小鹏 G3 is the king of the A-class SUV market, but its opponent is also emerging strongly.
In June, according to official data, the sales of NIO U Pro were 1,605 vehicles, while the sales of XPeng G3 were 1,835 vehicles, narrowing the sales gap to 230 vehicles. In comparison, in May, the number of insured vehicles for NIO U Pro was 946, and XPeng G3 was 1,928, with a gap of 982 vehicles at that time.
Obviously, NIO U Pro is challenging XPeng G3’s position as the king of the market. Of course, this objective factor cannot be ignored. NIO U Pro is a new car that was just launched in April, while XPeng G3 is facing a redesign.
However, no matter what, it has been determined that NIO U Pro has threatened XPeng G3’s position. This moment is not unexpected.
Although XPeng G3 is the king of the A-class SUV, it has entered a sales bottleneck due to strategic orientation issues. Its monthly sales are hovering around 2,000 vehicles, and it is no longer on par with the rejuvenated WEY EX5.
XPeng G3’s product orientation problem is “heavy C, light B”, and its sales composition almost comes from the C-end. According to the insurance data from January to May, XPeng G3 accumulated 8,796 insured vehicles, of which 8,396 were C-end, accounting for as high as 95.5%.
Of course, in XPeng Motors’ view, the marketing strategy of “heavy C, light B” is not a problem.
Looking at NIO U Pro again, I think it is not an exaggeration to call it the most successful new energy vehicle ever.
After counting the insurance numbers from January to May this year, everyone can see that NIO U Pro (the old model is called NIO U) was launched in mid-April, and May was the first full delivery month.
Yes, starting from May, NIO U Pro’s insurance number has made a leap forward, with a month-on-month growth of 917.2%. Although the growth rate fell back to 69.7% in June, the sales volume has been very close to the king of this segment market, XPeng G3.
Therefore, it is expected that NIO U Pro will surpass XPeng G3 in July and even become the new king of the A-class SUV.
The reason why NIO U Pro is particularly successful in redesigning is not only because of its different market performance before and after redesign, but also because the redesigned model has really gained a foothold in the market, and there are surprises.
From January to April, it mainly refers to NIO U. Starting from May, a large number of NIO U Pro were delivered. Among the 946 insured vehicles, the total number of C-end market was 671, accounting for 71%, which is basically a relatively normal level.The surprise of NETA U Pro is that the best-selling model is the 2021 Pro 610 Exploring Edition aimed at the consumer market with a price of 1.598 million yuan, followed by the 2021 Pro 500 Moon Landing Edition, which is the second-highest configuration with a price of 1.398 million yuan. Based on this sales scale and sales composition, NETA U Pro has basically captured the 150,000 yuan A-level SUV market.
NETA is indeed a magical enterprise. Although the performance of NETA U is generally mediocre, NETA Automotive did not give up on this model. Instead, they added “Pro”, changed the power, and “reduced the price” to keep it going, but did not expect it to become so popular. Of course, this is also related to NETA Automotive’s marketing transformation at the beginning of this year, which has taken NETA’s marketing to a higher level.
With the popularity of NETA U Pro, the sales volume of NETA Automotive is approaching the first batch of new forces, headed by “Li Xiang’s NIO”. Among them, NETA’s car sales exceeded that of XPeng for the first time in May, ranking third. It seems that a new pattern of “Li Xiang, XPeng, and NETA” is being established.
Of course, for the new forces that are sprinting, this is all a phased stage. For example, Zeropoint is also making great progress, while WmAuto, although temporarily left behind, still has strong strength. With the arrival of the next car, the E5, there is still a possibility of moving up.
The biggest variable factor in the second half of the year should be the P5. Its arrival may allow XPeng to surpass NIO and sit in the first place. It is getting more and more interesting!
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.