In 2021, the global auto market will come to an end in a series of uncertain factors such as repeated epidemic, chip shortage and rising raw material prices. China's auto industry, which has gradually recovered from the epidemic, has shown great vitality. After three consecutive years of continuous decline, China's total auto sales have hit the bottom and rebounded.
It is worth mentioning that, as one of the main growth "engines" of the market, the sales volume of luxury brands reached a new high. According to the data of the passenger Federation, in 2021, the sales of luxury brand passenger cars were 3.472 million, a year-on-year increase of 20.7%, 14.2 percentage points higher than the growth rate of passenger cars, accounting for 16.2% of the total sales of passenger cars, an increase of 3.2 percentage points over 2020, a record high.
However, compared with the 25% - 30% market share of luxury brands in developed countries, China's luxury car market still has a lot of room to rise, and the potential opportunities and space also give luxury brands unlimited development possibilities.
The research report points out that economic development, the growth of residents' disposable income and consumption upgrading are the main driving forces for the growth of luxury car demand. In the future, the demand for luxury cars is expected to maintain steady growth, and the penetration rate is expected to increase to 20.1% in 2030. Luxury car manufacturers will continue to benefit.
Of course, the vast rising space of the luxury car market also attracts many new entrants. Under the wave of new energy, a new force, including Weilai and Tesla, has emerged and is impacting the traditional luxury car market. With the influx of new forces in car manufacturing and the increase of global uncertainties, China's luxury car market continues to differentiate in the competition.
The competition has never been so fierce, and the pattern is changing.
Under the huge impact of chip shortage, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi, three first-line luxury brands (BBA), continue to maintain the sales scale of 700000 vehicles, far ahead.
In the camp of second tier luxury brands, the competition is colorful. Tesla surpasses Cadillac and Lexus with its lethal price strategy and sales of more than 320000 vehicles, leading the second-line luxury brands; The performance of the local brand red flag is commendable. The sales volume exceeded 300000 for the first time, second only to Tesla in the second tier luxury camp.
Championship
Since 2019, BMW (including BMW, mini and Rolls Royce) has become the champion of luxury car sales in China for three consecutive years in 2021; At the same time, BMW also surpassed Mercedes Benz in the global auto market and became the sales champion of global luxury brands for the first time.
On January 12, BMW Group announced that it had delivered 2.522 million vehicles (including BMW, mini and Rolls Royce) globally in 2021, with a year-on-year increase of 8.4%. It surpassed Mercedes Benz to become the sales champion of global luxury brands, which is the first time it has surpassed Mercedes Benz in five years. According to the data, the global sales volume of Mercedes Benz in 2021 was 2.093 million, a year-on-year decrease of 5.0%.
In the Chinese auto market, BMW's annual sales volume exceeded 800000 for the first time in 2021, leading Mercedes Benz and Audi with a total sales volume of 846200, becoming the only brand in BBA that maintained positive growth. In terms of Mercedes Benz, in 2021, there was the first negative growth in the Chinese market in nearly a decade, and the sales volume in China was 758900, down 2% year-on-year. For the decline in sales in China, Mercedes Benz said that it was mainly due to the impact of global semiconductor supply shortage.
In terms of Audi, the annual sales volume in 2021 was 701300, a year-on-year decrease of 3.6%. As a result, the pattern between BBAS has gone hand in hand, and the gap between BMW and Audi has widened to more than 140000 vehicles.
In fact, as BBA's largest new car sales market in the world, the importance of China's auto market is self-evident.
In 2021, the lack of core will have a huge impact on the global automobile industry. Although the three BBA enterprises give priority to ensuring the supply of China's automobile market, the lack of core will greatly affect the sales in the second half of the year.
"The shortage of chips has a great impact on market sales, especially on class C vehicles. Many brands try to maintain sales by reducing distribution or increasing small displacement, but many auto enterprises still rely on the performance of the Chinese market, and the source of imported vehicles is more inclined to the Chinese market." A few days ago, a dealer told the 21st Century Business Herald that the reason for BMW's growth lies in its advantages in supply chain management, but for Mercedes Benz, the lack of core has the greatest impact.
