This article**: Times Finance Author: He Qing
In the past 2023, the first battle lasted for a year, and the automotive industry has undergone deep changes, with rise and loneliness, breakthroughs and exits staged in turn. With the wave of electrification surging, the joint venture brands that have enjoyed unlimited scenery in the era of fuel vehicles, although they still occupy an important position in the Chinese auto market, are no longer the same as their peak.
According to the wholesale sales of passenger cars in the narrow sense of the passenger car association, BYD will be 301The sales volume of 30,000 units ranked first, and the top five manufacturers ranked only FAW-Volkswagen as a joint venture car company, with sales of 18480,000 units. The rest of the seats were occupied by domestic brands, with Chery Automobile, Geely Automobile, and Changan Automobile ranking third to fifth, respectively.
A closer look at the sales report card of joint venture automakers shows that the export of joint venture automakers is becoming an important support. For example, according to the data disclosed by Yueda Group, Yueda Kia will achieve vehicle sales of 16 in 202360,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 31%, and its first-class vehicle 860,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 125%. Exports already account for half of its sales.
Kia.
Another example is Dongfeng Citroen, which took the lead in "flipping the table" in March last year to significantly reduce prices, and the DPCA behind it has anchored a new development direction, and Dongfeng Group's announcement in 2023 said that it will "support the global development of DPCA" and "support and expand the global export business of DPCA vehicles and parts".
Beijing Hyundai has included its annual report card as saying that its export volume exceeded 10,000 units in the past year. According to the 21st Century Business Herald, Beijing Hyundai said in 2023 that it will strive to achieve the export volume of 100,000 units within three years.
Can the joint venture car companies that are coerced by the involution of China's auto market become a new development path for them to go overseas in reverse?
Sales were under pressure. In the fierce market competition, independent brands and joint venture car companies are competing with each other.
According to the latest data released by the China Passenger Car Association, in December 2023, the retail sales of independent brands were 1.24 million units, a year-on-year increase of 17% and a month-on-month increase of 8%. The share of domestic retail sales of self-owned brands in the month was 529%, a year-on-year increase of 4 percentage points;In 2023, the cumulative share of independent brands will be 52%, an increase of 4% compared with the same period last year6 percentage points.
On the other hand, in the joint venture camp, the retail sales of mainstream joint venture brands in December last year were 790,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 7%. The retail share of German brands in December was 205%, the year-on-year share was flat, and the retail share of Japanese brands was 165%, down 23 percentage points. The retail share of the U.S. brand market reached 73%, down 1. year-on-year1 percentage point.
In addition to the loss of market share, the annual sales list of domestic passenger car manufacturers also changed. According to the wholesale sales of passenger cars in the narrow sense of the passenger car association, BYD will be 301The sales volume of 30,000 units ranked first, and the top five manufacturers ranked only FAW-Volkswagen as a joint venture car company, with sales of 18480,000 units. The rest of the seats were occupied by domestic brands, with Chery Automobile, Geely Automobile, and Changan Automobile ranking third to fifth, respectively.
Passenger Federation.
From the perspective of sales growth, in 2023, the wholesale sales of BYD, Chery Automobile, Geely Automobile, and Changan Automobile will increase year-on-year respectively compared with 2022. 0%, an increase of more significant. The top 10 joint venture brands in wholesale sales of the same manufacturers, except for FAW-Volkswagen, which achieved positive growth, all declined.
In 2023, the pain of joint venture brand sales growth will not be resolved, and the first-class system will also be reshuffled. Huatai ** pointed out in the research report that since 2022, the discount rate of joint venture car companies has gradually increased, but the sales volume has not improved, and the pricing system has a vicious circle.
In March 2023, a discount of up to 90,000 yuan allowed the long-dormant Dongfeng Citroen C6 to sell sales for eight months in January. According to the data of Chedi, in March last year, Citroen C6 sold 1,259 units, more than the sum of the past eight months.
The sales surge caused by the price cut was short-lived, and since then Citroen C6 sales have swooped down like a roller coaster. According to the data of Chedi, in November last year, Citroen C6 sold only 6 units.
