In the era of fuel vehicles, mid-to-high-end MPVs have been dominated by joint venture brands all year round, whether it is the evergreen Buick GL8 or the Toyota Senna, which has been introduced to China for a short time, the product strength is obvious to all. Domestic brands have never stopped trying to impact this field, but unfortunately few have been able to achieve results, but fortunately, the wave of new energy has brought new opportunities to a number of domestic brands. In recent years, with the acceleration of the trend of mid-to-high-end MPVs for domestic use, the market demand for new energy MPVs has been fully activated by virtue of multiple advantages such as power and economy.
At the just-concluded Guangzhou Auto Show, after a period of gestation period, new energy MPV models finally ushered in a big outbreak, and many brands pushed new energy MPV models to the C position of the booth. Whether it is the ideal MEGA that is quite topical, or the Xpeng X9 that represents the high-end impact of Xpeng Motors, and the Volvo EM90 that is attacking the higher end, etc., have attracted the attention of a large number of users. So whether the combination of new energy and MPV is a complement of the general trend, or a gimmick for new power car companies to enter the game, today we will take you to analyze the industry trend behind the new energy MPV and how users should respond.
The expansion of household demand has led to the explosion of new energy MPVs
With the change of family demographic structure in China, more and more only children form families, and the demand for six-seater and seven-seater models has become stronger. And with the continuous improvement of per capita income level, domestic automobile consumption has become more mature and rational, and the space limitations of large seven-seat SUVs have made many people switch to MPV models that can take into account work and family. Especially under the transformation of new energy and intelligence, the problems of poor economy and difficult parking of MPV models have also been solved to a certain extent.
The statistical results of relevant data also basically confirm this theory. In the first half of 2023, the terminal sales volume of the MPV market in the Chinese market exceeded 520,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 216%, in today's overall slowdown in the increase of the automobile market, such a growth rate is naturally more and more prominent. At the same time, the sales volume and penetration rate of new energy MPVs have increased significantly, and the market penetration rate in the first half of the year has increased from 49% to 179%, and 4 products have entered the top 15 MPV sales list.
For the younger generation of consumers, an MPV model with large space and higher comfort can meet the multi-person travel scene of the whole family, so family users are more inclined to buy MPV when choosing a car. In addition, at present, a considerable number of users in the car buying group belong to the additional purchase users, and the second car of the family is often more inclined to choose a tool car that can take into account the comprehensiveness, and MPV has also become the first choice for most people with multiple advantages. Therefore, the new energy MPV with excellent economy, better power performance and better intelligence has naturally become the first choice for many people.
Behind the popularity of new energy MPVs, who is the endgame between pure electric and plug-in hybrid
Driven by huge market demand, major car companies are naturally moving very quickly, and starting in 2022, new energy MPVs such as Denza D9, VOYAH Dreamer, and ZEEKR 009 have been launched one after another, which has made the new energy MPV market lively. In particular, the DENZA D9, which has an average sales price of more than 400,000 yuan, has a strong momentum of continuous monthly sales exceeding 10,000 yuan, which has strengthened the determination of many manufacturers to enter the high-end new energy MPV. As a result, starting in 2023, high-end new energy MPV models, whether they are traditional car companies or new power brands, will begin to emerge.
Interestingly, the DENZA D9, VOYAH Dreamer, and ZEEKR 009 launched in 2022 represent different power types of new energy MPVs. Although the Denza D9 has two power types, plug-in hybrid and pure electric, the hybrid DM-i version accounts for about ninety percent of the sales, and the VOYAH Dreamer also has a choice of extended range and pure electric version, but most users still choose the extended range version, and only the ZEEKR 009 only has a pure electric route. After more than a year of market verification, the market performance of the three seems to confirm the preferences of users. The monthly sales of DENZA continue to exceed 10,000 units, and it has become a new star in the domestic MPV market, and the sales volume of VOYAH Dreamer has stabilized at about 3,000 units by virtue of the performance of range extension power after adjusting the ** strategy, and the sales volume of ZEEKR 009 is less than 1,500 units per month due to pure electric and ** factors.
Although the embodiment behind the sales volume has a lot to do with the ** positioning, it also has a lot to do with the power type, which is clearly reflected in the DENZA D9 and VOYAH Dreamer. The reason why consumers are keen on plug-in hybrid models has a great correlation with the car use scene of MPV, and long-distance travel on holidays is a compulsory course for almost all MPVs, and these times and scenes are also the nightmare period for pure electric models to replenish energy. Therefore, if pure electric MPV models want to truly win the favor of users, they must solve the problem of users' range anxiety, which requires a hard-core technological breakthrough in battery or energy supplement.
In recent years, although there has been no substantial breakthrough in the battery technology of new energy vehicles, there has been a lot of progress in supercharging and supplementing, which is also the core of many new power brands that dare to enter the pure electric MPV. For example, the ideal MEGA is equipped with CATL 5C Kirin battery, which adopts an 800V platform that can achieve the goal of charging 500km in 12 minutes, while Xpeng X9 also uses an 800V high-voltage SiC silicon carbide platform that supports DC fast charging of up to 315kW, so as to achieve a range of 200km in five minutes. In addition, the new car-making force Hechuang Automobile has also launched the MPV model V09, and the official also claims that the peak fast charging power of the "Honor Edition Supercharge 620" 4C supercharge version can achieve a "1 second and 1 km" energy replenishment experience.
High-end new energy MPV or the best carrier of intelligence
Although driven by supercharging, the market size of domestic high-end new energy MPVs has risen rapidly, it is still difficult to accommodate such a rich product lineup with the current overall market capacity. I believe that car companies with clearer market insights will not understand this truth, but they still choose to rush in, and there must be deeper factors behind it. If we take stock of the recently launched new energy MPV models, in addition to the commonality of new energy, they basically have excellent performance in intelligence and comfort. In addition to the market demand of current users, with the rapid development of intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit, MPV is undoubtedly the best carrier for both.
We still take the ideal MEGA as an example, in addition to the high-end level of intelligent cockpit, in terms of intelligent assistance, including automatic parking, vehicle-road coordination, automatic driving, etc. Xpeng X9 is even more so, Xpeng's accumulation in intelligent cockpit and intelligent assisted driving is all poured into this model, and the configuration in terms of chassis comfort is basically full. Not only ideal and Xpeng, many new energy luxury MPV basically have these attributes, you might as well actively imagine that if autonomous driving becomes a reality, MPV models with high comfort, excellent space performance and complete intelligent configuration will become the first choice of most people.
Therefore, at present, most manufacturers are pouring into the field of high-end new energy MPV, in addition to the promotion of technology, many manufacturers also want to lay out the future through MPV models. At the same time, the relatively high positioning of high-end MPV also contributes to brand building, and the success of high-end products is also of great significance to the high-end construction of the brand itself. However, although the ideal is plump, the reality is also skinny, and such a large number of products are launched at the same time in the same period, and the fierce competition in the market must be unprecedentedly fierce.
Summary:
Behind the outbreak of new energy high-end MPV models, whether it is the maturity of technology, the inevitability of market promotion, or the first hand of manufacturers to lay out the future, so that high-end products are piled up, and involution will be a foregone conclusion. In the next period of time, the high-end battle of new energy MPV may gradually evolve into a value battle, when the new energy MPV will gradually return to rationality, consumers can buy a little restraint, and there may be a big surprise in the near future.
Wen Xiaonan.