Reporter zai Fei
"Save globalization! Buy a China electric car! " Last year, a British magazine introduced the new trend of China’s new energy vehicle export on this topic, and said in the subtitle: "Electric vehicles can prevent the world from decoupling."
In recent years, the export of new energy vehicles in China has become a new phenomenon that cannot be ignored all over the world. In 2021, China’s exports of new energy vehicles account for one third of the world’s total, making it the largest exporter of new energy vehicles in the world. Last year, the export scale of new energy vehicles in China doubled on the basis of 2021, reaching 679,000 vehicles.
No wonder the reporter of this magazine said about his car selection experience: "Some of the most attractive electric cars in the European market are either made in China (Tesla) or China brand (SAIC MG)."
Shanghai is an important force in the export of new energy vehicles in China. Tesla Giga Shanghai alone accounts for half of China’s new energy vehicle exports. Another big factory, SAIC, has won the top spot in the export of domestic car companies for seven consecutive years, and a large part of the export models are new energy vehicles.
But strong export is not the whole story. Shanghai automobile industry is soberly aware that in the surging new energy automobile market in China, the voice of Shanghai automobile is not loud, and there are not many models with market influence, especially high-end models; Although Shanghai’s automobile production ranks among the top in the country and keeps growing, the industry profit rate has declined instead of increasing. Shanghai, a traditional automobile industry town, is exploring the transformation and upgrading to high-end, green and intelligent.
The export volume and quality of new energy vehicles are rising at the same time
On July 20th last year, the first batch of thousands of SAIC MG MULAN (named MG4 ELECTRIC overseas) meandered at Haitong Wharf, waiting to be transported to Zeebrugge Port, Belgium. This is a new energy vehicle designed by SAIC for global consumers: in Europe, the interior is simple and the chassis is tough; In the hot Middle East, strengthen air conditioning and rapid refrigeration; In mountainous areas such as Chile, the climbing ability of vehicles is improved by 20%. MG MULAN is therefore also known as the "global car".
Andrew Stewart, sales director of SAIC MG UK, said: "MG is one of the fastest growing automobile brands in the UK. The car itself is very well made, cost-effective and full of technology. MG is sold in more than a dozen European countries. In 2020, there were only 65 outlets, and now it is close to 650. "
Represented by MG brand, SAIC sold 1.017 million vehicles in overseas markets in 2022, up 45.9% year-on-year. In terms of proportion, for every three China cars sold overseas, one is made by SAIC.
Tesla Giga Shanghai is also the main exporter of new energy vehicles in China. Last year, this factory delivered a total of 710,000 Tesla vehicles, of which 270,000 were exported overseas, accounting for about 40% of the country’s total export of new energy vehicles that year.
While the total export volume of new energy vehicles in Shanghai has increased, the export products and export destinations have also undergone major changes. Supported by the Shanghai Fair Trade Project, the 2022 International Competitiveness Report of Shanghai New Energy Automobile Industry issued by the Research Center of New Economy and Industry International Competitiveness of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences holds that the transformation is mainly reflected in two points: First, the export of products takes the lead in realizing new energy. Since 2019, the export of Shanghai’s automobile industry has begun to change to new energy automobile products, and a large part of the new export volume and the original export volume have been transformed into new energy automobile products; Second, the target market takes the lead in conquering the highest-end market in the world. The export of Shanghai’s new energy automobile industry to European countries has greatly improved, and the European Union has become the largest export region of Shanghai’s new energy automobile industry.
Tang Yunyi, deputy director of the Institute of Applied Economics of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The international competitiveness of Shanghai’s new energy vehicles first stems from the complete layout. In 1980s, with the foundation of SAIC-Volkswagen in Anting, Shanghai’s automobile industry was integrated into the global industrial division of labor system, and these years have always followed the pace of industrial transformation. Secondly, Shanghai has always insisted on "walking on two legs", that is, independent research and development and introduction and absorption are carried out simultaneously, and the two promote each other. Finally, in the global supply chain industry chain, Shanghai’s hub and node functions are very important, which is also fully reflected in the new energy automobile industry. "
Shanghai needs local high-end new energy brands.
