Author: Feng Jingang
Introduction
Compared to the pure drive of the new forces, the topic discussion of the new power is much heavier. After all, in the era of transition, it is either survival or death. The new power is an important battlefield for the struggle of life and death.
New Power vs New Forces
The title may be confusing at first glance. What’s the difference between the new power and the new forces?
The origin of the new power is quite interesting. Several years ago, the new forces such as NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, and WM Motor were not as popular as they are now. Therefore, when traditional car companies launched new energy brands, they deliberately avoided competing with these new forces. As a result, a new category called “New Power” was created, including brands such as Geometry, Euler, and Voyah. However, the new forces are no longer the “Wu Xia Amon” of yesterday. Therefore, some new power brands are beginning to move closer to the new forces.
Since 2016, I have been tracking the sales of new energy vehicles and writing reports on sales after the new forces. At that time, the new power had not yet grown to its current scale. Therefore, it was still mixed with the new forces. However, now it is different. After brands like Euler, Aiways, Ji Ke, and Voyah have gained momentum, it is no longer appropriate to mix them together. Although they are all new energy brands, their mechanisms and problems are different.
Therefore, after a long period of tug-of-war, I have taken the new power as a new category for analysis, hoping to bring some reference and thinking to everyone. From the new forces rankings released a few days ago to the new power rankings released this time in November, although there are still many details to be improved, it is already the most comprehensive in the industry.
In November, a total of 58,411 new cars were insured by 15 new power brands, which is almost the same as the 58,699 insured by 11 new forces. Based on this data, it can be inferred that the new energy sub-brand plan for traditional car companies (the birth of the new power) that started around 2018 has caught up with the pace of the new forces.
However, in terms of development quality, the new forces are still leading the new power. Looking at the top three brands in November’s ranking, the new forces are XPeng, Li Auto, and NIO, targeting the mid-to-high-end market, while the top three of the new power are Great Wall Euler, GAC Aion, and SAIC Volkswagen, targeting the mid-to-low-end market. Looking at the top three models in November’s ranking, the new forces are Li ONE, XPeng P7, and NIO ES8, while the new power top three are Aion S, Euler Good Cat, and Euler Black Cat.For Chinese automotive brands, what is the biggest opportunity with new energy? Some say it’s a chance for overtaking on a bend, which is not untrue, but the situation is still unclear. What is relatively certain is that new energy provides a great opportunity for Chinese automotive brands to head upwards. NIO, Li Auto, GAC Motor, and even XPeng have successively made breakthroughs in the market, which is definitely not by chance.
Therefore, whether it is Geometry from Geely, or GAC Aion, or later, the Voyah and Zeekryin, or Huawei AITO and Changan Auchan Vita, in fact, their initial brand positioning is high-end, which reflects a unanimous idea to seize the opportunity of the times and rush upwards. It is just that the results are different.
Geometry’s high-end attempt can be considered a failure; GAC Aion, although faltering, still hopes to make active attempts with leading technology, such as the recently released AION LX Pro with a maximum range of 1008 kilometers, although the result is unlikely to change significantly; Jinmawei and Sai Li Si, although with good product strength and the powerful brand effect of Huawei, still move relatively slowly, which is closely related to their incomplete separation from traditional mechanisms.
Of course, there are also LanTu and Zeekryin, whose performance is improving. From the data disclosed so far, in the December luxury car list, both Zeekryin 001 and LanTu FREE will launch a powerful sprint towards the top. The reason behind the breakthrough of “JiLang” has many factors, including top-level decision-making, tactical execution, and effort, to summarize in one sentence: they are becoming more and more like new forces.
If the new forces are fighting for their existence, then the new strengths are fighting for transformation. If the transformation is successful, the future will be outlined, but if it fails, the future will be worrying. Compared to the new forces’ light movements, the new strengths have more difficulties in moving their families, and if the rear is unstable, the frontline troops will not be stable, let alone winning the battle. This is the dilemma faced with Jinmawei and Sai Li Si.
For Great Wall Euler, GAC Aion, Geometry, although they are not doing well in the high-end market, they have established their foothold in the middle and lower-end markets. This successful market experience is an important support for the group’s next major transformation, and compared to the latecomers such as BAIC New Energy, Chery New Energy, Changan New Energy, and SAIC New Energy, they are indeed leading by a lot.
As for multinational brands, compared to these traditional independent brands’ odd perception of the new forces, they are slow and hit far wider off the mark. The market is the most powerful echo. In the face of high-end new forces such as Tesla, NIO, and Li Auto, the presence of traditional high-end brands such as BBA is extremely low, even if the terminal price system has completely gone out of control, the market feedback is still inferior compared to the new forces.
More importantly, BBA’s competitiveness in the pure electric market has been disliked by users, which was extremely rare before. When user trust collapses, will the brand crisis be far away? It is urgent for BBA and other luxury brands to rethink new car manufacturing.
Although the Volkswagen ID has momentum in the mid-range market, it knows the coldness and warmth, and with the imminent departure of Feng Sihan, it means that Volkswagen’s first wave of electric vehicle offensive ends in failure. Will Feng’s successor break through the dilemma faced by the ID series in China? It’s hard to say. What can be certain is that if ID fails, Volkswagen’s faith will completely disappear.
While Japan and South Korea seem unaffected and have a high-profile attitude behind them, they are actually burdened and unable to take care of themselves. At least in the Chinese market, history will prove that in the post-new energy era, the legends accumulated by Japanese and Korean car companies in the oil era will become history. Without branding advantages, without product differentiation advantages, and losing the base of young users, they will find it difficult to compete positively with Chinese brands.
Compared with the pure pursuit of new forces, the discussion of new strengths is much heavier. After all, in an era of transition, it’s either to live or to die, and the new strength is an important battlefield for life and death.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.