In terms of insurance coverage, in 2021, Mercedes Benz E-class cars fell by 7.1% compared with 2020; Mercedes Benz C-class cars fell 14.5% year-on-year, and Mercedes Benz GLC fell 17.7% year-on-year; Audi A6L fell 13.4% year-on-year.
Although the sales performance of BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi are different, from the perspective of the industry, the three pillars of BBA in the luxury car market are difficult to shake in a short time.
"Whether in the adjustment stage or growth stage of the auto market, China's auto market has shown an obvious consumption upgrading trend in recent years, as well as changes in the demand level of the consumer market, which will change the pattern of the auto market to a great extent." In the view of Chen Shihua, Deputy Secretary General of China Automobile Association, the upgrading trend of China's automobile consumption, which has entered the development channel, will maintain considerable stability in the future.
However, the biggest variable of the first tier luxury car market pattern also comes from whether Audi can return to the first place with the help of the new joint venture SAIC Audi in the next two years. For Audi, which wants to achieve the goal of one million, the landing of SAIC Audi is an important link.
In addition, in 2022, the chip shortage will continue for a certain period of time, and will continue to test the supply chain toughness of the three luxury brands of BBA.
change of pattern
Different from the stable market pattern of first-line luxury brands, the second-line luxury car market will be "shuffled" in 2021.
Tesla and red flag compete for the first and second place of second tier luxury brands with the attitude of absolute "dark horse"; Volvo, Lincoln and Porsche set new records; While Weilai and ideal impact 100000 clubs, they also impact the traditional second-line luxury brands.
With the continuous emergence of new forces, the pattern of the second-line luxury market has changed dramatically.
According to the data of the passenger Federation, in December 2021, Tesla China delivered more than 70000 vehicles and entered the camp of 70000 monthly sales of pure electric vehicles; In the whole year of 2021, Tesla's cumulative sales reached 320000 vehicles, which not only further competed with BBA and other traditional fuel vehicle enterprises, but also replaced Cadillac, laying a leading position in the second tier luxury market.
It is noteworthy that Tesla's annual sales volume ranks first among the second-line luxury. The deeper significance lies in the substitution of electric vehicles for fuel vehicles.
At the same time, the sales volume of independent luxury brand Hongqi exceeded 300000 in 2021, with a year-on-year increase of more than 50%, ranking second in the second tier luxury camp. Although Hongqi brand has only achieved 75% of the annual target, Hongqi has not only boosted the overall scale of the second-line high-end market, but also achieved an impressive sales growth of 63 times in four years.
After the red flag, Cadillac lost the opportunity of "five consecutive championships" and ranked third in the second-line luxury camp with the sales of 233117 vehicles.
As of press time, Lexus has not released official sales data. According to the insurance number, Lexus sold 219167 vehicles in 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 6.9% and the market share also decreased to 5.6%. In the view of the industry, Lexus's identity as an "imported car" made it very weak in the fight against "lack of core" and the epidemic, and its performance in the second half was obviously depressed.
In 2021, Volvo sold 171393 new cars, ranking fifth in the second tier luxury camp. It is noteworthy that the sales volume of recharge models in 2021 increased by 96% year-on-year, accounting for 27% of the global sales volume, reaching a record high. The market performance of recharge is an epitome of Volvo's electrification. In 2021, all Volvo models will be electrified. According to the plan, Volvo will become a pure electric luxury brand by 2030.
It is noteworthy that the sales volume of Jaguar Land Rover in China will resume growth in 2021. On January 21, Jaguar Land Rover released its sales data in China in 2021 on its official platform, with a cumulative sales volume of 103888 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 9%.
In addition to the head, Porsche paid 95671 new cars in China, and China continues to be the world's largest single market; Lincoln, who accelerated the process of localization, set a new record with 91621 vehicles.
