Customs data shows that the export of new energy vehicles is very hot. Chinese brands come to Europe-Auto & Transportation-Hmeonline: Leading B2B Source & Platform Since 2005

Yang Xiaolin, a senior automotive media person and automotive industry analyst, believes that, in addition to the changes in the European market environment and objective conditions, the technical strength and brand influence of Chinese enterprises continue to increase, which is also a necessary condition for the soaring export and accelerating the landing in Europe.

According to customs data, from January to October this year, automobile enterprises exported 2.456 million vehicles, up 54.1% year on year. Among them, 499000 new energy vehicles were exported, up 96.7% year on year. Unlike the previous export of China's fuel vehicles to Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and other markets, new energy vehicles are mainly exported to developed automobile markets such as Europe, while the product premium ability has been significantly improved.

As the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China are rising, it is also gratifying for Chinese brands to take the opportunity to go to sea. It is worth mentioning that today's automobile export has not only a "quantitative" growth, but also a "qualitative" leap.

On the one hand, different from the past era of fuel vehicles, China's new energy vehicles are mainly exported to the markets of developed countries such as Europe; On the other hand, thanks to the leading role of medium and high-end products, Chinese brands have a stronger ability to premium overseas products. According to customs data, China's new energy vehicles have accounted for about 10% of the total sales in the European market.

Fu Yuwu, honorary chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineering of China, believes that 2022 is a key turning point in China's automobile market, and three exciting milestones have emerged: the market share of independent brands has reached 50%, the export scale is expected to exceed 3 million vehicles, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles is close to 30%.

The interaction and coordination of these three points just become the strongest engine to boost China's automobile export. The reporter noticed that over the past year, more than ten Chinese auto brands, such as BYD, SAIC, Weilai, Landu and WEY, have announced plans to export to Europe. At the same time, in this round of new energy vehicles going to Europe, high-end models have become the absolute protagonist, and the product premium ability has been improved. The Chinese auto enterprises standing on the world stage are striving to become the "new business card" made in China.

How can electric vehicles help Chinese brands usher in "butterfly change" when the export volume doubles

According to customs data, from January to October this year, automobile enterprises exported 2.456 million vehicles, up 54.1% year on year. Among them, 499000 new energy vehicles were exported, up 96.7% year on year. At the same time, compared with the same period of last year, the top 10 enterprises in terms of vehicle exports have achieved growth in varying degrees. At the same time, compared with the average export price of single vehicle of US $12900 in 2018, the growth of new energy vehicles has made China's automobile export high-end. Now the average export price of single vehicle has reached US $18900.

Pan Helin, co director and researcher of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of the International Joint Business School of Zhejiang University, believes that the strong growth of automobile exports is due to the stability of China's supply chain on the one hand, and China's keen grasp of the opportunities for the transformation of new energy vehicles on the other.

"China has the most complete automobile supply chain, and has an efficient team of engineers and industrial workers. Therefore, many foreign automobile enterprises have increased their investment in China in recent years, moving the most advanced production lines to China." Pan Helin told reporters that the substitution of intelligent new energy vehicles for traditional fuel vehicles will be a long-term and irreversible process, and Chinese vehicle enterprises and parts enterprises have grasped this trend in time.

In the opinion of Chen Jingyue, Executive Vice President and Secretary General of China Association for Economic and Technological Cooperation in Europe, due to the overall transformation and upgrading of the global manufacturing industry, the high price of traditional energy, the increasing pressure on environmental pollution and carbon reduction, new energy vehicles, especially intelligent electric vehicles, have become the key focus and strategic commanding height of a new round of global industrial competition.

In recent years, under the dual influence of new energy subsidies and European carbon emissions, the sales of new energy vehicles in Europe have achieved rapid growth. Data shows that in 2021, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in Europe will be 2.3 million, accounting for 19% of the sales volume of new vehicles, and the penetration rate will be among the top in the world. Not long ago, the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU member states reached an agreement requiring automobile manufacturers to completely ban the sale of traditional internal combustion engine models by 2035, so as to achieve the goal of zero emissions.

In Chen Jingyue's view, this move will further accelerate the pace of European automobile electrification transformation, and also provide an unprecedented opportunity for China's new energy vehicles to "go to sea".

"After a long period of development, China's automobile quality, technology and brand service level have been continuously improved, the product competitiveness has been gradually enhanced, and the international influence has continued to expand, so the rapid growth of exports has been achieved." Yang Xiaolin analyzed that in October this year, the market share of independent brands exceeded 50%, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles led the market, proving that the ability of Chinese independent brand car enterprises to create "quality, category and brand" has been significantly improved.

In his view, in recent years, the supply and demand of China's new energy vehicles have been booming, which helps to continuously improve the technical level and the efficiency of the industrial chain, so as to achieve the goal of "blossom inside the wall and smell outside the wall".

According to customs data, from January to October this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 5.485 million and 5.28 million respectively, an increase of 1.1 times over the same period last year, with a market share of 24%. Compared with the same period of last year, all enterprises have achieved different levels of growth. Among them, BYD sold nearly 1.4 million vehicles in January October.

"Under the general trend of electrification and intellectualization in the global automobile industry, new energy vehicles provide Chinese automobile enterprises with opportunities to overtake at corners." Fu Yuwu believes that in recent years, new energy vehicles have gone through a period of market cultivation and policy driven. This year, they ushered in a turning point of comprehensive marketization breakthrough and entered a market driven period. Therefore, China's automobile industry will have more important development and greater harvest in the future.

