Foreword: In March, the bus market fell by nearly 30%, the industry's new products rose three times, buses/light passengers became the savior again, Weichai Yashang X9-3 new shape, Chase FCV90 fuel cell light passengers, bus lanes with light vehicles to verify the "front of the car down" trend? The fifth generation of the Golden Dragon Crown finally ushered in the great unification, and the Changan Ruixing M80/60 electrification...
In the first quarter, the bus market fell by nearly 20%, and buses/light passengers became the "savior" of new products.
In March 2022, the M-class bus industry sold 38,000 units, down -27.8% year-on-year. The sudden outbreak of the epidemic after the Spring Festival has inhibited the national passenger flow to a certain extent, and the road passenger, tourism and urban bus markets have been affected, so the decline is even greater than in the previous two months. From January to March, the cumulative sales of the bus industry were 91,000 units, a year-on-year cumulative decrease of -18.7%, and the structure changed significantly, specifically:
The cumulative sales of traditional large and medium-sized buses were 16,100 units, a cumulative slight increase of 0.6% year-on-year, and still maintained positive growth; the market share reached 17.5%, accounting for nearly 20%, an increase of three percentage points year-on-year.
The cumulative sales of light buses were 76,100 units, a cumulative year-on-year decline of -21.5%, which has been in a downward trend for seven consecutive months; while the decline this month was -31.7%, and the bottoming rebound not only did not appear, but the amplitude expanded. In contrast, after the implementation of the new regulations on blue-brand light trucks and small and micro passenger cars in the light commercial vehicle industry, the proportion of N-class light/micro trucks involved has not decreased, but has increased, releasing the expected capacity sales;
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the 355th batch of new products, and the M-class bus industry declared a total of 47 new products, with a month-on-month growth rate of 34.2%, striding out of the haze at the beginning of the year, of which buses and light passengers became the most obvious "driving double wheels" in the industry. The "lane allocation" of this batch of light buses is particularly eye-catching, but the relationship between bus lanes and rapid transit BRT is not clear enough for many readers, and the author is here to discuss.
Nearly two decades ago, China first introduced "bus rapid transit" (as early as Beijing in December 2004), through physically isolated fully enclosed bus lanes (later more virtual isolation), road-style harbor platforms and low-floor buses seamless docking, single vehicle capacity maximization and configuration of luxury vehicles, and such as signal-first operation system reform attempts, BRT systems have rapidly become popular in China. However, with the passage of time, after dozens of large and medium-sized cities have implemented BRT systems (the model is becoming more and more significant), the new things that were once new have no longer attracted people's attention. At the same time, the virtual isolation of "bus lanes" began to quietly become popular in China (as early as Kunming in April 1999), and this concept of not changing the physical characteristics of the road but improving the efficiency of bus operation has been echoed by more small and medium-sized cities. Through the practice of various places, it can be seen that BRT rapid transit is not completely equivalent to bus lanes, the former is only a sufficient non-essential condition for the latter, and the more popular bus lanes that can share the right of way resources at a specific time are the current "king road".
As a result, public transport vehicles that meet the latest needs of the market have also come into being, just like the "sudden outbreak" of this batch of light buses. Seemingly accidental events actually point out the real trend of the current bus industry - the former "giant king" large and extra-large buses have become a thing of the past, and the vehicle miniaturization caused by the continuous decline in passenger flow has become a real problem that every passenger industry must accept.
Weichai Yashang X9-3 brand new shape luxury bus, SAIC Maxus FCV90 fuel cell light passenger
Recently, Weichai Yashang upgraded its large-seat bus King Kong series, and launched a new high-end X9-3 series bus by joining hands with the Italian company Pininfarina, which is summarized here.
In February this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the 353rd batch of publicity, Weichai Yashang upgraded the YBL6125H1QE1 bus, and for the first time appeared the X9-3 appearance kit; this batch of Asian merchants continued to change, expanding a set of luggage compartment doors (toilets or co-pilot rest cabins) with ventilation windows. The car is positioned in the domestic high-end operation and overseas market, the European design concept and Chinese fashion elements are organically combined, using a new design language: double high beam headlights constitute the X-shaped style, timing lighted turn signal LED module is also a fashion trend in recent years, that is, to create a dynamic effect of flow and flicker. The reclining front windshield retains a double-glass shape, while the through-through silver trim strips are paired with blue mood lights that visually connect the front and sides, making it look well protected on both sides. The rear is embellished with personalized graphics, and the well-designed technology-style taillights are obviously different from the more common "one strokes" in the industry, fully reflecting the intention of "integral design".
