Lead
Introduction
The plug-and-mix market is not only a battlefield for independent brands to besiege foreign brands, but also a necessary means for the next "independent brother" to compete.
Author 丨 Yang Jing
Responsible editor 丨 Luo Chao
Editor 丨Zhu Jinbin
"How much does it cost to add a PHEV plug-in hybrid system to your current car?" Earlier this year, Auto Commune asked a joint venture brand car company.
"80,000 yuan." In fact, this is basically the average of all joint venture brands in the Chinese market.
BMW 5 Series entry-level plug-in hybrid version 499,900 yuan, the same configuration of fuel vehicles 428,900 yuan; CR-V plug-in mix minimum sale of 273,800 yuan, HEV hybrid version standard 209,800 yuan; Passat plug mix 229,900 yuan, the same configuration of fuel version 203,900 yuan; Corolla plug mix starting price of 207,800 yuan, HEV hybrid version standard 135,800 yuan.
It is not difficult to see that in the joint venture brand, the price difference between the PHEV version of the same model and the fuel version is at least 70,000 yuan. Among them, the price gap between Passat PHEV and the fuel version is the smallest, in fact, the starting price of Passat PHEV when it was first launched in 2018 also reached 276,900 yuan, and with the scale of sales and the understanding of the market, the price has gradually declined.
This also directly leads to the fact that in the car purchase choices voted by consumers with banknotes, if not in the city where the brand is delivered, these joint venture brand plug-in models are difficult to be favored by consumers. On the contrary, in this round of competition, independent brands have highlighted their incomparably strong competitiveness, exacerbating the concerns of joint venture brands that are too slow in electrification transformation.
Opportunities for independent brands to counter joint venture brands
Compared with the development history of the global automotive industry, the development of China's automotive industry has not gained an advantage in time. However, with the market capacity becoming the world's first in 2009, The development speed of China's automobile industry is far beyond people's imagination. Therefore, in the process of the rise of independent brands, the long-term goal is how to compete with foreign brands.
At this moment, independent brands deeply realize that even if the development speed is fast, compared with foreign brands, there is still a congenital disadvantage in the field of fuel vehicles. If you want to become a runner or even a leader, you must "change lanes and overtake". Fortunately, due to the breakthrough of emerging technologies and the upgrading of China's consumption, it provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for independent brands to participate in global competition.
On the one hand, internal combustion engine technology continues to narrow the gap with foreign brands, on the other hand, the rapid development of new energy and intelligent networking, coupled with consumers' ideological transformation of domestic products. Independent brand PHEV products showed a trend of concentrated outbreak at the beginning of last year, and began in the second half of last year, with the hot sales of BYD DM-i plug-in hybrid models quickly out of the circle.
According to the data of the Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the retail sales of new energy vehicles in 2021 reached 2.989 million units, of which 2.444 million were pure electric vehicles, an increase of 168.6% year-on-year, and the sales of plug-in hybrid models, including range extenders, reached 545,000 units, an increase of 171.2% year-on-year. In other words, the growth rate of plug-in hybrid models exceeds that of pure electric models.
The plug-in models that were once criticized by consumers as "IQ tax", "fraudulent compensation", "industrial waste" and so on finally ushered in a sunny spring. There are 84 PEV plug-in hybrid models on sale in the Chinese auto market, including 36 self-owned brands, 48 foreign brands, down to BYD to Ferrari, and the price has crossed from 111,800 yuan to 5.108 million yuan.
However, in these plug-and-mix models, the number of independent brands that do not dominate the number occupies an absolute dominant position in sales. Whether it is a sedan or an SUV, whether it is a compact car or a medium-sized car, or even a medium-sized car, the disadvantage of foreign brands is the high price, and consumers who choose to plug in hybrid models often calculate an economic account.
Why can't the cost of plug-in and hybrid models of foreign brands be reduced? One is planning, the second is scale, and the third is supply chain. Whether it is PHEV plug-in mixing or BEV pure electricity, the layout of foreign brands is generally backward, including the Japanese heV hybrid in the dead bump, the European plug-and-mix model is only to balance the points, and the American plug-and-mix model is not suitable for the Chinese market.
The sluggishness of electrification has affected the efficiency of foreign brands in scale, so that the batteries, motors and electronic control "three electricity" systems of their plug-in models lack technical reserves and cost advantages. And long-term dependence on the vast fuel vehicle market, the degree of emphasis on electrification is insufficient, and a complete and suitable supply chain system has not been formed.
Since the independent brands proposed "overtaking in curves" in 2015, they have hoped to switch the competitive track with foreign brands through electrification. After more than ten years of development and fission, independent brands have emerged in this bloody Red Sea market in terms of technical strength, brand tonality, product experience and special services.
Last year, BYD's DM plug-in models sold a total of 272,900 units. In contrast, faw Toyota Shuangqing family sold 201,600 units, GAC Toyota Shuangqing family sold 175,600 vehicles, and Honda China Rui Hybrid family sold 233,800 vehicles. It can be seen that BYD successfully counterattacked, and the plug-and-mix model pulled the Japanese hybrid products off the altar in one fell swoop.
