How hot is pure electric, plug-in hybrid technology? The lead time of popular models has been calculated on a monthly basis.
But how embarrassing it is that a brand with annual sales of millions of dollars is almost absent in the field of new energy vehicles, and only one "electric drive" model that cannot be listed on the green card is on sale.
Such a story is now really happening to Dongfeng Nissan. When Toyota Volkswagen Honda has landed electric vehicles, Dongfeng Nissan has just begun to introduce heV-like models, seemingly wrong rhythm, electric vehicles are plaguing this million-level car company.
Recently, Japanese, German and other traditional manufacturers have landed their own pure electric architecture products, completed the transformation from "electric shock" to "electrified", the new electric map NET will soon carry out a series of inventory reports on important car companies.
e-POWER does not sell well, the reason is not only three cylinders
The rise of independent brands, new energy vehicles bloom, the old models of traditional car companies, not as good as in the past, Dongfeng Nissan Xuanyi is also one of the first models.
In March, Dongfeng Nissan's sales data was 67,910 vehicles, which included the three major brands of Nissan, Infiniti and Venucia, down more than 30% year-on-year, and sales in the first quarter were 242341 vehicles, but fell by more than 16% year-on-year.
Of course, we can not ignore the recent epidemic and supply chain fluctuations, the negative factors brought about by production and sales, Dongfeng Nissan said in the sales bulletin, the local epidemic counterattack, the progress of global auto parts supply and the lack of core, etc., automobile production and sales received "greater constraints", but Dongfeng Nissan in the first quarter sales decline was significantly higher than the Japanese 2ta joint venture, such data is obviously not a "external environment" can be explained.
Returning to Dongfeng Nissan, Xuanyi sold 108741 units in the first quarter, still the hottest car, but down more than 10% year-on-year, and sales in March were 14,000 fewer than the same period last year. At present, Xuanyi's two generations of products are still sold on the same stage. However, as a key model for dongfeng Nissan's electrification transformation, Xuanyi e-POWER is like "stealth" this year, and manufacturers have not mentioned its sales in the monthly notice.
Through the query of Sohu Automobile and other data, it can be seen that in February and March this year, e-POWER sales were only 1389 and 1184 vehicles, accounting for less than 2% of the Dongfeng Nissan system, compared with their old rival Toyota Honda, this achievement is of course not enough to see. Honda China's hybrid system model sales accounted for more than 15% in March, and GAC Toyota hybrid models accounted for more than 22%.
A range-extended model that serves as a transitional route
e-POWER is unfavorable, some people have buckled their hats on the three cylinders, after all, the new generation of Qijun has already had a "wrong demonstration" on the three cylinders.
As a "premium fuel-saving version" of Xuanyi, e-POWER models equipped with a 1.2L, 72 hp three-cylinder machine, although this pair of machines does not directly drive the car, but from the look and feel, the guidance price in 138,900 yuan to 174,900 yuan of the model, but only a pair of three-cylinder machines, plus a pair of 100kw motors, power can not be said to be insufficient, but this small horsepower with small motor, obviously only a transitional power choice, to know even 2.0T+ The 8AT B-class car, the Ford Mondeo, starts at less than 160,000 yuan.
At the same time, in the Xuanyi e-POWER because of the proud fuel consumption data, 3.9L / 100km of fuel consumption, is not much better than the 4L/100km Corolla dual engine, compared with a series of plug-in hybrid models, it is naturally more incomparable. In addition, the cost of blue cards in first-tier cities is high, and the cost performance of Xuanyi e-POWER is even more questionable.
New Electric Map NET noted that recently Dongfeng Nissan has "quietly" upgraded the name of Xuanyi e-POWER, and the full name has become Xuanyi e-POWER Electric Drive Edition, trying to make it easier for everyone to remember its driving method. However, this is also the practice of changing the soup without changing the medicine.
The opponent is too strong, and there is not much time left for e-POWER
From the perspective of product classification, e-POWER, like Honda Rui Hybrid and Toyota Dual Engine, are HEV models, but their respective technical routes are obviously different. Taking Xuanyi e-POWER as an example, its engine does not directly drive the vehicle, the engine is mainly used to help the motor drive, similar to the "range extender car without plugging in", the advantage is that the driving quality is more like an electric vehicle, and the low fuel consumption of urban driving is taken into account.
But this "compromise" approach, the disadvantage is more obvious. First of all, it does not have the relatively extreme performance of the tram, followed by the license plate problem mentioned above, unlike the ideal ONE, which can be externally charged, the e-POWER model is simply "mixed" less than a green card, and in addition, at the moment of the rapid growth of pure electricity and plug-in hybrid, the ideal ONE has turned itself into a blockbuster single product, and e-POWER has become a four-unlike.
Some people may refute that they are all hybrid models, Toyota and Honda can sell so well, and Nissan e-POWER can also do it, but this is not the case.
Toyota's THS system does not turn the oil car into a "pseudo-tram", but under different working conditions, the engine and the motor switch between the main supporting roles, taking into account fuel saving and performance at all times, so that the high-end model of the 4-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2.5L is exceptionally fuel-efficient. The data will not lie, Toyota HEV has been certified by 20 million car owners worldwide, and the quality and reliability do not need to be doubted, and the high-end models such as Xena and Highlander have simply cancelled the pure fuel version completely.
Similarly, Honda is also pushing the hybrid version of the mid-to-high-end models such as Odyssey/Accent and Accord/Indy, and the former has even cancelled the fuel version.
As a cost "killer", Nissan's logic is still a small engine + small motor combination, fuel consumption has indeed dropped some, this point needs to be praised, but consumers do not have obvious cross-level feelings, spend less money, buy four cylinders, 100 kilometers of fuel consumption is only 4.9L gasoline version Xuanyi, is not more fragrant?
