As soon as the delivery volume of new energy vehicles was announced in April this year, the sales volume of the three first-line car-making new power brands of "Wei Xiaoli" was very surprising.
The ideal car, which once occupied the top of hybrid sales in the first quarter, fell more than 60% from March, and NIO's delivery performance last month also fell by nearly 50% month-on-month.
Zhiyu Automobile found that the first position of the new car-making forces in April was not the zero-run car mentioned by many media, but the GAC Aean under the GAC Group. "Wei Xiaoli" was indeed surpassed by Aeon and Zero Run, and the three new car-making brands that had once benchmarked Tesla were defeated by the "second-tier" domestic new energy brands, and the more effort they tried, the greater the gap seemed.
But this is not the worst result, a detailed number of domestic car-making new power brands, this year's life may not be too good. In the face of the crazy "two mountains" of "selling goods" BYD and Tesla, there may be some new car-making brands that will fall this year.
01
"Wei Xiaoli" was surpassed by the "second-line" Aian and Zero Run, etc.
And the gap is getting bigger and bigger
At the beginning of May this year, major domestic new energy vehicle brands have announced the delivery report card of the previous month. However, the delivery volume in April is mixed.
Among them, GAC Aean delivered 10,212 vehicles in April, an increase of 22.96% year-on-year, and zero-run cars delivered 9,087 vehicles in April, an increase of 228.05% year-on-year, all of which ranked ahead of the three first-line car-making new brand of "Wei Xiaoli". The delivery volume of Nezha Automobile last month also reached 8813 units, an increase of 119.50% year-on-year, which is also much higher than the delivery volume of Weilai Automobile and Ideal Automobile. The delivery results of the three "second-tier" car-making forces that have not been valued by the outside world have been surprising in April.
Comparison of delivery results of 7 new mainstream car-making forces in April this year (production of "Zhizhi Automobile")
In contrast, the delivery volume of "Wei Xiaoli" in April this year is very worrying. Among them, the delivery volume of Xiaopeng Automobile was 9002 units, an increase of 74.90% year-on-year, the delivery of Weilai Automobile was 5074 units, and the delivery of ideal cars was 4167 units, and both of them showed a very obvious downward trend year-on-year, which was -28.56% and -24.77% respectively. These two are also the only two car companies among the 7 new car-making brands that have experienced negative year-on-year growth.
Of course, another phenomenon that needs to be noted is that compared with the delivery volume in March, 6 car companies such as GAC E-An, Zero Running Automobile and "Wei Xiaoli" have all seen a sharp decline. This is mainly due to the shutdown caused by the epidemic and the common problems faced by industries such as supply chain.
However, it should not be ignored that the "Wei Xiaoli", which was once the most concerned by the media and users, was only in the middle and lower reaches of the middle and lower reaches of the delivery results in April this year.
The reality that the delivery volume of "Wei Xiaoli" has been surpassed does not seem to be an accidental phenomenon of its poor sales in a single month. If only from the sales data to analyze, in the first 4 months of this year, "Wei Xiaoli" is indeed no longer a front-line "new car-making force".
Comparison of the delivery of new car-making forces in the first four months of this year (production of "Zhishi Automobile")
According to the statistics of the automobile, the sales volume of "Wei Xiaoli" and 7 new car-making brands such as GAC Aean and Nezha Automobile was compared and found that in the first 4 months of this year, GAC Aean can be described as a riding on the dust, followed by Xiaopeng Automobile, and Nezha Automobile and Ideal Automobile ranked third or fourth. And Nio Motors is the worst total delivery in "Wei Xiaoli", and even close to being surpassed by zero-run cars, with only 176 deliveries in the first four months of the two sides.
Even Xiaopeng Automobile, the best performer in "Wei Xiaoli", has a total delivery volume of more than 10,000 vehicles in the first four months of this year. Nio Motors has a gap of nearly 25,000 units with GAC Aean.
What is even more fatal is that "Wei Xiaoli", which was once known as the first group of new car-making forces, is widening the gap with GAC E'an and Nezha Automobile. Especially in March and April this year, the monthly delivery volume of Weilai and Ideal is even less than 50% of GAC Eian, and there is also a significant gap with Nezha Automobile, which is surpassed by Zero Run Cars in April.
02
Why have the new forces of front-line car manufacturing been defeated?
The shutdown is not the only reason
At the end of April this year, NIO announced that its 200,000th car was officially rolled off the production line. Zhicai Automobile found that since the delivery of the first model on May 27, 2018, it has been less than 4 years since NIO completed this achievement. In the second half of last year, Ideal Automobile also ranked at the forefront of new energy SUV sales for many times, and Xiaopeng Automobile has maintained a relatively rapid growth trend.
