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Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has launched its new energy vehicle development strategy, China's new energy vehicles have risen strongly, and by the end of 2023, it has achieved the world's first production and sales volume for 9 consecutive years, and is known as the "new three" in China's export trade along with lithium batteries and solar cells.
In 2023, Izumi Kawanishi, president of Japan's Sony Honda Mobility Company, publicly stated that China's electric vehicles have no technical surprises, and will only make the display screen bells and whistles, like the arrangement of a bunch of APP icons.
This was said very harshly, which caused widespread dissatisfaction among Chinese netizens, but Cao Dewang, a mainland business tycoon and chairman of Fuyao Glass, also expressed his views on China's new energy vehicle industry, believing that there are still many problems.
Is there a real lack of technology in China's new energy vehicles, and what is the future development trend of the industry?
Japan's attitude towards new energy vehicles
Japan's Sony Honda Mobility Co., Ltd., which is headed by Izumi Kawanishi, combines the strengths of the two giants, absorbing Sony's strengths in entertainment services and combining Honda's traditional strengths in car manufacturing.
Before disparaging Chinese electric vehicles, the company had just unveiled a prototype of their first electric model, the "AFEELA".
In the words of Izumi Kawanishi, the entertainment provided by China's electric cars is "boring", and their car is a "mobile tool that can predict the human mind and provide quality service".
This sentence does sound "lofty", and "anticipating human thinking" is very reminiscent of the use of AI technology, but the solution Izumi Kawanishi gave was to equip their cars with an extra-long integrated central control screen and integrate Sony's entertainment services.
This makes people a little confused, is this a super-large Sony smartphone? Where is the "technical surprise"?
On the contrary, the driving system of "AFEELA" is eye-catching, equipped with 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside, which makes people look forward to the performance of autonomous driving, but the actual production of this car will not be until 2026.
What will China's electric vehicles look like?
Therefore, Chuanxiquan's remarks are more like building momentum for his new car, stepping on one and holding one, which belongs to the competition in the commercial field.
And Toyota, another Japanese car tycoon, its chairman Akio Toyoda, seems to have a more macro perspective.
He has repeatedly said that the world's automotive industry is currently paying too much attention to and investing in electric vehicles, and the development of the automotive industry should take the road of "multi-path development".
From the perspective of future development, in the large market of automobiles, pure electric vehicles account for 30%, and the remaining 70% of the market share will be divided by hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells and traditional fuel vehicles.
Akio Toyoda explained that his conclusions came from the market and demand, but after a little thought, it can be understood that his words can be "translated" to mean that China, Europe and the United States have a 30% market share of electric vehicles, and most of the remaining 70% should belong to Japan.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to his conclusion with a "Sigh" on social media, which means "a sigh".
It is an indisputable fact that Japan's electric vehicles have lagged behind in the global competition, and Akio Toyoda's appeal reflects more of his anxiety about the Japanese automotive industry, and hopes to buy more time for Japan in the transformation of the industry.
So, is there no problem with the development of China's electric vehicle industry?
Cao Dewang's worries
As early as 2020, Cao Dewang expressed concern about China's new energy vehicle industry, and bluntly said that if the companies that produce new energy vehicles are counting on state subsidies, it is waiting for death.
In particular, some capital, seeing the vigorous development of the new energy vehicle industry, wants to hype some concepts and obtain government subsidies, but in fact does not sink down to study the product, which will only undermine the development of the industry.
The government's attitude is to give certain support at the initial stage, but by no means to let these companies only seek short-term interests and ignore the long-term development of the industry.
I have to say that in the past few years, the development of China's new energy vehicle industry has a somewhat "savage growth" flavor, and many companies have flocked to the market, quite a bit of following the trend, which is not a good thing.
China's new energy vehicle industry has seen a serious involution, the price war has begun, just after the Spring Festival in 2024, BYD will take the Qin PLUS Glory Edition and Destroyer 05 Glory Edition to the stage.
The starting price of these two models is 79,800 yuan, which is 20,000 yuan lower than the previous Champion Edition model, and many car companies have followed up with price cuts.
In the future, I am afraid that the industry reshuffle is inevitable, and it is normal for some companies to be swept out.
The intensification of market competition is a punishment for enterprises that blindly follow the trend before, and at the same time, for enterprises that really want to become bigger and stronger, it will prompt them to devote more energy to technological progress, scale, related services and other fields, which will promote the development of the industry.
In the survival of the fittest, the strong will show their true colors as heroes.
