“At this Paris Auto Show, China’s electric cars will conquer Europe.” The famous French magazine New Factory wrote on its official website.
After four years of waiting, Paris Auto Show, one of the five major international auto shows, has finally returned to the public view.
This auto show is destined to make the industry look forward to it. On the one hand, in the years affected by the epidemic, the opportunities for the world auto industry to communicate are getting less and less; On the other hand, in the “empty window” of the Paris International Automobile Exhibition for four years, the electrification transformation has caused the pattern of the automobile industry to split, and the “newcomers” who once held the Paris International Automobile Exhibition in 2018 appear to be in the center of the stage.
124 years later, new energy vehicles became the absolute protagonist of the Paris Auto Show. Serge Garchott, the director of the Paris Auto Show, defined this auto show with the “new era”. With new energy becoming the backbone, Chinese auto brands are facing opportunities. At the Paris Auto Show, many new cars of Chinese own brands appeared.
BYD is only a few steps away from a century old Peugeot, and the WEY, Euler and Citroen of the Great Wall are in the same frame… The most noteworthy thing is that there is a different sense of existence from the hot muscle brush that used to “rub” the auto show. This time, many self owned brand models have been officially launched on the European market.
France’s Le Figaro wrote frankly that Chinese cars are facing the best opportunity to “conquer Europe”.
BYD: Initial completion of product matrix
As the new energy brand with the largest sales volume in the world in the first half of the year, BYD has already started to enter the Nordic, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and other markets, and has signed an order for 100,000 vehicles with Sixt, the largest car rental company in Germany, and will continue to expand the British and French markets in the future.
Last month, the three models of Han, Tang and Atto 3 have been opened for pre-sale, with Atto 3 being 38000 euros and Han and Tang being 72000 euros.
Atto 3, also known as domestic dollar Plus, has been listed in Australia, Japan, Singapore and other overseas markets, and is regarded as a benchmarking Volkswagen ID in Europe The pre-sale price of Atto 3 is also very close to that of ID. 3, which is also the model most concerned by European media.
However, Atto 3 is equipped with a series of BYD technologies such as e-platform 3.0, blade batteries, DM-i super hybrid, and has also obtained a five-star safety rating in Euro NCAP. Later, it will be delivered in countries including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
The European version of BYD Han, which was unveiled together, adopts the appearance of the domestic cash Hanchuang World version. We can see that the front of the car is no longer “Han”, but the English logo of BYD, and the Chinese name of the rear of the car has also become “HAN”, as well as the logo of 3.9S and EV. At the same time, the domestic piano baking paint materials are also replaced with Alcantara materials in the car, so many foreign media also regard BYD Han as a car with a very sporty feeling.
The European version of Han is basically the 4WD exclusive version of Han EV, which uses the power of the front and rear 4WD versions with dual motors. The maximum power of the system is 380kW, the peak torque is 700Nm, and the 100km acceleration is 3.9 seconds. The 85.4kWh battery pack has a WLTC 521km endurance. Similarly, the European version of Tang also uses the same power system, but only carries an 86.4kWh battery pack instead of the 108.8kWh version of the domestic four-wheel drive version, so the WLTC is 400km.
A compact SUV, a medium and large SUV, and a medium and large sedan correspond to the C-class SUV, E-class SUV, and E-class sedan in the European market respectively. BYD has built a basic product matrix for individual and family users to choose from. We also saw seals at the auto show, and it is expected to land in Europe next year to continue to expand the European passenger car market.
Wei Brand: The price is close to BMW
At this Paris Auto Show, the Great Wall brought Coffee 01 and Coffee 02. The Coffee 01, which is equivalent to the domestic Mocha DHT-PHEV, first appeared at last year’s Munich Auto Show in Germany and attracted the attention of many German consumers at that time.
As the flagship model of Wei Brand, the Coffee 01 is also equipped with the Great Wall DHT hybrid system, but it is equipped with a 2.0T engine and dual motors at the front and rear. The maximum system power is 469bhp, and the 100 km acceleration is about 5 seconds. At the same time, the 40kWh battery can provide 146km pure electric range, which should be the highest in the European market at present.
Coffee 02 of the European version of Latte DHT-PHEV will enter the European C-class SUV market in the first half of next year, equivalent to the domestic compact SUV market.
More importantly, it officially announced its selling price on the spot. The basic PREMIUM version starts at 55900 euros, and the LUXURY version equipped with advanced automatic driving and other functions starts at 59900 euros. The German market opened its reservation in November, and will continue to expand the European market, including France, next year.
For reference, the starting price of BMW X3 plug-in version in the German market is 621.5 million euros.
Euler: The globalization strategy “goes one step further”
Obviously, for Europeans, Euler’s various “cats” and its positioning for female users are undoubtedly very different.
From the appearance, it is not difficult to see that Funky Cat on display at the Paris Auto Show is now the good cat of Euler, which basically continues its current appearance. It also made its first appearance at last year’s Munich Auto Show.
The overseas version adopts the power system of the domestic good cat GT. The maximum power of the motor is 171 horsepower, and the peak torque is 250Nm. In addition, two battery versions, 49 kWh and 63 kWh, are provided. Previously, Good Cat had also been listed in Thailand and other places, and was about to enter the right-handed market in Sweden and the United Kingdom. The European market regards it as a compact courtesy vehicle such as Volkswagen ID. 3, Seattle Cupra and Hyundai Kona.
Also on display is Euler Lightning Cat, named The Next Ora Cat, which will be officially named at the end of the year when it is jointly launched with Funky Cat, and will appear in the European market as the flagship model of the Euler brand.
