The Beijing Auto Show was postponed, but the offensive of luxury brands did not stop, five new cars were released in three days, and an intensive electrification offensive has begun.
As we all know, on the road of electrification transformation, compared with Chinese brands, luxury brands are relatively sluggish, and China's new energy vehicle market also shows a situation in which Chinese brands lead the way, new forces accelerate, and luxury brands and joint venture brands are relatively backward.
The electrification of ALL IN is never just talk, China's new energy vehicle production and sales have ranked first in the world for 7 consecutive years, becoming an important force leading the electrification transformation of the global automotive industry.
"Global cars are on the fast track of electrification and transformation, and China is at the forefront of the world." In the view of Fu Yuwu, honorary chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, in the Chinese market, whether it is multinational car companies, Chinese brands or new car manufacturing forces, they are stepping up the pace of electrification development and striving to win a place in the world's largest new energy vehicle market.
In this context, within luxury brands, the offensive horn of full electrification has accelerated.
Luxury car companies are uneasy about the status quo
Electrification transformation is a war without smoke, and in this war, luxury brands that are proud of the spring breeze in the fuel vehicle market are somewhat lagging behind.
As we all know, in recent years, driven by consumption upgrades and rejuvenation, the market share of luxury cars has repeatedly reached new highs, even in 2020, when the car market is most seriously eroded by the epidemic, the luxury car market is still the first to rebound with strong resilience, which is regarded as the evergreen existence of the car market.
But it is undeniable that today, in the wave of electrification transformation, the increase in the luxury car market has begun to weaken.
According to the data of the Association, in the first quarter of this year, the cumulative sales volume of the luxury car market was about 680,000 units, down 7.5% year-on-year. The decline is not only higher than the overall 4.5% decline in the passenger car market, but also not enough in the nearly 1.5-fold increase in new energy. At the end of the day, in addition to the shortage of raw material supply, the relative lag of the electrification layout has become the key.
Looking at the current new energy market, BYD's desperate ride and Tesla's close pursuit constitute the head landscape of the market. And Wuling, Chery, Eian and other traditional car companies are not far behind, with a positive layout into the forefront of the market. Not only that, the new forces such as Xiaopeng, Weilai and Ideal, which were previously questioned, have also become the new normal after crossing the difficulties of mass production and delivery.
In contrast, BBA, its pure electric model monthly sales are still maintained in the situation of more than 100 or more than 1,000 vehicles, although it has achieved a great breakthrough for itself, but it is difficult to have an advantage in the new energy market, and the second-tier luxury brand new energy layout is even slower, and there is still a gap with BBA.
"The deep-seated reason for the difference in the performance of luxury brands, joint venture brands and independent brands in the new energy vehicle market is the speed of the transformation of the two parties in the intelligent electrification." In the face of the new energy market pattern, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, pointed out that ten years later will be the era of new energy, so car companies also need to accelerate the pace of transformation and have the determination to change.
In this context, in the face of the pre-emptive strike of new forces such as Chinese brands and Tesla, as well as huge market dividends, luxury brands finally can't sit still, and a large-scale counterattack will come.
The counterattack was in full swing
"Consumers are abandoning fuel vehicles faster than expected." Besser, a member of the board of directors of the Mercedes-Benz Group and responsible for sales and marketing, bluntly said that the brand image still plays a huge role in the era of electric vehicles, and in the face of competition with new and old competitors, "only by combining the right products and brands can we be successful." ”
Luxury brands know this, and electrification is imperative.
The time entered the end of April, the best position of the collective "show muscle" of car companies in the first half of the year - the Beijing Auto Show was postponed, and the planning of many car companies was forced to be disrupted, but the pace of accelerating electrification of luxury brands did not stop.
As if to say well, from the Audi urbanite debut on April 19, the world premiere of the Mercedes-Benz EQS pure electric SUV, to the next day's BMW 7 Series three-car and BMW i7 debut, Lexus' first exclusive pure electric model RZ release, and then to The Lincoln's first pure electric concept car Lincoln Star world premiere on April 21, five new cars were released intensively in three days, and luxury brand electrified models took turns to seize the hot search.
The above models also represent the new standards of luxury brands to customize luxury electric vehicles.
BMW Group Chairman Chiptzer described the BMW i7 as "the strongest 7 Series, the latest example of BMW's successful development and firm electrification transformation"; Con Linsong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mercedes-Benz, believes that the new EQS pure electric SUV represents another iteration of Mercedes-Benz's research and development strategy, redefining the large luxury pure electric SUV segment; Wen Zeyue, president of Audi China, called the urbansphere concept car "the core of Audi China's enterprising 2030 strategy".
In addition, Lexus and Lincoln, which have a relatively sluggish layout, have also taken a key step towards a firm electrification transformation through the launch of blockbuster models.
With five blockbuster new cars as a signal, the electrification offensive of luxury brands is also about to accelerate. In 2022, BMW will launch 5 pure electric products in the Chinese market, in addition to the new BMW i3 built for Chinese consumers, BMW i7 also ushered in the world premiere.
In 2022, Mercedes-Benz will launch 8 new energy products in the Chinese market, including the first new EQE based on the EVA platform for domestic production, the first AMG electric model EQS 53 4MATIC, and plug-in hybrid products from C-class cars, S-class cars and other models.
In addition, Audi and Volkswagen Group announced that they will invest up to 15 billion euros in China by 2024 in electrification. In terms of products, with the introduction of models such as the Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi Q5 e-tron and Audi e-tron GT, the brand's electrification lineup has also been strengthened.
It can be seen that the competition in China's new energy vehicle market has entered a white-hot stage, and in the face of the rise of competitors, luxury brands finally no longer hesitate and accelerate their participation in the torrent of change. It is also worth looking forward to whether luxury car brands can rely on the accumulation of fuel vehicles to stir up the new energy market pattern.