Press: Actually, MPVs go center stage, not accidentally.
"Family First Class", "Magic Car with Baby", "Essential for Big Family Outings"... When it comes to MPV models, these labels can't always be bypassed. With advantages in space, comfort, appearance, etc., MPV models have gradually "come out of the circle" from business use scenarios and become the first choice for more consumers.
At present, like sedans and SUVs, MPVs are also developing in the direction of electrification and intelligence, and more new energy MPV models stand in the "C position" of the product matrix of major car companies, and MPV models have also become a barometer of the product strategy and technical level of car companies.
However, MPV inevitably has problems such as high energy consumption, higher price, poor space utilization, and the MPV market segment is not as hot as the marketing and market public opinion of car companies show, and the sales of many MPV models have declined, and new cars with monthly sales of only 1,000 units abound. We can't help but ask, for ordinary consumers, is MPV just needed or chicken?
MPV goes center stage
At the Shanghai Auto Show not long ago, MPV models ushered in an unprecedented collective carnival.
Weipai Alpine, Trumpchi E9, DENZA D9 PREMIER Founding Edition, a new generation of Lexus LM, Extreme Fox Koala, Hechuang V09, Pentium M9... A number of new MPV cars made a high-profile appearance, coupled with the earlier launch of FAW Toyota Gravia and Buick Century CENTURY, MPV finally ushered in its own highlight moment after many years of dormancy.
▲Trumpchi E9 unveiled at this year's Shanghai Auto Show (Photo by Consumer Reports)
In fact, MPV's move to center stage is not accidental, it is an inevitable result of market changes and policy support.
At present, electrification, intelligence and connectivity have become an unstoppable trend in the global automotive market, and MPVs are naturally difficult to stay out of the situation in addition to sedans and SUVs. As mentioned earlier, a number of car companies have launched new energy MPVs, and the MPV market for fuel models has become a thing of the past, and gasoline-electric hybrid, range extender, plug-in hybrid and pure electric MPV models are increasing, and the power forms of MPV models are more diverse.
▲ Buick Century is equipped with a large smart screen (source: Buick official)
In addition, the intelligence and comfort of MPV models are also increasing. Buick Century CENTURY, Trumpchi M8, Denza D9, etc. have all launched four-seater models, with better interior space and comfort, and with large smart screens and other configurations, making the MPV's "family first class" label more worthy of the name.
For rising independent brands, the MPV market, which is prone to generating premiums, will naturally be regarded as a new sales growth point. Especially on the high-end track, MPVs are more likely to become seed players, and after the introduction of the "three-child policy", they are more able to adapt to the increasingly popular demand of Chinese consumers for medium and large family models.
It can be seen that in the gap between sedans and SUVs, MPVs are not to be outdone, and are bound to gain a place in the hot Chinese passenger car market. However, has this market segment, which has been tepid for many years, suddenly gone against the trend? Is the spring of MPV really coming?
Is MPV just needed or chicken ribs?
While MPV is quite a rising star, sales data has poured cold water on it.
The retail sales data of MPV models released by the passenger association for the first four months of this year showed that the sales of many of the top ten models fell sharply year-on-year, among which the sales of the Buick GL8 and Odyssey fell by 13.9% and 27.6% respectively year-on-year.
▲Sales of many MPV models in the first quarter of this year fell simultaneously (Source: Passenger Association)
Specifically, in the total sales in the first four months of this year, only the cheaper "tool car" Wuling Hongguang exceeded 40,000 units, and only the Denza D9 and Buick GL8 exceeded 30,000 units. In terms of monthly sales, in April this year, only the Buick GL8 and Denza D9 sold more than 10,000 models, and the monthly sales of Wuling Hongguang were only about 9,100 units.
It can be seen that after the introduction of a number of highly transformative models, the MPV market has not ushered in a blowout as expected, and sales growth has been weak and has never entered the core of the market.
It is worth noting that the monthly sales of many new energy MPVs such as Extreme Krypton 009 and Lantu Dreamer have generally only maintained a thousand units, and some models have even sold only hundreds of units per month, revealing the false prosperity of the MPV market. In fact, among the top MPV models in the first quarter of this year, traditional fuel vehicles and hybrid models still account for the majority.
▲Lantu Dreamer (Source: Lantu Automobile Official Weibo)
It can be seen that today's MPV market has not ushered in a new round of reshuffle. On the one hand, models such as Buick GL8, Ailisian, and Xena still perform strongly; On the other hand, the MPV models of its own brand have ushered in a period of rapid growth, but they have not yet challenged the status of the old hot-selling models, except for the Denza D9, the performance of other new energy MPV models is weak.
In fact, for new car companies and models, it is naturally not easy to challenge the traditional hegemon. Buick GL8, Ailison and Odyssey and other models, entering the Chinese market for many years and accumulating a strong reputation basic plate, while Denza D9 uses plug-in hybrid to solve battery life anxiety, as well as BYD's brand endorsement, which can be described as taking advantage of the time and place, which is an innate advantage that most independent car companies do not have.
▲DENZA D9 PREMIER Inaugural Edition (Source: DENZA Auto Official Weibo)
For ordinary consumers, the comfort of MPVs and the large number of passengers are undoubtedly a huge attraction. However, problems such as high price and unreasonable passenger cabin layout lead to narrow space in the third row, poor space utilization in the trunk, inconvenient parking, high fuel consumption/power consumption, and battery life anxiety of pure electric models have never been far away, and consumers may face various huge costs and inconveniences when purchasing MPV models.
In addition, the current use scenarios of MPVs are more concentrated in business and official use, for ordinary consumers, its use value and consumption value is far less than that of cars and SUVs, after all, the latter also has many models with excellent comfort and space performance to choose from, and the driving experience will be better.
It is undeniable that the increasing number of new MPV vehicles provides consumers with more diverse car purchase options. For families who need to buy medium and large cars, MPVs are a good target.
However, MPV itself also has drawbacks that are difficult to change, and when the price of the car is generally "rolled in", MPV with comfort and high-end as the selling point is out of place. If the price is reduced, the comfort and other aspects of the MPV model will be greatly reduced, and it will fall into a situation where no one cares.
▲GAC Toyota Senna (Source: GAC Toyota official website)
At present, the MPV market presents an embarrassing situation of "false fire". For savvy consumers, bells and whistles and unrealistic premiums will never be more attractive than meeting the actual needs of the car.
Since the monthly sales of many new cars can only hover in the strange circle of more than 1,000 vehicles, what car companies need to do is not only to rudely seize the market, but also to continuously improve the product power of MPV models and provide consumers with more practical and reliable models.