Strong growth of Chinese auto brands
Our reporter Liu Jin
Changan is the 20 millionth car of the Chinese brand, BYD's 1 millionth new energy vehicle is off the assembly line, Dongfeng's 52 millionth car and Lantu FREE's first mass-produced car officially rolled off the assembly line, Xpeng Motors Technology Day, Chery 20 years of going overseas... In the past 2021, the 5 events of the "Seeing Chinese Cars" brand tour have demonstrated an unprecedented new atmosphere for Chinese auto brands to develop together.
Unity is strength, and togetherness is strength.
With the special action for the upward development of Chinese auto brands, Chinese auto brands have opened up a new situation of overall upward development.
On February 23, at the 2021 summary meeting and 2022 kick-off meeting of China's auto brand upward development special action, Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that China's auto industry is moving towards high-quality development. In the new stage, enhancing China's auto brand value and global influence, and achieving brand breakthroughs are the most important tasks for the construction of an automobile powerhouse during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.
Rapid growth
The strong growth of Chinese auto brands will start in 2021.
According to data from the China Automobile Association, in 2021, the sales of Chinese brand passenger vehicles reached 9.543 million units, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, and the market share reached 44.4%, a year-on-year increase of 6 percentage points.
The growth momentum has continued this year. In January, the sales of Chinese brand passenger vehicles reached 1.004 million units, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%, and the market share reached 45.9%, a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percentage points.
"In the new stage of technology-enabled development, Chinese brands and Chinese auto companies have ushered in new opportunities. This is also a period of great potential for Chinese auto brands." Chen Zhuo, general manager of Changan Automobile's brand public relations department, said that Changan Automobile is committed to using technology. Innovation leads automobile civilization. The company invests 5% of its sales revenue in research and development every year. Since the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", it has invested more than 110 billion yuan in total.
With the support of technology and services, Changan Automobile's competitiveness has been continuously enhanced. In 2021, Changan's new energy vehicle sales will exceed 100,000 units, an increase of nearly 300% year-on-year, and the growth rate ranks first in the industry.
At the same time, Chinese auto brands have developed new energy tracks and gained a foundation for take-off on the new battlefield.
From the data point of view, the retail penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles reached 16.6% in January this year, an increase of 10 percentage points year-on-year.
The penetration rate of new energy vehicles among independent brands has reached 31.4%, while the penetration rate of new energy vehicles among mainstream joint venture brands is only 2.5%.
BYD Auto, which has been deeply involved in the field of new energy for many years, topped the list of new energy vehicles with monthly sales of over 90,000 units in January this year.
Du Guozhong, deputy general manager of BYD's auto brand and public relations department, said that this year, BYD's brand will be updated from "three self-confidence" to "three leading", including technology leadership, quality leadership and market leadership.
The new car-making forces are also starting "as fierce as a tiger".
In January, Xiaopeng sold 12,900 units, a new high, an increase of 115% year-on-year; ideal sales of 12,200 units, an increase of 128.1% year-on-year; Nezha car sales of 11,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 402%; Leapmotor achieved a year-on-year increase of 434% growth of.
Independent brands are making great progress, but some weak joint venture brands are losing market share.
"In 2021, the position of the main independent brands will be greatly improved." Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Association, said that he is optimistic about the new energy vehicles in 2022, especially the plug-in hybrid products of independent brands are worth looking forward to. Brands exert their strength in this market, and there will be huge room for improvement in the penetration rate of new energy in the A-level market, and the challenge mainly comes from whether high-end independent brands can develop sustainably.
Accelerate globalization
In the past year, the new crown pneumonia epidemic, supply chain challenges, chip shortages, shipping difficulties and other issues have caused problems for global auto exports, but Chinese auto brands have achieved remarkable results.
After breaking the monthly export mark of 20,000 units eight times in 2021, in January this year, Chery achieved a good result of exporting 26,900 units, a year-on-year increase of 60.9%.
