news

Author: Yang Jing

Editor: Li Sijia

Editor: He Zengrong

In July, the retail sales of new energy vehicles reached 878,000 units, which not only marked a major leap in the new energy vehicle market, but also surpassed the sales of conventional fuel passenger vehicles for the first time. The domestic retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles reached 51.1%, which is a milestone achievement, demonstrating the vigorous vitality and huge potential of China's new energy vehicle market.

This achievement has undoubtedly inspired the Chinese auto industry. Many years ago, China formulated a strategic plan to achieve "overtaking on the curve" by relying on new energy vehicles. Now, this plan is gradually showing its great power and effectiveness. China not only occupies a pivotal position in the global new energy vehicle market, but also successfully ascended the throne of leading the world in green and low-carbon travel.

Behind this brilliant achievement, the contribution of Chinese auto brands is indispensable. With their constantly innovative technology, increasingly improved product quality and more perfect market layout, they have successfully won the favor of consumers and the recognition of the market. It is the rise and development of these Chinese auto brands that have added more confidence and strength to the competition of the Chinese auto industry on the global stage.

Since last year, China's auto industry has been improving with visible strength and speed, showing strong market competitiveness and innovation capabilities. In particular, in the first half of this year, the market share of domestic brands reached 61.9%, which not only demonstrates the rise of domestic brands, but also reflects the increasing recognition and trust of consumers in domestic brands.

In contrast, the market share of joint venture brands continued to decline, facing unprecedented challenges. Even in the luxury car market, it has been impacted by a number of new energy vehicle companies, and these foreign luxury brands are also facing considerable pressure. Therefore, in market opinion, there are constant voices about joint venture brands failing and luxury brands such as BBA losing ground.

Who will be the biggest target of ridicule in the Chinese auto market in the first half of 2024? Without a doubt,PorscheThis year, Porsche has encountered unprecedented challenges in the Chinese auto market, especially the declining sales and the release of financial report data, which have become the focus of everyone's attention.

Judging from the sales data, Porsche's performance is not satisfactory. In the first half of the year, the global cumulative sales volume fell by 7% year-on-year, and in the Chinese market, the decline was as high as 33%. Such a sales decline not only caused Porsche's market share in China to drop significantly, but also caused it to lose its position as the world's largest single market.

This change has undoubtedly raised serious questions about Porsche's competitiveness in the Chinese market. However, Porsche's slow transition to new energy is also an important reason for its ridicule. Although the new energy vehicle market is growing, Porsche's new energy product line is relatively weak. Its only pure electric sports car on sale isTaycanIt has been on the market for nearly five years.

The backwardness of technology or the continued decline in market enthusiasm made the Taycan lack competitiveness in the Chinese market. Consumers were not willing to pay for it, which put Porsche dealers under great sales pressure. This led to the intensification of conflicts between Porsche and its dealers, further exacerbating its difficulties in China.

Due to the poor sales of pure electric models, dealers are facing the dilemma of selling cars at a loss. However, Porsche still adopts the strategy of reducing inventory, which has led to the continuous intensification of the conflict between the two sides. Many Porsche dealers even protested collectively, refusing to accept Porsche's behavior of reducing inventory, and demanding the replacement of senior executives and subsidies.

On the other hand, with the rapid rise of Chinese auto brands, they have gradually taken a lot of cake in the field of new energy vehicles, which has seriously challenged the monopoly of brands such as Porsche in the high-end car market. In particular, some automakers have launched models that are comparable to the Taycan, which has made everyone excited.

Similarly,AudiBenzBMWHowever, are Porsche and BBA really so vulnerable in the Chinese auto market? We also need to look at a few data, one is sales volume, and the other is profit. The profit data is more important than sales volume.

In the first half of 2024, Audi Group's revenue was 30.939 billion euros (about 242.2 billion yuan) and its net profit was 1.982 billion euros (about 15.5 billion yuan); Audi's sales in China were 322,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 2%.

Mercedes-Benz Group's revenue was 75.757 billion euros and its net profit was 7.652 billion euros; Mercedes-Benz sales in China were 341,500 vehicles, down 9% year-on-year.

BMW Group's revenue was 74.072 billion euros, and its net profit was 6.62 billion euros; BMW's sales in China were 375,900 vehicles, down 4.2% year-on-year. (Due to different statistical calibers, the above data are slightly different)

In contrast, in 2023, only China's automakers will have profits exceeding RMB 30 billion.BYDOnly SAIC Group andChangan Automobile、Ideal AutoIn other words, before Chinese automakers become truly global automakers, facing the high profits of brands such as BBA, Chinese automakers still have a long way to go.