BYD, which has achieved both sales volume and reputation this year, has verified this trend.

On November 16, at the launch ceremony of BYD's 3000000 new energy vehicles, Wang Chuanfu, the chairman and president of BYD Co., Ltd., said: "It took us 13 years to get from the first to 1 million; it took us only one year to get from 1 million to 2 million; and it took us only half a year to get from 2 million to 3 million."

Wang Chuanfu said that through forward-looking strategy and innovative technology, BYD has stepped out of the "new energy acceleration" that leads the industry forward; BYD hopes to promote the popularization of new energy vehicles in a wider range by adhering to the concept of "being global and being global".

Baide, an independent auto commentator, believes that after officially stopping production of fuel vehicles in March this year, BYD is more focused on technological innovation and product development in the field of new energy vehicles. In addition to soaring in the domestic market, BYD is also actively embracing the international market.

It is revealed that BYD's pure electric buses have spread to more than 400 cities in more than 70 countries and regions around the world. Since the accelerated internationalization strategy last May, BYD's new energy passenger vehicles have entered European countries such as Norway and Germany, as well as Asia Pacific markets such as Japan and Thailand.

Baide said that China's automobile exports are now showing the high-end characteristics of new energy, which is exciting enough, but we should also be soberly aware that the electrification technology has not reached its peak, and there is still much room for improvement in intelligent technology. China's independent brands need to make long-term efforts in industrial chain, technology, products and other dimensions if they want to expand and strengthen automobile exports with the help of new energy vehicles.

From leasing to subscription, Chinese brands go to sea expecting more model innovation

With the continuous advancement of electric and intelligent technology reform, the automobile industry is developing towards high added value. Therefore, the hot sales of new energy vehicles overseas are naturally regarded as an important symbol of the improvement of China's foreign trade structure and development quality.

Among them, expanding the rental market, promoting car subscription services and other model innovations have become a new focus for Chinese brands to "expand sales and scale" in the European market.

Not long ago, BYD pre sold three models to the European market and signed an agreement with SIXT, the largest car rental company in Germany. In the next six years, the company will purchase at least 100000 new energy vehicles from BYD. In the Australian and New Zealand auto markets, the price of BYD PLUS low configuration version is about 230000 yuan, which is about 100000 yuan higher than that of the domestic version on sale.

According to the data recently released by the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference, the average export price of China's pure electric vehicles was US $2000 in 2018 and rose to US $19900 in 2022, which proves that electric vehicles have successfully boosted China's auto exports to gradually achieve high-end.

Cui Dongshu, the secretary-general of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference, said that the export of new energy vehicles to Europe through leasing and other modes would help rapidly enhance the local popularity of Chinese automobile brands. He believes that BYD's large order of 100000 vehicles not only shows the urgent demand for new energy vehicles in Europe, but also proves that Chinese automobile brands have been accepted by European consumers and will usher in more opportunities in the future.

In October this year, Weilai announced that it would enter the markets of Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden to provide services locally through subscription mode. Previously, LinkedIn also adopted the subscription mode when entering the European market.

It is understood that car subscription service is a service between short rent and long rent. In addition to using the car, subscribers can also simultaneously enjoy car insurance, daily maintenance and repair, road rescue and other services. According to customs data, in the mainstream high-end car market in Europe, the market share of subscription services is close to 60%.

Li Bin, the founder, chairman and CEO of Weilai, believes that the essence of cars is high value and durable consumer goods, and some characteristics of intelligent electric vehicles make it possible to simplify user services. He also said frankly that the subscription model has higher requirements for the operation system and team capabilities.

Some analysts believe that the rise of Internet technology and the popularity of digital service tools have enabled subscription models to flourish in the automotive field. From the perspective of product features, smart electric vehicles are updated very quickly, and users may worry about such issues as battery attenuation or used car value preservation rate, so they are more suitable for subscription mode.

Against the background that the premium ability of Chinese auto enterprises such as BYD and Weilai has been gradually enhanced, auto going to sea is no longer a simple "single car sales", but more focused on bringing advanced domestic intelligent technology and high-value products to the international market. In fact, industrial competition is never a single product competition, but a comprehensive competition of technology and business model.

"With the convergence of industrial innovation and the acceleration of iteration, the dividend window period of innovation's first mover advantage is getting shorter and shorter, and it is necessary to quickly tackle key problems and produce achievements of deep level and cross field innovation." Lian Yubo, the executive vice president of BYD, reminded that enterprises should give full play to the role of scientific and technological innovation as the main body, strengthen the original and leading scientific and technological research in the key development direction of various fields, and win the battle of key core technologies.

Yang Xiaolin believes that the construction of automobile brands is by no means a day's work. Especially in the European market, not only the product quality standards are high, but also consumers have strong loyalty to the brand. Chinese auto enterprises should not only make full use of their advantages in technology and cost, but also adhere to the "long-term principle" and pay attention to reasonable planning in product launch, service operation and localization team building.

More efforts are needed to accelerate the popularization of Chinese cars in Europe. For enterprises themselves, they must jointly maintain the golden signboard of "China Brand". At the same time, the smooth sailing of Chinese auto enterprises can not be separated from top-level design, which requires the coordination and support from the competent industry departments, such as solving the outstanding problems of high ocean transportation freight, insufficient transportation capacity, improving the support of auto standard certification, intellectual property protection and financial service system, etc., so as to create a better environment for China's auto sailing to the next peak.