According to the plan, Dongfeng Nissan will push more e-POWER versions on the basis of existing models, we do not deny that e-POWER still has a certain market growth space, but it is wobbly between the three-cylinder engine and HEV, high-end models are not All in electrification, similar to Toyota's "one liver to the end" approach, Nissan seems to have no courage and ability to do it.
Just comparing the technical route of the Japanese system horizontally, it is obviously also one-sided, because the greater challenge of the Dongfeng Nissan e-POWER model is actually in its own brand.
In March and the first quarter, the market share of Chinese brands increased significantly
In March, the production and sales of passenger cars in the Chinese auto market were 1.881 million units and 1.864 million units, respectively, up 22.4% and 25.1% month-on-month, down 0.1% and 0.6% year-on-year, and the sales volume of Chinese brand passenger cars in March accounted for 48.5%, further squeezing the market space of joint venture brands. Among them, the increase in pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids is more obvious.
Taking BYD as an example, the new energy models of the Song series and the Qin series have competed with the head joint venture fuel vehicles in terms of sales, while in high-end models, similar to Han and Tangshang, the average transaction price is even far more than that of Dongfeng Nissan's fuel vehicles.
Under the premise that the sales volume of the two fields is relatively stable, the Japanese car company that has received the most obvious squeeze is also Dongfeng Nissan. Nowadays, there is no new energy vehicle on sale in Dongfeng Nissan (Japanese product brand), there are not many types of "arsenal", relying on Xuanyi, Tianlai, Qashqai and other "old things", in addition to exchanging price for quantity, it seems that there are not many ways. At the moment when electrification is "absolutely correct", the label color of Technical Nissan has gradually faded, and in the field of fuel, it has also been obviously squeezed by other brands due to labeling problems such as three cylinders.
At present, under the mainstream technical route of PHEV, independent brands have done the comprehensive fuel consumption to within 2L/100km, e-POWER has been difficult to compete with in the comprehensive fuel consumption, and the recent BYD DM-i, Geely Thunder God Hi X, Great Wall DHT and other technologies have solved the problem of high fuel consumption when the power is lost, which highlights the embarrassment of e-POWER, accelerated performance, intelligent these high-value labels, there is no need to compare.
In its March sales bulletin, Dongfeng Nissan mentioned "steady and far-reaching", but this conservatism, in addition to making the cake less slow, its significance is worth pondering.
Strategic mistakes: Globalization has progressed slowly, and localization has not been adapted to local conditions
In recent years, the "Miyadou Drama" of the Nissan Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance is a topic of global talk, and we cannot equate miyadou with the slow process of electrification, but at the same time, Toyota Volkswagen has long been "painfully thinking about the pain" and announcing all-round electrification. In the Main Stage of Electrification, in the Chinese market, Volkswagen's MEB plant has been in operation for a long time, a number of models are on sale, and Toyota's first e-TNGA architecture pure electric model bZ4X is ready to go.
In fact, even Toyota Volkswagen is still difficult to achieve the same level of the fuel era in the field of electrification, but Nissan, which has made slow progress, cannot help but worry that they are missing this wave of electrification. Mentioning the Japanese Honda, Honda's electrification strategy, may not be Toyota Volkswagen-like, but at least Honda in the Chinese market quickly adapted to local conditions, through the e:N brand quickly introduced electric vehicles, the joint venture Guangqi Honda even launched the polar pan this electric brand, at this stage we can not assert that they will be very successful in the field of electrification, but at least have given the market reassurance pills, to consumers with confidence.
Nissan Ariya, which has high hopes, was unveiled earlier than the 2020 Beijing Auto Show, but has not yet been officially released, let alone listed for sale, until recently Ariya entered the directory of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, but from the information that has been released, Ariya has not shown much advancement, 4.6 meters long, single motor 178kW power, dual motor 320kW total power, and is likely to be relatively mediocre endurance and intelligence, it seems difficult to arouse the hormones of a new generation of consumers.
Makoto Uchida and Gupta are confident, but Nissan's 2030 is destined to be difficult
At the end of last year, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida and COO Gupta confidently announced Nissan's 2030 strategy to the global media, and in the next five years, Nissan will launch 20 pure electric models and models equipped with e-POWER technology. Similar to other car companies, the Chinese market is still its focus, and by fiscal 2026, Nissan intends to achieve the goal of more than 40% of the sales of electric drives in the Chinese market.
Such a task naturally falls on Dongfeng Nissan, as mentioned earlier, the current Dongfeng Nissan's Japanese product brand, there is no new energy new car on sale, there are only HeV models such as Xuanyi e-POWER, but Venucia brand has several EV models, but it does not stir up too many waves.
On the other hand, the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles in March this year is close to 30%, as a million-level car company, Dongfeng Nissan's contribution to HEVs, PHEV, and EVs is close to zero, which is somewhat unbelievable. Last year, Gao Guolin took over as the chinese leader of Dongfeng Nissan, and he was faced with challenges such as the merger of the Three Cylinder X-Trail and infiniti brands into Dongfeng Nissan.
We do not need to doubt that Gao Guolin, who is financially born, can control the "stable" side of Dongfeng Nissan, but whether Dongfeng Nissan, which has been significantly slower in the field of electrification, can transform into the way it hopes, at this time, too "stable", it is likely to be a dangerous signal.
In today's electrified stage, pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are the absolute protagonists, and e-POWER is like an actor who has gone to the wrong set, playing a play that does not know the ending.
The shrinkage of fuel vehicles is a trend of high probability, if it cannot run out in new energy, Dongfeng Nissan should be vigilant against becoming the next "Beijing Hyundai" that plummets.