Securities Times reporter Mei Shuang Han Zhongnan
Twenty years ago, China exported only 20,000 vehicles. Twenty years later, this figure has exceeded 2 million. China's annual export volume of automobiles has approached the world's first.
The beginning of autumn has passed, and the high temperature has not decreased. The automobile export terminal in Shanghai Waigaoqiao is also a hot scene.
A Securities Times reporter recently visited Shanghai Haitong International Automobile Terminal. Large trailers loaded with new energy vehicles of major brands lined up at the gate of the terminal, waiting for customs inspection and unloading.
In a few hours, these domestically produced cars will be loaded onto the ship, cross the ocean, and arrive in Europe, the Middle East, South America and other places.
Behind the busy terminal is the high growth of China's auto export data.
According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on August 11, in July, auto companies exported 290,000 vehicles, a record high, a month-on-month increase of 16.5% and a year-on-year increase of 67%.
Among them, 54,000 new energy vehicles were exported, an increase of 89.9% month-on-month and a year-on-year increase of 37.6%, accounting for 18.62% of the total export volume.
Go to Europe, go to the center of competition in the car market.
China's self-owned brand car companies are setting off a new wave of auto exports, and new energy vehicles have become a new business card for self-owned brands to appear on the world stage.
Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that in the context of the rapid expansion of the global electric vehicle market, it is time for Chinese car companies to export new energy vehicles.
Commodity trucks queuing up to go to sea
Recently, Shanghai has been continuously hot, and the daytime temperature of Shanghai Haitong International Automobile Terminal has exceeded 40℃.
A reporter from the Securities Times saw at the wharf that trailers loaded with commercial vehicles were lined up in a long queue, and the goods were loaded and unloaded in an orderly manner.
"Regardless of weekdays or weekends, every time I come here, it is very lively. There are too many trucks waiting in line for loading and unloading. Sometimes it takes more than an hour to queue outside the door." A truck driver from Jiangxi told reporters that he mainly dragged from other provinces. Cars are transported to the docks in Shanghai, and the brands of cars towed are not fixed, including BYD, Chery, Great Wall Motors, etc.
"We are a logistics company, and we usually sign contracts with car manufacturers, and we can pick up the goods wherever there is in the country." The driver introduced that due to the epidemic some time ago, there were no accessories in some factories, and the volume of goods did not increase, but recently Months clearly felt the busyness of the market.
After the driver transports the car to the gate of the wharf, the staff will be responsible for checking whether the goods are damaged, etc., and then a special person will unload the goods and board the ship.
"I'm queuing up here to wait for the goods to be unloaded and open an order, and then I'll go to Jiangsu to pull the cart." Lines at the dock, the car waits for the ship, and rushing to the next station to pull the cart have become the norm for cargo drivers.
Just as busy as the truck driver are the terminal staff.
"The volume of exported cars is growing rapidly now, and the dedicated storage yard for normal parking is almost running out. We are very tight on scheduling. The goods are batches after batches, and freight vehicles cannot occupy too much space." A dock inspector staff told reporters.
It is reported that in order to cope with the peak of car exports, the drivers of moving cars have also increased the frequency of site consolidation, and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Customs has launched a 24-hour service mechanism to deal with temporary orders, weekend orders and expedited orders at any time.
At the end of December last year, Haitong International Automobile Terminal announced that the annual loading and unloading capacity of the terminal exceeded 2 million vehicles, becoming the first comprehensive car service ro-ro terminal in China with an annual loading and unloading capacity of more than 2 million vehicles.
"According to our forecast, the foreign trade export market of finished vehicles in the Yangtze River Delta region will reach 4 million vehicles in the future." At that time, Haitong International Automobile Terminal said that in order to seize this opportunity, the company is stepping up efforts to promote resource capacity building.
Data from Shanghai Customs shows that in the first half of this year, Shanghai port exported a total of 556,000 vehicles with a value of 66.73 billion yuan, an increase of 36.7% and 56.2% year-on-year respectively.
In the first half of the year, Shanghai's Waigaoqiao Port exported a total of 465,000 domestic vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 30.4%.
Due to the rapid growth of domestic automobile exports, according to relevant plans, Shanghai Nangang Wharf has begun to undertake the import and export of automobile ro-ro shipping business with the gradual "south relocation" of Waigaoqiao Port.
As the ro-ro export terminal supporting the Lingang New Area, most of the vehicles were transported to the shore as soon as they got off the production lines of car companies in the Lingang Industrial Zone.
In the first half of this year, Nangang Terminal has completed a total of 85,000 foreign trade export vehicles.
More inclined to penetrate the European market
Behind the acceleration of domestic cars to go overseas is the overall rise of China's auto industry, as well as the rise of the technical strength and brand power of China's independent car companies.
At the same time, the outstanding performance of Chinese car companies in the field of new energy vehicles has also opened another window for the export of complete vehicles.
In 2021, known as the "first year" for Chinese new energy car companies to go overseas, products from car companies such as AIWAYS, NIO, and Xpeng Motors have successively landed in the European market, setting off a new round of car export boom.