Therefore, at the time of the rise of plug-and-mix, many foreign brands are either struggling in the BEV pure electric market or still laying out HEV to survive. Pure electric is the future direction, but at this stage is still the transition period from fuel vehicles to pure electric, and the plug-in hybrid model is a transitional product of the transition period, which is the optimal solution at present.
That is to say, the plug-in hybrid model is the successor of the fuel vehicle, rather than to seize the market share of the pure electric vehicle model. So how do foreign brands lower the price of plug-in hybrid models? There may be only one answer, that is, the Chinese company that jointly shares the brand, grafts the insertion and mixing technology of its own brand, or directly uses some of the plug-and-mix system of the independent brand to reduce costs.
All along, what independent brands have not lacked is the ultimate compression of costs. Nowadays, BYD's DM-i plug-and-mix system has also begun to supply, one is to share the cost, and the other is to consolidate the status of its plug-and-mix technology. However, in the vigorous Chinese plug-in market, BYD is still far from a single big moment.
Who is the next "autonomous brother"?
Currently, The Gili Ray God Hi · X, Changan Blue Whale iDD, Great Wall Lemon DHT, Chery Kunpeng DHT and other plug-and-mix technology brands have been launched, and these several head independent brands of plug-and-mix models have landed, and the plug-and-mix market is not only a battlefield for independent brands to besiege foreign brands, but also a necessary means for the next "independent brother" to compete.
"The trend of electrification has become irreversible, where will the next flashpoint be?" Undoubtedly, it will be a private car. And in the short to medium term, plug-in hybrids will be the mainstream. BYD President Wang Chuanfu made an assertion at the BYD brand ceremony in 2017.
At present, the overall sales volume of domestic new energy vehicles shows an unbalanced state of "two large and small in the middle". Electric vehicle companies led by "Wei Xiaoli" and Tesla have successfully occupied the high-end new energy vehicle market, while with the outbreak of a series of products such as Wuling Hongguang MINIEV and Changan Benben EV, a relatively large-scale low-end new energy field has been formed.
In fact, with reference to the fuel vehicle market, it can be seen that the healthy situation of China's automobile market should be a "spindle-shaped" mid-range market that is broader. The result of this "hourglass" is that the new energy vehicle market is not mature, but fortunately, with the advancement of technology and the change of consumer ideology, the mid-end market has begun to change.
In the huge mid-end market, the problems of pure electric vehicle endurance attenuation, imperfect energy replenishment facilities, large fluctuations affected by raw materials, and low retention rate have not yet been solved. Relatively speaking, the "oily and electric" plug-and-go products are much less anxious in these aspects. It can be seen that the plug-and-mix model will gradually become mainstream from the previous transition.
Last year, a large independent brand car company in the south successfully joined hands with the Japanese after all kinds of difficulties. Originally thought to be able to rely on the powerful Japanese hybrid technology, in the Chinese market to further shine. However, with the penetration of the plug-and-mix model, the car company also immediately began to study PHEV technology and released the hybrid brand on another day.
Qin Pro plug-in mix, Song PLUS plug-in mix these two cars to seize most of the plug-and-mix market, there is no doubt that in the 150,000 yuan level of the market, PHEV will replace 48V light mix and HEV as a new indicator of electrification. Then the problem comes to other independent brands, BYD stopped selling fuel vehicles, there is no historical baggage, and other own brands are not.
Differentiation is always an important weight in the competition between independent brands. Great Wall Motors led the way with a Wei brand mocha DH-PHEV priced at 295,000 yuan, and Changan Automobile also chose the high-end sequence UNI-K iDD as the vanguard. However, compared with the Mocha DHT-PHEV, UNI-K iDD used a very impactful pricing price of 176,900 yuan.
On the other hand, unlike the SUV strategy adopted by Great Wall and Changan, Geely Leishen power plug mixed the first model to the Emgrand L. Chery Automobile, like BYD, chose its star product Tiggo 8 PLUS to create the Tiggo 8 PLUS Kunpeng e+. The conservative pricing strategy makes the price difference between the two small, which is conducive to full participation in the market that competes with BYD.
In any case, from the launch of the first plug-and-mix model of its own brand, it can be seen that the car company's strategic play in the plug-and-mix market. Even if BYD has preconceived notions in the original hot market for fuel vehicles, even if plug-and-mix is one of the trends, the overall capacity of the 545,000-unit plug-and-mix market last year is still weak.
The first plug-and-mix products of other independent brands are just testing the waters to the market, once this year's plug-and-mix market reaches a qualitative change of data, whether it is high-handed, high-open low-go, or positive hard-hard. These independent brand car companies must rely on their own brand characteristics to meet market demand in order to maintain a leading position in the new round of competition.
As Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, said, "Whether in electrification and intelligent transformation, or in the exploration of emerging business models, Chinese auto brands are no longer bystanders or simple followers, but have become runners and even leaders." "In the mature electrification market, the surpassing of foreign brands by independent brands will eventually be formed."
| Yang Jing |
No sleep at noon
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