The domestic sedan market has released new models intensively, and the "battle between oil and electricity" is still difficult to distinguish

Reporter Gong Mengze

Entering December, a number of new cars in the domestic sedan market were intensively released. As of December 12, nearly 12 new facelifted sedans have been launched, including Mercedes-Benz's new long-wheelbase E-class, Geely's Galaxy E18, Xingrui L Zhiqing, Volkswagen ID.8VIZZION, and the official announcement of the upcoming NIO ET7.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to November this year, the top 1 car manufacturers sold a total of 11.654 million cars, accounting for 3.63% of the total sales. Among them, the sales of BYD, Changan Automobile, SAIC Motor and Geely Automobile showed double-digit growth compared with the same period last year, and FAW-Volkswagen also saw a slight increase in sales.

"At present, the characteristics of self-owned brand new energy vehicles replacing fuel vehicles are obvious, and the competition pattern is changing from joint ventures to independent." Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said that the current ultra-luxury brands are making slow progress in the transformation of electrification, with insufficient technology accumulation and incomplete industrial chains, which leaves room for Chinese brands to rise.

Cars have become car companies competing for new heights

In recent years, although new energy vehicles have changed the overall pattern of China's auto market, they have been unable to conquer the B-segment car market. At present, China's B-segment car market is still dominated by the Japanese top three and Volkswagen's corresponding models.

"The reason why the B-class sedan market is difficult to shake is, on the one hand, because the brand recognition is deep-rooted, in the era of the rise of executive and family cars, many brand models have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the strength positioning continues to this day; Second, due to the reputation of the product, the B-class cars of the top three Japanese manufacturers and Volkswagen are reliable and stable, and the technology is solid. Gao Yunpeng, director of the China New Energy Vehicle Industry Innovation Alliance, told reporters that in the face of the vigorous promotion of new energy models by independent brands, the old joint venture B-class cars have opened a price reduction mode, and the price has even dropped to the A-class car market, which indirectly enhances the competitiveness.

In December, independent brands once again concentrated their efforts and sounded the "rallying call" to attack the sedan market. On December 12, Chang'an Qiyuan demonstrated its technical strength through static display and dynamic experience; On December 12, Geely Automobile's Xingrui L Zhiqing was officially launched; On December 1, Geely's electric flagship, the Galaxy E12, opened pre-sales.

Fan Junyi, general manager of Geely Automobile Sales Company, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the company may go through several stages in the process of electrification transformation, for Geely Automobile, the choice of fuel vehicles and new energy two-legged walking, with the leading fuel vehicle base advantages, technical heritage and scale effect, is expected to achieve profitability faster than other car companies.

While the independent brands are eyeing up, in addition to trying to maintain the basic market segment of fuel vehicles, joint venture car companies also choose to inject more intelligent electrification elements into the classic star models when they are replaced to conform to the trend of the domestic market.

On December 12, Mercedes-Benz's new long-wheelbase E-class was officially launched, emphasizing the new intelligent technology selling point; ON DECEMBER 14, THE VOLKSWAGEN ID.12 VIZZION WAS OFFICIALLY RELEASED AT THE FOSHAN MEB SMART FACTORY, OFFICIALLY MOVING TOWARDS THE ID. FAMILY 15.7 ERA.

Gao Yunpeng said that the long-wheelbase E-class car is the first luxury brand model equipped with Qualcomm 8295 intelligent cockpit chip of Mercedes-Benz, while the ID.7 VIZZION is the world's first pure electric flagship sedan that embodies the cutting-edge technology of the Volkswagen brand.

Self-owned brand seeks "brand upward"

Behind the competition in the car market, recently, the discussion on the "20,11 yuan car oil and electricity dispute" has remained high. This stems from the fact that in November this year, Dongfeng Motor released a video on its official platform, in which Chen Hao, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd., said that the development of new energy vehicles is too fast, but the performance of fuel vehicles in a market is still strong, that is, the car market of about 20,<> yuan. Although many car companies focusing on new energy vehicles are eyeing this market and are determined to win, companies focusing on fuel vehicles are still sticking to this position.

In Chen Hao's view, at present, fuel vehicles still occupy an advantage because of the huge market size, but the car market segment will become the hinterland of the next stage of market competition for new energy and traditional fuel models.

There is indeed a realistic basis for this judgment. From the perspective of market share, despite the menacing new energy vehicles, in the sedan market, especially in the 20,<>-yuan range, Japanese and German fuel vehicles still occupy a dominant position, including Camry, Accord, Passat, Magotan and other joint venture cars performed strongly.

The industry generally believes that the B-class car market is easy to defend and difficult to attack, far from the competition of product quality and product durability, but the competition for user trust. On the one hand, independent brands need to accumulate reputation with excellent driving experience and stability; On the other hand, independent brands also need to establish the value recognition and brand yearning of high-end automotive products.

In terms of the implementation of brand improvement by independent brands, NIO recently announced that it will launch a new car at the level of one million yuan on this year's "NIO DAY". In this regard, Li Bin, founder and CEO of Weilai Automobile, said in an interview with the "Securities Daily" reporter that the executive-level flagship model has long been the brand cornerstone of BBA (Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi), and the new car that Weilai is about to release is to enter the market of the executive flagship model.

In Li Bin's view, the mass-market model for families will be made by the second brand. The NIO brand will firmly make breakthroughs and innovations in technology. "The flagship car market has always been inaccessible to Chinese car brands, and in the era of smart electric vehicles, the executive flagship has always been a technology flagship, and our Chinese companies must participate in it." Li Bin said. (Securities Daily)