China News Service, Shanghai, February 27 (Pu Fan) Just after the Lunar New Year, the news of the "suspension" of Gaohe Automobile is like a "starting gun", and a new round of car company knockout competition has officially begun. "Volume" has become a high-frequency word in the open letter of the heads of various car companies to start construction in the New Year.
Gan Jiayue, CEO of Geely Automobile Group, said bluntly: "2024 will be another 'most volatile' year, with ...... volume, volume products, volume services, and volume trafficHe Xiaopeng, CEO of Xpeng Motors, said: "This year is the first year for Chinese auto brands to enter the 'sea of blood' competition, that is, the first year of the knockout competition. ”
Under the cruel competition situation, many domestic car companies have set their sights on the world and have used overseas to break the situation.
In 2023, SAIC's overseas segment made a great contribution to the group's profitability. Zhao Aimin, deputy general manager of SAIC International, recently revealed that SAIC's overseas sales will reach 1.21 million units in 2023, ranking first among Chinese car companies for eight consecutive years.
As Chinese car companies continue to go global, overseas markets have also begun to roll up. Zhao Aimin said frankly, "For example, in the Mexican market, there are basically Chinese cars 'fighting' there." ”
On February 26, the 2024 Geneva Motor Show opened in Switzerland. At this year's auto show, only five mainstream auto brands participated in the exhibition, including two from China, namely SAIC and BYD. This also shows how much importance these two car companies attach to the European market.
Europe is the birthplace of the world's automobiles and SAIC's largest overseas regional market. Last year, SAIC sold a total of 330,000 vehicles in the European market, and SAIC sold 100,000 units of the MG4 EV, its first global car. BYD has also launched several models in Europe. It is worth mentioning that both automakers announced plans to build production bases in Europe last year.
We are obviously in a relatively advanced state of new energy technology. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, believes that due to the relatively tight resources in Europe, the demand for cars is relatively large, and there are some policy support, so it brings good opportunities for China's new energy vehicle exports.
In March 2023, the Council of the European Union approved a regulation to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and minivans that contribute to carbon emissions from 2035. Affected by policies and environmental protection concepts, the European new energy vehicle market has ushered in rapid growth.
The same goes for Europe and Southeast Asia, which has introduced policies to support the development of the new energy vehicle industry in recent years, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries. With the implementation of a series of policies, Chinese car companies have gradually changed their development model, shifting from exporting products and services to localized production of key components, and promoting the new energy vehicle industry chain to "go overseas". BYD, Nezha, SAIC and other automakers all announced the construction of factories in Thailand last year.
Zhang Xiang, director of the Vodaf Digital Vehicle International Cooperation Research Center, told China News Service that Thailand is the largest automobile producer in Southeast Asia, with the advantages of a complete industrial chain, large market potential and wide range of radiation.
Participating in international competition overseas has also put forward new requirements for Chinese automakers. "Each country in Europe has different characteristics, and there are a lot of alleys in Italy and Spain, which is why cars sell well. Zhao Aimin said that MG4 has been adjusted and modified more than a dozen times in the process of being launched into the European market to adapt to European use scenarios.
Recently, Zhiji Automobile announced its official entry into the overseas market. Liu Tao, co-CEO of Zhiji Auto, said that many overseas users are first-generation electric vehicle users who have converted from fuel vehicle users, so overseas users pay special attention to driving control, safety, vehicle stability and other factors when choosing new energy vehicles, while Chinese users relatively prefer large screens and intelligent functions. (ENDS).