The export of independent automobile enterprises is in trouble and they want to take advantage of new energy vehicles to exploit the European and American market

Posted 2024-07-05 00:00:00 +0000 UTC

China's automobile export volume has been fluctuating under one million vehicles for several years since it broke through one million in 2012. By 2018, it finally reached the level of one million vehicles again, but then it fell again. It reveals the current situation that Chinese automobile enterprises are still relatively lack of competitiveness in the global market. Iran, a country with an annual output and sales volume of less than 2 million cars, has been an important market for Chinese brand exports for many years, and also the largest market for independent brands such as. Many automobile enterprises, such as brilliance, Chery, Dongfeng, hafe, JAC, Mg and so on, have relied on local enterprises for localized production and sales. Under the influence of US sanctions against Iran, in the first half of this year, the "zero export" of Chinese brands to the Iranian market may drag down the export volume of Chinese cars in 2019 to less than 1 million again. China's auto exports will fall by about 5% in 2019 compared with 2018, the China Automobile Industry Association said in a report recently. In 2018, China's automobile exports reached 1.04 million, an increase of 16.82% year on year. In addition to the dismal Iranian market, the number of Chinese car companies exporting to Russia in the first half of this year also fell 37.4% year-on-year. Compared with the declining overall automobile export, the export performance of new energy models is much better. So can the independent vehicle enterprises further open the overseas market with new energy? China's car companies, represented by Chery and JAC, started their "first journey" to the sea as early as the end of the last century, but up to now, Chinese brands are still in a relatively marginal position in the overseas market. According to the data from China Automobile Industry Association, in 2018, the top 10 countries of China's automobile export were Iran, Mexico, Chile, the United States, Ecuador, Thailand, Egypt, Brazil, Peru and Russia; in the first half of this year, Iran's market had no export, and Mexico and the Caribbean region became the largest market of China's automobile export. In the first half of this year, the export volume of car companies including Chery fell rapidly because of the market fluctuation in Iran and Russia, among which the export volume of Chery car dropped 28%, only 48600. Among the top ten export enterprises in the same period, BAIC group, Chang'an Automobile, Dongfeng Group, JAC group and sinotruk's export volume decreased by 4.12%, 11.79%, 16.43%, 38.41% and 5.27% respectively. China's automobile export volume has been fluctuating under one million vehicles for several years since it first broke through one million vehicles in 2012. By 2018, it finally reached the level of one million vehicles again, but then it fell again. It reveals the current situation that Chinese automobile enterprises are still relatively lack of competitiveness in the global market. On the one hand, commercial vehicles account for more than 30% of the million export data, while passenger vehicles account for less than 70%. In less than 700000 passenger cars, it also includes the overseas export volume of multinational vehicle enterprises produced in China, such as SAIC General Motors and export models manufactured in China; on the other hand, in the overseas market, Chinese brands still failed to enter the more mainstream European and American market from the Middle East, Latin America and other markets for more than 20 years. Although according to the data disclosed by China Automobile Circulation Association, in the first half of 2019, China's automobile export volume to the United States reached 14829, the rest of which, except for some new energy buses, was contributed by joint venture brand models. "Globalization is the only way out for Chinese automobile enterprises. If the self owned brand automobile relies on the domestic market, does not go out and has no influence in the world, the dividends of more than 20 years will be wasted." Wei Jianjun, chairman of automobile and founder of wey brand, said in public several times. But how to enter the overseas mainstream market is a problem that has been difficult to solve for many years. In the context of slow growth of the overall export, the export of new energy models is accelerating. In the first half of 2019, 5339 new energy vehicles were exported, up 105% year on year. In 2018, China exported 10206 new energy models, a year-on-year increase of 130.7%; among them, 4571 new energy models for passenger vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 427.8%. In the traditional market, in order to compete with and other vehicle enterprises, Chinese brands are lack of strength and layout at present. New energy vehicles may be a breakthrough. Affected by the "diesel door" incident, the energy-saving trend in the European automobile market began to tilt towards electric vehicles. According to Reuters, the German government plans to increase the subsidy for electric vehicle purchase by half in the five years starting from 2020, from 3000 euros to 4500 euros per vehicle now, and to 5000 euros for vehicles with a price of more than 40000 euros. Zhu Jun, deputy chief engineer of SAIC Group, deputy director of SAIC technology center and general manager of Shanghai Jieneng Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., introduced to the reporter that there are several obvious characteristics of the existing new energy sources in the European market, especially plug-in trams. First, many plug-in hybrid models are actually developed on the basis of the existing DCT technology, with comparative advantages in power performance, but the smoothness is not special Second, the plug-in hybrid new energy vehicle with a price of 340000 euros in the European market has a range of only 40 kilometers under pure electric state; third, the European market is vast and has many countries, and the charging companies are numerous, so that the charging standards are not uniform. SAIC tries to use new energy vehicles to open the door of the European market, and hopes to solve the above three problems through technology and system, so as to stand firm in the local market. In March of this year, ezs, a famous brand just listed in China, has been listed in the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and other countries since July; and the plug-in hybrid EHS, which is listed on the market, will also be officially put on the European market. Zhu Jun said that the pure electric endurance of EHS can reach 75KM, almost twice as long as that of models in the same price range; in addition, in the early stage, because the pure electric brand ezs wants to enter Europe, SAIC launched a road test in many European countries, conducted a research on all of them, and completed the adaptation of local diversified infrastructure through the independently developed communication module, throughout Europe In the same period, the new energy model of Volkswagen can only guarantee 75% charging adaptation. In addition to SAIC, Geely and Great Wall's wey are also trying to pry into the European new energy market. Geely link's new energy model is expected to land in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in 2020 and gradually promote in the European market. WEY also plans to enter Europe in 2021. In addition to these, bus manufacturers such as BYD, Yutong, etc. have entered the European new energy market. However, not all car companies can be recognized in the mainstream European market by new energy vehicles. On the one hand, in all global markets, European standards are the most stringent in terms of materials and environmental protection. Secondly, the European and American automobile market is highly mature, with fierce competition and high requirements for pre-sales and after-sales services. If Chinese automobile enterprises still deal with it only with the attitude of export trade, it will not be able to survive in the market, but will affect the reputation of made in China. Zhu Jun told reporters that many dealers in Europe have not sold new energy vehicles before, so their experience in parts maintenance, technology and other aspects is very lacking. To sell in the local market, the whole vehicle factory is required to have very mature technology and after-sales resources as support, which can only be achieved by enterprises with independent technical capabilities. Not everyone has this strength.

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