Upgrading Of A-Class Vehicle Market: A Confrontation Between Independent And Joint Venture

It's not easy to stand out in the price range of 100000-150000. If the quality is not good, there is no chance.

The A-class car market, which has long been occupied by joint venture products such as Xuanyi, Langyi and Carola, has ushered in new competitors.

On the evening of September 16, SAIC Roewe launched the first compact sedan Roewe I6 max of max series and Roewe ei6 max of plug-in hybrid after "changing the standard". The new car has launched 7 models with two kinds of power. Among them, the price range of fuel version Rongwei I6 Max is RMB 1068-122800, and the price range of Roewe ei6 max with plug-in hybrid is RMB 133800-153800 after subsidy.

As the first car product under Roewe's new lion brand, I6 Max carries the hope of Rongwei brand. From the point of view of joint venture between IMAX and sedan, the joint venture between IMAX and saloon has been launched.

As we all know, cars have always been the pain point of Chinese automobile brands, especially in the A-class car market, which gathers the most mature main sales models of major automobile enterprises, the survival space of independent brands is seriously squeezed.

In the past two years, independent brands including Geely, Changan, SAIC, BYD and other enterprises have also tried to launch Geely Dihao, Changan Yidong, Roewe i5, mingjue MG6 and other products, trying to compete with joint venture brands in the A-class car market. However, in the context of transformation and upgrading of China's automobile consumer market and the exploration of joint venture brand prices, few success stories have been achieved.

According to the China Association of automobile manufacturers, Volkswagen and Japanese brands occupied eight seats in the top ten A-class car sales list in August this year. Among the independent brands, only Geely Dihao has entered the top ten sales list of A-class vehicles with the score of 21000, ranking ninth.

This also means that it is not easy for Roewe I6 Max or other products of independent brands to find a place in the highly competitive A-class racing track.

Fight for A-class car market

"A-class cars are the ballast stone of the sales volume of automobile enterprises, and a base plate for automobile enterprises to increase their sales volume, which should account for more than one third of the total sales volume of the enterprises. In other words, the sales volume of A-class cars determines the overall sales volume of the enterprise. " On September 19, Zhong Shi, an automobile analyst, said in an interview with the reporter of the 21st century economic report.

In Zhong Shi's opinion, with the gradual saturation of compact SUV market, A-class car is an important basis for sales volume of automobile enterprises, and it is also a market segment that enterprises need to pay more attention to.

In fact, from the north and South Volkswagen, Japan's top three, and Korea's American series, car companies attach great importance to the investment and research and development of A-class cars, and constantly introduce new models, which makes the competition in the A-class car market increasingly fierce.

Therefore, it is not easy for independent automobile enterprises to gain a firm foothold in the A-class car market with the largest market share, the largest number of mass production models, the largest input of manufacturers and the most fierce competition.

Take Roewe, which has been positioning as a medium and high-end brand since its establishment in 2006, as early as 2017 and 2019, respectively launched Roewe I6 and I6 plus, trying to seize the market share of A-class vehicles monopolized by joint venture brands through price advantage, but the effect seems not ideal. From January to August this year, the cumulative sales volume of Roewe I6 was only 14000.

In 2018, Roewe i5, which was launched by Roewe for A-class car market, has successfully entered the top 15 sales list of A-class cars. From January to August this year, the cumulative sales volume of Roewe i5 reached 79800. However, it is undeniable that Roewe i5 itself has a low positioning, and the terminal transaction price of the main sales model of 1.5L naturally aspirated + CVT transmission is also constantly falling.

"Roewe I6 Max is the second model of Max high-end product series after Roewe rx5 max. we hope that through the product strength of Max high-end product series, we can show our strength of constantly pursuing higher quality." On the evening of September 16, Yu Jingmin, deputy general manager of the passenger car company of Shanghai Automotive Group Co., Ltd., said in an interview with reporters, "now that the market as a whole has entered a very obvious elimination period, each brand needs to have enough strength to do rapid product upgrading and structure iteration."

