More than a month ago, the Financial Times reported that a large number of electric cars were parked at a car terminal in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.
Some Chinese electric cars have stayed in European ports for as long as 18 months, according to industry insiders familiar with the matter.
The port is regarded as a “parking lot”, which is obviously not a good thing.
Foreign media generally boil it down to two points: first, car companies have booked shipping delivery time but did not arrange follow-up transportation, resulting in logistics congestion due to the lack of transport trucks.
second, the demand for electric cars in the European market is weakening, and dealers are incompetent.
It is obvious that the mountain of Chinese cars in the port reveals everywhere that it is not easy to go to sea.
But the key points cannot be simply generalized.
Today, China has become the largest automobile exporter in the world.
In early 2024, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China exported 4.
91 million vehicles in 2023, surpassing Japan for the first time to become the world’s largest automobile exporter.
The data prove that the “volume” of China’s automobile exports has achieved an unprecedented breakthrough.
However, it should not be ignored that if we want to become a real global auto power, we need to further solve the problem of “quality”.
What kind of quality do you need to go to sea? In short, when all car companies decide to go to sea, they should further think about how to build a complete system, including transport capacity, manufacturing, sales terminals, after-sales service, and so on.
When it comes to new energy vehicles, we usually divide them into two situations: one is made in China and transported to foreign markets by sea and land transportation, and the other is to build factories in overseas countries.
through local production and local sales, to achieve the “sea” of the entire industrial chain.
The former, with the help of China’s complete new energy vehicle supply chain, can reduce costs and increase efficiency on the production side.
although it particularly tests the logistics ability, it is fortunate that the investment is relatively small and the effect is faster, while the latter has a larger investment and slower effect.
but it is often welcomed by the local government, thus avoiding a lot of unnecessary trouble.
Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, but according to the current situation of going to sea, Chinese car companies that choose the former account for a large proportion.
The current situation of the market is not a big problem in the short term, and it can even bring more beautiful data.
But in the long run, the latter, which emphasizes investment and assets, seems to be more in line with the so-called “long-term doctrine”.
How to choose? “do not let Tesla be exclusive in the front”.
From the most simple needs of European consumers, buying a car is for travel, while buying a new energy car is because it is easier to use, more comfortable and more economical.
To sum up, China’s new energy vehicles are favored because they are more productive.
Now, against the backdrop of the EU countervailing investigation, European consumers have a lot of concerns about Chinese cars.
After all, if you buy a car from a foreign country, you will certainly worry about the follow-up service guarantee.
if there is no perfect service system, dealer system, etc.
, the risk is a little big.
Therefore, Tesla has really done a good job in reassuring consumers.
According to Dataforce, a market research firm, Tesla Model Y became the best-selling model in Europe in 2023, with annual sales reaching an astonishing 254822 units, an increase of 85.
2% over the same period last year.
It is also the first electric car of Europe’s best-selling model of the year.
In addition, the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling pure electric vehicle in Germany last year, with about 45800 registered vehicles, according to data released by the German Transport Agency (KBA).
Li Bin of Weilai once said: “Tesla wants to become a public, and Weilai will stick to its own position, that is, BBA.
” Now, Tesla has really hit Wolf Castle with actual data and practical actions.
So the question is: why can an outsider, a new energy company, stir up the European car market? Maybe the answer is simple-brand trust.
Tesla through the local factory + direct operation model, so that European consumers can see and touch, even though it has experienced all kinds of twists and turns, it has really dispelled the doubts of many consumers and established a high enough brand trust.
(the same is true of Tesla in the Chinese market.
) Brand trust cannot be achieved overnight, let alone in the unfamiliar European market.
As an example, in fact, Chinese car companies also have products from Chinese car companies on the European best-seller list Top50 in 2023-MG ZS.
According to the data, sales of the MG ZS in the European market reached 90415 in 2023, an increase of 97% over the same period last year.
Oh, why? Mingjue is an “old brand” in the minds of European consumers.
It was founded in Oxford in 1924 and returned to SAIC in 2007.