As time enters 2022, auto companies such as SAIC, Great Wall, BYD, Weimar, and Lantu have also clarified their plans and goals for exporting new energy vehicles to overseas markets.
On July 21 this year, BYD Japan Branch announced that the company officially entered the Japanese passenger car market.
On August 1, BYD made new progress in its global sales layout, and cooperated with Hedin Mobility, a European distributor group, aiming to provide new energy vehicle products for the Swedish and German markets.
"I believe that highly competitive and low-carbon automotive products will be favored and recognized by consumers in Japan, Norway and other places." BYD insiders told the Securities Times · e company reporter that the company is one of the earliest companies in the world to develop electric vehicles. First, it has mastered core technologies such as batteries, motors, electronic controls and automotive-grade chips, which allows BYD to create more competitive new energy vehicle products that are closer to consumer needs.
"China is the world's largest new energy vehicle market, and the industry chain is relatively mature. At the same time, domestically produced vehicles have cost advantages and high cost performance." Zhang Xiang, Dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College He told reporters that domestic cars are more inclined to enter the European market. In the past two years, the subsidies for new energy vehicles in Europe are relatively high, and the demand is strong.
The Southeast Asian market is currently dominated by ordinary hybrid vehicles, and subsidies for new energy vehicles are not high.
Taking Norway as an example, the country exempts purchase tax and import tax for pure electric vehicle buyers, allows consumers to exempt from paying 25% value-added tax, and provides supporting policies such as right of way.
German new energy vehicle consumers can enjoy subsidies of up to 9,000 euros.
In addition, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and other countries have also successively issued timetables for "banning the sale of fuel vehicles" to increase their support for the new energy vehicle market.
In addition, market participants believe that European consumers have a high degree of recognition of the concept of environmental protection, and the charging infrastructure is relatively complete, which provides convenient conditions for the export of Chinese new energy vehicle companies.
According to data from the China Passenger Transport Association, from January to June this year, my country exported about 78,000 and 45,000 vehicles to Belgium and the UK.
In addition to Europe, in the first half of the year, my country exported more automobiles to Chile, Mexico, Peru and other American countries, exporting 112,000, 94,000 and 39,000 vehicles respectively.
"Going to Europe" has become the common will of new energy vehicle companies to go overseas.
At the beginning of this year, SAIC Motor announced that it will make full efforts in the European market this year, and the sales volume of its own brands MG and MAXUS in Europe will reach 120,000.
Not long ago, Lantu Auto's first overseas Lantu space was also officially opened in Oslo, Norway. It is expected that in the fourth quarter of this year, Lantu FREE will be delivered in the Norwegian market.
Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Passenger Federation, told reporters that the main export markets for new energy passenger vehicles are still Slovenia and Belgium, two European countries, as well as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
"In addition, in Asian markets such as Bangladesh, Thailand, the Philippines and India, China's new energy passenger vehicle exports are also relatively strong, forming the two major markets for new energy vehicle exports in Asia and Europe." Cui Dongshu said that at present, The larger increment is still the European market, which has a relatively strong performance.
"Global car" mode to fight overseas
If Chinese car companies want to achieve international development in the true sense, they must compete on the main battlefield of the old-fashioned automobile powerhouse.
Zhang Lin, vice president of the German Automobile Manufacturers Association (China), told the Securities Times reporter that compared with the export of automobiles more than 20 years ago, Chinese car companies have gone more solidly in this round of going overseas, and they have also focused more on electrified products. This is the only way for Chinese car companies to achieve brand improvement.
In the process of promoting the export of new energy vehicles, different car companies have adopted different strategies.
Recently, a number of Chinese car companies have begun to launch a "global car" model to compete in overseas markets.
The so-called global cars are those models that are not launched for a certain country or region. The models are anchored to global standards at the beginning of research and development, and are sold worldwide.
On July 20, the first batch of 1,000 "global pure electric super crossover vehicles" MG MULAN set off from Shanghai Haitong Wharf and officially entered the European market.
An insider of SAIC Group revealed to the Securities Times reporter that this model is a "global car" built by SAIC with global superior resources. Belgium and other countries for sales, next year will enter Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Mexico, South America and other regions.
Coincidentally, SAIC-GM-Wuling, which has been deeply involved in overseas markets for a long time, also launched its first new energy global vehicle Air ev.
On August 8, the car officially rolled off the production line in Indonesia, and will be launched in Indonesia soon, and will be exported to India, Egypt and more countries and regions around the world.
A relevant person in charge of SAIC-GM-Wuling told the Securities Times · e company reporter that in the future, the company will promote the globalization of new energy products in stages.
In the first phase, with Indonesia as the center, it will open up markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and promote the establishment of local electric vehicle standards; in the second phase, develop markets such as India and Egypt. The third stage is to enter Europe, Japan and South Korea and other markets to fully establish the global competitiveness of Wuling's new energy products.
Industry insiders believe that, before, building a "global car" was a common way for multinational car companies, and now Chinese car companies are also capable of launching new energy "global car" products, which is more conducive for companies to participate in international competition.