Huang Zhaogen, assistant general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. and executive deputy general manager of the marketing company, said that at the beginning of its establishment, Chery had set a strategy of "no internal instability, no external strong", and continued to explore and go global in terms of export. Going in and then going up the "three-step" strategy, the products are sold in more than 80 countries and regions.
Up to now, Chery Group has accumulated more than 10 million users worldwide, including 1.95 million overseas users, ranking first in the export of Chinese brand passenger vehicles for 19 consecutive years.
Chery's breakthrough in exports is a microcosm of Chinese cars going global.
Not long ago, SAIC Group announced that it will make full efforts to the European market this year, and build Europe into the first "100,000-vehicle" market of SAIC overseas.
Great Wall, Geely, Lynk & Co, NIO, Xiaopeng, AIWAYS, WM Motor, Lantu and other car companies are also accelerating their efforts to go overseas.
According to data from the China Automobile Association, in January, domestic auto exports reached 231,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 87.7%.
It is worth noting that in 2021, my country will export 2.015 million vehicles, breaking the 2 million mark for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 1 times.
According to customs statistics, in 2021, the export value of my country's complete vehicles (excluding low-value electric passenger vehicles) will be 34.356 billion US dollars.
Fu Bingfeng said that in the past 10 years, China's auto exports have been hovering around 1 million units. In 2021, it will exceed 2 million units for the first time, achieving a historic leap. China's auto industry is entering a new stage of globalization.
"The steady and progressive development of China's economy has laid a solid foundation for Chinese cars to 'go global'," said Ke Yan, senior vice president of Ideal Auto. It is an important node for many national car companies to go global. Japanese and Korean car companies have gone international during this time period, and they also look forward to this year becoming the starting point for the large-scale internationalization of Chinese car brands.
Continue to enhance the brand
The growth of Chinese auto brands is being seen by the world.
Geely Automobile, which has been the sales champion of Chinese brand passenger cars for five consecutive years, will become the 10th automobile group member of the International Automobile Working Group in 2021.
As the first Asian member in history, Geely will participate in the formulation of international quality standards together with other nine major international auto groups and automobile associations in Europe and the United States to promote the sustainable development of the world auto industry.
Fu Bingfeng said that the "14th Five-Year Plan" period is the first five years for my country to start a new journey of building a socialist modernized country in an all-round way, and it is also the key five years for the construction of a powerful automobile country.
The profound changes taking place in the automotive industry have brought unprecedented challenges to the development of the industry, as well as once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for development.
In 2021, under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the China Automobile Association organized and launched the "2021 Special Action for the Upward Development of Chinese Automobile Brands". Among them, the national brand tour activity not only recorded the growth and development nodes of corporate brands, but also showcased Chinese automobile brands. A monument to industrial development.
In 2022, the China Automobile Association will continue to carry out a new round of special actions for the upward development of Chinese auto brands in 2022.
Liu Yan, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Association, said that the special action will focus on "technical breakthroughs and innovations", select representative brands in the industry to participate, showcase the technological innovation achievements of Chinese auto brands on the new track, and build a leading Chinese brand in technology. overall image.
"If we want to become a strong manufacturing country, we must be a strong automobile country and a national automobile brand." Guo Shougang, deputy director of the First Division of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that my country has good industrial technical conditions and the world's largest automobile The market and industry have favorable conditions for better development.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will thoroughly implement the development plan for the new energy automobile industry, strengthen overall planning and comprehensive policies, consolidate first-mover advantages, enhance innovation advantages, and continue to organize and carry out the "Special Action for the Upward Development of Chinese Auto Brands" to build a strong automobile country. good environment.
Guo Shougang emphasized that the construction of an automobile powerhouse has a long way to go, and the upward development of brands is not an overnight achievement. It is necessary to unremittingly do a good job in brand quality construction, do a good job in various activities, strengthen the construction of a long-term mechanism for promoting the brand platform, and build a series of activities for the upward trend of Chinese automobile brands. into a beautiful landscape.
Our reporter Liu Jin