Since 2020, Changan, Dongfeng, SAIC, BAIC, Geely, great wall and other traditional automobile enterprises have successively launched their own high-end brands of new energy vehicles in order to further seize the market share of new energy vehicles.
Insiders told the securities times that high-end new energy vehicle products have higher added value and brand value, which can bring greater profits. Compared with the extremely 'internal' middle and low-end product market, the high-end new energy vehicle market is still a blue ocean.
Coping with competitive pressure with new brands
'At present, the domestic auto market is over rolled, and there are 9 SUVs in 10 cars. Everyone is constantly engaged in arms race and style collision.' recently, during the 2021 Guangzhou International Auto Show, Wen Fei, CEO of salon Zhixing, expressed his views on the competition pattern of the domestic auto market.
Public data show that from 2018 to 2020, the annual sales of domestic cars fell from 28.08 million to 25.31 million, but over the past three years, more than 100 new car making forces or new car brands have emerged in the domestic market.
Industry insiders judge that the current domestic automobile market has entered the era of stock competition. While the total amount and scale of the market have not been significantly expanded, the entry of new brands and new forces is diluting the original market concentration.
According to a data released by China Automobile Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as 'China Automobile Association'), from January to October this year, the total sales volume of the top ten enterprise groups in automobile sales was 18.028 million, accounting for 86.0% of the total automobile sales, 2.5 percentage points lower than that in the same period of last year. The sales volume of major new power enterprises was 695000, accounting for 3.3% of the total automobile sales, an increase of 2.3 percentage points over the same period last year.
According to the analysis of relevant persons of China Automobile Association, under the current market environment, the market concentration of key enterprise groups has decreased, and part of the market share is gradually occupied by new car manufacturers.
The involution of the stock market has forced most auto enterprises to accelerate the iterative renewal rhythm of products, and the introduction of new brands has also become the best choice for many auto enterprises to break through the involution.
It is noteworthy that these new automobile brands are not completely dominated by automobile enterprises. Tracing their ownership structure, we will find the presence of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain such as Ningde times and Alibaba. At the same time, cross-border players represented by Huawei have also carried out close cooperation with new brands such as Jihu and avita technology.
Lu Fang, CEO of lantu automobile, told the securities times that as a new automobile brand, the company welcomes the introduction of strategic investors. The entry of strategic investors will bring some new inspiration to the company in terms of operation ideas and management mechanism. Lantu automobile hopes to ensure the mechanism innovation and enterprise vitality of the new brand through these new attempts and practices.
New energy market becomes the main battlefield
It is not a new phenomenon for traditional car enterprises to launch new brands. As early as more than ten years ago, Chery launched Guanzhi brand to achieve an upward breakthrough. Subsequently, the wey brand of Great Wall Motor and the Lingke brand of Geely motor were born one after another to test the medium and high-end market.
In recent years, some traditional automobile enterprises have gradually made some achievements in the medium and high-end market, which has triggered a new round of brand upward wave of Chinese brand automobile enterprises. It is noteworthy that most traditional car companies choose new energy tracks when launching new brands.
In July 2020, Dongfeng Group launched a new high-end electric vehicle brand lantu and announced its return to the A-share market. Its raised funds will also be mainly used to build lantu; In November, Zhiji automobile, a high-end pure electric automobile brand jointly built by SAIC and Alibaba, officially surfaced.
Feifan automobile insiders told the securities times that in recent years, China's new energy vehicle market has shown explosive growth, and the new medium and high-end brands have great prospects. The new brand operates in the mode of independent company, with more flexible system and mechanism, more autonomy and more hope to seize the first opportunity in the industry reform.
Indeed, compared with the traditional fuel vehicle market, the market ownership and proportion of new energy vehicles are still very low. Relevant data show that from January to October this year, the sales volume of domestic new energy vehicles was 2.542 million, accounting for 12.12% of the total sales volume of 20.97 million.
