article: Original by Understanding Car Emperor Song Aiju
[Original by Understanding Car Emperor Industry] Editor's note: 2022 has come to an end. Looking back on this year, the automobile industry is intertwined with black swans and gray rhinos, and oil prices and car prices have their own ups and downs. Standing at the end of 2022, we are about to witness the withdrawal of 14-year-old new energy subsidies, and we will also witness the end of preferential policies such as the reduction of purchase tax as 2022 ends. In order to review the ups and downs of the year 2022, Undercar Dite launched the annual series planning "2022·Car Market Chronicle". We hope to reshape the records of the eve through the automotive pattern and provide an anchor point for people to review history in the future. This is the fourth article in the series: "2022·Car Market Chronicle | BYD fired the first shot of "fuel cutoff", has the life of fuel vehicles entered a countdown? 》
With factors such as climate warming and global carbon reduction, various countries have adopted legislation to restrict the development of the automobile industry, including proposing a clear time point for banning the sale of fuel vehicles. For example, Norway plans to phase out fuel vehicles in 2025. Countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, India, and Israel are expected to completely ban pure internal combustion engine models in 2030. The "oil ban" law has become the sword of Damocles over the heads of car companies; but not all car companies are worried about the ban on fuel vehicles because they have already entered the new energy era ahead of schedule. Today we will take a look at which car companies and brands have taken the initiative to stop the production and sale of fuel vehicles this year. And with many brands announcing that they will stop selling fuel vehicles, how long will it take for consumers to no longer be able to buy fuel vehicles?
The life span of fuel vehicles has entered a countdown?
BYD: Stop production first and then make an official announcement, I am serious about "cutting off oil"
April 3, 2022 will be a time recorded in the history of the automobile industry, because it has been given a certain historical significance by BYD. On this day, BYD announced that it will officially cease production of fuel vehicles and will focus on the development of new energy vehicles (pure electric and plug-in hybrid) business in the future. This means that BYD has become the first traditional car company in the world to officially announce the suspension of production of fuel vehicles.
Many people say that BYD has core technologies in the new energy industry such as batteries, motors, and electronic controls. Isn't it natural to decide to stop producing fuel vehicles? Not really. For a traditional car company, fuel vehicles are often the mainstay of the business and the source of profits. This is also the main reason why traditional car companies such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz find it difficult to give up fuel vehicles. Before BYD decided to stop the production of fuel vehicles, its fuel vehicle business was basically stable at around 200,000 units per year. Therefore, stopping the production of fuel vehicles means cutting off a leg and betting all the company's development on new energy. Such risks are not insignificant.
BYD's sales performance of fuel vehicles in the past three years
It is precisely because of this that BYD's announcement to discontinue the production of fuel vehicles is like a bombshell in the automotive industry, attracting countless people's attention. Traditional car companies are watching BYD's next move, and new energy vehicle companies are trying to find out its reality and determination. However, people soon discovered that BYD's ban on fuel vehicles was serious and resolute, because BYD, which issued a statement in April, stopped the production of fuel vehicles in March.
As the first traditional car company to stop producing fuel vehicles, countless users and media have given BYD free publicity, causing it to frequently appear in hot searches. In addition, many potential new energy consumers have begun to focus on BYD. Its new energy orders and sales have been rising since April: motor vehicle insurance data shows that its sales in May exceeded 100,000 vehicles, and its insured volume has approached 180,000 vehicles by November.
After stopping the production of fuel vehicles, BYD's new energy orders came like snowflakes. Looking at it now, BYD's move to stop the production of fuel vehicles has won itself a promising future. Motor vehicle insurance data shows that from January to November this year, BYD's fuel vehicle sales were less than 20,000, a 90% decrease year-on-year; but at the same time, the sales of new energy vehicles reached 1.37 million units, a year-on-year increase of 218%. The market's high acceptance and consumption enthusiasm for new energy vehicles has also led BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu to make a bold statement: It plans to sell 4 million new energy vehicles in 2023.Although we don’t know whether this sales target can be achieved, BYD has indeed enjoyed a bumper harvest on the new energy track.
BYD’s statement on discontinuing fuel vehicles
Great Wall Long March/ Haval : Stop producing fuel vehicles? Follow one!
The consumption enthusiasm of new energy users and the considerable order volume have given many traditional car companies that are hesitant to wait and see a shot in the arm. Many brands and car companies have also begun to follow BYD's lead. More than a month after BYD announced the suspension of the production of fuel vehicles, Great Wall Motors' commercial vehicle brand Long March Motors issued the "New Energy Declaration" on May 27, announcing that it would completely stop the production of fuel vehicles from June 5 and shift from traditional energy sources to hydrogen fuel cells, pure electric and other clean energy transportation technology routes.
Long March Motors, the commercial vehicle brand of Great Wall Motors, released the "New Energy Declaration"
After the Long March, Great Wall seemed to feel that its determination to "cut off oil" was not enough, and took out its main sales brand Haval. On August 22, it announced that the Haval brand would officially launch a comprehensive transformation to the new energy track, and would officially stop selling fuel vehicles in 2030. For Great Wall, although there are still eight years until Haval officially stops production and sales of fuel vehicles, this decision is obviously difficult. Because when BYD announced the discontinuation of fuel vehicles, the sales ratio of its new energy vehicles had reached 94%, while the sales of Haval brand models were still dominated by fuel vehicles. Motor vehicle insurance data shows that from January to November this year, Haval’s cumulative insurance volume reached 423,000 vehicles, of which 98% were contributed by fuel vehicles.
Great Wall officials stated that as Great Wall's largest vehicle segment, Haval has fully launched new energy transformation, marking that Great Wall Motors' new energy strategy has been fully launched.
