 2021, Xiaopeng Automobile added 11 new experience centers and 3 service centers nationwide, and completed the construction and operation of 284 sales and service centers nationwide. In October of the same year, Ideal Automobile announced the addition of 10 direct service centers, with a total of 162 directly operated after-sales service centers and temporary maintenance centers.
This also means that the traditional 4S store will be split into two "2S" by new energy vehicles, and the first "2S" is the experience center, which will be entrenched in the CBD and other passenger flow centers, mainly serving as sales, display, and data functions. The second "2S" for the service center, that is, delivery, repair, maintenance, spare parts, etc., will be placed in a larger position in the surrounding area of the city, to provide perfect after-sales service.