Review Of Luxury Car Market In Half A Year: C-Class Car "Lack Of Core" Influence Is Obvious, Second Line "Shuffle" Is Still Continuing

At 4:00 p.m. on July 11, outside the East Fifth Ring Road, the first heavy rain in Beijing this year is about to come.

However, the upcoming rainstorm did not affect the enthusiasm of consumers to see cars. In boshitongda store of Gaobeidian, customers came and went, and the sales staff in the store were also very busy.

As a large-scale Mercedes Benz 4S shop in Beijing, the booming sales in the store also reflects the continuous improvement of the luxury car market since this year.

In fact, despite the impact of uncertain factors such as the shortage of chips and the rise of raw materials, China's automobile market is still on the rise in the first half of 2021, especially new energy vehicles and luxury brand cars.

Among them, luxury brands continue the trend of high growth since 2020. According to the data of the Travel Association, in the past June, the retail sales of domestic luxury brands were about 250000, an increase of 28% compared with June 2019.

Although the relevant departments have not released the overall sales level of luxury brands in the first half of this year, most luxury brands still maintain a stable upward trend from the perspective of brands that have released sales volume in the first half of this year.

Compared with the 25% - 30% market share of luxury brands in developed countries, China's luxury car market still has a lot of room for improvement, and the potential opportunities and space also give luxury brands unlimited development possibilities.

According to the Research Report of Huatai Securities Co., Ltd., economic development, residents' disposable income growth and consumption upgrading are the main driving forces for the growth of luxury car demand. In the future, the demand for luxury cars is expected to maintain a steady growth. The penetration rate is expected to increase from 13.8% in 2019 to 20.1% in 2030. Some luxury car manufacturers and dealers will continue to benefit.

However, although the overall camp of luxury car market is constantly expanding, with the development of new energy vehicles, the influx of new car manufacturing forces and the increase of global uncertainty, China's luxury car market continues to differentiate in the competition.

While Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi firmly occupy most of the market share and fight hand-in-hand, a new force, including Weilai and Tesla, has emerged and is impacting the traditional luxury car market.

Competition has never been so fierce, and the pattern is changing.

"Core panic" accelerates the "reshuffle" of China's auto market. Picture green

Production of C-class cars is likely to be cut by half in the third quarter

Although the shortage of chips has cast a shadow on the global automobile market since the end of last year, the sales volume of BMW and Mercedes Benz in China in the first half of this year have achieved a double-digit growth year-on-year.

According to the sales results of the global and Chinese markets released by BMW Group in the first half of the year, a total of 467064 new cars (including BMW, mini and Rolls Royce) were sold in the Chinese market from January to June, with a year-on-year increase of 41.9%. In the first half of the year, BMW delivered 1339080 new cars globally. According to the current data, China alone has contributed one-third of the global sales of BMW.

As for Mercedes Benz, in the first half of 2021, the cumulative sales volume of new cars in the Chinese market was 441579, with a year-on-year increase of 27.6%, setting a new record in the same period of history.

It is worth noting that in 2020, the annual sales volume of Benz in China is 774400. This also means that in the first six months of this year, Mercedes Benz has completed 56.8% of the sales volume of last year. The industry expects that if the chip shortage situation is improved, Mercedes Benz will continue to maintain a high double-digit growth rate in the Chinese market this year.

Although Audi didn't officially announce the sales volume in the first half of this year, some luxury brand dealers revealed that Audi sold about 420000 vehicles in the first half of this year.

"The luxury car market is good in the first half of the year, with a year-on-year growth rate of 26% - 27% On July 11, sun Feng, vice president of Auto Dealers Association of all China Federation of industry and Commerce and strategic executive vice president of Beijing Yuntong Guorong Investment Group Co., Ltd., pointed out in an interview with 21st century economic reporter, "chip shortage has a great impact on market sales, especially on C-class cars. Many brands try to maintain sales through simple configuration or small displacement increase, However, many auto companies still rely on the performance of the Chinese market, and the source of imported vehicles is more inclined to the Chinese market. "

And Beijing bostonda's sales staff also told reporters that at present, there are not enough cars in stock, and the existing vehicles are not all equipped with chips.

