Why do our cars sell well overseas?
New energy vehicles continue to expand in the European market, passenger cars, commercial vehicles and other models are selling well overseas. Chinese auto companies have increased overseas investment and changed their export models... Since the beginning of this year, China’s auto exports have continued to grow, and new highlights and new highlights have emerged. Features.
According to customs data, from January to August this year, China exported 1.318 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 117.5%, a record high in the same period, and the phenomenon of "a car is hard to find" appeared in many places.
Hot sales overseas hit a new high
——In August, passenger vehicle exports increased by 1.9 times year-on-year, and commercial vehicle exports increased by 85.7% year-on-year
Located in the Riyadh flagship store of China FAW Hongqi in the center of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Hongqi H9, HS5, HS7 and other models are strewnly placed, attracting many local consumers to come and buy.
This is Hongqi's third flagship store in Saudi Arabia after Hongqi flagship stores in Jeddah and Dammam, which officially opened on June 30 this year.
Mohamed Abdul Jawad, a distributor of Hongqi Motors in Saudi Arabia, said: "After Hongqi was launched in Saudi Arabia, sales have far exceeded expectations. It is difficult to find a popular model." It is understood that more than one Hongqi high-end model H9 has been listed in Saudi Arabia. In the month, the order has exceeded one hundred vehicles.
This is just a microcosm of the export of Chinese cars overseas.
According to customs data, from January to August this year, China's auto exports reached 137.7 billion yuan, an increase of 111.1%, exceeding the level of last year and a record high in the same period.
In recent years, the overseas layout of Chinese auto companies has gradually expanded, and overseas markets have gained fruitful results.
A person in charge of SAIC said that in the first half of this year, SAIC achieved overseas sales of 265,000 vehicles, an increase of 112.8% year-on-year.
At present, SAIC's products and services have entered more than 70 countries and regions around the world, forming 3 "50,000 vehicles" and 6 "10,000 vehicles" overseas key regional markets.
In August of this year, Great Wall Motors sold 12,399 new cars in overseas markets, an increase of 81.1% year-on-year; cumulative overseas sales from January to August reached 86,509, an increase of 156.8% year-on-year. The overseas market is becoming the most promising growth point for Great Wall Motors.
Geely Automobile exported 66,701 units overseas from January to August, which was welcomed by users in many countries.
According to data from the China Automobile Association, in August, 154,000 passenger vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 1.9 times.
Not only passenger cars are selling well, commercial vehicles are also selling well.
In March of this year, BYD signed an order for 126 pure electric buses with the British bus operator First Bus Company, which is the largest pure electric bus project in the history of Scotland.
In May, BYD's cumulative sales of electric buses in the UK exceeded 1,000.
In June, BYD signed an order for 195 pure electric buses with RATP, a public transport operator under Transport for London. This is also the largest single order for pure electric buses in the UK.
According to data from the China Automobile Association, in August this year, 33,000 commercial vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 85.7%.
Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said that in the context of the global automotive industry's shortage of cores, the reason why China's auto exports can maintain rapid growth is due to two prominent factors:
First, the automobile industry has a long industrial chain, which requires relatively high requirements on all aspects of enterprise-related supporting facilities.
In the context of the global epidemic, many foreign companies have encountered many problems in logistics, production and supply, but China has a relatively complete industrial system and strong supporting capabilities, which have great advantages in these aspects.
Second, China’s epidemic prevention and control situation is generally good, and domestic production order and living order are maintained well, which is conducive to the stable operation of automobile production.
In addition, the rapid growth of automobile exports is also related to last year's low base.
New features show new changes
——New energy vehicles enter the European market, focus on localized production, and put into best-selling models
In recent years, China's automobile quality, technology, and brand service levels have continuously improved, and international competitiveness has gradually increased, which has promoted rapid growth in automobile exports.
China's auto exports present some new bright spots and new characteristics.
——New energy vehicles are actively expanding the European market.
According to data from the China Automobile Association, in August this year, Chinese auto companies exported 187,000 vehicles, of which new energy vehicle exports contributed 35.2%.
Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told this reporter: "After the "Energy-saving and New Energy Automobile Industry Development Plan (2012-2020)", China's new energy automobile industry has gradually developed and its products are becoming more and more mature. It has been widely recognized by consumers in China and has accelerated its "going out". It is worth noting that since last year, China's new energy vehicles are actively expanding the European market, and the European government has given large amounts of subsidies, and the European market penetration rate is continuously increasing."