At the beginning of 2024, the "best war" of joint venture brands continues. On the first day of the new year, FAW Toyota launched a time-limited subsidy for the whole system, with a maximum subsidy of 5,999 yuanOn January 4, Guangqi Honda launched a limited-time subsidy for the New Year, which can enjoy up to 180,000 yuan subsidy.
Reverse sea. In the context of the intensification of involution in the domestic automobile industry and the erosion of market share, how can joint venture car companies continue to move forward?
A noteworthy phenomenon is that some joint venture car companies choose to build Chinese factories into global factories to accelerate their overseas expansion. Yueda Kia, Dongfeng Citroen, Guangqi Honda and other joint venture brands have successively sold their Chinese-made cars overseas.
According to Yueda Group, Yueda Kia will achieve vehicle sales of 16 in 202360,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 31%, and its first-class vehicle 860,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 125%. Exports already account for half of its sales.
Yueda Group said that in 2023, Yueda Kia will focus on the two major strategies of new energy transformation and overseas exports. Actively explore the international market, build a new development pattern of smooth international and domestic dual circulation, and build a global export base for Kia. The company also exported a full set of parts and engine assemblies to Vietnam, Slovakia, South Korea and other places 50,000 sets.
In May 2023, Yang Honghai, chief operating officer of Kia China, said in his personal social network**: "The expansion of Yancheng's export base will produce 200,000 units per year. "Change is unstoppable. Yang Honghai said.
In 2024, Yueda Kia's export goal is to significantly increase the sales volume of Kia's overseas export base in Yancheng, and launch a general attack on annual production and sales of 300,000 units.
Coincidentally, the ups and downs of DPCA in 2023 have also anchored a new development strategy. In October last year, Dongfeng Group announced the strategic adjustment arrangements and support for the future development of DPCA. One of them is to support the global development of DPCA.
Oliver Olive, a member of the global executive committee of Stellantis Group, chief operating officer of China, and vice chairman of DPCA, said that he will support and expand the global export business of DPCA's vehicles and parts.
In the same month, the Peugeot 408X, exported by DPCA, was officially launched in Vietnam, with a price equivalent to RMB 2960,000 yuan—3770,000 yuan.
According to DPCA, in 2022, its total exports reached 370,000 units, up 180% year-on-year, a record high. In addition, for the Versailles C5 X model, DPCA's Chengdu plant is the only production base in the world.
DPCA also said: "DPCA's manufacturing quality is at the top level of the Stellantis Group, and the manufacturing quality level of the Wuhan plant ranks among the 52 factories of the Stellantis Group.
1. The Chengdu factory ranked fifth. ”
Guangqi Honda has also opened the international circuit. In April 2023, Guangqi Honda announced the start of its vehicle export business. The Odyssey produced at Guangqi Honda's Zengcheng plant will be exported to Japan in the second half of the year, and Honda will be sold to the Japanese market. This is the first time that Honda has imported a new vehicle from China and sold it in Japan.
In GAC Group's 2023 sales report card, GAC Honda's export data is on the list, and in 2023, the Zhizai and Odyssey hybrid models will be exported to Europe and Japan respectively, with export sales of more than 20,000 vehicles.
Guangqi Honda.
Beijing Hyundai also cited export data as a highlight, saying that its exports will exceed 10,000 units in 2023.
Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Passenger Association, pointed out that the huge international advantages of China's joint ventures and the ability to gradually cultivate localization and improvement have been very strong, which can effectively export products for some overseas markets, and have a large space for exporting products without changing the original overseas retail network of international brands.
At the Guangzhou Auto Show at the end of 2023, Wen Dali, executive deputy general manager of GAC Toyota, shouted at the booth: "The joint venture is not a backward representative, it has maturity and stability, and it also has the tenacity of being a latecomer." ”
Entering a new year, Li Auto and other upstarts shouted higher goals in order to make further progressBrands hovering in the second-tier camp are still fighting hard for landing spots. In the new era of joint ventures, whether exports can become a long-term sustainable development path for joint venture car companies remains to be verified, but the market has left time for joint venture car companies to change and adjust.