Especially now that the Chinese automobile market is in the midst of a large-scale price war, fuel vehicles are making money despite declining sales, new energy vehicles are losing money despite an increase in overall penetration, etc., except for the leading influential new energy vehicle companies that can maintain sales growth, both large independent automobile groups and single automobile brands will face a more severe competitive environment in the future.

Therefore, with high profits as a solid backing, BBA dares to shout out the slogan of "exiting the price war" in the Chinese auto market. As a representative of luxury auto brands, BBA has a broad consumer base and high brand recognition in China, which gives them a certain degree of flexibility and voice in pricing.

Even in the face of sales and profit challenges, they can still rely on high profit reserves to maintain their market position and brand image to cope with increasingly fierce market competition. Of course, more importantly, BBA has a breathing space to seek a more sustainable development path by adjusting market strategies, accelerating technological innovation and meeting consumer needs.

Of course, every Chinese has a deep expectation that Chinese auto brands can soar like a vigorous eagle and catch up with those foreign brands that were once out of reach. This expectation is not only an expectation for the auto industry, but also a manifestation of national pride and a firm belief in the rise of Made in China.

We dream that one day, when the world mentions cars, it will no longer just be those familiar foreign names, but more Chinese car brands will shine among them. We are eager to see Chinese cars, with their excellent quality, innovative design and extraordinary performance, galloping on every road in the world and becoming the pride of the world.

Behind this dream of catching up is the hard work of countless Chinese automotive engineers, designers and workers, their efforts day and night, and their ultimate pursuit of every detail. They have used their sweat and wisdom to create a brilliant future for Chinese auto brands.

However, if we look at the current Chinese auto brands with a calm eye, they still have a long way to go. Data shows that the top ten automakers in terms of retail sales from January to June 2024 are BYD,FAW-Volkswagen、Geely Automobile, Changan Automobile, SAIC Volkswagen,Chery Automobile、GAC Toyota、FAW Toyota、Dongfeng Nissan, BMW Brilliance.

Domestic brands and foreign brands are evenly split. If new energy vehicle companies are added, according to the development momentum this year, Ideal Auto,Hongmeng Intelligent DrivingandXiaomi MotorsThe few with the most potential to become the top brands are less than 10 in total. In other words, the vast majority of traditional car companies and new energy car companies are still not on the stage.

If we count by the influence of a single brand, BYD is probably the only one that can be considered a world-class car brand. What are other car brands doing? I believe many people can see that new forces and other car companies are far from forming economies of scale. Even Ideal Auto, which has been very successful in product definition, has stumbled this year.

It is still unknown when Hongmeng Zhixing and Xiaomi Auto will exceed 500,000 units and when they will exceed 1 million units. What should be more worrying is that in the face of BYD's leading position in the new energy vehicle market, Geely, Changan,Great WallLeading domestic independent brands such as Toyota and Chery seem to be stuck in the quagmire of internal competition and internal consumption, unable to extricate themselves.

These brands, which once enjoyed great success in the traditional fuel vehicle market, are now facing unprecedented challenges in their transition to new energy vehicles. The transition from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles is not smooth sailing, with many problems, such as technical bottlenecks, capital investment, and market acceptance, making it difficult for these brands to make progress in the new energy field.

What is more serious is that the competition among car companies has gone beyond the level of products and technology and has evolved into a low-level competition of mutual connotation and attack. This unhealthy competition environment not only consumes a lot of energy and resources of enterprises, but also damages the brand image and reduces consumers' trust in these brands.

In addition, some brands are too blind in the development of sub-brands, without a clear strategic plan and backbone. Too many and too diverse sub-brands not only disperse the resources and energy of the enterprise, but also confuse and perplex consumers in brand cognition.

These strategic decisions that lack determination will undoubtedly make companies confused in the fierce market competition and make it difficult to form effective market competitiveness. Therefore, for independent brands such as Geely, Changan, Great Wall, and Chery, how to get rid of internal friction and achieve a breakthrough in new energy transformation has become an urgent issue facing them.

The thriving domestic automobile industry and the declining foreign brands may be welcomed. However, the rush to ridicule them in the market may be a bit hasty. After all, each brand has its own unique growth trajectory and market positioning, which cannot be simply labeled.

As the leaders in the automotive industry, these automobile brands with a history of more than a hundred years have accumulated and settled their technological innovations, market strategies and consumer reputation over the years. Mocking them is tantamount to ignoring the efforts and achievements behind these brands. We should pay more attention to how we can keep moving forward, rather than dwelling on the temporary setbacks of our competitors.