The year 2023 is over, and Chinese cars have become "the first in the world"!

Before you know it, the magical year 2023 is over.

2023 will be a milestone year for new energy vehicles: more than 1,100 new energy vehicles have been launched, and by the end of the third quarter, the cumulative global sales of new energy vehicles will be about 37.7 million units, with mainland China accounting for about 60%, and the new energy penetration rate will exceed 40% for the first time......

Behind the good situation, there is a bloody reality: Mitsubishi withdrew, Weimar fell, and Evergrande thundered...... The market is getting smaller and smaller, the gap is getting bigger and bigger, and new energy seems to be going to decide the winner, what are the key words of China's auto market in 2023?

"Volume"

If you search for what is the most common word in China's auto market in 2023, then "volume" will definitely be the first place.

At the beginning of the year, the new energy national subsidy officially ended, and a number of new energy vehicle companies that enjoyed the policy dividend ushered in the first big test, but the results were obviously not very ideal: in January, except for a few brands such as Tesla, BYD and Ideal, almost the entire new energy vehicle market saw a decline in sales, with Leap's sales plummeting by 85%, NIO falling by 11.9%, and Nezha falling by 45.4% year-on-year.

In the face of such a situation, there are differences among car companies, some of them chose to increase the price of Poly, while the other part has embarked on the road of exchanging price for volume, and Tesla fired the first shot: Model 3 price reduction of 36,000 yuan; Model Y price reduction of 29,000 yuan, with a large number of new energy vehicle companies to follow up, according to statistics, this year there are more than 50 domestic car brands and hundreds of models to participate in this price war, price reduction between 3-120,000 yuan, the strength is not small.

The effect is also obvious, sincerity is in place, sales will naturally go up, many car companies have begun to grow explosively, the proportion of the new energy market has further expanded, and most of the oil vehicles have also been forced to reduce prices, especially joint venture brands.

With the arrival of the end of the year, the price war is even more escalating, especially at the critical moment when major car companies sprint to the annual sales target, almost all of them have to stimulate sales through price cuts, and in addition to the price reduction of old cars, new cars are becoming more and more exaggerated, such as the just-released Extreme Krypton 007, the starting price of 209,900 yuan, which directly welds the threshold of pure electric B-class cars.

In addition, there is also the same "technology" that has been involved, at the beginning of the year it is still a configuration of hundreds of thousands of new energy, and at the end of the year, it can already be seen at a price of 200,000, such as 800V platform, intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving, electric drive system, integrated die-casting, air suspension, lidar and other technical hardware decentralization, truly realizing "equal rights in science and technology".

Looking forward to 2024, this price war will continue, or even further expand, which is undoubtedly a year full of challenges and opportunities for the new energy vehicle industry. How to find their own positioning in such a market environment, how to balance costs and sales, and how to maintain their own sustainable development in the fierce competition will be an important topic in front of every new energy vehicle company.

"Change of Formation"

With the intensification of the involution of new forces, the pattern of new forces has also changed a lot this year, such as Nezha Automobile in 2022, whose monthly sales once surpassed Wei Xiaoli, and the scenery is unlimited, but since entering 2023, sales have been declining all the way and have been continuously surpassed until they have gone down the first echelon and come to the second echelon.

Last year's slightly mediocre ideal sang all the way, suddenly "killed" the first on the list, and the monthly sales exceeded 40,000 for many consecutive months, becoming the first profitable new power car company, and Weilai, which was not optimistic before, finally stabilized its sales at more than 10,000 units, and as for the world, it was like a bamboo after the release of the new M7, breaking through the 20,000 sales mark.

But in fact, compared with the car companies to be mentioned below, Nezha Automobile is already a "lucky one", such as our old friend Weimar, five years ago, Weimar was still one of the "Four Little Dragons of New Forces", the world is impermanent, at the end of March 2023, the debt on the account of Weimar Automobile is as high as 8.95 billion yuan, long-term insolvency, and the problem of suspension of work and arrears of wages is frequent.

The Shanghai Qingpu District Consumer Protection Committee directly reminded consumers to "buy WM Motor with caution", and then WM Motor was frozen with an equity amount of 12.3 million yuan, and three new pieces of information on the person subject to execution.

For a time, Weimar became a "dangerous horse", and the owners were heartbroken. In addition, there are new forces such as Evergrande Automobile and Aiways, which have high hopes, have withdrawn.

