February MPV market: Wuling fell seriously, Trumpchi M8 pressure Honda Toyota

Introduction: With the changes in product design, configuration upgrades, and unique space advantages, MPV is gradually developing from the early single commercial use to the high-end household. However, under the trend of upgrading and transformation, the competition of car companies for the mid-to-high-end MPV market is becoming increasingly fierce.

(Text/Zhang Jiadong Editor/Lou Bing) February has never been a friendly month for the car market, not only with the Spring Festival holiday production reduction, consumer enthusiasm will often gradually return to flat with the long holiday.

However, compared with the downturn in the auto market in recent years, February 2022, driven by the strong impetus of new energy products, continued the growth trend in January, giving the auto market a good start in the new year.

According to the latest data released by the Association of Passenger Vehicles, the cumulative wholesale sales of domestic passenger cars in February were 1.455 million units, an increase of 26.9% year-on-year. Among them, the MPV market sold a total of 53,000 units, an increase of 11.9% year-on-year. Although it is not as fast as the overall market growth, MPV products are gradually changing from traditional entry-level products to high-end household and commercial products with the changes in product design and intelligence in recent years.

In the case of sales charts, this trend is particularly evident. From the overall point of view of the list, the proportion of models at the top of the MPV list in February this year has not changed much from January. Among the top 10 models on the list, models with an average sales price of more than 200,000 occupy a total of 5 models, while only two entry-level models with an average sales price of less than 100,000 yuan are left as the main sellers in the domestic MPV market.

On the other hand, of the 43 MPV models sold in February, a total of 15 models showed a year-on-year downward trend, of which the remaining 13 models with the exception of buick GL8 and Honda Accentu were all sold at an average price of less than 200,000 yuan in the market. It shows that under the dual impetus of stock market competition and consumption upgrading, the MPV market has squeezed the low-end market and its high-end transformation trend.

At the brand and product level, changes in market rankings are undercurrents. Wuling Hongguang, which has been occupying the top spot in the MPV list for many years, has exploded the biggest cold since the beginning of this year, giving up the throne of the top sales volume to buick GL8 for two consecutive months. In February, Wuling Hongguang's wholesale sales totaled 2,633 units, down 67.6% year-on-year. Interestingly, in 2018, when the auto market has just begun to transform, Wuling Hongguang's bicycle sales once reached 46,000 units in February, and by 2022, Wuling Hongguang's annual sales have also ushered in four consecutive declines.

Undoubtedly, the former MPV market force is losing its original aura, and for SAIC-GM-Wuling, which has long relied on Wuling Hongguang to conquer the market, it is imperative to make an upward breakthrough. It is worth noting that while Wuling has plummeted in wholesale sales for two consecutive months, its retail sales are still at the top of the MPV market, which may mean that Wuling's dealers are experiencing a severe inventory conversion period.

Not only is the situation of Wuling Hongguang grim, But also The upward work capgemini launched by Wuling in 2020 has also made a bad start this year, following a year-on-year decline of 55% in January, Capgemini once again handed over 1544 vehicles in February, a year-on-year decline of 69.2% in sales performance. Obviously, if you want to maintain your position and advantages in the MPV market, SAIC-GM-Wuling may face the dual pressure of product line adjustment and market redeployment this year.

However, the low-end MPV still maintains a dynamic balance in the declining state under the condition of imminent market demand. Wuling's adjustment in inventory and production line provides a certain market margin for products of the same level. In February, Fengxing Lingzhi sold a total of 3528 vehicles, an increase of 23.7% year-on-year; Changan Ono sold 1342 vehicles, an increase of 412.2% year-on-year; and Fengguang 330 sold 1237 vehicles, an increase of 145% year-on-year.

Compared with the bleakness of the low-end market, the top 4 in the MPV sales ranking in February have been completely occupied by high-end models. Although the Buick GL8 showed a slight year-on-year decline in February, from the perspective of cumulative sales and its absolute leading position, the Buick GL8 was not threatened by the "back waves" such as Xena and Kustu in the market. On the contrary, with the official delivery of Xena, the demand for high-end MPV market has been further enhanced by new products.

In February, GAC Trumpchi M8 sold a total of 5,001 units, an increase of 86.5% year-on-year; GAC Toyota Syna sold a total of 4,020 vehicles; GAC Honda Odyssey sold 3,892 vehicles, an increase of 114.4% year-on-year; Volkswagen Weiran sold a total of 1,392 vehicles, Roewe iMAX8 sold 962 vehicles, compared with the same period of less than 10 vehicles last year.

For high-end MPV, today's market environment is the same as the rapid growth of the new energy market, with the rise of the MPV market and the milk daddy group, the MPV model has long been no longer a tool car in the eyes of users, but has become a must-have model for multi-child families. In this environment, it is certain that products that are first in the market and have obtained certain market recognition can obtain more market resources.

Just like the stable performance of Trumpchi M8 in the high-end MPV market and the rise of Toyota Syna's rookie, but unlike GL8's position as a "brother" in commercial vehicles, as a latecomer and challenger in the market, whether Trumpchi or Toyota, the competition faced by Trumpchi in the high-end market is extremely fierce.

From the price increase behavior at the beginning of the listing to the price increase in the terminal market to the current price in the terminal market, even if Sai Na has the title of "the strongest daddy car", it is difficult for GAC Toyota to rely on its excellent performance in overseas markets to pay for its own price increase in the Chinese market. Similarly, in January, the Trumpchi M8, which had a decline in production capacity due to the impact of chips, quickly replaced the market gap created by similar products such as Kustu. After the price of Xena returned to market expectations in February and Trumpchi M8 escaped from the impact of production capacity, the market returned to the embrace of the two.

The changes in the high-end market in the past two months are undoubtedly inviting and warning the latecomers who are eager to try the high-end MPV market. The tightening of low-end MPV provides more ample development space for the high-end MPV market, and the performance of products such as Xenakustu shows sufficient market upward space.

But on the other hand, the addition of more and more "players" in the same level market also tests the market competitiveness and brand value of new products. Taking Kia Kahua, which has a similar product strength, as an example, the sales of only 200 vehicles in February have obviously fallen behind in this round of competition, but Kia is trapped in the environment of its own brand development, and it is difficult to find effective improvement methods for this MPV model in the short term.

In addition, due to the large space and carrying capacity of MPV, the B-end market has once become a heavy bet on the MPV market, but from the perspective of market performance, Pentium NAT, BYD D1 and other products have not yet knocked on the door of the travel market.

Attached: February 2022 MPV sales rankings

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