According to the official wechat news of Xiaopeng automobile on March 11, its smart sedan Xiaopeng P5 officially opened reservations in four European countries, and the first direct experience store of Xiaopeng automobile brand in the Netherlands opened simultaneously. In recent years, not only Xiaopeng automobile, but also the “going to sea plan” of many Chinese automobile enterprises are also in hot progress, including new car making forces such as Weilai, Weima and Nezha, as well as traditional car enterprises such as SAIC passenger car, Geely Automobile, Great Wall Motor Company Limited(601633) and so on. In addition to working hard on new models, expanding sales network and expanding business market, these car enterprises will also start from building overseas factories, applying for foreign patents, cooperating with other enterprises, joining relevant associations or organizations and acquiring, so as to accelerate their layout in overseas markets. Experts said that for these auto enterprises, they need to reach a higher level, and exporting to overseas markets is a great opportunity.
multi pronged approach to accelerate overseas market layout
With more and more Chinese auto enterprises “going global”, China’s auto export has also ushered in a significant increase. According to the statistical analysis of China Automobile Industry Association, China’s automobile export exceeded 2 million for the first time in 2021, breaking through the situation of hovering around 1 million for many years. Such achievements are inseparable from the layout of these “going global” Chinese auto enterprises in overseas markets. In addition to working hard on new models, expanding sales network and expanding business market, these car enterprises will also start from building overseas factories, applying for foreign patents, cooperating with other enterprises, joining relevant associations and acquiring, so as to accelerate their layout in overseas markets.
Among them, products are the key for automobile enterprises to go to sea. Therefore, when arranging overseas markets, each automobile enterprise must go to the new model, improve the overseas product matrix, expand its overseas market sales network, and constantly expand relevant business markets. For example, Xiaopeng automobile has landed three models in the European market, and two brand direct experience stores integrating sales, service and interaction have opened in Sweden and the Netherlands. Under the new retail sea mode of “direct sales + authorization”, it is introducing the latest mass-produced models into the overseas market. The same is true for traditional car enterprises. Taking Great Wall Motor Company Limited(601633) as an example, at present, its third-generation Haval H6, Haval jolion, Euler good cat, Great Wall cannon and other global products have been listed in many overseas markets. While Great Wall Motor Company Limited(601633) has achieved good performance in the overseas markets of Russia, Australia and South Africa, it is also actively exploring new overseas markets, successively landing in Thailand, Egypt, Nepal Brunei, Pakistan, Laos and other new markets.
The second is to cooperate with other enterprises, which is also one of the ways adopted by many automobile enterprises when accelerating their overseas market layout. The reporter learned that in November 2020, Weima automobile signed an intentional agreement with Uber, the largest online car Hailing operator in Europe, and exported Weima Ex5 to more than 10 European countries, including the UK, becoming an optional model for drivers under Uber; In February this year, Xiaopeng automobile reached a strategic cooperation agreement with the European head dealer group Emil Frey NV group of the Netherlands and bilia group of Sweden, so as to promote the rapid introduction of Xiaopeng automobile into the local market as an advantageous model; Geely Holding Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Renault group in August 2021 to establish a long-term partnership. The two sides will cooperate in Korea based on Lingke energy-saving platform to jointly develop models suitable for the Korean market.
In addition, automobile enterprises can accelerate the layout of overseas markets by building overseas factories, applying for foreign patents, joining relevant associations or organizations, acquisition, etc. In terms of construction of overseas factories, for example, Great Wall Motor Company Limited(601633) has three overseas SKD assembly plants in Malaysia, Ecuador and Iran, and has two overseas full process vehicle factories, namely, Tula factory in Russia and Rayong factory in Thailand; In terms of applying for foreign patents, for example, Chery has applied for more than 500 foreign patents in more than 10 overseas countries and regions such as the United States, Europe, Japan, Russia, Brazil and Chile; In terms of joining relevant associations or organizations, for example, Geely Automobile became the 10th member of the IATF international automobile working group of the International Automobile Standards Cooperation Organization in April 2021, while Xiaopeng automobile joined the three major European automobile associations of avere, rai Vereniging and bil Sweden on March 14 this year; In terms of acquisition, for example, after Geely successfully acquired Volvo in 2010, it also acquired proton and lutes successively, and officially entered Southeast Asia, the United States, Europe and other markets.
car companies gain more than selling cars in overseas markets
Selling cars to overseas markets is indeed a way for car enterprises to seek sales growth, but the returns obtained by car enterprises after successfully arranging overseas markets are not limited to the level of selling vehicles.
Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the automobile industry innovation research center of Northern University of technology, told reporters that the export of automobile enterprises to overseas markets mainly plays the following roles: first, China’s automobile industry is in the stage of industrial upgrading. When the scale of automobile enterprises reaches a certain level, they must explore the international market and seek new development space; Second, many auto companies are listed companies, some of which are still listed in the United States. If the sales volume in China is added to the sales volume in the international market, the financial report data will be more beautiful, so that the market value of the company will increase and attract more investors; Third, the export of automobile enterprises to overseas markets is actually a means for Chinese local automobile enterprises to go global and become international automobile enterprises. The identity of international automobile enterprises is conducive to market publicity and can drive the growth of their sales volume; Fourth, car making is now the outlet. In terms of new energy vehicles, Xiaopeng and others have passed the first wave of market value growth. Now they have reached the bottleneck and the market value is beginning to decline. They urgently need a new theme to attract consumers, and export is a good bright spot.
In addition, the export of auto enterprises to overseas markets is also conducive to the independent auto enterprises to improve their international image. According to 36 krypton report, Yang Xueliang, public relations director of Geely Automobile, believes that the development of the European market of automobile enterprises can not only enable independent brands to seek more development space, but also help improve the international image of independent automobile enterprises and add points to brand construction through the successful layout in the markets of developed countries.
Zhang Xiang also said: “For these auto enterprises, they need to reach a higher level, but because the marketing strategy has been used and other reasons, it is possible to go downhill only by staying in the Chinese market. Therefore, they must ‘change’ to become stronger. Moreover, Chinese Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) auto enterprises are technologically leading in some fields, have policy support for export to the European market, and can be exported to overseas markets So it’s a great opportunity. We should know that once we successfully export and expand the overseas market, it will be a qualitative leap for car enterprises, that is, the carp leaps to the dragon’s gate. “
several auto companies have deployed “going to sea plan “
● Xiaopeng’s overseas model lineup has been expanded. On March 11, Xiaopeng automobile disclosed in its official wechat that Xiaopeng P5 officially started booking in four European markets: Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. At the same time, the first direct experience store of Xiaopeng automobile brand in the Netherlands was grandly opened.
It is understood that Xiaopeng P5 is the third model of Xiaopeng automobile to open reservations in the European market. Previously, Xiaopeng G3 had been delivered in the first batch in December 2020, and Xiaopeng P7 was exported to the European market in August 2021.
● velai’s flagship SUV es8 was listed in Norway in September 2021. Velai also opened the first overseas velai center in the Norwegian capital.
● Nezha automobile launched its first right-hand drive model at the 2021 Expo and listed it in ASEAN countries; Since the first batch of models were exported to France in May 2020, Aichi has successfully landed in 11 countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Italy.
● compared with the new forces of car making, the “going to sea plan” of Chinese traditional car enterprises was implemented earlier. Chery, which has been in the overseas market for 20 years, has accumulated 1.95 million overseas users; SAIC passenger cars, which won the champion of China’s single brand overseas sales in 2021 with a total annual export volume of 290000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 68%, has successfully entered 66 countries and regions, and the product penetration rate has been increasing.
● in 2021, Geely’s overall export sales exceeded 110000 vehicles, covering 28 countries. At present, there are 227 overseas sales and after-sales outlets.
● Byd Company Limited(002594) , which officially entered the Philippine passenger car market in 2013, now accounts for more than 80% of the Philippine new energy passenger car market after nearly a decade of development. In 2021, Byd Company Limited(002594) officially launched the “European strategy”, chose Norway as the first stop, and completed the delivery of 1500 don EVs in Norway.