As the key to the development of Roewe brand, Roewe I6 max, which is the benchmark of Xuanyi, Langyi and Carola, not only needs to obtain support in sales volume, but also enters the A-class vehicle segment covered by mainstream joint ventures by leapfrog configuration.

"If we don't have the opportunity to make the IMAX and IMAX stand out in this price range, it's very easy for the IMAX and IMAX to stand out in this price range if they don't have the opportunity to design and sell the IMAX and IMAX in this price range." Shanghai Automobile Group Co., Ltd. passenger car company product planning director Liu Jingan said.

The new powertrain, a + class space, double-layer sound insulation glass, Alipay applet, car home interconnection function, all time safety full-time security system and l2.5 + intelligent driving assistance system have become the standard configuration of I6 Max and ei6 max.

In the context of automobile consumption upgrading, in addition to launching new products, winning by cost performance, and competing with joint venture brands, independent brands are also trying to push the brand upward through differentiation.

"In independent brands, a + class cars sell for more than 100000 yuan, that is, mingjue's MG6 and Roewe I6 max. Although the sales volume is not as big as Roewe rx5, more efforts must be made. " Yu Jingmin told reporters, "Rongwei or mingjue should be better than service, innovation, and all aspects of intelligent network connection, so as to truly focus on customer needs."

New track, new opportunity

"From the perspective of quality and styling, the technical level of mainstream independent brands has been comprehensively improved, and the competitiveness in the A-class car market has also gradually improved. Many A-class cars of independent brands are no less attractive than those of French and Korean joint venture brands. And in terms of price and cost performance, independent brands have more advantages than joint venture brands. "

Mr. Zhong believes that, on the one hand, independent brands are more avant-garde in terms of intelligent Internet connection and vehicle modeling, with more humanistic insight, and better meeting the needs of consumers than joint venture brands. On the other hand, with the rise of new generation of consumer groups, the division line between independent and joint-venture vehicles has been broken in the A-class car market. In terms of brand, the watershed between the two is gradually blurred, Consumer attitudes towards Chinese brands are also changing significantly.

These changes in the automotive consumer market also provide new opportunities for the development of independent brands.

"The biggest differences between today's independent brands and joint-venture brands are as follows: first, the products are made in China, and they have a better understanding of consumers' life and use habits; second, from the perspective of development cycle, understanding consumer demand, the speed of product launch by independent brands is a natural advantage; third, China's Internet technology, including 5g, has increasingly its own characteristics To bring more new opportunities for Chinese brands. " Liu Jingan said.

In addition to being closer to consumer demand, cost performance is still the "killer mace" for the positive competition between independent brands and joint venture brands.

It is understood that in addition to the leapfrog configuration of the product, Rongwei I6 Max provides users with a total value of 43000 yuan of after-sales rights and interests, including vehicle lifetime warranty, free basic maintenance, and free flow. In the process of using a car after purchase, the user almost eliminates other use costs except fuel fee.

According to the data of China Automobile Industry Association, Geely Dihao, Changan Yidong plus, Roewe i5, mingjue MG6, arize GX and other independent A-level products performed strongly in August this year. Driven by the above models, the cumulative sales of A-class cars of independent brands in August totaled 115200, a year-on-year increase of 10.66%, far better than the decline of 2.08% in the overall market of class a vehicles.

However, compared with the sales volume of 244400 domestic compact SUVs in August 2020, the performance of independent brands in the A-class car market is not satisfactory.

"In the past decade, independent SUVs have achieved rapid development, and their own brands have won in the SUV market below medium-sized. At present, the proportion of compact SUV models in the products of independent brands is relatively high. Whether the future SUV market will grow sluggishly and whether the A-class vehicle market can become a new growth pole of independent brands still needs to continue to wait and see. " Zhong Shi finally said.