Author | Wang Yunpeng
Today, the sedan and SUV market is already oversaturated, and the MPV market is also becoming increasingly competitive. Looking at the entire domestic automobile market, is there still a new blue ocean to explore? The answer is yes, and this new blue ocean is the pickup truck market.
It’s worth mentioning that this is indeed the case. Especially in recent years, with the acceleration of lifting of bans, the domestic pickup truck market has entered different stages of development. In this changing cycle, Chinese pickup truck companies, products, and sales models are all undergoing rapid changes.
By the year 2022, not only has the scale of pickup trucks in the market grown to a certain level, but the pure electric pickup truck represented by Great Wall Motors’ subsidiary, Liangdao New Energy’s first product, Liangdao RD6, has also established its differentiated advantage with ” purely electric + outdoor multifunctional scene experience,” marking the beginning of the new energy era for pickup trucks.
In other words, with the change of power form, the promotion of policies, the continuous implementation of product planning by automakers, and the intensification of high-end replacement demand, the pickup truck market may usher in a new wave.
Policy relaxations will bring the spring of the pickup truck market
In the 1930s, pickups first appeared in the United States. The simple and durable, versatile pickup is one of the most beloved vehicle types by Americans. Open any monthly American auto sales ranking chart, and there will be pickups in the top three.
However, in China, due to the dual constraints of policy and consumption habits, pickup trucks have been struggling in the market and most products have taken the “low-price, low-end” route. Therefore, in the automobile market, pickup trucks are far inferior to sedan, SUV, MPV, and other vehicle types in terms of popularity, discussion heat, and sales.
However, as the market changes, the strategies of domestic automakers have been adjusted, and the supply of pickup truck products has also begun to show a new image of high-end, household, and multifunctional features. Specifically, it fully benchmarks passenger cars in terms of appearance, interior, safety, and power, and gradually shifts from tool attributes to consumer attributes.
Regarding the above changes in pickup truck models, I believe it should be traced back to six years ago. In 2016, with the lifting of the pickup truck city ban pilot projects in Yunnan, Liaoning, Hebei, and Henan provinces, the curtain was raised on the lifting of the ban on pickup trucks in China.
As we enter 2022, the literal change in the wording from “fine management of pickup trucks and research on further relaxation of restrictions on pickup trucks entering the city” in the first half of the year to “promoting the cancellation of restrictions on pickup trucks entering the city” proposed at the end of October reflects the increasing support from the national level for lifting the ban on pickup trucks.
Driven by favorable policies, more and more cities have joined the camp of lifting the ban on pickup trucks. According to data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, as of mid-October, 286 cities of the 337 cities above the prefecture level in the country have lifted the ban on pickup trucks, accounting for 85.12\% of the cities above the prefecture level.
It is worth mentioning that the frequent introduction of favorable policies is also driving the continuous growth of the domestic pickup market. Statistical data shows that from January to November this year, the cumulative sales of pickups reached 470,000 units, and it is estimated that the demand for the pickup market could exceed one million units by 2030, plus the export demand. The total sales of pickups are optimistically estimated to reach 2 million units.
It can be said that with the gradual relaxation of pickup entry restrictions in various provinces and cities in China, as well as the continuous heating up of segmented markets, the Chinese pickup market will develop from a “niche market” to a well-known “mass market”.
Electrification and Intelligentization, Opening up a New Era of Pickup
In 2009, the Chinese automobile market surpassed the 10 million-unit mark. With the upgrading of consumption and traffic demand for more spacious and off-road capable vehicles, SUVs emerged.
Today’s pickup market may have similar opportunities. Then, where are the remaining incremental markets? And how to tap into them?
Before answering this question, we need to understand where the less than 3\% of the inventory market is concentrated. Public data shows that the markets that traditional pickup truck companies in China are deeply cultivating mainly include three categories: service vehicles for specific industries, operating vehicles in fixed areas, and commercial individual freight transportation.The story has come to this point, and it is obvious that the future growth of the pickup truck industry lies in the C-end market.
However, a new problem arises. Can the existing pickup truck models, which are designed primarily for commercial and freight purposes, meet the demands of users for comfortable rides, cabin atmosphere, novel and intelligent experiences, and personalized brand services, in the face of the new demands of domestic automobile consumption upgrades, such as micro-vacations and camping? The answer needs no further explanation.
In this situation, the only way out for the pickup truck industry is to learn from the passenger car market and fully embrace new energy and intelligent technologies.
“If pickup trucks want to enter the passenger car market, new energy and intelligence are inevitable. Many companies have already begun to develop new energy pickup trucks. With the lifting of the ban in a large scale, pickup trucks with new energy and intelligent labels will also usher in a boom,” said Du Pengyu, research director of Corio Consultancy (Beijing).