The car is a large high-level operating bus, with a height of 3.85 meters, which breaks through the "height limit within 3.7 meters" deliberately avoided by the industry (related to the need to install additional safety configurations), with a wheelbase of 6.1 meters, a rated passenger capacity of 53+1 seats, and a diesel engine of 9.5L, 375 hp or 8.8L and 336 hp diesel engines of Weichai, with fuel consumption of 19.3/21.1L/100km.
SAIC Maxus launched the second generation of FCV light passengers, namely the FCV90 series SH6591H4FCEV fuel cell bus, with a total length of 5940mm, a height of 2553mm, a wheelbase of 3760mm, GVW= 4305kg, a curb weight of 3075/3135kg, a rated passenger carrying 12/15 seats, rear unicyced drive, front independent rear 3 plate spring suspension, equipped with Shanghai Jie hydrogen fuel cell + SAIC Times NCM ternary lithium power battery, refined electric 65 / 130kW drive system with a maximum speed of 100km/h (VCU speed limit).
As early as the 296th batch of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in June 2017, SAIC Maxus declared the first FCV product in the light passenger industry, SH6612A4FCEV fuel cell bus, equipped with Dalian Xinyuan Power 30kW fuel cell + Hefei Guoxuan 14.3 degree LFP power battery, Shanghai electric drive 55/100kW drive system, driving range of 430 kilometers. The vehicle has carried out more than 400 demonstration operations in seven cities: Shanghai, Fushun, Foshan, Dalian, Wuxi, Changzhi and Qingdao, accumulating a large number of experience in the utilization of hydrogen energy of light commercial vehicles, laying a solid foundation for technological upgrading. Since then, although the industry has also had several FCV light passenger announcement declarations, such as Dongfeng Group EQ6700LACFCEV, Shanghai Shenlong SLK6606GFCEVQ fuel cell bus, and Weichai Yashang YBL5040XXYFCEV fuel cell van (all of which are Wanbao series variants), but no more market sales data have been seen, so SAIC Maxus still firmly occupies the first-mover advantage of hydrogen light passengers.
Light city buses "a hundred flowers bloom", bus lanes with new trends
The characteristics of the basic new products of this batch of M class buses are as follows:
New energy power accounts for 93.6%, almost covering the overall situation. Among the traditional M3 class buses, except for one school bus, the rest are new NEV products, which is the most thoroughly electrified commercial vehicle category; among the M2/M1 light passengers, there are 5 new NEV products, accounting for 71.4%, and only the two proud series NJ6496ACMZ2/3 multi-purpose passenger cars declared by NANC Motor use diesel power, equipped with Nanvico SOFIM8140.47Z6 diesel engine, 2.5L, 122 horsepower, 8-9 and 5-9 people, respectively.
The two categories of "bus + seat" continue to maintain a proportion of about 80%, which also echoes the current "strong large and medium passengers and weak light passengers"; the month-on-month change amplitude of the two is around 5%, basically canceling each other out. Among them: 30 new bus products as a whole show a counterattack trend of light buses, this batch of a total of 11 more than 7 medium-sized buses, closer to the 12 large buses, reflecting the vigorous vitality, is also an important highlight of this batch. The new public transport products of seat buses have once again surpassed the regular large and medium-sized passengers, and the new energy "city buses" are more favored by the operating industry.
In terms of light passengers, this batch has a total of three European and four independent new products, the former has been described above, the latter are all new electrified products of the M80/60 series of Changan Ruixing, which is also another introduction object of this article.
This batch of Yutong Xiaoyu series intelligent minibus intensively declared the configuration of the optional left side door, thus preparing for the "bus lane allocation", involving a total of six models, including a new ZK6606BEVG3C, and five models that have been announced, namely the 5.9/6 meter E6 series ZK6606BEVG1/4/1C/2C, and the 7-meter E7 series ZK6706BEVG2. The specific description is: "Optionally install the left and right side of the passenger door, at this time the car is operating on the bus lane set up along the central lane of the road, but also operating on the ordinary road; the passenger door on both sides can not be opened at the same time under normal conditions". It can be seen that such operations ensure that Yutong Xiaoyu can be used for the use of two road modes, which is more conducive to the flexible deployment of vehicles; at the same time, the repeated shortening of the so-called "BRT car" is very different from the traditional rapid transit that was often "12 meters starting and 18 meters widespread", reflecting the impact of the decline in passenger flow on all industries.