"At present, the collection cycle is basically six months, mainly due to chip problems. However, it has little impact on consumers' cars. Only the SOS communication module in the car will not be able to be used. Consumers will give certain compensation when they buy the car. After that, any dealer can install the chip free of charge after the chip arrives. " The salesman added.

Facing the global shortage of chips, Zhang Yan, senior executive vice president of Beijing Mercedes Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd., said in an interview with 21st century economic reporter on the morning of July 9 that due to the current global shortage of some semiconductor parts, the delivery of Benz's vehicles may be delayed, At present, Mercedes Benz works closely with suppliers while ensuring early delivery of new cars to customers.

Similarly, BMW has "reduced" the configuration of a number of models to a certain extent. It is understood that some BMW models will suspend the provision of high-end audio, automatic driving assistance system, mobile phone wireless charging, WiFi hotspot and active cruise control system in succession. At the same time, BMW also reduces the recommended retail prices of some models.

"It is expected that the third quarter will be affected by chips, and the production of C-class cars will even be reduced to about 50%. However, the market supply and demand are relatively balanced. In the fourth quarter, we may sprint. Mercedes Benz and BMW are expected to hit 900000 sales in the whole year, and Audi aims to break through 850000. " Beijing a luxury brand dealer investors told reporters.

Second line luxury pattern changes

While Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi firmly occupy the first camp of luxury brands, the shuffling of the second tier luxury market continues.

In the second echelon of traditional luxury brands, the most outstanding achievement is undoubtedly the Red Flag brand, which has the trend of leading the second tier luxury brands.

Recently, red flag announced the sales volume in the first half of this year. Data shows that in the first half of this year, FAW Hongqi sold 145000 units, with an average monthly sales volume of 24200 units, up 107% year-on-year.

It is understood that there are seven models currently on sale in Hongqi, namely Hongqi HS5, Hongqi H5, Hongqi H9, Hongqi hs7, Hongqi H7, Hongqi HS3 and Hongqi hs9.

"Hongqi is not only an astonishing increase in total sales, but also a more important flagship model H9, which has greatly increased the gold content of Hongqi brand's rapid growth. It can be said that the launch of H9 has ushered in a new era of luxury cars in China." Some people in the industry pointed out that "although there is still a big gap compared with the same level of BBA cars, but as the first C-class sedan with a starting price of more than 300000 yuan, such performance is not easy."

In 2020, Cadillac, the sales champion of second-line luxury brands, followed the red flag. In the first half of this year, 122200 new cars were sold, an increase of 45.2% over the same period last year. Among them, the sales volume in the second quarter was about 64000, with a year-on-year increase of 9.1%. Compared with the growth rate of 128.6% in the first quarter, there was a significant slowdown.

However, at present, Lexus has not announced the sales in the first half of this year, but the industry estimates that, combined with the sales of 223000 vehicles in 2020, it is unlikely that Lexus will surpass the red flag in the first half of this year.

Volvo's sales in China in the first half of the year are also quite good. In the first half of the year, 95000 new cars were sold in China's auto market, up 44.9% year on year.

In addition, thanks to the promotion of localization, Lincoln sold 42000 new cars in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 111%, setting the highest sales record since the brand entered China. In the first half of the year, the cumulative sales volume of three domestic SUVs, namely adventurer, aviator and navigator, accounted for more than 86% of the total sales volume.

However, while red flag is leading the traditional second-line luxury brands, Tesla has made a clean sweep in the new energy vehicle market.

According to the data from the Travel Association, in June this year, Tesla's wholesale sales volume was 33155, up 122% year-on-year; In the first half of this year, the cumulative sales volume of Tesla has exceeded 160000. The industry expects that with the arrival of domestic Tesla Model y, Tesla is expected to achieve at least 50% growth in 2021, with annual sales exceeding 300000 vehicles.

It is worth noting that as a representative of domestic high-end new energy vehicles, Weilai is making efforts. According to the data, from January to June, Weilai delivered 41956 sets in total, which reached 95.9% of last year's annual delivery volume in only half a year. In June, the delivery volume exceeded 8000 for the first time, reaching 8083 units, with a year-on-year increase of 116.1%. According to the industry forecast, Weilai is expected to impact the top ten luxury brands in 2021.