Although the official did not disclose the specific selling price, the overseas media had previously exposed that Euler Good Cat sold for 25000 pounds, or about 220000 yuan, in the UK. Oula Good Cat has been listed in Thailand, with a selling price range of 989000 Baht – 1199000 Baht (about 1978-239800 yuan)
For Euler, the listing of Euler Good Cat on the European market also means that Euler’s globalization strategy “goes further”. Before the launch, Oula Good Cat had obtained the European five-star certification in the E-NCAP collision test in Europe in September.
New power team: Cyrus comes into the market, and Zero Run appears
At the Paris Auto Show, Celes unveiled its SERES 3 and SERES 5 for the first time, which are equivalent to the domestic Celes iX3 and SF5. At the same time, SERES 3 was officially launched, starting at 36990 euros.
SERES 3 is basically consistent with the domestic Celestis iX3 model, which uses a closed air intake grille, and the body adopts a sliding back style to increase the sense of movement. The maximum power of SERES 3 motor is 120kW, the battery capacity is 53.7kWh, and the WLTP pure electric range is 329km. SERES 5 is more familiar to us. We used the three in one electric drive system equipped with the SELEX SEP200 motor and Huawei DriveONE, but the European price was not announced.
Zero Race also represents Chinese brands to participate in the Paris Auto Show. Two models on display, C11 and T03, have been listed in China. C11 is a medium-sized pure electric SUV, while T03 is positioned as a minicar.
The Zero Sport T03 was exported to Israel last month and began to explore the global market. As a mini car, its compact size and pure electric identity are believed to meet the needs of the European market.
The price is higher than that in China: can the premium of independent brands be accepted by the European market?
“Low end, low quality” was once the impression of European media on Chinese automobile brands.
Like the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2005, when Chinese brands also appeared collectively, Geely, Lufeng and Brilliance began to conquer the European continent.
However, Lufeng vehicles, which tried to enter the market at a low price, ended up with zero points in the ENCAP crash test. In terms of Brilliance, ADAC German Automobile Club gave “one star” and “sporadic” results in the crash tests of Brilliance Zhunchi and Brilliance Junjie respectively.
After 17 years, the bad impression of Chinese auto brands in Europe is being broken.
Through observation, it is not difficult to find that compared with the domestic market, the European pre-sale price of several self owned brand models listed in the Paris Auto Show is almost twice as high as the domestic price, and some of the prices are even higher than the prices of fuel vehicles of luxury car brands such as BBA in the European market.
Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, once said that China’s automobile export has achieved a “qualitative” leap, and it is no longer a low-end model relying mainly on low-cost products, but a new energy model with market competitiveness. Since the second half of last year, the unit price of China’s automobile exports has continued to increase, which is directly related to the quality of China’s automobiles and the competitiveness of China’s products.
“In the final analysis, our cars are getting better and better. This development momentum is sustainable.” Xu Haidong said.
It is true that the price at the Paris Auto Show is higher than that at home, including tariff and transportation cost factors. However, compared with the previous practice of relying on low-end pricing to hit the market, the current development momentum at least proves the progress of Chinese brands in brand premium and technology premium to some extent.
However, the problem arises. Although in the domestic market, independent brands have achieved tremendous changes by changing the way of intelligent electric vehicles, becoming the world’s largest new energy vehicle market, can independent brands be accepted by the local market because they are concentrated in the European market? Can the selling price of self owned brands catch up with BBA really form a large-scale market in the local market?
For China’s own brands, the current energy crisis in Europe may be an opportunity.
Reuters reported that the energy crisis led to a 40% shutdown of European cars this year. According to a report recently released by Standard&Poor’s Global Mobility, an automotive industry research institute, from the fourth quarter of this year to next year, the estimated output of European automotive enterprises in each quarter was originally between 4 million and 4.5 million vehicles.
However, due to the sharp rise in energy prices and the government’s restrictions on energy use before winter, the agency predicted that the quarterly output of European automobile enterprises would be reduced to a minimum of 2.75 million vehicles.
The researchers of the institute said that the entire automotive industry supply chain, especially the pressing and welding of metal structures, needs to use a lot of energy. Researchers predict that from November this year to spring next year, European automobile manufacturers and suppliers will be subject to strict energy use restrictions, and the supply chain of the European automobile industry will be severely disrupted.
However, the Chinese brand electric vehicles have a good momentum to go to sea. The top three markets for new energy vehicle exports are Belgium, Britain and Thailand, including two European countries.
According to the data of the General Administration of Customs exported by the China Automobile Industry Association, in August 2022, China’s automobile export volume will reach 308000, up 65% year on year, and more than 300000 vehicles for the first time in history. From the overall situation in the first eight months of this year, China’s automobile export volume surpassed Germany for the first time, ranking the second in the world.
Coincidentally, at almost the same time, Weilai also promoted its entry into Europe. On October 8 this year, Weilai held a special conference in Berlin to launch subscription services for Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.
Car Cloud Summary
Of course, Paris Auto Show is still the home of French auto companies. Renault, including its Alpine, Dacia and DS brands, also brought their own new models and future oriented concept models, but it is far from us.
However, it is clear that we have seen a gust of Chinese wind from domestic auto enterprises at this auto show, which has become a noticeable force at this Paris auto show and attracted the attention of European media and consumers.
For Chinese people, this is a matter of inspiration, but for Chinese brands, it is a difficult choice. Going out on their own is not just about selling cars. In the final analysis, it is about enterprises forming systematic competitiveness in the local area.
In addition to gaining the recognition of local market consumers, independent brands also need to establish their own sales, distribution and service ecology overseas, which is not easy. At the same time, Chinese companies also need to establish production bases and battery supply bases overseas, and look for dealers, service providers and suppliers. Of course, at present, the layout of most Chinese auto brands in Europe is still in the stage of trial, which must be a difficult road to progress, but it is the only way to globalization.
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