Despite the fierce battle throughout 2023, the Chinese auto market has still achieved remarkable results: the annual sales exceeded 30 million units for the first time, the market share of Chinese brands reached an unprecedented 56%, and the penetration rate of new energy exceeded 30%, among which the biggest highlight is the strong rise of independent brands.
The pressure on the joint venture brand that has dominated China's auto market for 30 years has suddenly increased sharply, and it is inevitable that there will be voices of decline: how can the joint venture brand build and sell electric vehicles well? In the confusing year 2023, Dongfeng Honda took the lead in finding the answer.
Consolidate the base plate of the oil truck
Regarding the situation of the joint venture brand, an auto company executive said: "From the global background, it may no longer be appropriate to design a model that is common to all markets, but should be adapted to local conditions." In terms of digitalization and connectivity, China is very different from other markets, and these are the core competitiveness of Chinese manufacturers today. ”
Obviously, under the changing pace of China's auto market, joint venture brands need to change their thinking, re-understand China and redesign their products. Dongfeng Honda was the first to recognize the urgency of the joint venture crisis, which also allowed it to seize the opportunity to quickly adjust and transform in 2023. Why is 2023 a critical year for adjustment?
Geoffrey A., the godfather of Silicon ValleyMoore argues in the Gap Theory that when innovative technologies and products enter the mainstream market, pragmatists and conservatives will replace the early technology adopters as the main consumer groups.
At present, the market share of new energy has exceeded 30%, as if there is a mainstream trend, and in the next few years, the consumption and user demand of new energy vehicles will begin to change. A few years ago, when a small number of pioneers put forward the demand for early adopters, Tesla and the new forces needed to impress users with radical and innovative functions and "break the ice in their minds". In the future, more and more mainstream people will begin to buy smart electric vehicles, and a reliable, gentle and appropriate joint venture brand like Dongfeng Honda will be more in line with the rational return of the market.
At present, fuel vehicles are still the node of market leadership and the rapid rise of new energy, and Dongfeng Honda has chosen a two-legged strategy of consolidating the fuel base and accelerating the electrification transformation.
Throughout 2023, Dongfeng Honda's total sales will reach 613712 units, with a total of 210,000+ sales of its core model CR-V and 170,000+ sales of Civic, still maintaining a strong market influence. What is even more worth celebrating is that 2023 is the 20th anniversary of Dongfeng Honda's establishment, and the cumulative number of users has just exceeded 8 million.
Such achievements are inseparable from Dongfeng Honda's refinement of oil vehicle products, and at the moment when the oil vehicle market continues to shrink, few joint venture brands have launched new models. However, Dongfeng Honda is well aware that even though new energy vehicles are dominating the auto market, most consumers are still choosing gasoline vehicles, and their need for product upgrades should not be buried.
To this end, Dongfeng Honda introduced a new global model, the HR-V, in April, further enriching the selection of high-quality urban SUVs. It is equipped with the i-MMD hybrid system and Honda Connect 40. The all-new Inspie of Honda Sensing 360 was officially unveiled, revolutionizing the new standard of flagship sedans. At the same time, models such as the UR-V and Elysian have also been upgraded in 2023.
The arrival of these new cars has provided the greatest satisfaction to the neglected traditional consumers, and has also allowed Dongfeng Honda to consolidate its foundation and create a solid backing for accelerating its transformation.
Transform in a more Chinese way
In fact, regardless of the attitude of the outside world towards the various brand camps, in the current noisy environment, no brand can stand alone, recalling four or five years ago, when Tesla and Wei Xiaoli brought various new concepts to everyone's eyes, there were also many people who looked down on Geely, Changan, BYD and other old independent brands. But now we see that BYD is leading the world in the field of new energy, and Geely Galaxy, Extreme Krypton, and Changan Deep Blue have become the third pole of the new force and Tesla.
The rise of traditional independent brands is inseparable from deep technical reserves and strong system capabilities, and in this regard, joint venture brands backed by the global market are more powerful. Recently, some independent brand executives publicly said: "Many people say that those foreign brands are not good, and the future will definitely be finished, in fact, people have not done it, people are waiting, looking for the best time, once done, from its resources, the global market and so on will rise rapidly." ”
And Dongfeng Honda is ready for full electrification, first of all, the strengthening of the hybrid offensive. In 2023, the growth rate of this market segment will slow down due to the increase in the cost of electric vehicles, key technical difficulties to be solved, and policy decline. Correspondingly, more and more traditional brands are accelerating the layout of the hybrid market, and consumers' recognition of hybrid products is also increasing.
According to the retail data of the Passenger Association, in 2023, the sales of pure electric vehicles in China will be 51440,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 208%, plug-in hybrid model sales of 25920,000 units, a year-on-year growth rate of 825%。
Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University, said that it will still take 10 years for China to fully realize the transformation of electrification. In the near and medium term, the entire new energy vehicle market is in the stage of high electric vehicles, high battery costs, and declining or stopping subsidies, and the market share of hybrid vehicles is expected to increase to 30% and 40% in the next 5 to 10 years. Some industry insiders said that in the context of increasingly stringent emission regulations for pure fuel vehicles, more and more pure fuel vehicles will switch to plug-in hybrids. Clearly, plug-in hybrids will be the new market growth engine in the coming years.
No car company will ignore such a trend, after the mainstream independent brands fully approached the plug-in hybrid market, SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, and SAIC-GM also began to promote the research and development and implementation of a new generation of plug-in hybrids, and backed by Honda's world-leading hybrid technology, Dongfeng Honda took the lead in introducing *** i-MMD hybrid technology, creating a more suitable for China's strong electric intelligent hybrid technology, and launched a new generation of CR-V E:HEV E:PHEV, the new Yingshipai e:PHEV, and Honda The H-RV E:HEV is the first joint venture brand to capitalize on the rise of hybrids.
At the same time, in the field of pure electric vehicles, after the layout of the e:NS series, Dongfeng Honda launched a new Lingxi brand and the first concept car in September. Lingxi is the first independent new energy brand released within the framework of the joint venture in China, unlike the past when Honda led the product rhythm, Lingxi's product design is completed by Dongfeng Honda independently, and the technical support comes from the parent companies of the two joint ventures. This means that Lingxi will be more responsive and efficient to the ever-changing Chinese market, and its product definition will be closer to the needs of the Chinese market.
At the same time, Dongfeng Honda's brand renewal is also underway. In the past, Honda was known for its extreme power and driving pleasure, and gained a large number of loyal fans. In 2023, Dongfeng Honda will further innovate its spiritual core and officially release the new brand logo and image of "Stay Ahead", which integrates "technology, intelligence, and love", making the "Stay Ahead" brand proposition more valuable and warm.
Obviously, while other joint venture brands are still passively waiting for foreign parties to study, understand and feedback the Chinese market, Dongfeng Honda has turned passive into active and taken the lead in promoting the rapid transformation of the joint venture company to a more efficient and closer to the market.
With the release of the Lingxi brand, Dongfeng Honda has completed the three new energy brands of strong electric intelligent hybrid, e:NS and Lingxi, and built a new energy route of EV, HEV and PHEV, forming a comprehensive layout of major market segments. It can be said that Dongfeng Honda in 2023 is ready to accelerate the transformation and stand at the moment of accumulation, and according to Dongfeng Honda's planning, it is expected that by 2025, the proportion of its electrified products will exceed 50%, and more than 10 pure electric models will be launched in 2030. Such rhythm and confidence come from Dongfeng Honda's self-innovation that dares to be the first in the world, and I believe that under the guidance of this series of new actions, Dongfeng Honda will become the leader of a new round of transformation of the joint venture brand.