Within 72 hours of its launch, the Buick GL8 Luzun PHEV received more than 10,000 orders.
In the MPV market in April, GL8 sales were surpassed by Sena and Grevia, with only 5,192 new cars sold in a single month, and since October last year, Buick GL8 sales have not exceeded 10,000 units, and there has been a significant downward trend.
In first place is still the plug-in hybrid version of the Denza D9, and the fact that Sena and Grevia can maintain a combined monthly sales of more than 10,000 is due to the price drop and the reason for hybrid energy saving.
After GL8, there are still several fuel MPVs with stable sales, but they are all concentrated in the 150,000 to 200,000 class, and the market is getting narrower and narrower with more than 200,000 fuel MPVs.
Fuel MPVs are only left in the market below 200,000 levels
It is a niche model, and the MPV product matrix is getting bigger and bigger, but the market space has not changed.
The monthly market share of MPVs remains between 3% and 5%, and even if there are more and more popular products, it will not be able to substantially increase the market space of MPVs, but each single workshop will eat into each other's sales.
In addition, popular products are only relative, such as Xiaopeng X9, sales from January to March improved slightly, close to 4000 units in a single month, and returned to less than 2000 units in April, and the unstable sales also show that the popularity of Xiaopeng X9 is declining.
Another controversial "explosive" ideal MEGA, after delivering 3,229 units in March, fell to 1,145 units in April, which also shows that the MEGA harvest is not strong enough after the listing is consumed.
The difference between MPVs and sedans and SUVs is that users have more pragmatic needs for products and value brand reputation. It is not difficult to understand why the Denza backed by BYD launched the D9, which can be favored by the market, and the MPV products of Buick GL8 and Liangfeng have endured.
Starting with the launch of the Buick GL8 Luzun PHEV, the market pattern of MPVs will change again. Comparing the sales changes before and after its launch, it is obvious that the GL8 plug-in hybrid can be set at more than 10,000 units in the short term, combined with the poor sales of the fuel version of GL8 in April, it is speculated that some users are waiting for the plug-in hybrid model to be listed, and finally chose the plug-in hybrid model.
In 2023, Buick GL8 will sell 111,000 units a year, with an average monthly sales of more than 9,000 units, while as of April, GL8 sales have fallen to less than 97,000 units, with monthly sales of just over 8,000 units. After the launch of the hybrid model, it is difficult for the GL8 to surpass the Denza D9 and regain the first place in MPV.
The reason is that the facelift of the Denza D9 has exceeded 10,000 orders within 12 hours, and the terminal market is still strong; The DENZA D9 brings the popularity of plug-in hybrid MPVs into the MPV market and obtains a better user experience than fuel vehicles. Even if the Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid can go to volume, the first thing to replace is its fuel version of the model, and then it is to compete with competitors for market share.
This also represents the current situation of the MPV market, plug-in hybrid models will further encroach on the market share of fuel vehicles, but the overall share of MPVs will not change much, still at the highest level of about 5%.
GL8 and DENZA represent the trend of the mid-to-high-end SUV market, and some of them are the trend of the mid-to-low-end MPV market, that is, the MPV market below 200,000 class.
A comparison, positioned in the same level of two cars, Dongben Elysian and Guangben Odyssey, Odyssey's current terminal price, the lowest configuration model dropped to 170,000, after the price fell back to more than 4,000 units in April, the previous monthly sales have been between 2,000 and 3,000 units; Elysian did not give the same preferential range as the Odyssey, and the starting price is still above 200,000 units, except for the sales volume of nearly 4,000 units in January this year, the monthly sales of almost all of the rest of the time are below 2,000 units.
In other words, the price of the original medium-sized fuel MPV cannot be lowered to below 200,000, avoiding models such as GL8 and Saina, and the market space will be smaller.
In addition, Trumpchi M8 and M6 are also because of the price range and level advantages, the current sales of the two models are relatively stable, but another plug-in hybrid MPV of Trumpchi, Trumpchi E8, sales have an upward trend before, if the price of the car can be discounted to less than 200,000, there is the potential to replace Trumpchi M8.
Overall, there is still a market for fuel MPVs below 200,000 because of price and cost performance. More than 200,000, hybrid models will gradually replace fuel. In the future, if hybrid MPVs can generally achieve less than 200,000, then fuel MPVs below 200,000 will also lose.
Is there no market space for pure fuel MPVs?
This refers to pure fuel MPV, that is to say, oil-hybrid MPV, there is still a certain market space.
At the market demand level, the number of MPVs for families is gradually increasing, and large space, magic space, low energy consumption, high safety, comfort and quietness, and rich entertainment facilities have become the new needs of users for MPVs. In contrast, the lowest solution that can meet these needs at the same time is a hybrid vehicle.
For example, the North and South Toyota's Sena and Grevia, although the entertainment is not as strong as the new MPV, but the technical performance of the vehicle is reliable, the fuel consumption is comparable to that of ordinary cars, and the space is enough for the whole family to travel, and the oil hybrid can also bring good quietness and comfort, plus four-wheel drive, etc., the oil hybrid MPV represented by Toyota can still play.
For users who want to go further, plug-in hybrids are the most suitable. With ultra-long battery life, pure electric can be used daily, and entertainment is stronger, so plug-in hybrid MPVs can replace fuel MPVs and become the choice of more users.
The pure fuel MPV, whether it is energy consumption, comfort, quietness and entertainment, has completely lagged behind the hybrid MPV, and the only thing left is the mechanical technology that has been precipitated for many years, which can ensure the better reliability of the vehicle.
In other words, the previous MPV paid more attention to functional attributes, and the current MPV should not only meet more abundant functional attributes, but also be able to cater to the spiritual needs of users.
In addition, the remaining advantage of fuel MPV is that there is still room for price reduction. For example, the battery of the lowest model of DENZA D9 is more than 20kWh, and the battery energy of the standard model is 40kWh. The GL8 hybrid is equipped with a battery pack as standard, with an energy of 24.4 kWh. That is to say, at present, it will take time for new energy MPVs to achieve the same price as fuel MPVs, which is also the last trick for pure fuel MPVs to maintain market share.
At present, the compact car market has achieved the same price of oil and electricity, and in the medium-sized car market, fuel vehicles are still relying on substantial discounts to maintain the price difference with new energy vehicles. In the SUV market, in addition to gasoline hybrid models, plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles are difficult to achieve the same price as fuel vehicles of the same level, so fuel SUVs still have room to survive. The same goes for MPVs, which can only focus on price differences.
However, judging from the cost of all aspects of new energy vehicles this year, MPV to achieve the same price of oil and electricity, although it will take some time, but at least plug-in hybrid models are expected to be achieved in the short term. Once the plug-in hybrid MPV conquers the MPV market below 200,000, the pure fuel MPV will gradually withdraw from the market, and the countdown can be made.
Epilogue:
In contrast, the status quo of MPV is the clearest, the sales of pure electric MPV are limited by product characteristics, and plug-in hybrid MPV has significantly improved in terms of range and comfort, so the market space of pure electric MPV is not as good as that of fuel MPV. If the fuel MPV wants to go high-end, in addition to million-level products, the IKEA dual-purpose models within 500,000 will also be replaced by plug-in hybrid MPVs.
That is to say, the plug-in hybrid MPV is in a state of all-of-all, with the ability to impact the high-end and the market down, and it depends on when the plug-in hybrid MPV can further reduce the cost. At least this year's wind direction, plug-in hybrid models must account for the majority of the MPV market.