Car companies are fighting a key battle for MPVs to influence the industry pattern

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BYD, Wei Xiaoli and other almost all new energy car companies have invariably rolled up MPVs. Car companies also attach great importance to MPV models, and Xpeng has even set a KPI for the sales of large pure electric MPVs. Ideal said that the Ideal MEGA will be "the No. 1 MPV with more than 500,000 sales".

Car companies collectively entered the MPV, largely because MPV will pull car companies out of the quagmire of the first war. As a representative of high-end models, most new energy vehicle companies set the starting price of MPV at more than 300,000 yuan. This will bring greater gross profit space for car companies, greatly alleviate the impact of the industry's best war, and even become a watershed in the new energy vehicle war.

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New energy vehicles will usher in a big year for MPV. Since 2017, the sales of MPV models have continued to decline, but this year, after the entry of new energy vehicles such as Zeekr and Denza, MPV sales stopped falling. Next year, Ideal and Xiaopeng's first new cars delivered next year are MPVs, and BYD also has MPVs on the market, and MPVs are ushering in a big year of sales.

MPV is the last increment of new energy vehicles. The penetration rate of new energy MPVs is at a low level, and there is still great potential for development in the market. More importantly, with the increase in the proportion of multi-child families, MPVs with large space are transforming from commercial vehicles to family vehicles, and their users and markets are expected to expand rapidly.

MPV has become the winner or loser of the new energy vehicle war. After the slowdown in the sales of new energy vehicles, the industry is entering the first war. As the first car, MPV has strong consumption power for target users, which can bring greater gross profit space and stronger ability to resist cycles for car companies. Because of this, MPV will become the key to the new energy war.

Looking at the data alone, MPVs are the most marginalized models in recent years.

Compared with popular models such as sedans and SUVs, the sales performance of MPV models is not good. Since 2017, annual sales of MPV models have continued to decline due to the restrictions on the user base and the squeeze of SUV models. By 2022, the annual sales of MPVs will fall below one million, and MPV sales have decreased by more than 50% compared to the peak in 2016.

But this year, the MPV market has regained popularity. According to the data released by the passenger association, in the first three quarters of this year, MPV stood out, with sales increasing by 18% year-on-year2%, an increase of 2% compared to an SUV8 times.

Behind the popularity of MPV models is the collective entry of new energy vehicle companies. Car companies such as ZEEKR 009, Denza D9, and VOYAH Dreamer have taken the lead in launching MPV models. The next new cars of Li Auto and Xpeng Motors are MPVs and will be delivered early next year. According to 36 Krypton, BYD will also have an MPV next year. In addition, NIO has also made it clear that it is planning MPV products.

Car companies also attach great importance to the MPV market. Li Xiang said that his MPV model, the Ideal MEGA, would be "the No. 1 car with more than 500,000 sales". He Xiaopeng even set a KPI of "No. 1 large-scale pure electric MPV" for his X1 X9.

Not only are the slogans loud, but car companies have also poured a lot of resources into MPV models. For example, the ideal MEGA is full of sincerity in terms of configuration, and the ideal MEGA adopts a dual-motor four-wheel drive system, and the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km h is only 55 seconds, the maximum speed can reach 180 km/h. In terms of battery life, which consumers care about, Ideal MEGA is equipped with a CCS2 high-speed charging socket, which can charge 0-80% of the power in 5 minutes under the 500 kW charging pile.

In addition to configuration, car companies have also poured a lot of marketing resources into MPV, in large-scale auto shows, many car companies will push their MPV from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, and some car companies in order to promote their new energy MPV in the booth C, do not hesitate to arrange a sales champion model in the area away from the center of the stage to display.

So, why do car companies collectively focus on the MPV market?

In November, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has exceeded 40%. In contrast, the penetration rate of new energy MPV models is about 20%, and the penetration rate is at a low level, which also means that new energy MPV has great development potential.

New energy vehicle companies are also easy to eat the potential market of new energy MPV. Although most of the MPV market is still occupied by foreign car companies such as Buick GL8 and Toyota Alpha, the offensive of new energy vehicles is significant. When Wei Xiaoli's MPV products were not yet put on the market, only the MPV models of brands such as Zeekr and Denza had already defeated foreign-funded MPVs. In the case of a sharp increase in sales of MPV models this year, the sales volume of Alpha in the first half of the year decreased by 4% year-on-year3%。

It is not difficult to understand that new energy vehicle companies can beat overseas brands in the MPV field. In the past, in the era of fuel vehicles, MPV was a mature market segment, and the pricing logic and the "ruler" of the user to see the car were relatively fixed, and it was difficult for latecomers to enter. However, electrification has changed the product logic of MPVs, such as the characteristics of light electric drive and low wind resistance, which can bring users a better driving feeling.

