Auto & Transportation

According to customs data, after the export volume in August jumped to the second place in the world for the first time, China's automobile export performance reached a new high in September. Among them, new energy vehicles continue to maintain a "unique" growth trend, regardless of production, marketing or export.

The insiders said that the export of new energy vehicles has become a highlight of China's automobile industry, and the penetration rate of domestic new energy vehicles in overseas markets has increased rapidly, and this good development trend is expected to continue.

Export in the first three quarters increased 55.5% year on year

The monthly sales data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) on October 11 showed that China's automobile exports continued to achieve good results in September, with a year-on-year increase of 73.9%, reaching 301000 vehicles, after reaching a record high in August and exceeding 300000 vehicles for the first time.

The overseas market is becoming a new direction for the sales growth of self owned brand automobile enterprises. According to the customs data, from January to August, the export proportion of SAIC Motor Group increased to 17.8%, that of Chang'an Motor Co., Ltd. increased to 8.8%, that of Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. increased to 13.1%, and that of Geely Motor Co., Ltd. increased to 14%.

It is encouraging to note that independent brands have achieved a comprehensive breakthrough in their exports to the European and American markets and the third world markets, and the export strategy of international brands in China has become increasingly effective, highlighting the overall improvement of the quality and quantity of domestic vehicles.

According to Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, while the number of exports is rising, the price of bicycles is also rising. According to customs data, the average price of China's new energy vehicles in the overseas market has reached about 30000 dollars.

Customs data show that the accelerated breakthrough in the passenger car export market is a highlight. In September, the export of passenger vehicles (including the whole vehicle and CKD) under the statistical criteria of the Passenger Transport Federation was 250000, an increase of 85% year on year, higher than the 77.5% in August. Among them, the export of self owned brands reached 204000, up 88% year on year. From January to September, 1.59 million domestic passenger cars were exported, up 60% year on year.

At the same time, the export of new energy vehicles has become an important driving force for domestic automobile exports.

According to customs data, from January to September, Chinese auto enterprises exported 2.117 million vehicles, up 55.5% year on year. Among them, 389000 new energy vehicles were exported, with a year-on-year growth of more than twice, which was much higher than the overall export growth of the automobile industry.

The data of the Passenger Transport Federation also shows that in September, 44000 new energy passenger vehicles were exported, accounting for about 17.6% of the total export volume (including the whole vehicle and CKD). The new energy models of SAIC Motor, Geely, Great Wall Motor, Aichi Motor, JAC Motor and other car enterprises have shown good performance in the overseas market.

According to insiders, China's new energy vehicle export has now formed a pattern of "one super and many strong": Tesla China's export is generally the top, and several of its own brands are in good export situation, while the top three markets for new energy vehicle export are Belgium, Britain and Thailand.

Multiple factors promote the export growth of automobile enterprises

The industry believes that the strong momentum of automobile export in the first three quarters of this year is mainly due to the help of many factors.

At present, the global automotive market demand has recovered, but due to the shortage of chip and other parts supply, the foreign automobile manufacturers have reduced production, resulting in a large supply gap.

Meng Yue, Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, said earlier that the global automobile market was recovering gradually from the demand of the international market. It is predicted that the global car sales will be slightly higher than 80 million vehicles this year and 86.6 million vehicles next year.

Under the influence of the COVID-19 epidemic, the supply gap in overseas markets was caused by the shortage of supply chains. In China, due to the proper prevention and control of the epidemic, the overall stability of production order promoted the transfer of foreign orders to China. According to the data of AFS (AutoForecast Solutions), as of the end of May this year, due to the shortage of chips, the global auto market has experienced a cumulative production reduction of about 1.98 million vehicles, while Europe is the region with the largest cumulative production reduction due to lack of cores. This is also a major factor in the better sales of Chinese cars in Europe.

Since 2013, the new energy vehicle industry has started to develop rapidly as countries have decided to transform to green development.

At present, about 130 countries and regions around the world have put forward or are ready to put forward carbon neutral targets. Many countries have specified the timetable for banning the sale of fuel vehicles. For example, the Netherlands and Norway have proposed to ban the sale of fuel vehicles by 2025, India and Germany are planning to ban the sale of fuel vehicles in 2030, and France and the United Kingdom are planning to ban the sale of fuel vehicles in 2040.

Under the pressure of increasingly strict carbon emission regulations, policy support for new energy vehicles from various countries has been continuously strengthened, and the global demand for new energy vehicles has kept growing, which provides a broad space for China's new energy vehicles to enter the overseas market. The data shows that in 2021, the export volume of new energy vehicles in China will reach 310000, with a year-on-year growth of nearly three times, accounting for 15.4% of the total export volume of vehicles. In the first half of this year, the export of new energy vehicles continued to maintain a strong momentum, with the export volume increasing 1.3 times year on year, accounting for 16.6% of the total automobile export. The continued growth of new energy vehicle exports in the third quarter of this year is a continuation of this trend.

The substantial growth of China's auto exports also benefited from the expansion of overseas "circle of friends".

