Cars
New energy vehicle market: the competition and challenges of Great Wall Motor's brands.
Introduction: Since the second half of 2023, China's automotive industry has ushered in a new trend, and at the beginning of each month, it has become a distinctive feature for domestic automakers to demonstrate the progress of their electrification strategies. Great Wall Motors, one of China's leading automakers, is closely following the dynamics of the new energy market. This article will analyze in detail the performance of Great Wall Motor's brands in the new energy vehicle market in January 2024, and analyze the highlights and problems in depth, in order to provide in-depth observations and thoughts for the development of the industry.
i.Overview of NEV sales.
a.In the second half of 2023, NEV sales will be a feature of domestic automakers demonstrating their electrification strategy progress at the beginning of the month.
b.Great Wall Motor announced on February 1 the sales data of new energy passenger vehicles in January, with a total of 24,988 units, including PHEVs and BEVs of the four major brands of Haval, WEY, ORA and Tank.
ii.The sales performance of each brand of Great Wall Motor.
a.The tank brand sold 9,631 vehicles in January, an increase of 17% from December last year, accounting for 38% of the Great Wall's overall new energy sales5%, becoming a bright spot for growth.
b.The Haval brand sold 6,005 units in January, accounting for 24%, but under the electrification, tanks have become a new growth point for the Great Wall.
iii.Contrasts between brands.
a.With the hybrid products of Hi4-T technology, the tank brand has replaced Haval as a new growth point for Great Wall.
b.The Haval brand faced overlapping product matrix and positioning, and new energy vehicles failed to achieve a comprehensive sales trend.
iv.Other brand cases.
a.The ORA brand is affected by factors such as ** fluctuation in the new energy market, and the sales volume may continue to the level of December last year.
b.WEY brand has been hindered in the transition to electrification, and there is a lack of high-sales new energy models.
v.The overall new energy market trend.
a.In 2024, the new energy vehicle market may show a growth bottleneck, and many brands will show a month-on-month downward trend, indicating that competition is intensifying.
b.Traditional Chinese automakers need to continue to seek breakthroughs in the electrification transformation, and the industry outlook is full of challenges and opportunities as cross-border automakers enter the market in 2023 and joint venture automakers accelerate their deployment in 2024.
vi.Industry outlook.
a.In 2023, cross-border automakers such as Huawei and Xiaomi will have a strong influence, and in 2024, joint venture automakers will accelerate their electrification layout.
b.Traditional car companies such as Great Wall Motors need to find a breakthrough direction in the fierce competition and continue to innovate.
Detailed analysis: iOverview of NEV sales.
The new energy vehicle market will begin to show a significant activity in the second half of 2023, becoming a platform for domestic automakers to compete to demonstrate the progress of their electrification strategies. Under this trend, Great Wall Motor releases sales data for new energy passenger vehicles at the beginning of each month, providing a clear insight window for the entire industry. In the January sales data released on February 1, Great Wall Motor's total sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 24,988 units, including plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and pure electric (BEV) vehicles of the four major brands of Haval, WEY, ORA and Tank.
ii.The sales performance of each brand of Great Wall Motor.
The tank brand performed well in January, with sales reaching 9,631 units, an increase of 17% compared to December last year. This data makes the tank brand account for 38 percent of the Great Wall's overall new energy sales5%, which has become a major growth highlight of Great Wall Motors. In comparison, the Haval brand sold 6,005 units in January, accounting for 24%. Although the Haval brand has grown steadily in the fuel vehicle market, maintaining the sales performance of more than 4,000 models such as the Raptor, under the transformation of electrification, the tank brand has successfully replaced Haval with hybrid products with Hi4-T technology, becoming a new growth point for Great Wall.
iii.Contrasts between brands.
The successful rise of the tank brand contrasts sharply with the relative weakness of the Haval brand. The tank brand occupies an important position in the new energy market through hybrid products, while the Haval brand faces the problem of overlapping product matrix and positioning. Especially in the product line, there is a high degree of overlap between the big dog and the H6PHEV and the Dragon series products, which makes the models that entered the market later such as the Haval Raptor more competitive in terms of design and "light off-road" concept.
iv.Other brand cases.
As a brand of Great Wall that adheres to pure electric vehicles, the ORA brand has encountered some challenges in the current new energy market. The three products on sale, Good Cat, Ballet Cat and Lightning Cat, have achieved continuous sales of more than 10,000 after the release of new cars in the third quarter of last year, but the sales volume has shown a slight downward trend in the past two months. In the face of the "best war" in the new energy market, the ORA brand needs to deal with it carefully, because the floating of products is still a key factor in its sales in the market. However, Dong Yudong, CEO of Ola, said that in the coming time, the brand will launch three new models covering the A0, A-class and C-class to further enrich the brand image and positioning.
The WEY brand has been severely hampered in the transition to electrification. At present, WEY brand has not launched a new energy model with very high sales, and Blue Mountain DHT has become the pillar of its sales. Although WEY launched a number of new cars last year, and the product strength is enough to meet the market demand, how to recover the product attributes and positioning lost in the comparison has become the biggest problem faced by WEY brand at the marketing level.
v.The overall new energy market trend.
In 2024, the new energy vehicle market may face growth bottlenecks, and most brands will show a month-on-month decline. This also seems to confirm the industry's speculation about the new energy market this year: after experiencing explosive growth in 2021 and 2022 and moderate growth in 2023, the new energy vehicle market in 2024 may become more prominent growth bottlenecks. This trend shows that when the growth dividend gradually fades, the market will usher in increased competition and the speed of survival of the fittest.
vi.Industry outlook.
In 2023, cross-border car companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi have entered the new energy market, showing their strong influence at the marketing level. In 2024, joint venture automakers will also accelerate the deployment of electrification, and the competition in the industry will become more and more fierce. China's traditional car companies, such as Great Wall Motors, are still exploring the road of electrification transformation. With the further development of the industry, traditional car companies need to constantly find a way to break the situation to adapt to market changes.
Conclusion: Through an in-depth analysis of the new energy vehicle market of Great Wall Motor's brands in January 2024, we see the successful rise of the tank brand in the electrification transformation, as well as a series of challenges faced by the Haval brand. The overall new energy market may face growth bottlenecks in 2024, and many brands in the industry will decline month-on-month, indicating that competition is intensifying. In the future, traditional Chinese car companies such as Great Wall Motors need to find a breakthrough in the fierce market competition and continue to innovate to maintain competitiveness. With the entry of cross-border and joint venture car companies, the new energy market will be full of challenges and opportunities, bringing more unknowns to the future development of the industry.