However, the Haval brand will stop selling fuel vehicles before , striving to increase the sales proportion of new energy models. According to the plan, by 2025, the sales proportion of Haval new energy models will increase to 80%; by 2030, the Haval brand will open up a new experience for users with its new attitude of "new energy SUV expert" . According to reports, in order to achieve Haval's goal of discontinuing production and sales of fuel vehicles, the Haval brand will next establish a new energy company to support and guarantee the development of its new energy business from an organizational structure.
Industry insiders said that Great Wall took the lead in taking out the Long March and Haval brands to show its determination to discontinue the production of fuel vehicles, further reflecting Wei Jianjun's anxiety and concerns about corporate development. In fact, on the 30th anniversary of the founding of Great Wall Motors, Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, said with a sense of crisis: "Every successful past may hinder the future; if we still cannot see disruptive changes, then we will be the ones who are subverted." Today, Long March, Haval is fully moving towards new energy transformation, and brands such as Euler and Salon are positioning themselves as pure electric vehicles, which all show that Great Wall is abandoning its previous success in the field of fuel vehicles and is accelerating its own subversion and revolution. At this moment, Great Wall is moving at full speed towards a new energy future.
Geely Lynk & Co: Stop developing pure fuel vehicles from 2023
Another brand that expressed its determination to "cut off oil" this year is Geely Lynk & Co. In June this year, Lynk & Co released a new hybrid technology "Lynk & Co Intelligent Electric Hybrid", which will provide technical support for the transformation of Lynk & Co models into plug-in hybrids and hybrids.
Lynk & Co's models will be fully hybrid in the future
Geely Group has been working hard to promote new energy transformation. As early as 2015, it clearly proposed a radical transformation goal: by 2020, new energy sales will account for 90%. However, this plan has failed. Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, believes that "Although the ' Blue Geely Action' plan has not been completed as scheduled, it is not surprising. This is not a wrong strategic direction or a failure in strategic execution, but that the historical time has not matured and external strategic conditions have not been formed... does not need to be depressed about this." However, Geely Group also released "two blue Geely action plans."
"Blue Action Plan 1" focuses on intelligent energy-saving and small-displacement new energy vehicles, including hybrid and extended-range plug-in hybrid; among them, about 90% of the models will be new energy hybrid vehicles, and about 10% of the models will be traditional energy-saving small-displacement cars . This plan is mainly undertaken by the Geely and Lynk & Co brands. "Blue Action Plan 2" focuses on high-end intelligent pure electric vehicles, which is mainly undertaken by and .
Geely and Lynk & Co are transforming into hybrids, and Ji Krypton will be responsible for the production and sales of pure electric models.
This also means that Lynk & Co will accelerate its transformation and deeply enter the hybrid market. According to the plan, by 2025, all Lynk & Co products will be equipped with Lynk & Co’s intelligent electric hybrid technology, realizing the electrification of all products. In order to firmly promote the transformation of the Lynk & Co brand, at the roll-off ceremony of Lynk & Co's 800,000th vehicle, Lin Jie, general manager of Lynk & Co Auto Sales Co., Ltd., made a high-profile official announcement: "Starting from 2023, Lynk & Co will stop product research and development of pure fuel models and devote itself entirely to the research and development of new energy products."
Countdown to the elimination of fuel vehicles? Many brands have released "fuel cutoff" timetables. From this year's perspective, only a few brands such as BYD, Great Wall Long March/Haval, and Geely Lynk & Co have expressed their determination to "cut off fuel." But in fact, many brands have already taken actions to "cut off fuel." For example, the smart brand under Daimler officially stopped production and sales of its traditional fuel vehicles in 2022. Now it has successfully transformed into a pure electric brand. In November this year, Smart released its product plan after a comprehensive brand refresh. It promised to provide carbon-neutral pure electric models to the market by 2045, and will expand its model lineup at the pace of a new product every year from 2022 to 2024.
smart has fully transformed into a pure electric brand. The first mass-produced electric model is the smart Elf #1
. The MINI brand of BMW is also the first to test the "fuel cutoff". According to the plan, MINI will launch the brand's last fuel model in 2025, and will then focus entirely on pure electric models. In the Chinese market, the MINI brand has a more radical plan. As early as 2018, it jointly established a joint venture with Great Wall Motors. The joint venture will focus on promoting the development and production of MINI brand pure electric models. According to reports, MINI plans to produce two pure electric models in China in 2023 and officially launch them on the market.
Source of information: Compilation of public information
It can be seen from the time schedules previously released by many brands that Changan, BAIC, Nissan , Toyota and other brands will stop producing or selling fuel vehicles in 2025, while Mercedes-Benz, Borgward , Volvo , etc. will kill fuel vehicles in 2030. This also means that in three to five years, the range of fuel vehicle brands and models that consumers can choose will be further narrowed, and the entire automobile industry and automobile market will accelerate their embrace of the electrification era.
is written at the end:
After reading the above, you may have understood that driven by the global goal of mitigating climate warming and the ban on the sale of fuel vehicles in major countries, different car companies and brands have no choice but to kill fuel vehicles. This also means that the life of fuel vehicles has entered the countdown stage.
Although China has not specified a timetable for banning the sale of fuel vehicles, emission standards have become increasingly stringent. For example, China 7, which is formulated in accordance with Euro 7 standards, will be implemented in 2026 at the latest. If car companies continue to produce and sell fuel vehicles, they must invest money and energy in upgrading power systems. R&D costs will inevitably be passed on to consumers through higher vehicle prices. By then, whether to buy a gas vehicle or an electric vehicle will be a choice that requires careful consideration.
Do you have a passion for fuel vehicles? What do you think of the "fuel ban" and "fuel cutoff" plans of car companies? Welcome to leave messages and interact in the comment area.
