Recently, there have been rumors on the Internet about the layoffs of Li Auto. Li Auto immediately refuted the rumors about layoffs and budget cuts on the Internet, and said that they were all false news.
However, 2024 is a more critical or difficult year for most domestic car companies. Whether it is from the demand side or the supply side, it is a big challenge for the vast majority of car companies.
As the Matthew effect continues to emerge, it may be difficult for most new power car companies to escape the fate of being marginalized. FAW, Dongfeng and Changan, which are backed by national credit, may be the car companies with the greatest probability of integration.
It will take time for new car companies
Before and after the launch of Xiaomi SU7, it has brought a lot of impact to the entire Chinese new energy vehicle industry. Xiaomi and Lei Jun, who are good at marketing, have whetted the appetite of all parties before the Xiaomi SU7 goes on the market. After the listing, with a certain Internet celebrity attribute, Xiaomi SU7 quickly occupied the headlines of major media, and the popularity continued to diverge.
This not only made AITO, which is now the No. 1 domestic new power car company, reduce the price of the new M7. The first model of Huawei and Chery's cooperation, the Zhijie S7, was also re-launched after the price reduction to cope with the impact brought by Xiaomi.
BYD and Geely, which are now the leaders in sales in the domestic market, have also experienced a rapid price war this year. BYD launched the Honor Edition, covering its Dynasty and Ocean series, and even achieved "electricity is lower than oil".
Geely has launched a number of models on the Galaxy, Lynk & Co and Zeekr brands around Xiaomi SU7, forming a group combat situation. And such an intensive launch of cost-effective models has also had a huge impact on other new forces.
In fact, domestic new power car companies have generally not been established for a long time. Except for Li Auto, other new car companies have basically not achieved overall profitability in their business. In the past, the champion of the domestic new power car company ranking was also often replaced: from the earliest Weilai, to the later Xiaopeng, then Nezha, and then last year's ideal.
In the first three months of this year, the AITO Wenjie brand, which introduced Huawei's smart car model, was firmly in the top spot.
The three major automobile central enterprises began to exert force
Compared with the new domestic car companies, the three major central enterprises represented by FAW, Dongfeng and Changan have not received much traffic, but they are relatively steadily advancing their own projects step by step.
As the eldest son of the national car in the automotive industry, FAW's own brand Hongqi once released three sub-brands: "Hongqi Golden Sunflower", "Hongqi New Energy" and "Hongqi Energy-saving Vehicle" during the Shanghai Auto Show last year. In the next step, all Hongqi's models will be electrified.
According to the relevant plan, Hongqi will launch 15 new energy intelligent products, covering all market segments of A, B, C, D-class cars, SUVs and MPVs. Previously, Yu Chengdong, the head of Huawei Automobile, also called FAW, hoping that FAW could introduce Huawei's smart car model.
With the independence of Huawei's car BU, FAW and Dongfeng may also follow in the footsteps of Changan, take a stake in this company, and compete for market share in the global market with the help of Huawei's Hongmeng cockpit and ADS 2.0 intelligent driving function.
Dongfeng Motor, which is developing both passenger and business, has also come up with its own housekeeping skills, and has formed a new situation in which multiple fronts and brands such as "independent passenger cars + commercial vehicles + joint ventures and independent" go hand in hand in terms of new energy strategy.
Specifically, on the basis of launching the full-stack self-developed Dongfeng quantum architecture and Mach E power, Dongfeng will also launch an intelligent brand called "Yuexiang Intelligence" at the end of 2023. Based on the breakthroughs in these core technologies, Dongfeng has created a new new energy sub-brand eπ, aiming at the mainstream market of 15-250,000 yuan.
As for Changan Automobile, it is the most radical enterprise of the three state-owned automobile enterprises in the field of new energy vehicles and intelligent networking. In order to better respond to market changes, Changan Automobile has released the new energy "Shangri-La" plan, the intelligent "Beidou Tianshu" plan, and the "Embrace All Rivers" plan based on globalization. At present, all three plans are progressing steadily according to the original plan.
Among them, based on the new energy "Shangri-La" plan, Changan has built three independently operated brands, AVATAR, Changan Deep Blue and Changan Qiyuan, covering the two major technical routes of pure electric and extended range, and covering the mainstream price range.
In terms of the intelligent "Beidou Tianshu" plan, Changan adheres to the two-wheel drive of self-development and cooperation. In the field of self-development, Changan debuted more than 30 key technologies such as PA7.0. In terms of cooperation, Changan has successively cooperated with domestic leading enterprises such as Horizon Robotics and Huawei, and stands at the forefront of the entire market segment in terms of self-driving chips, intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving.
With the support of the "Embrace All Rivers" program, Changan Automobile's products have been exported to 63 countries and regions around the world, and have ranked among the top sales in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Mexico and other countries.
In addition to these three central enterprises, BYD, Geely and Chery are also gaining momentum. These three car companies have their own strengths, BYD is very competitive in the field of new energy vehicles, especially in the new energy vehicle market below 200,000, BYD is almost an invincible image.
The domestic automotive industry must have a place for the national team
Recently, the topic of mergers and acquisitions of some state-owned car companies on those marginalized new power car companies has attracted a lot of attention. If there are really state-owned car companies to integrate, then there is a high probability that it will be FAW, Dongfeng and Changan.
Some time ago, there was a liquidity crisis in Gaohe Automobile, and Ding Lei appeared in Changan Automobile for the first time, and the rumors of AVATR integrating Gaohe were widely circulated in the industry. Although Changan has denied it, anything can happen until the last moment of Gaohe Automobile's bankruptcy and liquidation. In addition to Changan, there is no other car company or capital that is related to Gaohe Automobile.
The three major central enterprises that have been endorsed by the state, as well as relatively strong local state-owned enterprises such as SAIC, GAC and Chery, have certain advantages in terms of obtaining bank loans and government support policies because of the endorsement of national credit.
On the other hand, China's auto market simply cannot accommodate so many brands and excess capacity. After China's auto market completely loses its previous rapid growth, the country will experience a restructuring of the entire industry like the United States, and in the end there may only be 5 or 6 large car group left, and the three major central enterprises will inevitably have a place.