Countries along the "the Belt and Road" are the main market for China's automobile exports, accounting for more than 40%; According to customs data, from January to July this year, China's automobile exports to RCEP member countries amounted to 395000, up 48.9% year on year.

At present, China has signed 19 free trade agreements covering 26 countries and regions. Chile, Peru, Australia, New Zealand and other countries have reduced tariffs on China's automobile products, creating a more convenient environment for the international development of automobile enterprises.

In the process of transformation and upgrading, China's auto industry has not only focused on the domestic market, but also on the global market. At present, the investment of domestic automobile manufacturers in the new energy automobile market is far greater than that of transnational automobile enterprises. At the same time, domestic automobile enterprises rely on new energy models to develop intelligent networking technology, which has advantages in intelligence and networking, and has become the key to attract foreign consumers.

According to the insiders, it is precisely by virtue of the leading edge in the field of new energy vehicles that the international competitiveness of Chinese automobile enterprises continues to improve, their product lines continue to improve, and their brand influence is also gradually increasing.

Take SAIC Group as an example. At present, SAIC Group has established more than 1800 overseas marketing service outlets. Its products and services are distributed in more than 90 countries and regions, forming six major markets in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and the Americas. The cumulative overseas sales volume has exceeded 3 million vehicles. Among them, SAIC Motor Group's overseas sales in August reached 101000 units, a year-on-year increase of 65.7%, accounting for nearly 20% of the total sales, becoming the first enterprise in China to exceed 100000 units in the overseas market in a single month. In September, SAIC Group's exports increased to 108400 vehicles.

Duan Yingsheng, an analyst of Founder Securities, said that independent brands have accelerated the development of markets in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas through overseas factory building (including KD factory), joint overseas sales channels, and independent overseas channels. At the same time, the market recognition of self owned brands is also gradually improving. In some overseas markets, the popularity of self owned brands is no less than that of transnational automobile enterprises.

Looking forward to the future, good car enterprises actively layout overseas

While making outstanding export performance, domestic brand car enterprises are still actively planning for overseas markets to prepare for the future.

On September 13, 10 thousand MG MULAN new energy vehicles of SAIC Group were shipped from Shanghai and exported to the European market, which is the largest batch of pure electric vehicles exported to Europe by China so far. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that SAIC Group's export of "10000 vehicles to Europe" marked a new breakthrough in the international development of China's automobile industry, and China's new energy vehicle export entered a stage of rapid development. At the same time, it also led the global automobile industry to transform to electrification.

In recent years, Great Wall Motors' overseas expansion activities are also very frequent, and overseas sales of finished vehicles have exceeded 1 million in total. In January this year, Great Wall Motor acquired the Indian factory under General Motors, together with the Mercedes Benz factory acquired last year and the Russian and Thai factories established, Great Wall Motor achieved its layout in the Eurasian and South American markets. In August this year, Great Wall Motors and Emir Fry Group officially reached a cooperation, and the two sides will jointly explore the European market.

Chery, which exported to overseas markets earlier, saw a year-on-year growth of 152.7% in August, reaching 51774 vehicles. Chery has established 6 R&D centers, 10 production bases and more than 1500 sales and service outlets overseas, and its products are exported to Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Chile and other countries. In August this year, Chery began negotiations with Russian automobile manufacturers to achieve localized production in Russia.

From the end of July to the beginning of August this year, BYD announced its entry into the passenger car market in Japan and Thailand, and began to provide new energy vehicle products for the Swedish and German markets. On September 8, BYD announced that it would establish an electric vehicle factory in Thailand, which is planned to start operation in 2024, with an annual production capacity of about 150000 vehicles. The cars produced will be put into the local market of Thailand, while radiating to other surrounding regions.

Chang'an Automobile plans to build two to four overseas manufacturing bases by 2025. Changan Automobile said that it will establish its European headquarters and North American headquarters in due time to enter the European and North American automobile markets with high-quality and high-tech automobile products.

Some new car making forces are also aiming at overseas markets and eager to try.

It is reported that on September 8, ZeroRun announced that it had officially entered the overseas market, and it had reached cooperation with an Israeli automobile industry company to export the first batch of T03 to Israel; On October 8, Weilai said that its products, whole system services and innovative business model would be launched in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark; Europe is also the preferred region for the global layout of Xiaopeng Automobile. In February this year, Xiaopeng Automobile announced that it had reached cooperation with the European dealer group Emil Frey NV, which will help Xiaopeng Automobile to quickly enter the European market. In addition, Aichi Automobile, Landau Automobile and Weima Automobile have also entered the European market.

The China Automobile Association predicts that China's automobile exports are expected to exceed 2.4 million vehicles this year. According to the latest research report of Pacific Securities, efforts at the export end can help domestic high-quality automobile and parts enterprises speed up the extension of the industrial chain and further stimulate their endogenous power in terms of technology iteration and quality system improvement.

However, people in the industry believe that the independent brand "Sailing" still faces certain challenges. At present, most independent brands are still in the trial stage when entering the developed country market, and the globalization of Chinese cars still needs time to verify.