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Cars are one of the most popular consumer products for sports marketing. Car brands will certainly not be absent from the Olympic Games, which are held every four years.

Inside and outside the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Chinese automakers are once again launching a sports marketing war by leveraging international sporting events, and are seeking opportunities to show up in all dimensions.

Chinese automakers compete fiercely in top sports events

Top sports events have always been a marketing venue for global companies. Competitive sports events can trigger people's cultural resonance. There are many successful cases of car companies cooperating with sports events to shape their brand image. Japanese and Korean car brands have made huge investments in sports marketing in the process of going global. For example, Hyundai Motors sponsored FIFA to help it shape a good brand image in the process of globalization.

Nowadays, Chinese new energy vehicles that are going global are also actively embracing top sports events. The just-concluded European Cup must have left a deep impression on sports fans. From live broadcasts to stadium advertisements, the "overwhelming" BYD advertisements made people surprised at the Chinese auto companies' sponsorship of large-scale international events.

Although BYD did not disclose how much it has invested in sponsoring the European Cup, we can guess based on past data. According to media reports, the average sponsorship fee for each sponsor of the 2016 and 2021 World Cups was 48.3 million euros (about 375 million yuan) and 40 million euros (about 310 million yuan), respectively. Therefore, BYD's sponsorship amount should not be too low.

Real money may help it further leverage the European market. During the European Cup, BYD launched the slogan "World Champion of New Energy Vehicles" on the Munich football stadium on the TV broadcast screen; the German media directly used "BYD replaces Volkswagen as the sponsor of the European Cup" as the headline.

Chinese automakers have once again launched a sports marketing war by leveraging international sports events. Moreover, unlike previous years when international sports events were only promoted domestically, automakers have now gone abroad.

This year, BYD not only became the official partner of the 2024 European Cup, but BYD's Fangchengbao Automobile also signed a formal contract with the Chinese National Weightlifting Team to provide all-round support and guarantee for the Chinese weightlifting team in their sprint to the Paris Olympics.

Chery Automobile, which has been "actively" going global, also carried out Olympic marketing in advance. On April 8 this year, Chery Automobile and the Chinese National Women's Volleyball Team officially signed a contract, with Chery Fengyun and Chery Tiggo becoming the official vehicles of the Chinese National Women's Volleyball Team, and the two sides initiated strategic cooperation.

On the eve of the opening of the Paris Olympics, FAW-Volkswagen officially announced that it has become the official partner of the Chinese National Women's Basketball Team. The two sides have "joined hands" to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Also on the eve of the opening of the Paris Olympics, FAW Hongqi launched the "Raise the Red Flag, Give the Red Flag" Olympic benefit. Every time a five-star red flag is raised at the Paris Olympics, Hongqi will provide a lucky fan with a Hongqi EH7 car. During the Olympics, Hongqi will set up a registration channel at the Hongqi Experience Center across the country. Fans can test drive Hongqi products in the store and leave information to participate in the lottery.

In addition to these athletes who directly sponsored the Olympic team, another popular domestic car company also came to Paris, that is Xiaomi Auto. Although Xiaomi is not an official sponsor of the Paris Olympics, Xiaomi still brought the Xiaomi SU7 to Paris and exposed it on the Internet. Lei Jun also revealed an important message: "Strive to sell Xiaomi cars in Europe before 2030."

Why are international giants beginning to withdraw from cooperation with the Olympics while Chinese car companies are working hard to expand overseas?

In the long run, systematic overseas expansion is the key to international and sustainable development. Last year, China replaced Japan as the world's largest automobile exporter. This year, China's automobile exports continue to soar. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in June, my country exported 485,000 vehicles, a month-on-month increase of 0.7% and a year-on-year increase of 26.9%. In the first half of this year, automobile exports reached 2.793 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 30.5%.

Specifically, among the top ten vehicle exporters in June, Chery exported 97,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 28.5%, accounting for 20% of the total exports. Compared with the same period last year, BYD's export growth rate was the most significant, with exports reaching 28,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 1.4 times. From January to June, among the top ten vehicle exporters, BYD exported 207,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 1.6 times.

It is understood that since 2024, Chery has continued to rank first in China's automobile exports. From January to June, a total of 532,158 vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 29.4%. As of now, Chery Group's global automobile users have exceeded 14.2 million, of which nearly 3.9 million are overseas users.

This year, Chery is also accelerating the layout of its production capacity in Europe. It is expected that by the end of this year, Chery's factory in Barcelona, ​​Spain will start producing pure electric vehicles. Another automaker that is actively expanding abroad, BYD, is also expanding in markets such as Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan. BYD said that it has spread to more than 400 cities in 88 countries and regions around the world. On July 4 this year, BYD's Thailand factory was completed. In addition to Thailand, BYD also has passenger car production bases in Uzbekistan, Brazil and Hungary.

In addition, SAIC Group plans to build a production base in Europe. On July 17, GAC Aion's Thailand smart factory was officially completed and put into production. Nezha has established its first pure electric factory in Thailand and will start production in March 2024. In May 2024, Nezha's factory in Indonesia will start production. In January this year, Nezha's Malaysian factory started construction. Leapmotor will realize local production in Europe through a joint venture with Stelantis.

At the same time, the increasingly younger car consumer group has also made car companies more willing to invest in sports events that are more popular with young people. As the "post-90s" and "post-00s" gradually become the main force in the automobile consumer market, the term "younger" is often mentioned. Among the young car-buying groups, new energy vehicles are becoming more popular, intelligence and technological configuration have become important considerations, and the demand for personalization and customization has increased. Some professional opinions believe that the essence of sports marketing is also to achieve the rejuvenation of the brand.

Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Hu Xiong

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