It is precisely because of this “historical bonus” that Mingjue is very popular in the European market, and the export data become particularly good-looking.
Generally speaking, it is difficult to establish brand trust, inadequate logistics capacity, incomplete system capacity, and geopolitical factors.
It is really difficult for Chinese car companies to go out to the European market.
And it is not difficult to foresee that when the US policy of imposing tariffs on Chinese electric cars falls further, the situation in the European market will become more complicated under the knock-on effect.
What are we going to do? After years of development, China’s new energy vehicles have formed their own mature system.
Especially in the definition of products and the construction of parts and components supply chain, China’s new energy vehicles are “one ride away from dust”.
The automobile industry has not seen a great change in a century, new energy vehicles attack “Wolfsburg”, but can not let Tesla exclusive beauty in the front.
You can see that some Chinese car companies have achieved good results in the European market.
They began to lay out early and built a sound sales and after-sales network.
These companies do not have the problem of excess inventory.
” When asked about the situation that “European ports are clogged with Chinese electric cars”, J ö rg MOSOLF, chairman and CEO of Mosov Group, further stated: “as long as the products are appropriate, priced reasonably, and have a sound sales network, market demand will naturally form.
At the same time, the establishment of an efficient after-sales service network is also very important.
” J ö rg MOSOLF’s words are concise and to the point, directly pointing out the “quality” that China’s new energy vehicles need to focus on improving when they go to sea.
In fact, everyone knows the truth, but the choices of car companies are very different.
At this point, zero-running cars and long carsYou can see the performance of the city car.
On May 14th, Stellantis Group and Zero jointly announced that Zero International has passed all necessary approvals and has been formed.
Zero International, which is 51% owned by Stellantis Group and 49% owned by Zero Motor, is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Xin Tianshu, of the China management team of Stellantis Group, will serve as Zero International CEO.
In September this year, Zero International will first start selling T03 and C10 in Europe, and plans to expand its sales outlets in Europe to 200 by the end of this year.
At the same time, Zero International plans to enter the markets of India and Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and South America from the fourth quarter of this year.
The choice of zero-running car is very simple give up part of the control with the help of the European market system of Stellantis Group to achieve another sense of going out to sea.
This is similar to that of China’s automobile industry when it just started.
On the other hand, Great Wall Motor chose the road that looks particularly difficult, such as “ecological going to sea”.
During the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Mu Feng, president of Great Wall Motor, said: “Today’s international key words have become the new four modernizations: production capacity localization, operation localization, brand cross-culture, supply chain security.
” In fact, its essence is to go to sea ecologically, which is also our long-term international strategy.
” In short, Great Wall Motor is to “build the factory where the market is, and expand the service system wherever it is.
” Specific to the European market, at the end of 2023, Great Wall Motor entered the European market in an all-round way, entering eight countries: Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland.
And immediately started the local production and marketing planning, began to select the location of the R & D center, and signed agreements with local dealer partners.
Heavy assets and heavy investment are the advantages of Great Wall Motor’s “ecological going out to sea”, but they are also disadvantages.
After all, if you encounter such “unreasonable” in the Indian market, you may lose both husband and soldier.
But if Great Wall really can get through this road, it also means that Chinese cars will go out to sea and have a new choice: “the bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish.
” It is obvious that under the influence of various factors, it is becoming more and more difficult for Chinese new energy vehicles to go out to the European market.
But the more this market is unknown, the more opportunities it can take advantage of.
It is difficult to go to sea, the threshold is high, it is bound to block part of the car companies out of the door, then the first to enter the door of the car companies, is the benefit winner.
To say the least, it is not entirely without advantages for China’s new energy vehicles to go to sea in Europe.
Thanks to China’s internal auto market, the major car companies have already developed a “King Kong iron bone”.
In the product performance of specific models, although it cannot be said to be a 100% “dimension reduction blow”, most of it is “the advantage lies in me”.
So what exactly is the focus of high-quality sailing? I think: to build brand trust, improve the dealer system and post-market service system is what China’s new energy vehicles must do when they go to sea.
And one of the things that will not change is that we can certainly gnaw off the hard bone of going out to sea.
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