It is not only the continuous breakthrough in sales volume. Since the delivery of the products, the average selling price of Weilai has exceeded 430000 yuan, not only surpassing Tesla, but also breaking the new selling price of domestic automobile brands.

How to face Tesla's price "butcher's knife"?

Since this year, with the rapid growth of luxury car market, there is China's new energy vehicle market.

On July 8, the data of the national passenger car market information conference showed that the retail sales of new energy passenger cars in June reached 223000, up 169.9% year-on-year and 19.2% month on month compared with may, showing a good trend of strong growth. From January to June, retail sales of new energy vehicles were 1.001 million, with a year-on-year increase of 218.9%.

"The passenger Federation predicted in May that the sales volume of new energy passenger vehicles could reach 2.4 million. At present, the final sales volume is expected to exceed this figure, reaching about 2.5 million vehicles." Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the ride Union, said.

In Cui Dongshu's opinion, the whole new energy vehicle market has entered a stable period of high growth. In terms of medium and high-end models, there is huge space for cost reduction in the future, which will bring certain growth potential. The high-end market represented by Tesla and new forces is gradually strengthening, and there is a huge space for development of the high-end market.

Although BBA has become the best in the traditional fuel vehicle market, there is still a big gap between BBA and Tesla in the field of new energy. BBA luxury car companies are producing pure electric vehicles in full scale, and the product acceptance still needs to be greatly improved.

In the sales data of the first half of the year, Mercedes Benz and BMW did not disclose the specific sales of their new energy vehicles in the first half of the year; In the data released by BMW, it only points out that the cumulative sales volume of new energy vehicles in China has reached 110000.

However, with the advancement of electric and intelligent process, the popularity of electric vehicles and the opening of new retail mode, luxury brands including BBA are facing great challenges and stepping into a new battlefield.

On July 8, Tesla's China official website officially launched the model y standard endurance version. The "ultra-low" starting price of 276000 yuan (after subsidy) made this Tesla's dominant model explode in the market again. Mr. Cui expects Tesla to sell more than 300000 vehicles in 2021.

"The constant price reduction of Tesla models and its unique new retail model are seizing market share of luxury cars. At the same time, Tesla and Weilai have nurtured the electric luxury car market. " Some people in the industry pointed out that the arrival of Tesla's domestic model y will directly compete with Audi Q5, Mercedes Benz GLC and BMW X3. At the same time, Tesla Model Y's price advantage and its advantages in intelligent and automatic driving will gain more potential users of luxury cars.

Of course, traditional luxury brands will not "sit around waiting for death" and are preparing to fight the new energy vehicle market.

In the face of the outbreak of new energy vehicle market, Mercedes EQ will launch three new pure electric products after EQC pure electric SUV in the second half of this year to accelerate the product layout of electric luxury travel.

Among them are Benz's first new generation pure electric vehicle EQA SUV, China's first new generation luxury 7-seat pure electric SUV, and CLTC's brand-new EQS pure electric car with an endurance of 800 km. Among them, EQA pure electric SUV and EQB pure electric SUV will be produced in Beijing Benz.

In addition to the pure electric BMW ix3 currently on sale, the BMW Group will continue its product offensive in the second half of this year, and the pure electric IX and other new cars will be put on the market.

In addition, BMW plans to launch 12 pure electric BMW and mini models in China by 2025, covering all major market segments.

In addition to the official announcement that it will stop developing fuel vehicles in 2025, Audi will also launch a number of pure electric vehicles in the next few years. In the second half of this year, Audi Q4 e-tron will be home-made, with an estimated price of about 300000 yuan, which will enter the mainstream electric vehicle market; It is reported that SAIC Volkswagen Audi's first pure electric SUV is also expected to appear next year.

"The new energy vehicle industry is still in the stage of rapid development, and the overall pattern has not been stable." Cui Dongshu said.

However, Tesla's price "butcher's knife" has been wielded. In the future competition of new energy vehicle market, traditional luxury brands need to face the difficulties.