On June 7, BYD’s first batch of 100 Tang EVs set sail at Shanghai Port and successfully arrived in Drammen Port, Norway on July 24.
On August 12, the launch of BYD Tang EV in Norway and its first vehicle delivery event was held in Oslo, Norway.
As the world's first Chinese brand to achieve the production of one million new energy vehicles, this delivery marks the official landing of BYD's passenger car business in the Norwegian market, and also marks the official deployment of BYD's new energy passenger car business in the European market.
The relevant person in charge of BYD told our reporter that it is expected that BYD will deliver 1,500 Tang EVs to Norway this year.
At present, BYD's new energy vehicle business has been fully developed in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, Panama and other countries and regions.
——The export model has changed.
Geely acquired Proton, Great Wall Motor acquired GM's factory in Thailand, SAIC Passenger Vehicle established a joint venture factory in Thailand, and SAIC-GM-Wuling built the factory in Indonesia... In recent years, Chinese car companies have invested in the ASEAN market to build factories.
Industry insiders pointed out that according to the ASEAN agreement, if a factory is built in any ASEAN member country, as long as the localization reaches a certain proportion, it can be exported to any ASEAN country. Chinese auto brands are opening the door of the ASEAN market in the form of heavy assets.
"Chinese auto companies''going global' model has changed, and they have begun to invest and build factories in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Russia and other countries. This localized production model is the future development direction of Chinese auto companies' going global." Xu Haidong said .
——Product competitiveness is improving.
Xu Haidong said that in recent years, most of the models exported by Chinese car companies overseas have been domestic best-selling models. These products have been recognized by consumers in China. After being exported overseas, they also have strong market competitiveness and can be recognized by overseas consumers.
For example, the cumulative sales of Great Wall pickup trucks in Chile from January to July this year reached 4,773, ranking second in the overall market; Geely Borui is very popular in Malaysia, and SAIC MG sells well in Thailand... The good products naturally sell well overseas.
Build brand and enhance overall strength
——The brand needs to be further cultivated, and there is still a lot of room for growth in exports in the future
In recent years, promoting the "going global" of Chinese auto products and realizing the upward development of brands has gradually become the development direction of the auto industry. More and more Chinese auto companies have joined the overseas camp.
"The product competitiveness of Chinese auto brands has improved significantly, and they have gradually established a good reputation in overseas markets." Xu Haidong said that the export of Chinese auto companies has entered a stage of rapid development, paying more attention to the improvement of the overall strength of products, models, and brands.
In his view, the current Chinese auto brands are actually "going out" and will continue to develop upwards.
"Our products have the ability to go overseas. In the future, we need to further cultivate and build brands so that overseas consumers can accept Chinese cars."
Can the good momentum of automobile exports continue?
All parties concerned are generally optimistic.
Looking at the trend of foreign trade throughout the year-Fu Linghui said that first, although the world economy has been slowed down recently due to the impact of the epidemic, the overall recovery of the world economy has continued, and the expansion of external demand has played a role in boosting domestic exports. It will continue to show up.
Second, China's industrial system is relatively complete, supporting capabilities are strong, and the overall production conditions are relatively good, which is conducive to corporate exports.
Third, the effect of stabilizing foreign trade policies will continue to be effective.
The development of some new forms of foreign trade, such as cross-border e-commerce, overseas warehouses, etc., will still play a supporting role in the growth of foreign trade.
From the perspective of the domestic automobile industry-the China Automobile Association said that looking forward to the fourth quarter, the overall national economic operation will remain stable, supporting the stability of automobile production and consumption.
Of course, rising raw material prices may increase cost pressures for companies.
The relevant person in charge of SAIC said that according to the plan, SAIC's overseas sales will reach 550,000 vehicles this year, gradually forming five "50,000-vehicle" regional markets in the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, ASEAN, India and Europe. SAIC's overseas sales will sprint in 2025. 1.5 million vehicles mark.
BYD said that with the promotion of global carbon neutral policies and environmental protection policies, BYD is expected to maintain a good momentum in the fourth quarter, and the future of overseas markets can be expected.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, said that only when Chinese car companies enter the markets of developed countries can they truly participate in international competition.
The explosive rise of China's auto exports in 2021 shows that the global competitiveness of China's auto industry is greatly improving, and there is still huge room for auto exports.