At the same time, according to the National Information Center’s calculations, under current technological and market conditions, users’ acceptance of new energy when purchasing pickup trucks has already reached 10%. In the future, with the improvement of infrastructure, breakthroughs in technology, and penetration of new energy pickup truck culture, users’ acceptance of new energy products may become even higher.
Furthermore, compared with traditional fuel-based pickup trucks, the unique performance of new energy pickup trucks, such as reverse-power supply, intelligence, and explosive power, has given consumers new perceptions. This will also become one of the important reasons why users are more willing to accept new energy pickup trucks.
Subverting the Traditional Pickup Truck Driving Experience
“A new perception, a new crowd, and a new way of life are profoundly changing the pattern and appearance of the automobile industry. The new era that brings together new energy, intelligence, and multiple outdoor needs has been formed. Like SUVs and MPVs, pickup trucks want to open up blue ocean properties, they should also break through traditional limitations and meet the needs of the new generation of users through diverse functions.”
As Ling Shiquan, the CEO of Radar New Energy Vehicles, said, the blue ocean market is indeed full of infinite imagination. This can be seen from the market performance of the Ford F-150 Lightning, which is in short supply, and the pre-orders of Tesla’s pure electric pickup truck Cybertruck, which exceeded 1.6 million.
Turning to the domestic situation, it is the same. With the launch of models like the Radar RD6, pure electric pickup trucks have undergone a gorgeous transformation and completed a rebirth. Compared to traditional fuel-powered pickup truck models, they are no longer products in the same dimension, whether from the perspective of appearance or vehicle functionality diversity.
Here, let’s take emissions as an example. Although engine technology and emission control technology are constantly developing, high energy consumption is still an objective fact. Therefore, high fuel consumption and high pollution have always been the general impression of the market on pickup truck models.
However, with the electrification of pickup trucks, this point of view will be completely overturned. The fundamental characteristic of electric pickup trucks compared to traditional fuel-powered pickup trucks is that they comply with the trend of environmental protection, can help pickup trucks remove the hat of high fuel consumption, high emissions, and high pollution, and will not be squeezed by policies under the increasing environmental pressure.
In addition, the reason why pickup trucks can obtain the favor of some consumers is due to their multi-functional properties. They can not only meet the needs of various aspects of work and life but also have strong adaptability for modifications to cater to users’ bold ideas.
It is worth mentioning that after electrification, the above-mentioned properties of pickup truck models will be strengthened again. For example, in terms of enriching the multifunctional use of pickup truck models, the Radar RD6 is equipped with external power discharge technology with a power of up to 6 kW, which can not only meet the needs of operating multiple electrical appliances at the same time but also has lock, stationary and driving discharge functions, which greatly facilitates camping and recharging devices on the move.
In terms of spatial performance, electric pickups can save space for traditional fuel pickups’ engines and power systems, enabling more functional designs. Take the RD6 radar as an example, it has a large-capacity rear compartment of 1200L, a hidden front compartment of 70L, and a maximum load capacity of 450 kg, ensuring secure, tidy, and orderly storage of all outdoor travel equipment.
In terms of driving capability, compared to traditional fuel models, the electric drive system can endow pickups with more robust performance. This is also reflected in the RD6 radar. As an RD6 based on the native pure electric pickup platform M.A.P. of the radar, it is equipped with a new generation of high-performance permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 200 kW and peak torque of 384 N·m, with a hundred-kilometer acceleration time of 6.9 seconds.
In covering all-round usage scenarios such as home, off-road, travel, trailer towing, camping, fishing, outdoor adventures, etc., how can electric pickups overcome range anxiety?
The answer given by the RD6 radar is to be equipped with an 11 kW high-power AC home charging pile, which can be fully charged from 20% in 7 hours. In fast charging mode, charging for 10 minutes can increase the range by 100 km, and only takes 30 minutes to reach from 30% to 80%. Coupled with a battery pack with a maximum capacity of 100 kWh, it can achieve a range of 632 km under the CLTC condition.
Before, due to factors such as emission regulations, fuel prices, and truck properties, domestic pickups have been in a non-benign development environment. However, with the opening of the reform era, electrification and intelligence will change the situation that pickup models have been limited to “transportation-based truck functions and restricted expansion functions based on living characteristics.” At the same time, new demand growth points in the pickup industry will be explored.
Final Words:
In the turning point of the era, no corner of the automotive market can avoid the trend of electrification and intelligence.
The surging wave of intelligent and electric power is wiping away the “hybrid golden age” created by Chinese brands one second, and making people amazed by the new product matrix and value standards of the new forces the next second.
At this time, the pickup market, a “outsider” that has been lingering outside the mainstream automotive market for years, is slowly restructuring and interpreting itself with the progress of electrification and intelligence. After all, whoever can complete the technical layout and product landing in the blank subdivision market ahead of this era will have the opportunity to rewrite the rules.
From this point of view, RDA’s new energy vehicle not only has the advantage of leading the pure electric pickup, but also has significant enlightening significance for the entire market with the launch of RD6.
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.