Can the arrival of a car change the long-established Chinese auto market? 5 years ago, the answer to this question was undoubtedly no. However, with the continuous support of policies, the gradual recognition of the market, the continuous improvement of technology, and the improvement of the system - the industrial cycle of the benign development of new energy vehicles is becoming more and more formed, and the "lane change overtaking" of Chinese automobiles with the help of new energy tracks is becoming a reality. China's MPV market has also ushered in a watershed in history under the impact of a number of nascent enterprises.
It's not that MPV has no market, it's that the market lacks good MPV
As soon as MPV is mentioned, everyone will immediately think of Wuling Hongguang and GL8. One is the van that needs to use "generalized passenger cars" to be covered when calculating sales data, and the other is a commercial vehicle with no sense of luxury, but the two occupy the leading positions of low-end MPV and high-end MPV respectively.
All along, in our traditional impression, low-end MPV is often not safe enough, no intelligence at all, high-end MPV has not enough space, new product markups and other product and market chaos. It is precisely because the user pain points have not been solved, so the overall space of the MPV market has been continuously compressed, and the market share has dropped from 8.7% in the peak period to 5.4% in 2021, and under the influence of last year's "lack of core" and the epidemic, this number has declined for 5 consecutive years. So the question is, don't the Chinese people like MPV models? Little Ray believes that this is by no means the case.
If there is no living space for mpVs in the small cars such as Europe and Japan, and even the more popular car markets such as K car, then Xiao Lei feels forgivable. China's national conditions are completely different from those in Europe and Japan, and Chinese consumers generally like large cars with large spaces.
To this end, SUVs, which have great advantages in terms of ride space, can take the lead in the Chinese auto market, and China's SUV fire has even affected the global auto market. In addition, in order to meet the needs of Chinese consumers for large space, foreign car brands, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, etc., will even launch long-wheelbase models for the Chinese market.
However, Chinese consumers generally like cars with large space, which means that SUVs and forced elongated long-wheelbase cars are the best choice for Chinese consumers? Xiao Lei thinks otherwise.
SUV for family travel, although the head space is large, the driving sense is better, but the space for today's two-child, three-child home will still have some limitations.
The moment the long wheelbase is forced to lengthen the wheelbase to cater to Chinese consumers, the moment the wheelbase is lengthened, it has already destroyed the balance of a car at the beginning of the design. When this balance is broken, the interior space is won, but the safety, handling, and passability are sacrificed. This is also the main reason why luxury car brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW insist on launching standard wheelbase models after launching long-wheelbase models for the Chinese market.
So, is there no model that is really suitable for consumers who like a lot of space and don't have to make all kinds of sacrifices? In Xiao Lei's view, the MPV that originally focused on space and comfort is a good choice.
The reason why MPV has not yet caught fire in the Chinese auto market is not because there is no living space for MPVs in the Chinese market, but because there is no MPV in the Chinese market that is good enough and truly in line with consumer needs.
Putting aside the commercial MPV of the nature of vans such as Wuling, among the mid-to-high-end MPV in the Chinese market, we are familiar with none other than the Buick GL8, Honda Odyssey, and Toyota Alpha.
Among them, the Buick GL8 is too commercial, giving people the first impression of the company's official car or online car, which is basically unrelated to the home scene, and the Honda Odyssey is just the opposite. The expensive mark-up God Car Alpha, its market price has exceeded its own product strength, this "pathological" market situation is a certain distance from the mainstream consumer groups in China.
Obviously, the Chinese auto market needs an MPV that truly meets the needs of Chinese consumers for business + family cars. It is precisely because MPV has a strong market potential that brands have never given up their dedication to this market. From Geely Jiaji to Trumpchi GM8, from Volkswagen Weiran to Honda Odyssey, before that, every latecomer was full of ambition and tried to subvert the inherent market pattern. In the past two years, the MPV market has ushered in a comprehensive reshuffle.
2021 can be described as the outbreak year of the layout of MPV by major OEMs, especially the high-end MPV market. Following the launch of Volkswagen's Weiran, in 2021, Toyota Xena, Hyundai Kustur, Kia Kahua and other luxury medium and large MPVs have been launched; Odyssey, Alissen ushered in the mid-term redesign; Lantu, Extreme Krypton, Weipai, Hongqi and other brands of high-end electric MPV competed to debut.