Xiamen Golden Travel launched the light bus Xingtu Intour series in November 2018, which is also a popular product in the industry that is more mini than the 8-meter medium-sized bus, and has declared six products, including four 6.6-meter-class XML6655JEVJ/0C/1/2 and two 5.9-meter-class XML6605JEVJ/0C pure electric city buses. This batch of Starway series has also been serialized and "transformed":
Xiamen Golden Travel declared the XML6605JEVJ/0C1 pure electric city bus, in addition to routine operation, but also expanded the more successful Polaris model, with reference to the previous 6.9 meters XML6705JEVJ0C/1 pure electric city bus, The width and height of the car were increased to 2.32 meters and 3.13 meters, the wheelbase was increased from 2775mm to 3300mm, and the front 3 rear 4 leaf spring suspension was changed to air suspension, coupled with the short front suspension with the door opened between the shafts, the overall product architecture was more similar to that of the super bus, so it can also be understood that the starway shape was expanded on the Polaris product platform.
Foshan Flying Spurs this batch of use of Golden Travel StarWay 6.6 meters version of the declaration of FSQ6650BEVGA pure electric city bus, is an OEM work, the outer dimensions of 6.54×2.1× 2.79 / 3 meters, wheelbase 3.32 meters, optional front 3 rear 4 leaf spring suspension or air suspension, the front / middle double passenger door layout of the traditional bus, there are 38 people / 11-14 seats or 35 people / 14-17 seats two layout schemes, equipped with Ningde era LFP power battery and Golden Dragon New Energy 180kW drive system.
The Haige bus of the Golden Dragon series under Fuqi Group also adds the configuration of "light buses" in this batch:
The Hagrid Qingyuan series KLQ6606GAEVN3 pure electric low-entry city bus, this batch expands the intelligent driving sensor of Qingzhou Zhihai QCRAFT, including three groups above the front and left rearview mirrors and the middle of the rear wall, Suzhou Industrial Park SIP intelligent driving coating, according to the introduction of the management committee has purchased the same model.
Hager Bus declared the new Microbus Bus KLQ6675GAEVN3W on the previous batch, and this batch continues to expand, declaring two new products of KLQ6675GAEVN2 pure electric low-entry city bus and KLQ6675GAEVN1W pure electric city bus. The former adopts a first-class tread structure, rated to carry 40 people / 22 seats or 45 people / 20 seats, the latter adopts a full-seat structure without a standing area, with a maximum capacity of 28 seats, of which the latter adopts the new painting of Suzhou Bus and is expected to be launched locally soon.
Jiangsu Guotang previously used the market resources of the parent company to obtain many territorial orders in Wuhan, Hubei and Yancheng, Jiangsu, and carried out the series development of products in line with the trend, which is also the survival of many small and medium-sized bus enterprises. This batch of Guotang Automobile declared the SGK6600BEVGK11 pure electric city bus, which adopts the EQ6540RACEV three-class chassis of Xianglu Company under Dongfeng Co., Ltd., and the body structure of the intelligent microbus is fastened. The car has a total length of 5.99 meters, a width of 2.23 meters, a wheelbase of 3.15 meters, air suspension, rated passengers of 19 people / 13 seats, equipped with Ningde era LFP power battery and Jingjin electric 160kW drive system. The car uses both left and right side door opening structures, or is for the Yancheng BRT to be equipped with a car. Guotang Automobile also plans a conventional front/middle double-door version of the light bus, named "Hongtu 592", with a total length of 5995mm, rated 19 people / 17 seats, equipped with a 90.24-degree LFP power battery of the Ningde era, which has not yet been declared.
The five generations of Golden Dragon Jieguan will finally usher in the unification, and Guangtong New Zhongke and Changan Ruixing will be electrified
From the perspective of the length of the new product segment:
This batch of new products covers 13 subdivision length levels of 4.5-11.7 meters, most of which are at the level of 4-5 models, and with the addition of new products of seats and light passengers, it is more conducive to the healthy development of the industry.