Looking back at the delivery results of the three "Wei Xiaoli" in the past 4 years, it can be said that it is very hard work and has repeatedly broken their respective delivery records. But why is it that the "Wei Xiaoli", who is working harder and harder, has gradually been surpassed in comparison with the new forces that once "second-line" car-making, and even the gap is getting bigger and bigger?
Many may attribute it to factory shutdowns caused by the pandemic or supply chain problems such as chip shortages. But the reason may not be limited.
Since April this year, almost all the factories of domestic car companies have suffered major blows, and the intensification of the epidemic in Shanghai has led to the suspension and suspension of work and production in large-scale car companies. As the most important automobile production base in China, the automobile factories in Shanghai and its surrounding areas have to stop production for several days or even longer. Weilai Automobile, Zero-run Automobile, and Nezha Automobile, whose main factories are located around Shanghai, face similar problems.
The only ones affected by the epidemic here are the gac aviation and Xiaopeng Automobile, which is the least affected by the epidemic. Judging from the performance of the top two deliveries in April, it can also be seen that the two have indeed become winners.
But this may not be the whole reason why "Wei Xiaoli" was surpassed by the "second-tier" GAC and Nezha.
Nezha Automobile, which strives for the range of 100,000-150,000, has been growing rapidly last year and this year (picture from the official website of Nezha Automobile)
Price is perhaps one of the most immediate reasons. Zhicai Automobile found that in addition to Weilai Automobile and Ideal Automobile, the main models of several other new car-making brands are within 200,000 yuan, and brands such as Nezha Automobile and Zero-run Cars are about 100,000 yuan, which has a very strong attraction for consumers who pursue cost-effectiveness. These models are also the most generous to enjoy new energy subsidies, which naturally wins the favor of many consumers who want to choose new energy vehicles.
Weilai Automobile, which adheres to the high-end route, has also noticed this problem. In the first half of this year, officials have announced the upcoming launch of entry-level brands in an attempt to undo the mispricing strategies of the past.
In addition, the strong sales network channels behind the OEMs are an important reason for GAC Aean, Nezha Automobile and Zero-run Cars to catch up later.
GAC Aeon, which belongs to the GAC Group, zero-run cars with FAW background, and Extreme Krypton Automobile, a high-end brand under Geely, are inextricably linked to traditional OEMs or established car companies, and these factors provide them with a strong supply chain and a wide range of offline sales channels.
"Car companies are not competing for pure design and manufacturing capabilities, but more about sales channels and cost management competition," an OEM practitioner told Zhicai Auto.
In these aspects, in the past few years, with the help of the Internet car boom, it has become the "Wei Xiaoli" that users pay attention to, and it obviously does not occupy an advantage. With the passage of time, traditional automobile manufacturing companies that have taken the initiative in sales channels and cost management have begun to counterattack. The lack of staying power in car building makes the follow-up competitiveness of "Wei Xiaoli" slightly insufficient.
03
Facing by BYD Tesla "two mountains",
More new car-making forces may fall this year
The opponents of the new car-making forces are not only competing with each other, but more often than not, they are actually from the pressure of "two mountains".
Although Weilai founder Li Bin has previously emphasized that the opponent is the German BBA, Ideal Auto also believes that the international brand is the biggest opponent of "Wei Xiaoli". But at the beginning of its establishment, "Wei Xiaoli" shouted to Tesla and was bent on surpassing his opponents. Until now, many of the functions of the model have been benchmarked against the American new energy giant.
On the other hand, for most domestic consumers who choose new energy vehicles, Tesla and BYD are also the first two car brands they will think of. But the two are like "two mountains", which are the opponents that these new car-making forces can never avoid. But the energy of these two opponents is extremely powerful.
Recently, according to data released by BYD, in April this year, the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 106042, and the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in the first four months reached 392371, an increase of 387.94% year-on-year. Tesla's global deliveries in the first quarter of this year exceeded 310,000 units, compared with 184,800 vehicles delivered in the same period last year, an increase of 67.7% year-on-year.
The "two mountains" of new energy vehicles continue to maintain a high-speed growth trend, which has put great pressure on more weak and small new car-making forces. For example, since the beginning of this year, WM Motors has never announced a single month's car sales, and car manufacturers such as Yundu Automobile have fallen into bankruptcy rumors. Under the trend of new energy vehicle market sales to the head brand concentration, in 2022, there may be some new car-making forces that will be difficult to survive this winter and will fall.