Behind the seemingly sudden phenomenon, there is actually one of the most convincing explanations - the market is fully optimistic about China's high-end MPV, and more optimistic about high-end electric MPV.
The Chinese market needs high-end new energy MPV
From the perspective of the market, with the improvement of the living standards of Chinese people, whether it is business travel or family travel, consumers hope to have an intelligent and electrified experience while taking into account space, comfort, performance and safety.
In addition, the national "double carbon" strategy has also opened a "window period" for the development of electric vehicles, and the blue ocean of the high-end electric MPV market has emerged. It should be known that although there are already many new energy vehicle companies laying out high-end electric MPVs in 2021, MPV also belongs to the latecomers in the field of new energy vehicles.
According to the data of the Association of Passenger Vehicles, the cumulative retail sales of passenger cars in the mainland in 2021 were 20.146 million units, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year. Among them, the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 3.312 million units, an increase of 138.9% year-on-year. Although mainland new energy vehicles in 2021 accounted for only 16.4% of the cumulative retail sales of passenger cars in the whole year, the growth rate of its retail volume has reached an alarming level.
Compared with 2020, the retail sales of traditional fuel vehicles in 2021 decreased by 1.02 million units, down 6% year-on-year, while new energy vehicles increased by 1.88 million units, an increase of 169% year-on-year, and new energy vehicles contributed as much as 9 percentage points to the year-on-year growth rate of passenger cars. It can be seen that new energy vehicles have a pivotal role in the annual sales of passenger cars in the mainland.
Source: Multiplying Association
Xiao Lei believes that compared with cars and SUVs, mpVs with large body width and large space need to be electrified. Affected by the size of the MPV, MPV is generally heavier, and the weight of the car means high fuel consumption. From a small point of view, at the moment when fuel consumption is rising, the high fuel consumption is harmful to the interests of users, and from a large point of view, this is not conducive to the mainland to achieve the "double carbon" goal.
In fact, at present, GL8, Odyssey, and Alpha, the three most representative MPVs, have been electrified to varying degrees when they are remodeled. In terms of electrification, the GL8 is only symbolically equipped with a 48V light hybrid system, while Odyssey and ElFare are equipped with Honda and Toyota Kana's oil-electric hybrid technology respectively.
Under WLTC conditions, the comprehensive fuel consumption of the GL8 is 7.94L/100km, the comprehensive fuel consumption of Odyssey is 5.88L/100km, and the comprehensive fuel consumption of Alpha under NEDC conditions is 7.1L/100km. The effects of different degrees of electrification are vividly reflected in terms of energy consumption.
Source: Autohome
However, is it enough for the electrification of MPV to achieve the level of Odyssey and Alpha? Xiao Lei thinks otherwise. You know, according to China's definition of new energy vehicles, Odyssey and Alpha cannot even be classified as new energy vehicles that can obtain subsidies and enjoy the green card policy, and can only be defined as energy-saving vehicles. Obviously, under the general trend of the rapid development of range extended hybrid and pure electric vehicles, MPV also needs to take another step towards electrification.
With the dual promotion of national policies and the Internet economy, changes in family structure, consumption concepts, and economic income composition have spawned new MPV model consumer groups and potential markets, especially the two-child family's desire for space, luxury and comfort, so that many consumers will turn their attention to MPV.
However, there is no MPV in the Chinese auto market that truly meets the experience of family travel and business travel, no MPV that truly meets the needs of low-carbon travel and can enjoy high-end quality, and no high-end electric MPV that meets the current development trend. At present, the Chinese auto market is in urgent need of such an MPV.
Lantu Dreamer, or will create a new pattern of MPV
On November 19 last year, at the Guangzhou Pazhou Convention and Exhibition Center, Lantu's second model, the luxury electric flagship MPV, was officially unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show, and the new car was named "Lantu Dreamer" and will be officially pre-sold in April 2022.