At the same time, under the support of globalized development resources, the R&D and production of global vehicles will reduce the cost of automobile enterprises to a certain extent.
An insider of SAIC-GM-Wuling revealed to a reporter from Securities Times·e that the reason why the company first launched a new energy "global vehicle" in Indonesia is closely related to the company's long-term deep cultivation in the local market.
It is reported that in 2017, SAIC-GM-Wuling Indonesia subsidiary was officially put into production. After five years of development, its products have been widely recognized by local consumers, and more than 130 dealer service outlets have been established to serve local consumers.
At the same time, SAIC-GM-Wuling is also deeply involved in the standard formulation and ecological construction of new energy vehicles in Indonesia, and has an accurate grasp of local market changes.
The above-mentioned insiders revealed to reporters that Indonesia is an emerging developing country, and there are pain points such as traffic jams, narrow roads, hard to find parking spaces, and air pollution in urban travel.
Against this background, the Indonesian government strongly supports the development of the electric vehicle industry, making electric vehicles gradually favored by local consumers. Wuling launched the Air ev global vehicle based on local demand, which is more conducive to the continuous expansion in overseas markets.
Xu Haidong pointed out that foreign traditional auto companies are relatively slow in the development of new energy vehicles and cannot provide competitive products, while Chinese products can meet the needs of consumers, and have advantages in cost and good competitiveness.
At the same time, foreign auto companies have been unable to make full use of the existing strong brand barriers in new energy vehicle brands. Consumers in developed countries are willing to accept Chinese new energy products, which provides a better environment for the export of Chinese brand vehicles.
The scale effect has yet to emerge
From the perspective of sales model, self-owned brand car companies continue to attach importance to direct sales, and many car companies have direct sales stores overseas.
In addition, car companies are also trying to integrate into the local supply chain.
An insider of SAIC Group told the Securities Times reporter that SAIC Group has established an automotive industry chain in overseas markets that integrates R&D, marketing, logistics, parts, manufacturing, finance, and used cars, and has more than 100 overseas markets. It is a production and research and development base for parts and components, and has opened 6 self-operated international routes in Southeast Asia, Mexico, South America, and Europe.
In terms of design, self-owned brands are also pursuing "localization" as much as possible. The reporter learned that the exterior design of cars exported overseas has also been changed, including the respect for local culture in terms of interiors and shapes.
It is worth mentioning that, in addition to the export of complete vehicles, some auto parts are also speeding up to go overseas.
According to the import and export data released by the General Administration of Customs on August 7, among the mechanical and electrical products, automobiles, automobile chassis, auto parts and other products are still an important driving force for export growth.
In July, the year-on-year growth rate of exports of automobiles and auto parts was 64% and 27% respectively.
According to CICC estimates, in July, the export of automobiles and auto parts drove the overall export growth rate by 1.3%.
Riding on the east wind of new energy, the overseas market layout of major independent brand car companies has accelerated.
However, from an objective point of view, the number and scale of products exported by various new energy vehicle companies are still relatively limited.
Some car companies said in an interview with a Securities Times reporter that the export of new energy vehicles is a trend, but there are not many bright spots in the existing business.
The latest data released by the Federation of Passenger Transport Associations shows that in July, SAIC Motor exported 13,000 new energy vehicles for passenger vehicles, and Dongfeng Yijiete exported 6,103 new energy vehicles.
Great Wall Motor, AIWAYS, Chery, JAC, etc. exported less than 1,000 new energy vehicles.
A number of industry insiders who were interviewed by the Securities Times reporter admitted that my country's new energy vehicles are still in their infancy, and there is still a long way to go before entering the overseas market.
"The current sales volume of domestically produced cars in overseas sales is still relatively low and cannot achieve economies of scale. Considering that overseas car sales require establishing a sales network, training local technicians, and sometimes opening directly-operated stores or 4S stores, the investment cost is very high. , it will be difficult to recover the cost in the short term.” An analyst who did not want to be named told reporters that more than a dozen Chinese auto brands have been exported to Europe, and none of them has truly achieved profitability.
On the other hand, independent brands have to first consider how to gain a firm foothold in China.
"The competition between domestic independent brands and new car-making forces is also very fierce. If you are not rich in experience and the domestic market size is not enlarged, it may be more difficult to develop the European market." The above analysts believe that independent brands will enter the market. Overseas markets need to be comprehensively measured, and it is not advisable to blindly follow suit.
The test of independent brands across the ocean does not stop there.
Cui Dongshu said that under the strong international demand, the construction of domestic ocean transportation capacity such as special ro-ro ships for automobiles is lagging behind, resulting in unsmooth international logistics and transportation channels, which restricts the continuous improvement of the scale and efficiency of automobile exports to a certain extent.
At the same time, the impact of geopolitical conflicts has also caused fluctuations in the route, time limit, cost, and settlement of automobile exports.
It is suggested that relevant departments in my country can respond effectively, help independent car companies to seize opportunities, and realize the leap-forward development of automobile exports.
Industry insiders pointed out that in the next step, China's new energy vehicle export needs to make efforts in cross-border transportation and intellectual property protection to further unblock export channels and paths.