In addition to the old players, there are many new players this year, such as the just-released Xiaomi car, the Jiyue car backed by Baidu and Geely, the puzzling Jishi car, and the new energy brands of traditional manufacturers, etc., it can only be said that the circle of new energy is becoming more and more lively, and their competition will become more and more fierce.

"Go to Sea"

In this year's new energy catalogue, going overseas is definitely a hot word.

In 2023, with the steady strengthening of new energy vehicle infrastructure, Chinese auto companies have plunged into the wave of globalization, opening a fierce competition to "go global".

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's automobile exports in the first half of this year have reached 2.14 million units, a year-on-year increase of 75.7%, after exceeding 2 million and 3 million vehicles in 2021 and 2022, respectively, which not only reflects the strong growth momentum of China's automobile industry, but also demonstrates the growing influence of Chinese brands in the global market.

In this "tide of going overseas", not only the overseas sales of traditional car companies led by Chery have skyrocketed, but also the new forces have also shown strong competitiveness in overseas markets. Taking Nezha Automobile as an example, on November 30, the company officially announced the start of production at its Thai branch and launched a new electric vehicle, the NEVAV-II.

With the cooperation with Stellantis, the world's fourth largest automobile group, Leapmotor completed the equity delivery in November and established a joint venture Leapmotor International, confirming its determination to enter the overseas market.

In addition, China's auto industry has not only gone overseas in the field of vehicle manufacturing, but also made significant progress in the whole industry chain such as technology, brand, power batteries and charging piles. Power battery manufacturers such as CATL, China Innovation Airlines, Guoxuan Hi-Tech have also disclosed their overseas layout plans, and at the same time, other new energy vehicle industry chain related enterprises, such as Nenglian Zhidian and Xiangshan Co., Ltd., are also accelerating the expansion of overseas markets.

Moreover, under the efforts of major Chinese brands, the label of "Chinese new energy" is becoming more and more obvious in overseas markets, such as Russian imported ideals, Japanese dismantling seals, etc., all of which prove that the influence of Chinese cars overseas continues to grow.

"Collaboration"

In the automotive circle in 2023, there is a word that rarely appears in the past - cooperation.

In the past year, the new energy vehicle industry has faced many challenges, and the uncertainty of the market and the rapid development of technology have forced car companies to seek new development paths, and in this context, cooperation has become the core of the solution.

On the one hand, the pattern of cooperation between traditional car companies has changed significantly, and the strategic cooperation framework agreement between Changan Automobile and Geely Holdings, as well as the cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and BMW, are typical examples of traditional automobile manufacturing giants joining forces to meet the challenges of the new energy era.

On the other hand, emerging forces in the new energy vehicle market are also actively seeking partners. For example, the cooperation between Volkswagen and Xpeng Motors has not only brought capital and technical support to Xpeng, but also provided new opportunities for Volkswagen's in-depth development in the Chinese market.

With the rapid development of technologies such as the Internet, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, 5G and big data, the field of cooperation in the automotive industry is rapidly expanding, and the cooperation between car companies has gone beyond the traditional manufacturing field to extend to energy, intelligence, brand building and overseas market development.

It is clear that close cooperation is becoming a mainstream trend in the automotive industry in order to share costs and increase market competitiveness. This kind of cooperation is not only seen between traditional car companies and new forces, but also between traditional car companies. Whether it is the cooperation between traditional car companies and new forces, or the strong alliance between traditional car companies, it shows a clear signal: "group heating" has become the main theme of the automotive industry.

Write at the end

With the end of 2023, China's new energy vehicle industry has ushered in a critical moment of transformation, in the face of fierce market competition and evolving technological environment, China's new energy vehicle companies have shown strong adaptability and innovative spirit, from the fierce price war in the internal market to the active expansion of the international market, from the close cooperation between traditional and emerging forces to the rapid iteration of technology, these changes not only demonstrate the vitality of China's new energy vehicle industry, but also indicate a future full of opportunities.

Looking forward to 2024, the author is already full of expectations for the entire new energy industry, whether it is in product diversity, technological innovation, or price proximity, China's new energy vehicle market will show a new look. It is foreseeable that with the continuous progress of the industry, new energy vehicles will go deeper into the entire automotive industry and bring greater changes.