In recent years, we have seen the improvement of the international competitiveness of Shanghai’s automobile industry, but on the other hand, we can also see that Shanghai is not prominent in the domestic new energy automobile industry.
Looking at the national new energy vehicle market, regardless of BYD’s sales of 1.86 million vehicles last year, even new forces whose sales failed to meet expectations, such as "Wei Xiaoli" (Wei Lai, Tucki, Ideal), Nezha and Zero Run, all crossed the 100,000-vehicle mark. Ai ‘an, a new energy brand under the traditional car company Guangzhou Automobile Group, sold a total of 270,000 vehicles last year, second only to BYD and Tesla. In addition to the wholly foreign-owned brand Tesla, Shanghai needs more local new energy brands with market influence.
There is also a hidden worry related to this: the profit rate of Shanghai automobile industry has dropped significantly in recent years. The International Competitiveness Report of Shanghai New Energy Automobile Industry in 2022 calculated that this data decreased from 16.33% in 2018 to 7.77% in 2021, a decrease of more than 50%.
Industry researchers believe that the decline in profit margins is first and foremost a global industrial phenomenon, not only in Shanghai. Tang Yunyi said: "The price of upstream raw materials, such as energy storage batteries, continues to rise, which leads to great cost pressure and reduces the profit margin of vehicle manufacturers. The supply chain was affected by the epidemic, and it was intermittent, which caused interference to the operation. In addition, the competition in the new energy vehicle market is also very fierce, and various manufacturers have to compress profit margins in order to seize the market. "
As a city with a long history of automobile industry, Shanghai’s new energy automobile industry has also encountered a transformation problem that the new forces of making cars have not. In the past, whether it is a joint venture brand or a local brand, most of the profits came from fuel vehicles. However, since 2018, the auto market in China has been continuously adjusted back, and with the strong rise of new energy vehicles, not only the sales volume of fuel vehicles has declined year by year, but also the net profit of bicycles has declined simultaneously.
Although Shanghai’s automobile industry has gradually turned to new energy sources, these new energy vehicles generally have low unit prices and meager profits, which are not enough to make up for the lost profits in the fuel vehicle market. In 2021, SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 1.76 million vehicles, but the net profit of returning to the mother was only 1.135 billion yuan, and the net profit of bicycles was 645 yuan.
Shanghai automobile industry has realized that in order to improve profit rate and competitiveness, it is necessary to take the road of high-end, green and intelligent. In 2020, SAIC, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Ali cooperated to establish Zhiji Automobile, and the R brand became Feifan Automobile independently. In the past less than a year, new models such as Zhiji L7, Feifan R7 and Zhiji LS7 have been listed one after another, all of which are aimed at the high-end market of more than 300,000 yuan. Synchronizing with the high-end route is the high investment in R&D. In 2021, SAIC spent 20.6 billion yuan on R&D (the data for 2022 has not yet been released), which not only surpassed "Wei Xiaoli", but also overwhelmed BYD, which is in the limelight, ranking first among China car companies. A large part of these R&D funds are spent on new energy projects.
"Car companies not only need to accelerate technology iteration and form more competitive new energy products, but also pay more attention to the after-use and after-service markets. For example, in the use environment of intelligent networking, the maintenance of core components of new energy vehicles is largely controlled by intelligent software, which requires the use of more accurate and rigorous maintenance equipment. These new markets will extend the industrial chain length of automobiles, improve the value space, and also put forward new requirements for the operation system and talent system. " Tang Yunxi said.
At the beginning of the new year, new energy subsidies have been withdrawn, Tesla’s price has been drastically reduced, and BYD has been looking up to the brand to launch a million-dollar SUV…… … These major events that test the brand positioning and profit margin of the automobile industry have come one after another, and more intense competition is just around the corner.
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