In the past ten years of development of China's auto market, there has always been a rather special type of model - you can often see a bunch of "I must buy" reviews on the Internet, but by the time it was launched, few units were sold. This kind of model mostly appears in the field of station wagons, sports cars and performance cars, and this kind of applauded situation also makes many car companies particularly cautious about the introduction of niche models, for fear of being "cheated" by netizens again.
Time has passed, and now in 2024, new energy has changed from a hot potato to a trend, and now many Chinese car companies have begun to get involved in models that once seemed niche after rolling up sedans and SUVs. Today, using the sales data of 2023 to analyze, has the bold attempt of Chinese car companies succeeded? Are Chinese consumers still as conservative as they think they are?
ZEEKR 001
Sales volume in 2023 is 760,000 units.
As the first model of the ZEEKR brand, ZEEKR 001 chose a hunting vehicle that was quite rare on the market at that time, and it was also a medium and large hunting vehicle with high-end positioning. It turns out that ZEEKR's bold attempt was successful, and the total sales of ZEEKR 001 reached 760,000 units, whether it is a medium and large sedan or a station wagon, hunting car is a pretty good result.
NIO ET5T
Sales volume in 2023 is 410,000 units.
Unlike Zeekr, NIO launched the more niche station wagon ET5T after almost the entire product line, but the sales of the ET5T have also been successful. Although 4The sales data of 10,000 is not as good as ZEEKR 001, but considering that ET5T is a model to be launched in mid-2023, the actual average monthly sales are not lower than ZEEKR 001, and even exceeds its own ET5 sedan version, which can definitely be regarded as a successful attempt.
Roewe EI5
Sales volume in 2023 is 070,000 units.
Although it is also a pure electric station wagon, the sales volume of Roewe EI5 is significantly less than that of the previous two models by an order of magnitude. It can only be said that from today's point of view, the product power of Roewe EI5 is really difficult to support its price of more than 150,000.
Nezha gt
Sales volume in 2023 is 090,000 units.
Judging from the data alone, the sales data of Nezha GT is not high; But if you only look at the two-door sports car field, then Nezha GT will not only be the sales champion, but also nearly double the sales volume of the second-place Porsche 718, which is definitely qualified to be called the absolute king of sports cars.
MG Cyberster
Sales volume in 2023 is 0050,000 units.
is also a coupe, and the sales volume of the MG Cyberster is not at the same level as that of the Nezha GT, but considering that the Cyberster was only officially launched at the end of last year, it is really difficult to represent the actual sales level with only one month's sales data, and we can only wait for the beginning of 2025 to know.
Speaking of which, some people may say that niche models should not only be new energy, but also two performance cars in the field of fuel vehicles, Lynk & Co 03+ and GAC Trumpchi Shadow Leopard R. That's right, I also want to analyze the prospects of domestic performance cars, but the sales of these two models have been counted in the two car series of Lynk & Co 03 and Shadow Leopard, and the specific sales volume and proportion are unknown, so I have no choice but to give up.
Write at the end
From the point of view of sales, models that once seemed to be very niche, as long as the product power can keep up, the sales are not bad. After all, today's Chinese consumers no longer hold the traditional ideas of more than ten years ago, and are more willing to try all kinds of new technologies, and even new energy has a high degree of acceptance, and the choice of cars is naturally not limited to sedans and SUVs.
For car companies, in fact, they might as well make some bolder attempts to launch more sports cars, station wagons and other models that seem to be niche and have few actual competitors, which may be better than constantly involuting in models with serious involution.