Not only can you eat the share of foreign capital in the MPV market, but the MPV itself is also a new increment in China's auto market. In the "MPV Insight Report", the Yiche Research Institute pointed out that it is expected to hit 3 million units in 2026 and become a new blue ocean for China's auto market. The sales volume of 3 million units is equivalent to three times the sales of MPVs in 2022.

The transformation of MPV models into a new blue ocean is related to demographic changes and changes in the positioning of MPV models. The proportion of families with multiple children in our country is rising. In 2022, the total number of births in the country will be 9.56 million, of which the second child accounts for 389%, and the proportion of three children and above is 150%。The proportion of families with multiple children has risen to more than half.

The increase in family members also has greater requirements for the interior space, and at this time, MPV models with more space in the car and three rows of seats are naturally favored by users. Referring to either not having children, or having two or more Japanese families, MPVs are also the most mainstream models in Japan.

Car companies have also seized the opportunity of demographic structure and changed the positioning of MPV models in China. In the past, MPVs were called business vehicles, mainly for business reception, connecting airports and office areas. Now that MPVs are beginning to become family-oriented, car companies are considering the concept of family in design and marketing.

For example, in terms of design, the driver of the MPV will become a family member after the family, and the seat of the main driver will also be stacked from the low-end version to a full configuration. In addition, the ground clearance of the car should not be too high, so that the elderly and children can easily get on and off. In terms of marketing, in order to make MPV infinitely closer to home, car manufacturers have even created abstract names - EFF - you buy my car, which is equivalent to broadening your living room.

The transformation from business to family has also stimulated more new users for MPV, and has become the last incremental market for new energy vehicle companies. Not only that, the special attributes of MPV are also expected to make it a watershed in the war of new energy vehicles.

New energy vehicles are turning into a red ocean, and after the growth rate of new energy vehicles slows down, it is difficult for most car companies to complete their sales plans in 2023.

NIO's 2023 sales target is 2450,000 units, and a total of 12 new cars were delivered in the first ten months60,000 units, just half of the progress. Xpeng's sales target is 200,000 units, and the cumulative number of deliveries in the first 10 months has reached 1010,000 units, also only more than half.

When the sales of car companies do not meet expectations, the industry's first war has been fought from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and escalated again at the end of the year. According to incomplete statistics, nearly 20 brands have officially announced price cuts in December. Next, the first battle is still the norm in the auto market.

At the previous Guangzhou Auto Show, a number of car company executives publicly stated that the first battle will still be the main theme of the auto market in 2024. Liu Jie, vice president of business of Li Auto, judged that 2024 will be a key stage of the new energy "knockout competition";Yi Han, vice president of marketing of Xpeng Motors, expects that the first war has become an irreversible trend.

And MPV is an important means to pull car companies out of the first battle. As a representative of high-end models, MPVs have a larger pricing range in **. Most of the car companies that have entered the MPV market have set their prices at more than 300,000 yuan, such as the ideal mega announced that the price is within 600,000;The X9 MPV, known as the Xpeng KPI model, is also priced at 38Starting at 80,000, the VOYAH Dreamer has raised the price of the MPV to 68990,000 yuan high, ZEEKR 009 has raised the price threshold to 49900,000 yuan.

More critically, the target group of MPVs is also capable of accepting high pricing. MPV owners have a high enough spending power, for example, in the era of fuel vehicles, the price of an Alpha in China's official channels is in the range of 800,000-900,000, but consumers often buy at a higher price than in short supply, and the peak landing** is close to 2 million.

On the other hand, although the price of new energy MPV vehicles is higher than that of most new energy vehicles, there is still a gap between the price of traditional high-end MPVs such as Alpha. In other words,The target group of MPV can digest the ** cars of car companies, which is reflected in the data, and the cumulative sales of MPVs below 300,000 yuan in 2022 will decline by as much as 222%, while the sales of MPVs above 300,000 yuan increased by more than 200%.

The opening of high-end MPV models is of great significance to car companies. Car companies can rely on high pricing to open up gross profit space and reduce the impact of the auto war. At the same time, car companies have also gained more valuable users with stronger anti-risk ability, and car companies have a stronger ability to resist cycles.

This also means that in the upcoming new energy vehicle knockout competition, MPV, as a key model that can not only provide new increments, but also enable car companies to get rid of the first war, has become one of the key winners and losers of the new energy vehicle war.