Author: Less words
What is the state of China's auto market in 2021?
"Golden Nine Silver Ten" is the traditional car sales season, every September, major car brand dealers will play a variety of preferential activities to increase sales.
However, in September 2021, China's auto market was somewhat abnormal, due to the reduction of terminal supply and the rise in consumer demand, under the increase and decrease, the auto market entered the seller's market. It is almost impossible for consumers to seek greater offers for car purchases.
However, although it is currently in the seller's market, the biggest challenge for car companies is not only that there are no cars to sell, but also the difficulty of delivering cars. For example, citroën Versailles listed after the order volume rose sharply, but subject to production capacity, the delivery time was extended, in order to maintain the users who have placed orders, they can only sign agreements with car buyers, "late delivery will be fined, one hundred a day"
China's auto market ended three consecutive declines
According to the China Automobile Association, in 2021, the production and sales of automobiles in the Chinese market reached 26.082 million units and 26.275 million units, respectively, an increase of 3.4% and 3.8% year-on-year, ending the decline for three consecutive years since 2018.
Source: China Automobile Association
From the perspective of automobile sales in 2021, the first quarter was affected by the epidemic in the same period of 2020, the base was low, so the year-on-year growth rate was larger; the growth rate in the second quarter fell; in the third quarter, the shortage of automotive chip supply in the market led to the impact of most car companies, and production and sales showed a year-on-year decline; in the fourth quarter, the market supply improved, and the sales growth was better than expected.
Therefore, due to the ongoing lack of cores in the automotive industry, the peak sales season of the automobile market in 2021 has also shown an abnormal trend. In September 2021, the auto market did not see a big discount, nor did it see an increase in auto sales. According to the data released by the Association, the retail sales of the passenger car market in September 2021 reached 1.582 million units, down 17.3% year-on-year, basically the same as 1.57 million units in September 2014, and down 27.9% from the peak in September 2017.
But from a month-on-month perspective, the name of the peak sales season is not false. Although relatively sluggish compared to the normal trend of at least 20% month-on-month growth in September of the calendar year, retail sales in September 2021 still increased by 9.1% month-on-month.
The situation in October 2021 also changed compared to the past, with car sales up 12.8% month-on-month. Mainly due to the automotive industry gradually overcoming the power supply shortage in October, raw material prices running high and other unfavorable factors, coupled with the supply of automotive chips is better than in September.
In the comparison of brand camps, the independent brands in the Chinese auto market in 2021 have the momentum to win back a round from the hands of joint venture brands. According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the cumulative sales of Chinese brand passenger cars in 2021 were 9.543 million units, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year, accounting for 44.4% of the total sales of passenger cars, and the share increased by 6.0 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, sedan sales were 3.151 million units, an increase of 61.4% year-on-year, with a market share of 31.7%; SUVs sold 5.280 million units, an increase of 12.6% year-on-year, with a market share of 52.3%; MPV sales of 720,000 units, down 0.3% year-on-year, with a market share of 68.3%.
In addition, in the third quarter of 2021, the global automobile industry was affected by the epidemic, and the shortage of parts and components of many multinational car companies was serious, and car companies were facing problems such as production cuts and suspensions, while the industrial chain of independent brand head enterprises was resilient and effectively resolved the pressure of chip shortage.
Overall, China's auto sales in 2021 as a whole showed a steady and increasing trend.
The performance of new energy vehicles is eye-catching
In 2021, the performance of new energy vehicles is very prominent, and it has become another year for new energy vehicles.
According to the data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the sales of new energy vehicles in 2021 reached 3.521 million units, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for 7 consecutive years, and there are 8 Chinese brands in the top 20 of the global new energy brand sales list in 2021.
In 2021, in the Chinese market, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 3.545 million units and 3.521 million units, respectively, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, and the market penetration rate was 13.4%, an increase of 8 percentage points year-on-year. By model, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles reached 2.942 million units and 2.916 million units, up 1.7 times and 1.6 times year-on-year, respectively; the production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles were 601,000 units and 603,000 units, up 1.3 times and 1.4 times year-on-year, respectively; and the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles were 0.2 million units, up 48.7% and 35.0% year-on-year, respectively.
