BYD is walking on two legs to accelerate its going to sea and seize the subdivision track, aiming at the pickup truck market.
On May 14, BYD's first pickup truck, BYD SHARK, was launched in Mexico, positioned as a new energy luxury smart pickup, with a price of 900,000~969,800 Mexican pesos, about 386,600~416,500 yuan. BYD has high hopes for this car, and wants to "reshape the global pickup market pattern and officially open the era of global new energy pickup trucks".
Since the completion of the new energy transformation, in the past two years, BYD has successively released the Yangwang and Equation Leopard brands, completed the track layout of hard-core off-road and pure electric supercars, and naturally chose to enter the pickup truck market at the juncture of accelerating its overseas expansion. BYD SHARK's core technology, DMO super hybrid off-road platform, comes from Equation Leopard.
At the beginning of the release of the DMO platform, it was called the "Leopard Power Technology" exclusive to the Formula Leopard model, and from the highly similar appearance and interior of the SHARK and the Formula Leopard model, the SHARK may be classified as the Formula Leopard brand. However, judging from the Chinese translation of the SHARK name "fierce shark" and the large "BYD" logo on the front of the car, it may also belong to the Ocean series. Of course, it is not ruled out that BYD may release an independent pickup truck brand in the future.
At present, the main market for the BYD SHARK is overseas, and after its launch in Mexico, it will be sold in the Americas and Australia in the future. Silver Persimmon Finance learned from BYD that there is no more news about whether SHARK will be listed in China.
The adaptability of pickup trucks to sea
Why did BYD's first new energy pickup truck choose to debut in overseas markets?
Affected by the policy, for a long time, pickup trucks in the mainland's automobile standard system in accordance with the production and management of multi-purpose trucks, pickup trucks in the country face restrictions on the city and car registration and other problems, the passenger demand is small, has not been able to become a popular model.
From a global point of view, North America is the core consumer market for pickup trucks, and its pickup truck sales account for more than half of the world's sales, of which the United States, as the birthplace of the world's first pickup truck, has a faulty market share in the first place.
According to the data, in 2023, the terminal sales of pickup trucks in mainland China will be 324,100 units, and going overseas is the main layout direction, with a total of 184,000 units exported throughout the year. During the same period, a total of 2,870,300 pickup trucks were sold in the United States, and the top three pickup trucks in the automobile sales market were all pickup truck models.
From the perspective of the changing trend of the pickup truck segment, the overseas pickup market has shifted from low-end to mid-to-high-end, and with the transformation of electrification, the penetration of new energy pickup trucks and users is accelerating. CITIC Securities predicts that from 2023 to 2025, the sales of electric pickup trucks in the United States will be 50,000, 200,000, and 400,000 units, with penetration rates of 2%, 7%, and 14%.
BYD's sales of new energy vehicles have taken the lead in China, and it is currently accelerating the development of overseas markets and looking for increments. The high degree of adaptation of pickup trucks to overseas markets, new energy transformation and high-end trends is undoubtedly highly consistent with BYD's strategic direction.
Some people believe that the SHARK will become a key pawn for BYD to go overseas, and may even become BYD's first model with overseas sales higher than the domestic market.
It is understood that BYD will set the annual sales target for 2024 to maintain a growth of more than 20% on the basis of last year's 3.02 million units, at least 3.6 million units, of which the overseas sales target is 500,000 units, and the target next year is 1 million units, with a doubling growth in the next three years.
Up to now, BYD has deployed overseas in more than 80 countries and regions, including Japan, Germany, Australia, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates. At the same time, the targeted launch of popular models according to the characteristics of overseas markets will help it achieve its annual sales target.
The fierce involution of the niche track
However, there is an increase to be tapped, which means that other competitors are also eyeing this "cake".
In terms of the U.S. market, the top three models in the U.S. pickup truck market in 2023 are the Ford F series, Chevrolet Sorod and Ram series, of which the Ford F series alone sold 750,000 units a year, accounting for nearly 30% of the share. In the Thai and Australian markets, BYD SHARK's benchmark Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and other models have occupied the top three in the best-selling list for many years.
At the same time, the dominant traditional pickup truck brands are also committed to the new energy transformation, and the three major automakers Ford Motor, General Motors, and Stellantis Group have all launched electric pickup truck models, and their brand influence in the established track is better than BYD's.
In addition, new power brands Rivian and Tesla have also already squeezed into the electric pickup truck track. In October 2021, Rivian was the first to mass-produce the world's first all-electric pickup truck. Tesla's Cybertruck won more than 1 million orders with its groundbreaking design, igniting the demand for electric pickup trucks.
BYD is facing pressure not only from foreign rivals, but also from domestic friends.
When it comes to domestic pickup truck manufacturers, people often think of Great Wall Motors, which started with pickup trucks. It is understood that the Great Wall's pickup truck business started in the 90s of the last century, since the first pickup truck Great Wall Deere off the assembly line in the decades, the Great Wall has launched a number of pickup brands, in the pickup truck segment track to gain a firm foothold.
According to the data, the Great Wall pickup truck has been the first in sales for 26 consecutive years, with a cumulative global sales volume of more than 2.56 million units, and a domestic terminal market share of nearly 50%.
In terms of leading the development of the pickup truck market, Great Wall is also quite ambitious. The "Cannon" brand released in 2019 opened the direction of passenger pickup trucks in mainland China. At present, the Great Wall Pickup is also committed to promoting the trend of market globalization, new energy and high-end, and the Great Wall Cannon has been listed in more than 50 countries on four continents.
In fact, since BYD looked up and Equation Leopard launched an impact on the hard-core off-road, there have been voices from the outside world that BYD is in the comfort zone of the Great Wall, and the two must have a battle in the off-road and pickup tracks. At this year's Beijing Auto Show, Great Wall Cannon's first high-end luxury off-road new energy pickup truck - Shanhai Cannon Hi4-T was unveiled, and the next step will also accelerate the landing in Latin American markets, including Mexico, which means that the first head-to-head battle between the two sides may occur in overseas markets.
In Mexico, BYD SHARK may also be able to compete with more "its own people". It is reported that JAC has deployed JAC T6, T8, T9 and other pickup products in Mexico, and will launch a new energy pickup truck Hutu EV in the future; According to market rumors, Chery, a major exporter, will develop a new pickup truck for mass production, and it is very likely that it will also enter the Mexican market.
If you want to rewrite the pattern of the global pickup truck market, BYD still has a tough battle to fight. The promotional slogan on the BYD SHARK poster - "Giant shark sneaks, waiting for the opportunity to move", may be the most appropriate description of BYD's current state of mind.