Just like Cao Dewang's point of view, as a national entrepreneur, you should take the development of the country as your own responsibility, let the society progress because of your efforts, and let the people be rich because of your achievements.
In addition, the most criticized new energy vehicles are the endurance and inconvenient charging, and the safety performance of the battery, the cost of replacing the battery and other problems also need to have a better solution, which requires China's new energy vehicle industry to continue to achieve technological innovation, enhance the construction of supporting services such as charging piles.
In 2023, China's NEV production and sales will reach 9.587 million units and 9.495 million units, up 35.8% and 37.9% y/y, respectively, and exports will be 1.203 million units, up 77.6% y/y, ranking first in the world.
But when it comes to "being stronger", I'm afraid there is still some way to go.
From big to strong, there is still a struggle
At the end of March 2024, the release of Xiaomi Auto has aroused keen attention in the market, and the market pattern of China's new energy vehicles is accelerating the reshaping, and the entry of new forces also means the decline of some old brands.
At present, the mainland automobile market is in the transition period of oil and electricity, and consumers' choices are becoming more and more diversified and personalized.
If car companies are slightly negligent in their business strategies and market strategies, it may cause irreversible consequences.
Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, said that the new energy vehicle industry has entered a tragic knockout stage, and only by forming scale effects and brand advantages can it survive in this competition.
In the case of intensified involution in the domestic market, many Chinese car companies have chosen to "go overseas".
In 2023, exports have risen sharply, which is largely related to this situation, and even many car companies exceeded expectations in overseas sales last year, but domestic sales did not meet the target.
"Going overseas" is indeed a good idea, but the road in front of Chinese car companies is not smooth.
The world situation is far from so calm, due to the influence of geopolitics, international conflicts and other factors, many countries continue to raise the import threshold of new energy vehicles, and do not hesitate to introduce various policies to restrict China's exports.
For example, the United States has continuously increased subsidies to its own car companies, imposed restrictions on new energy vehicles in foreign countries, especially China, and even bluntly said that China's new energy vehicles are not good.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo publicly declared that China can turn off 3 million Chinese new energy vehicles on U.S. roads at the same time, which shows that Chinese car companies are not friendly to overseas markets.
In addition to market issues, technological iteration and innovation are also challenges that Chinese automakers must face.
At present, although China has certain technical advantages in the "three electric technologies" of battery, motor and electronic control, intelligent cockpit, automatic driving and other fields, it still needs to be improved in the fields of automotive chips and basic software, and many problems need to be solved urgently.
Compared with some of the world's strong car brands, such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, etc., Chinese car companies still seem very "young".
From the perspective of the global market, the lack of large-scale and systematic global layout of Chinese car brands, the lack of brand accumulation and culture, and the relatively small market share of high-end cars are all problems that Chinese car companies must solve in the future.
The car companies of international famous brands have already formed a global factory pattern, with local production and local sales, exporting technology and brand value to the outside world, and obtaining high value-added benefits.
In 2023, many Chinese car companies have launched overseas factory construction plans, BYD already has 5 overseas production bases, and will build factories in Hungary.
Chery is targeting Spain, and SAIC, GAC, Changan and other car companies have set up factories overseas, which will be the regular operation of Chinese car companies in the future.
China's new energy vehicles are in the ascendant, and in many aspects, we also need to learn from the experience of international brands, combine their own development status, and formulate their own development strategies, so as to be down-to-earth, look to the future, and walk out of the golden road of China's automobile industry in a down-to-earth manner.
Epilogue:
"Made in China 2025" clearly mentions that new energy vehicles should be regarded as a key development area.
The automobile industry has the characteristics of long industrial chain, capital-intensive and technology-intensive, which plays an irreplaceable role in the overall industrial development of the country and shoulders the important task of the rise of China's manufacturing.
Although there are still many problems, China's new energy vehicles have emerged in the world, difficulties and challenges are inevitable, but the future prospects are also full of brightness.
Resources:
[1] Financial circles: ""There are no technical surprises in China's trams"! The president of Japan's new car said wildly: just arrange the APP icons"
[2] Daily Economic News: "Akio Toyoda once again "sings down" electric vehicles, saying that "only one option is not enough"!
[3] The Paper: "Cao Dewang, Chairman of Fuyao Glass, Talks about New Energy Vehicles: Enterprises Rely on State Subsidies to Wait for Death"
[4] Economic Information Daily: "How many hurdles do new energy vehicles have to cross from big to strong"?
[5] People's Daily Online: "National Development and Reform Commission: China's New Energy Vehicle Production and Sales Rank First in the World for 9 Consecutive Years"