Quietly, Tesla is far from the center of public opinion in the Chinese auto market?
——This article is the 91st issue of the "Second Senior Brother Research Institute".
In 2023, several waves of public opinion wars have broken out in the domestic new energy market, but do you have such a feeling that a manufacturer that should be in the center of public opinion has been absent many times?
This manufacturer is Tesla.
In 2023, Tesla will still often be "cared for" by various media, but most of them are due to some off-the-counter reasons.
Tesla two years ago was still a nail on the hot search list, so why is Tesla getting smaller and smaller in 2023?
1. A leading brand of new energy vehicles far from mainstream public opinion?
There is no doubt that Tesla is the world's leading brand in the new energy vehicle industry.
It was taken away by BYD in 2022 as the global new energy sales champion, but it still has a strong brand influence in China and the global market.
However, if you look back over the past year, you will find that the vast majority of Tesla-related news is related to price adjustments, and most of them are price cuts.
It is worth mentioning that even in the news related to price cuts, the attention of the outside world to Tesla is rapidly declining.
At the beginning of January, when Tesla slashed prices, mainstream public opinion also called it a "blast" of domestic new energy, and this public opinion disappeared by the end of the year.
In addition to price cuts, the most discussed thing about Tesla is probably all kinds of car accidents, and in the end, they are all gone.
In addition, there are a small number of rumors of cooperation with other manufacturers, such as cooperation with BYD on blade batteries, cooperation with Panasonic on 4680 batteries, cooperation with Samsung on autonomous driving chips, and so on.
But what are the key points in the development of China's new energy market in the past year?
Intelligent driving has begun to become popular, intelligent cockpit has begun to popularize, 800V high-voltage fast charging has begun to popularize, solid-state battery progress, battery swap mode development, extended-range electric popularization, etc., Huawei, traditional manufacturers, new forces, etc. are all involved, but these hot spots basically have nothing to do with Tesla.
Among China's leading new energy manufacturers, Tesla may have a great reputation, but its presence can be said to be the lowest.
A vendor without news is easily forgotten by users. Don't say anything about Tesla's lack of PR, that's against business common sense.
2. What is the current level of Tesla?
In terms of sales, Tesla is the second largest after BYD.
It shouldn't be so lonely, it should dominate a few technical battles, and it should also bring some design trends.
But no!
Because the Tesla in 2023 may be a little different from what you imagined.
From the product level, Tesla's market share in China in February 2023 will be 7.6%, and its market share in November will be 7.8%, almost standing still.
At the beginning of the year, Tesla had two main models: Model 3 and Model Y.
At the end of the year, it was still these two.
Tesla's FSD system did not enter China at the beginning of the year, and it still did not enter China at the end of the year, but other new energy manufacturers in China have been involved in the field of intelligent driving for several rounds.
There is no exact news on Tesla's 4680 battery at the beginning of the year.
However, until December 21, the news came out in the US media that the production speed of 4680 batteries still could not keep up.
The legendary low-end Tesla model with a price of about 150,000 yuan and a kill of domestic manufacturers was a picture at the beginning of the year and a picture at the end of the year.
In 2022, the sales gap between Tesla and BYD was around 500,000 units, and this gap may widen to more than 1 million units in 2023.
In fact, it is precisely because Tesla was so famous in the early years that it gave many people the illusion that Tesla has the ability to shake China's new energy market.
But is that really the case?
For example, 4680 battery, Musk has popularized the benefits of this battery for several years, have domestic manufacturers followed suit?
3. What is the problem?
From an objective point of view, no one can ignore the existence of Tesla, because it is still the second largest manufacturer in the world after BYD.
From January to November 2023, Tesla's cumulative sales of Model Y in China reached 390,000 units, ranking first among all SUV sales, 120,000 units higher than the second-ranked BYD Yuan PLUS, and locking the annual championship in advance.
But unfortunately, Tesla can only get its hands on two models: Model Y and Model 3.
This situation is mainly related to Tesla's own strategy and competitors.
Why are there only two main models of Tesla?
The reason is very simple, Tesla originally took the Apple-style boutique route, trying to occupy a market segment with one car.
However, looking at the global auto market, there are only Tesla that can rely on two cars to become the head manufacturer, and this head manufacturer is limited to the field of new energy.
The number of major models is too small, which will inevitably affect the expansion of sales scale.
To take the simplest example, a consumer who is a Tesla fan and wants a compact SUV can only reply: sorry, no.
This is also the reason why Tesla is in a hurry to launch low-end models, and it has missed out on too many important markets.
But the question is, is the scale of the product expanded as much as it wants?
A low-end model is only valuable if it is carried out on a large scale, but with Tesla's production capacity, even if such a model is created, the production capacity cannot keep up.
However, Tesla is also the two main models in the world, and it can sweep most countries and regions in the world, so why has it become silent in China?
This brings us to the second problem, which is that in the Chinese market, Tesla is facing far more competitive pressure than in other markets around the world.
We can give an example, Leapmotor, which is one of the weaker new forces in China, with monthly sales of less than 20,000, but even such a manufacturer can come up with a complete set of new energy solutions, and even export technology to its peers in Europe.
In other markets around the world, Tesla has never faced such a tough local competitor.
China has a complete new energy industry chain, and major manufacturers occupy 60% of the global share of the new energy market, and also master batteries and motors
There are no obvious shortcomings in various core technologies such as electronic control and chassis.
This is the main reason why Tesla is deflated in the Chinese market, there is no strange reason, its own lack of strength is the key to all problems.
4. How should Tesla respond in 2024?
There is no doubt that Tesla will still be one of the major players in China's new energy market in 2024.
In terms of brand appeal, Tesla is still the first gear, and this is also Tesla's most valuable asset.
The best way for Tesla to regain its strength in 2024 is to learn from Chinese manufacturers.
It needs to speed up the launch of new vehicles and enter more market segments.
It needs to promote the implementation of FSD as soon as possible and regain its position as a leader in the field of intelligent driving.
It also needs to continue to expand production capacity to meet user needs, and also increase research and development efforts to introduce some selling points that are enough to impress users.
There are no shortcuts here, just start at the product level.
It should be noted that the brand influence, if there is no strong product support, will gradually disappear, look at the current new energy field of Volkswagen Toyota, Tesla needs to make good use of this intangible asset.
Conclusion:
Now we can apply that universal sentence to Tesla: there is not much time left for Tesla.
Wang Chuanfu predicts that the market share of Chinese brand cars will exceed 70% in 2025, so how much can Tesla grab the remaining 30%?