The new bus products cover seven subdivisions of 5.9-10.7m, although the traditional advantage of 10.5 meters and 8.5 meters continues to dominate, but it is clear that light buses below 7 meters are the main hot spots at present, and 5.9 meters, 6.6 meters and 6.9 meters have spread in the industry. Some models with a statistical threshold of 7.0 meters "left and right jump", the author uniformly takes the lower limit of its length, that is, classified according to 6.9 meters, such as Yutong E7 series ZK6700BEVG1A.
The new seats are concentrated in 8 meters and 8.5 meters of passengers, as well as 10.99 meters and 11.7 meters of large passengers, a total of four subdivision lengths, and the minibus/school bus is concentrated in three subdivision lengths of 5.9-8 meters. Although the number is limited, due to the rich and supplementary product range, it is also an important guarantee for the choice of transportation for passengers' daily travel.
This batch of new light passenger products extends the lower length limit to the 4.5-meter level, forming a perfect connection with traditional micro-surface/cross-type passenger cars, which fully reflects the existence of light commercial vehicles. For 4.7-meter-class short shaft and 4.5-meter-class ultra-short shaft products, there have always been A-class compact and A0-class small MPVs joining the battle group, which also poses a greater challenge to accurately define product attributes. The author will strive to learn the relevant knowledge of passenger cars with readers and friends, use the relevant national standards and structural characteristics, and try to accurately classify the models that are not clear, so as to provide more accurate services for the analysis of commercial vehicle data.
Dajinlong has previously expanded the five generations of The Crown modeling for the existing multi-seat bus announcement, and this batch is the first time that the "Jet Five" has been declared with the "Jet Five" as the main view of the announcement the new product of XMQ6112AGBEVL05 pure electric city bus, which also marks that the fifth generation of the Czech Crown has officially become the "big unification" shape of the Golden Dragon family covering 8-11.7 meters. The car adopts the announcement of the city bus without a standing area, with a total length of 10.99 meters, a wheelbase of 5.59 meters, air suspension, a maximum passenger capacity of 51+1 seats, equipped with Ruipu Energy LFP power battery, Jinlong's own 220/360kW drive system, and a maximum speed of 100km/h. However, for the Dake product platform, Jinlong only adopts a wide-body front circumference, and the rear circumference still uses the original 6112 series product resources, which can be regarded as an assembly part that is not completely universal.
Zhuhai Guangtong, a subsidiary of Gree Titanium, declared the GTQ6859BEVB30 pure electric city bus, which is also the 8.5-meter section of the bus that restarted the seat many years later. The car adopts a new front circumference style: the small round light with the daily running lamp highlights the simplicity and practicality, which is quite different from the previous family X-type style; the exaggerated one-piece right rearview mirror (which is used in foreign countries) is cancelled and changed to the more common rabbit ear style in the industry; however, its side and rear wall modeling elements still follow the original style, which can be known to be a facelift work. The car has a total length of 8545mm, wheelbase of 4200mm, the maximum passenger capacity of 35+ 1 seats, air suspension, equipped with Ningde era LFP power battery, Gree Titanium's own 120/220kW drive system, the maximum speed of 100km/h.
Hebei Chang'an has previously revoked all the fuel version announcements of the two series of Ruixing M80 and M60, and this batch has carried out the corresponding pure electric M1 category four new product declarations, which also implies the response to the rectification of small and micro passenger cars of the two ministries and commissions, that is, pure electric vans are not included in the new regulations, and can still use the name of "pure electric multi-purpose passenger cars" to declare the announcement. Specifically:
Changan Ruixing EM80 series SC6483ABA/BBEV pure electric multi-purpose passenger car, outer dimensions 4805×1715×1990mm, wheelbase 3050mm, front independent rear 5 leaf spring suspension, there are 6/7 seats and 9 seats two versions, the overall specifications are similar to the low-top Japanese light passenger, in the light passenger market has a strong competitiveness.
Changan Ruixing EM60 series SC6453BBA/BBEV pure electric multi-purpose passenger car, outer dimensions 4525×1715×1990mm, wheelbase 3000mm, vehicle longitudinal section contour line and suspension well inherit the EM80 series, with family-oriented universal characteristics. The car is available in 6/7-seater and 7-seat versions, and after electrification, it also breaks the limit of 4.5 meters in length and 1.68 meters in width, so it is a direct competitor to the traditional micro-surface.
Both of the previous internal combustion engine versions are engine mid-structure, optional folio tailgate, after electrification equipped with Ningde era LFP power battery, Suzhou Huichuan 32/60kW drive system, the maximum speed of 100km/h. (End)
Photo: C3