Lantu Dreamer is built by ESSA's native intelligent electric architecture and is currently the only MPV in the industry that chooses a dual-power layout. Compared with the traditional MPV of Odyssey, GL8 and Alpha, which are either only suitable for business or only IKEA, Lantu Dreamer has five major advantages of space, performance, luxury, intelligence and security, and launches four custom models and seven seats at the same time.
As the world's first large-scale luxury electric MPV, Lantu Dreamer has created a number of firsts, filling the market gap of domestic high-end new energy MPV, which can be said to be a different evolutionary of MPV, the pioneer of electric business travel, and the leader of independent high-end MPV.
Lantu Dreamer is the world's first dual-power new energy MPV under the ESSA framework, giving consumers plenty of choices. Although the mainland needs a new energy MPV that can meet the needs of consumers, because the current new energy vehicle replenishment facilities are still not perfect, new energy vehicle companies need to provide consumers with choice.
Taking the Four-seat Customized Model of Lantu Dreamer as an example, the positioning is more high-end, and the use is more inclined to business reception, which often rarely travels long distances. If consumers' needs are short-distance business receptions, then they can buy a more energy-saving and environmentally friendly pure electric version of the model.
If the consumer group is a two-child and three-child family, then they may need a high-end MPV that is suitable for business and IKEA, and there is no endurance anxiety, and the Lantu Dreamer extender electric version is a good choice.
In Xiao Lei's view, comfort is an important indicator of an MPV. Compared with the traditional MPV models such as Odyssey and GL8 that use non-independent suspension of the front McPherson rear torsion beam, The Lando Dreamer is the world's first high-end MPV equipped with a front double wishbone rear multi-link independent suspension system and air suspension.
It should be known that the low-cost torsion beam non-independent suspension has always been criticized by consumers for comfort problems, and the front double wishbone rear multi-link independent suspension system equipped by Lantu Dreamer is synonymous with comfort. In addition, air suspension not only solves the passability problem caused by the long wheelbase of traditional MPV, but also is the standard for ultra-luxury cars such as Rolls-Royce.
Therefore, Lantu Dreamer has a smoother driving experience, better road passability, and brings users more control stability and comfort than expected. The high-end chassis allows Lantu Dreamers to have the capital of the old-school MPV such as Odyssey and GL8.
As a new species of intelligence in MPV, Lantu Dreamer is the world's first 5G in-vehicle high-speed entertainment system and L2+ intelligent driver assistance system. Even on the move, users have an efficient and convenient entertainment office environment. At the same time, Lantu Dreamer supports the iterative upgrading of vehicle OTA, as a smart partner with super intelligent sustainable growth, it will lead MPV into the era of intelligence.
In contrast, the traditional MPV such as GL8 and Odyssey still stays at the level of whether it supports mobile phone interconnection functions such as Car Play and Car Life, and whether the speech recognition control system is easy to use. In fact, intelligence has always been the short board of foreign traditional car brands such as Honda, GM, and Toyota, and Chinese car companies have a leading advantage in this regard. Obviously, such advantages are equally obvious in high-end MPV.
In addition, The Lando Dreamer is also the highest safety model in the field of MPV in all aspects. Taking the safest evaluation system as the design standard, the ultra-high-strength steel and aluminum hybrid body is used to create an MPV five-star safety body, which won the special honor award of the 2021 China Body Conference. In order to achieve higher intelligent safety standards, Lantu is equipped with intelligent driver assistance systems and fatigue safety monitoring systems to escort the safety of every occupant.
According to reports, on April 7, 2022, Lantu Automobile will open the official App pre-sale portal and the public domain private domain omni-channel, release the rights and interests of the scheduled Lantu Dreamer, and simultaneously accept four customized models and seven-seat bookings. At that time, China's MPV market will usher in a new era.
When Chinese began to look at the world and became more and more confident, more and more people did not want to buy BBA, and there was no need to use the simple, rough label of luxury car owners to highlight social status. At this time, The Chinese high-end MPV with heritage, culture, non-ostentatiousness, self-confidence but luxurious quality, or the best choice for our Chinese, or will truly create a new pattern of Chinese MPV.
Note: The material for this article comes from the Internet