Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Zhang Xu
With the rapid development of the new energy market, the market share of Chinese brands continues to remain high, while joint venture brands are passive as a whole.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, passenger car sales in March were 2.236 million units, of which 1.326 million were Chinese brand passenger cars, with a market share of 59.3%, an increase of 7.2%, and 500,000 mainstream joint venture brand sales, down 8% year-on-year.
In order to boost sales, since April, joint venture brands such as FAW-Volkswagen and Dongfeng Honda have launched a variety of limited-time car purchase policies to stimulate the end consumer market.
“烨”S7。
On April 16, Honda China unveiled its new energy sub-brand "Ye" based in China. Against the backdrop of pressure on the share of joint venture brands, this is one of the latest responses from Japanese joint ventures: with the help of Chinese supply chains and Chinese design teams, to launch more targeted products for the Chinese market.
Masayuki Igarashi, General Manager of Honda's China headquarters, said at the press conference: "Honda will continue to adhere to its strategic goal of promoting full electrification by 2035. According to the plan, the P7 and S7 pure electric SUV models of the Ye brand will be launched by the end of 2024, and the GT Concept coupe model will be mass-produced in 2025. The Ye brand will launch six models in China by 2027.
Joint venture brands are generally under pressure
In the March 2024 retail sales ranking of automakers released by the China Passenger Car Association, German brands FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen ranked second and fifth, respectively. FAW-Volkswagen sales decreased 4.2% y/y to 141,000 units, while SAIC-Volkswagen sold 87,000 units, up 3.9% y/y. Beijing Benz also entered the eighth place on the list, with a year-on-year increase of 22.2% to 61,000 units.
In terms of Japanese brands, only FAW Toyota entered the top 10 in March, and its sales in March fell 7.2% year-on-year to 58,000 units, ranking ninth on the list. GAC Toyota, GAC Honda, Dongfeng Honda and Dongfeng Nissan all missed the top 10 on the list.
According to the data, Honda's terminal car sales in China in March were 60,449 units, a year-on-year decrease of 26.32%. Among them, Guangqi Honda was 30,118 units, down 27.98% year-on-year, and Dongfeng Honda was 30,331 units, down 24.60% year-on-year. As for Dongfeng Nissan, it sold 56,486 units in March.
The data comes from the Federation of Passenger Passengers.
Although each company is promoting electrification, its products have been lacking a sense of presence. Honda currently has two BEVs in China, the e:NS 1 and the e:NP 1, with Dongfeng Honda and Guangqi Honda producing Guangqi Honda. According to the data, in 2023, the sales of e:NS 1 will be 10,562 units, and the sales of e:NP 1 will be 4,502 units.
In the field of fuel vehicles (including HEVs) in the main battlefield, although the main models such as CR-V, Civic, and Accord are still among the best among the competitors of fuel vehicles, the pressure on Honda is also increasing day by day as the independent brand realizes "the same price of oil and electricity" or even "electricity is lower than oil" through cost control.
How to achieve further sales growth in the Chinese market has become the answer that joint venture brands must give.
Since April, joint venture automakers such as FAW Toyota, FAW-Volkswagen, and Dongfeng Honda have introduced a series of subsidy policies in an effort to increase sales. For example, FAW-Volkswagen announced that it will implement a time-limited additional subsidy policy from April 1 to April 23, with additional cash subsidies of up to 5,000 yuan for all models, additional replacement subsidies of up to 4,000 yuan, and replacement subsidies of up to 24,000 yuan for all models for a limited time.
Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda also announced the latest preferential policies, respectively, to replace the purchase of a car to enjoy a replacement subsidy of up to 11,000 yuan and trade-in 0 down payment, up to 20,000 yuan subsidy; FAW Toyota launched a "2 billion yuan discount for the old and new" time-limited promotion policy, from April 1 to April 30, including terminal discounts, replacement subsidies and interest discount policies, all models can enjoy a replacement subsidy of up to 16,000 yuan, and they will enjoy a return gift of 498 yuan when they enter the store.
In addition to increasing promotional efforts, joint ventures are also accelerating the transformation of electrification and intelligence. At the upcoming 2024 Beijing Auto Show, a number of joint venture brands will soon "launch" many new energy models. For example, the first all-electric model of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class off-road vehicle family, the first mass-produced pure electric model of Mercedes-Maybach, the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class concept car, and the plug-in hybrid model of the new long-wheelbase E-Class have also achieved world premieres, launches and China debuts.
Honda also unveiled its all-new electrified brand "Ye" on the eve of the Beijing Motor Show. Following the launch of the new energy brand "Lingxi" through Dongfeng Honda in the second half of 2023, Honda has once again launched a new brand in China. While demonstrating the acceleration of Honda's strategy, the two sub-brands also show the importance it attaches to the Chinese auto market.
Igarashi Masayuki said that the Ye brand will adhere to "'R&D in China, Intelligent Manufacturing in China'". In order to reflect the importance of the Chinese market, the "Ye" brand R&D team is entirely composed of Chinese. Honda has also hired a large number of Chinese suppliers, in addition to CATL batteries, there are also local suppliers such as Huawei, Hangsheng Electronics, and iFLYTEK.
Masayuki Igarashi at the press conference.
Honda said that the Ye brand cooperates with CATL and Huawei, the two major suppliers in the domestic new energy vehicle industry, and the S7 and P7 are equipped with CATL batteries, and the GT is equipped with Huawei's light field screen. This is the first time that Huawei's light field screen has been installed in the passenger seat of a car, and the device can be linked through sound, light, and aroma.
Price is a key factor
According to the plan, the P7 and S7 pure electric SUV models of the Ye brand will be launched by the end of 2024, and the coupe GT Concept will be mass-produced in 2025, and the brand will launch a total of 6 new cars by 2027.
The "Ye" brand adopts Honda's intelligent and efficient pure electric "W" architecture, which is exclusive to the new generation of pure electric vehicles created by Honda for Chinese consumers. This architecture is equipped with a "three-in-one" high-power drive motor and a large-capacity and high-density battery with an integrated die-cast all-aluminum shell, and a specially designed split isolated battery cooling system is adopted, which greatly improves the safety factor of the power battery pack. This also helps with the rigidity and driving performance of the whole vehicle.
Judging from the information revealed at the press conference, the P7 and S7 two new models will use front double wishbone rear five-link suspension, with two drive systems of rear-wheel drive and dual motors, and a weight ratio of 50:50. For safety, an all-aluminum battery case is also made and equipped with a special skeleton for electric vehicles with "high rigidity and strong toughness", with hot-stamping steel accounting for more than 24% and torsional rigidity of 40,000 Nm/kWh.
“烨”P7。
In terms of space, thanks to Honda's proud MM concept, the new model will also have a longer wheelbase, which will make the interior more spacious, and the high-damping seats will ensure ride comfort.
On the side of domestic brands, 800V high-voltage platform, urban NOA, 100-degree battery and other technologies have dropped to the price of 200,000 yuan, which reflects the cost control ability of domestic brands, and also puts more pressure on joint venture brands. Will we stick to the original price system, or will we reshape the price system for the Chinese market?
Judging from the information currently revealed by the "Ye" brand, embracing China's supply chain and R&D resources has become an effective means to reduce costs and increase efficiency to create targeted products.
The price of the first batch of models of the "Ye" brand has not yet been announced, but if it can match a price that conforms to the market competition, it may help Honda to go further and more steadily on the electrification track.