In addition, the new force of head car making has impacted 100000 clubs. Ideal and Weilai sales increased by more than 100%. The data shows that the cumulative delivery volume of Weilai automobile is 91429, and the cumulative delivery volume of ideal automobile is 90491.
It is noteworthy that in the past two years, the high-end intelligent electric vehicle brands launched by Chinese traditional car enterprises have begun to increase. In December, 3796 krypton cars were delivered, an increase of 88.7% month on month. Since the delivery at the end of October, it has increased steadily, with a total of 6007 cars so far. In addition, lantu automobile also showed significant month on month growth. In December, lantu automobile delivered 3330 lantu free, with a month on month growth of 192%. Since the start of delivery in August, it has increased month on month for five consecutive months, with a cumulative delivery of 6791. Lantu officials said that the average transaction price of lantu free exceeded 338000.
race track
"The whole new energy vehicle market has entered a stable period of high growth. In terms of medium and high-end models, there is huge room for cost reduction in the future, which will bring a certain growth potential. The high-end market represented by Tesla and new forces is gradually strengthening, and the high-end market has huge development space." Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the Federation, said.
In the coming year of 2022, the demand for high-end purchase and replacement of consumption upgrading is still strong, which is one of the main market driving forces to boost the luxury car market. However, as more and more domestic brands begin to enter the luxury market and the electrification trend led by new power brands, such as ideal, Weilai, lantu, etc., are impacting the competition pattern of the traditional luxury brand market.
"All luxury car manufacturers have made great efforts to explore and cultivate the Chinese market. Whether in terms of vehicle design, intelligence or brand richness, the development of China's luxury electric market has the opportunity to lead the global market." Recently, Duan Jianjun, chief operating officer of sales and marketing of Beijing Mercedes Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd., said in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald.
"From last year's sales data, in the annual sales of more than 750000 vehicles, the proportion of new energy sales is not high. With the introduction of more new energy models such as new domestic EQE, our proportion of new energy sales will continue to expand in 2022. We believe that new energy models will achieve better sales performance." In Duan Jianjun's opinion, "in the field of electric vehicles, Mercedes Benz has strengths, of course, medium and short. First of all, we are not the first brand to enter the field of electric vehicles. We are still a recruit of electric vehicles in the Chinese market."
However, with the advancement of electrification and intelligence, the popularity of electric vehicles and the opening of new retail models, luxury brands are also reaching a new battlefield.
In terms of BMW, the sales volume of new energy models exceeded 48000 in 2021, with a year-on-year increase of 69.6%, but there is still a large gap compared with Tesla, velai and ideal.
In 2022, BMW brand will bring five pure electric models to Chinese users, including innovative BMW IX, innovative BMW I4 and pure electric BMW 3 series produced in Shenyang. In addition, the first pure electric luxury flagship car BMW i7 will be unveiled within next year. By the end of 2023, BMW Group will provide about 13 pure electric products in the Chinese market.
In terms of Mercedes Benz, following the launch of EQA SUV, EQB SUV and EQS in 2021, Mercedes Benz will launch 21 new models in China in 2022, of which 8 are new energy models, accounting for more than one third, including the new EQE, the first pure electric car produced in China based on EVA platform, the first Mercedes AMG electric model - Mercedes AMG EQS 53 4matic + and class C car Plug in hybrid products of S-class vehicles and other models.
For Audi, in addition to SAIC Audi Q5 e-tron, FAW Volkswagen Audi will launch five electric vehicles including electric flagship e-tron GT and luxury electric SUV Q4 e-tron in 2022.
In addition to the first-line luxury brands, second-line luxury brands such as Cadillac, Lexus, Volvo, Lincoln and Jaguar Land Rover have successively released their electrification strategies.
"At present, China's luxury electric market is more like the spring and Autumn period, not to mention the Warring States period, not to mention the unification of the world in the Qin Dynasty. With more electric vehicles of more than 200000 yuan entering the market and the decline of subsidies and other factors, the luxury electric market will also play a big play." Duan Jianjun finally pointed out.
