SUV market cake is "not delicious"

“The difficult period for the company since July last year has passed. The S6 is in good hands and the market season is about to begin.” Xia Zhibing, general manager of BYD Auto Sales Co., Ltd., resigned from all posts in BYD and commented on the newly launched S6. The meaning of BYD in.

In fact, it is not only BYD S6, including Great Wall Haval, Brilliance Jinbei, GAC Chuanxi, and Beiqi. Almost all local auto brands (individual brands) have recently introduced or will launch SUVs. Obviously, under the circumstances that the car cannot break through and the micro-car position falls, the local brands will hold the next chip in the SUV in order to gain a share in the fastest-growing SUV market. Can they succeed?

Market growth means that there are reasons why local brands have swarmed. After the frustrations in the sedan and mini-vehicle markets, the SUV is becoming a new blue ocean for local brands. According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first half of this year, cumulative sales of the SUV market were 755,000, a year-on-year increase of 25.5%, higher than the 9.5% growth rate of the narrow passenger car market, and much higher than the industry's overall 3.4%. The growth rate is one of the best.

From the perspective of sales rankings in the first half of this year, the top five are Haval, Tiguan, Honda CRV, IX35 and Tiggo, and local brands occupy two seats. In the top ten, local brands occupy three seats, which is for latecomers. With great encouragement.

According to the development of the foreign automobile market, SUVs generally can account for 15% of the passenger car market, while the domestic market share has only reached 10%, so there is still much room for growth. The current competition in the SUV market segment is not yet very intense. Therefore, if domestic brands can make important breakthroughs in this new area, it will play a crucial role in expanding the market share. Because the SUV developed on the basis of the car platform can sell at a higher price than the car, it enjoys higher profits, which has also become one of the factors that local brands value.

As a personalized model, the SUV has been favored by more and more consumers because of its outstanding vision and passability, and its market capacity has been continuously expanding. Many people now have an aesthetic fatigue on the car, so the new purchase and redemption goal is aimed at the SUV, which brings a steady stream of momentum to the SUV market. In the long run, as long as the oil price is not too high, the SUV can enjoy at least two years of good conditions.

Every manufacturer targets SUVs

"The biggest mistake in the product in recent years is that there is no domestic SUV." Shanghai GM people have also said so. In fact, this is not only the feeling of the most successful automaker Shanghai GM, but also the voice of many local auto companies.

In the second half of this year, local brand SUVs flocked out. In the week ending in August, there were two SUVs, the Great Wall Haval H6 and the Brilliance Jinbei S50. These 21 SUVs, including BMW X1 and Audi Q1, were confirmed to be imported from China. Including the Great Wall Haval H6, SAIC Roewe W5, Emgrand EX7, Na Zhijie SUV, Brilliance China SUV, Brilliance Jinbei S30, Beiqi B40 and other ten SUVs will be listed, taking advantage of the arrival of “Golden 9 Silver 10”, will usher in a new round Car purchase tide.

Great Wall Motor deputy general manager Shang Yugui told this reporter that 10 years ago, the Great Wall Seif (later renamed Haver) detonated the economical SUV market. At that time, more than 30 brands poured into this market. The situation is now 10 years ago. It's a bit similar. Later, the Great Wall persisted, made good achievements and became the champion.

Although the SUV has already achieved its position as the boss, the Great Wall is far from satisfied. The newly launched H6 is positioned as "Urban SUV" to make up for the market gap in the Haval SUV. In this way, the monthly sales of the Great Wall Haval Series SUV will hit 25,000 vehicles in the future!

BYD is in desperate need to pin its hopes on the newly listed S6. According to the data released by the manufacturers, its sales in July will reach 5,000 units, and it will hit 15,000 units per month in the future, which will be the main reason for stabilizing the company's decline. pillar.

In fact, not only Great Wall, BYD, Knights of the Sea, Lifan XC60 has become the company's core model in a short time. Geely could not sit still and will soon launch a large SUV EX8 and become a new competitor.

The successful models are also "most of the current local brand SUV is still positioned in the low-end, it is difficult to succeed in the case of consumer upgrading." Well-known auto analyst Jia Xinguang told this reporter.

The reality is that although the SUV market is growing, not every car can be divided into a cup. In the local brand SUV, only the Great Wall Haval, Chery Tiggo, and Zotye 5008 are considered successful, and the failed models are Far more than successful models, some models have even less than a hundred monthly sales.

Statistics show that the market share of the SUV market in the narrow passenger car market has risen steadily, but the share of local brands in the SUV market has shown a declining trend year after year. From the highest of 37.7% in 2009 to 33.2% in the first half of this year, the market share of local SUVs has dropped more significantly. The reason for this is the lack of brand power and the lack of product power. There is not a small percentage of SUV users who buy or buy a second car, and this part of the consumer has already had a "feel" for the car. Therefore, the requirement for more high-end and higher-quality SUVs is even more pronounced.

Local brand SUVs also have the same problems as other models. Shanghai Automotive's Roewe and MG are already strong in local brands, but Shanghai Automotive General Manager Chen Zhixin also admitted that local brands have encountered difficulties. He attributed these problems to three aspects: brand strength, product technology R&D strength, and insufficient globalization.

As local brands used more low-price competition strategies, they could easily be squeezed into a narrow price band by the “foreign” brand. In addition, there was a certain distance between product strength and the “foreign” brand. Therefore, the premium capacity of local brands was insufficient. . Chen Zhixin stated that to solve this problem, it is necessary to start by improving the technical strength of products. However, in this regard, the accumulation of time for local brands is not enough, and there are insufficient international talents.

Even more frightening is that joint venture brands have unprecedentedly attached importance to the SUV market. In addition to the relatively strong CR-V, Tiguan, ix35, RAV4, and Highlander, Dongfeng Nissan launched Loulan, Shanghai GM on September 8. There are also several SUVs coming soon. Are local brands still resistant?

SUV unsafe fuel consumption!

Many people like the SUV and feel that the SUV looks more solid and has a high safety factor, but the SUV is the most common highway accident. According to a published study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the probability of a fatal rollover accident in a mid-size SUV is nine times that of a car, and in the event of such an accident, the possibility of death of an SUV occupant is Twice as much as other vehicles. This is also easy to understand because the center of gravity of the SUV is higher than that of a car. The higher the center of gravity, the more likely it is to lose control. Perhaps, only when everyone really realizes that the safety of SUVs is poor, the hot market for SUVs will come to an end.

High oil prices may be a major obstacle to the SUV. Compared with the A-class vehicles on the same platform, the SUV consumes about 3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, and is 2 liters more than the B-class cars of the same price. Although some people feel that they can afford it, they will To become a limiting standard is another matter. Recently, news released at the 2011 China Automotive Industry Development International Forum indicated that the “Method and Indicators for the Evaluation of Passenger Vehicle Fuel Consumption (Phase III)” will be implemented during the year, compared to the second phase of the standards implemented in 2008. The biggest difference is that, first, imitating foreign countries, the concept of "average company fuel efficiency standard" is cited; second, it becomes more stringent, saying that the fuel consumption limit is intended to be reduced by 20%, and the national average passenger car will be striven for 2015. Fuel consumption dropped to about 7 liters per 100 kilometers. 7 liters of fuel consumption standards almost no one SUV can be achieved, this is for the SUV, is not the culprit?