According to the requirements of new energy vehicle industry development plan (2021-2035), by 2025, the sales of new energy vehicles will reach about 20% of the total sales of new vehicles. According to the requirements of the action plan for carbon peak before 2030, by 2030, the proportion of new and clean energy powered vehicles should reach about 40%.
This means that the growth certainty of new energy vehicle market space is very strong, whether from the perspective of industrial development or national carbon emission reduction. Therefore, according to the judgment of insiders, on the one hand, the pressure of 'internal volume' in the domestic automobile market is the reason for traditional automobile enterprises to develop new brands; On the other hand, it is also for the purpose of seizing emerging markets. From this point of view, the launch of new brands by car enterprises is not a forced choice, but an active choice.
From the perspective of market segments, the high-end new energy market powered by new brands of traditional car enterprises is still a blue ocean. Pan Helin, executive dean and professor of the Digital Economy Research Institute of Central South University of economics and law, said that the main reason for the collective efforts of traditional automobile enterprises to develop the high-end new energy vehicle market is that the product added value and brand value of high-end new energy vehicles are higher, which can bring greater profits.
In addition, some people in the industry believe that the new energy vehicle market is connected with the intelligent track, the needs of consumers are more diversified, and the imagination space of the market is large.
In this regard, Tan benhong, chairman and CEO of avita technology, said that with the sweeping wave of automobile 'new four modernizations', the concept of automobile is constantly deriving and expanding. Consumers' expectations for new energy vehicles are not only limited to the driving level, but also add a lot of emotional needs, which will bring new opportunities to these new brands committed to exploring future travel modes.
New forces or new brands?
The reporter noted that in order to realize the high-end brand and tear off the label of traditional automobile enterprises, many new automobile brands will deliberately weaken the relationship with the parent company and call themselves another new force. This move has brought a series of chain reactions. The most intuitive thing is to make more and more consumers happy to compare the new brands launched by traditional car enterprises with the new car making forces.
Lu Fang told the securities times that the internal metabolism of the automobile industry is very normal. There will always be new brands and some will be replaced. This is a natural law. Traditional automobile enterprises also need innovation. The entry of new forces can enhance the interaction and exchange within the industry.
Lu Fang said that for the new brands and new car making forces of traditional car enterprises, this is not the time to compare and grab market share. Our core goal should be how to realize the transformation of energy structure, so that more fuel vehicles can be replaced by new energy vehicles and jointly make the cake bigger.
Li Bin, founder and chairman of Weilai automobile, also said that everyone is a teammate on the new energy smart car track, with both competitive and peer relationships. At present, our common mission is still to let more fuel vehicle owners replace their vehicles with new energy vehicles. Only when the sales of new energy vehicles account for 50% of the sales of new vehicles, can electric vehicle enterprises compete with each other.
Although car companies are not willing to take the initiative to strengthen the relationship with competitors, for consumers, the products of new forces and new brands of traditional car companies are two different options. On the one hand, they are the new stars who pay more attention to the sense of technology, user experience and service, and on the other hand, they are the new products of traditional car companies with rich car making heritage. What choice will consumers make?
A Weima car owner told the securities times that among the two options, he is more inclined to the products of new car building forces. In his opinion, although new forces are recruits in the automotive industry, they have a lot of Internet thinking and ideas. These innovative ideas and business models will be well integrated into products and more in line with the preferences of contemporary consumers.
Another consumer with intention to buy a car said that he paid more attention to the safety, reliability and stability of renewable energy vehicles. The establishment time of new car manufacturing enterprises is relatively short, and the product test cycle is relatively limited. From this point of view, traditional car companies with decades of accumulation will have more reliable products. At the same time, those attractive marketing models and innovative services of new car manufacturers have been gradually absorbed and copied by traditional car companies, which are relatively easy to be replaced.
'For consumers, it is always a good thing that more and more new brands, new forces and new products enter the market. Only sufficient competition can promote the iteration of industry technology and make the new energy vehicle market mature.' a market person said that at present, the domestic new energy vehicle market is not in a state of complete competition. New brands and new forces, Who will be better still needs to be tested by consumers and the market.