"At present, the overall situation of China's auto exports has opened up. In the future, both fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles will perform well overseas." On August 15, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Federation, told the Times Weekly reporter.
Since 2021, my country's auto export industry has entered a stage of rapid development. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in the first seven months of this year, the total export value of vehicles (including chassis) reached 175.74 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 54.4%. According to the data of complete vehicles, the export volume of automobiles reached 1.597 million, a year-on-year increase of 43.9%. According to data from the China Automobile Association, in 2021, my country's auto export sales will reach 2.015 million units, a year-on-year increase of 101%, breaking the 2 million mark for the first time.
Regarding the dazzling performance of China's auto exports, Cui Dongshu pointed out to the Times Weekly reporter that China's auto industry chain has guaranteed production capacity against the backdrop of repeated global epidemics and auto supply chain crises. Another industry insider said that in recent years, the global auto market has grown sluggishly, and giants such as GM and Ford have shrunk their overseas footprints due to reduced overseas profits and increased investment in smart-electric transformation. Market layout efforts, and gradually fulfill expectations around 2021.
According to public data, the cumulative export sales of Changan, Geely and Chery in the first seven months all increased by more than 35% year-on-year, of which Chery exported nearly 200,000 vehicles, accounting for 33% of its total sales. A few days ago, a senior engineer of Chery Automobile told the Times Weekly reporter that "the company's export volume has reached the best record in history during the year".
Fuel cars go down, new energy cars go up?
So, which countries and regions have the over one million Chinese-made cars sold to?
According to data from the CITIC Securities Research Report, in 2021, my country will export to six continents, and Asia is the largest market for my country's exports, accounting for 33.5% of the total export volume. However, the market share of domestic vehicles in Europe, North America and other markets is generally less than 6%, the market share in South America and Oceania is slightly higher than 10%, and the market share in the African market has increased from 13.4% in 2018 to 2021. 21.5%.
Regarding the above phenomenon, some people in the industry said that the automobile industry in Europe, America, Japan and South Korea has a history of decades or even more than a hundred years, and has strong advantages in technology and brand recognition. Compared with the automobile industry in ASEAN, the Middle East, Africa and other places, my country's automobiles have a lot of advantages in terms of cost performance and product price, so they can have more room for development.
Public information shows that Geely Boyue, Haval H6, Chery Yihu and other models with advantages in quality, performance and cost performance have been exported to Malaysia, Thailand, Russia, Africa and other markets. A few days ago, Chery Automobile's new global model Omenda was officially launched in China. It is understood that the model will be launched in more than 30 countries and regions around the world such as South Africa and Chile, and then further exported to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Newly expand overseas markets.
However, since the beginning of this year, behind the sinking of cost-effective independent fuel vehicles to ASEAN, Africa and other markets, domestic new energy vehicles are accelerating the development of markets such as Europe, America, Japan and South Korea.
Public information shows that NIO ES8, Xiaopeng G3 and P7 have delivered nearly 1,000 vehicles to Norwegian users, and SAIC's models have been exported to more than 10 European countries including Norway, the Netherlands and the UK on a large scale. In addition, Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory is also currently undertaking the task of supplying markets such as Europe, Japan and South Korea. In 2021 and the first half of this year, nearly half of the factory's production capacity will be mainly exported.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first half of 2022, my country exported a total of 202,000 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 1.3 times, accounting for 16.6% of total vehicle exports. Among them, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory exported a total of 97,182 vehicles in the first half of this year, accounting for 48% of China’s total exports of new energy vehicles, more than double its export volume (41,770 vehicles) in the same period last year. On the morning of August 15th, according to reports, Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted that Tesla’s factory in Shanghai, China, produced more than one million vehicles.
An expert from a senior association said that China is currently the highland for the development of global automotive intelligence and electrification, and the degree of automotive intelligence is much higher than that of most national automotive products. Superimposed on the scale and cost advantages of China's new energy vehicle technology and industrial chain, the competitiveness of automotive products It is very strong, and car companies have unlimited potential to go overseas. In this context, it is not uncommon for domestic car exports to be driven by new energy vehicles. Taking Tesla as an example, it once stated on the performance conference call that the production capacity of Model 3 vehicles made in China has been reduced by about 65% compared with the production line in the United States.
Production capacity and shipping capacity are the keys to going overseas
It is worth mentioning that going overseas can not only drive sales growth and brand building, but also bring more considerable profits. CITIC Securities estimates that overseas vehicle prices are 30% to 50% higher than in China, and the increase in cost is lower than the increase in price. Chinese car companies have a good return on profits when they go overseas.
On August 11, Wuling's first new energy global model Air EV made its world debut at the Indonesia International Auto Show. As the first Chinese new energy vehicle in the Indonesian market, the car has a price range of 238 million to 295 million rupiah (about 110,000 to 135,000 yuan), while the domestic price of Wuling Hongguang MINIEV ranges from 32,800 to 69,800 yuan between.
Recently, BYD, the domestic leader in new energy vehicles, announced its entry into the passenger car market in Thailand. It has also successively deployed in Japan, Norway, Germany, Sweden and other markets. According to previous reports from Know Chedi, the BYD Han EV, which starts at 214,800 yuan in China, was officially launched in the Brazilian market in April this year, with a price of 539,990 Brazilian reals (about 724,600 yuan). In other words, the price is equivalent to an increase of nearly 3 times. Previously, its BYD Tang listed in the Brazilian market was priced at about 650,000 yuan.
However, car exports also face many challenges. Cui Dongshu said that the biggest challenge at present is how to ensure the stability of the supply chain and production capacity, while still shipping the products out.
According to media reports, the current shortage of global car shipping capacity has also led to its unit freight rate rising again. The one-year charter fee for a 6,500CEU steam-rolling ship has reached 62,500 US dollars per day, almost three times the average in the past 10 years. . "The global market still needs to build another 200 LNG-powered car carriers to meet both emission requirements and growing market demand," said a lead analyst at a market analyst firm.
It is understood that companies such as COSCO Shipping, China Merchants Bank Leasing and other companies are spending huge sums of money to order more car carriers, and BYD has also been reported to be in talks with shipping companies to discuss ordering ships.
But far water or difficult to solve near fire. According to previous estimates by CITIC Securities, although the cost of materials, labor, and depreciation has not changed in the production in Chinese factories, the export freight of the whole vehicle varies according to the region, and the cost of a single vehicle is about 10,000 to 20,000 yuan.
Based on this, some people in the industry believe that although the profit of the whole vehicle going overseas is stable, in order to gain higher profits, car companies need to set up factories in overseas markets or even carry out localized development for the local market in the future. The only way for the tyrants of the Chinese market to turn into world giants.