In the field of new energy passenger vehicles, according to the data of the Association of Passenger Vehicles, the retail sales volume of new energy vehicle passenger cars reached 2.989 million units in 2021, an increase of 169.1% year-on-year, and the market penetration rate was 14.8%, which was significantly higher than the penetration rate of 5.8% in 2020.
The trend of new energy vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles forms a strong differentiation characteristic, realizes the partial substitution effect of new energy vehicles on the fuel vehicle market, proves the change in consumer demand through the user's market-oriented choice, and accelerates the pace of transformation to new energy in the automobile market. Moreover, electrification, networking, and intelligence are a new round of scientific and technological revolution in the automotive industry, and China, as the world's largest consumer market for new energy vehicles, is at the forefront of the world in many aspects of new energy vehicles.
In recent years, another biggest change in independent brands is the high-end new energy brands that have successively appeared.
After Weilai, Xiaopeng, Ideal and other new car-making forces have gained a firm foothold in the high-end market, the domestic new car-making trend seems to be about to re-emerge, and cross-border players such as Xiaomi, Baidu, Foxconn, 360, and Huawei are interested in joining the competition in the new energy vehicle market in 2021.
From the sales data, in 2021, Xiaopeng, Weilai and Ideal will deliver 98,155 new cars, 91,249 vehicles and 90,491 vehicles respectively, which is only one step away from the annual sales of 100,000 vehicles. Second-tier new car brands are also releasing in 2021, and the delivery volume of Nezha, Zero Run and WM in 2021 is 69,674, 43,121 and 39,095 respectively. However, in 2021, China's new energy vehicle sales champion is BYD, surpassing Tesla with 584,020 units to win the first place, SAIC-GM-Wuling ranked second with 431,130 units, and Tesla sold 320743 new energy vehicles in the Chinese market.
In addition, the enthusiasm of traditional car companies for the transformation of new energy is extremely high, and the birth of a series of brands such as Dongfeng Lantu, SAIC Zhiji, Great Wall Salon, Geely Krypton, Changan Avita, BAIC Jihu and so on will also promote the resources of brand car companies to tilt in the direction of new energy. Joint venture brands have also accelerated the division of the battlefield in China's new energy market, and joint venture brands such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Ford, and GM have also launched new energy models.
For a time, China's new energy vehicle market became lively.
Car service relationships are gradually changing
With the development of new energy vehicles, new service relationships in the automotive market are also taking shape.
Unlike traditional car sales channels, new energy vehicle brands prefer to gather in lively shopping malls. From the traditional 4S store to see the car and buy the car, to the popular car company directly operated stores, the relationship between the car company and the consumer has also been re-established. In the peak sales season of 2021, many users who are ready to buy a car do not expect that not only have they not seen the previous preferential activities, but even it is difficult to book a car. Even if you look at new energy vehicles in the mall, sometimes you can't see the exhibition cars, and you can only listen to the clerks on the model.
The direct model to replace the dealer model is being chosen by more and more car companies, because the digital attributes of new energy vehicles allow car companies to re-choose marketing methods.
In addition, digitalization has gradually become the mainstream of car companies to serve users. Nowadays, the exclusive APP and mini program of each car company have been launched one after another, and the service of car companies to consumers has begun to become active, which has also brought car companies and consumers closer and closer. At present, many users will generally complete the selection and order on the software when buying a car, and will also complete the user's needs through the network in the later stage, and the owner content sharing platform similar to the circle of friends is also easier to enhance the user's understanding of vehicle products and services.
The intelligent configuration of cars such as the Internet of Vehicles system is also inseparable from the most direct contact between car companies and users, and the upgrade of the car machine system will also choose the OTA method, so the digitization of the car is the trend and can also provide the most effective service.
The changes in the relationship between the sale and purchase of cars are changing in the digitalization of the automotive industry. The popularity of intelligent networked vehicles has allowed car companies to shift their original services to users from hardware configuration and energy to software system services.
However, whether the direct operation model can adapt to the battlefield shift of traditional car companies' sales channels and whether automotive digitalization can fully meet the needs of users still need to be carefully examined.
(This article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice, and you do so at your own risk)