Introduction: The three BYD models that will be launched this time are priced twice as high as those in the Chinese market. Not only that, the price is also higher than that of fuel vehicles of European first-tier luxury brands such as BBA.
(Text/Pan Yuchen Editor/Zhou Yuanfang) Just two months after announcing its launch in the Japanese market, BYD announced its full entry into Europe, pushing three domestic hot-selling models to the birthplace of cars.
htmlOn September 28, BYD held an online launch conference for new energy passenger cars, officially launching three models of Han, Tang and ATTO3 (yuan PLUS) to Europe. They will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in France in October and will be officially launched, and will be delivered in many European countries, including Norway , Denmark , Sweden , Netherlands , Belgium , Germany and other countries.
BYD enters Europe in full swing. Image source: BYD
Just two months ago, BYD reached a cooperation with Hedin Mobility, a leading European dealer group, to provide Sweden and Germany with new energy passenger cars, and plans to complete its sales before the end of the year.
At the same time, BYD also changed its official website www.byd.com to www.bydglobal.com, further demonstrating the company's determination to enter the global market.
is priced comparable to "BBA", why is it still competitive?
As for BYD passenger cars, this is not the first time it has entered the European market.
As early as 2021, BYD reached a cooperation with local distributors in Norway in Norway to export and sell Tang to Norway. Although Tang is priced at 599,900 kroner (about 418,000 yuan), which is about 130,000 yuan more expensive than in China, Tang's license plate number in Norway last year still exceeded 1,000 vehicles.
Among the three BYD models to be launched this time, the pre-sale price of ATTO3 in Germany is 38,000 euros (about RMB 280,000 yuan), and the pre-sale price of Han and Tang is 72,000 euros (about RMB 500,000 yuan), both twice that of the Chinese market. Not only that, the prices of the three models are higher than those of the same-class fuel vehicles of first-tier European luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz GLC and E-class.
BYD's Han, Tang and ATTO3 are listed in Europe. Image source: BYD
Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the China Passenger Association, believes that the price of BYD models in Europe is significantly higher than that in China, mainly due to cost reasons. In addition to freight and tariff factors, Chinese models also need to adjust to local European regulations and market demand, which invisibly raises the cost of the whole vehicle.
But even so, Chinese electric vehicles still have price advantages compared to European electric vehicles of the same level, such as EQC, EQE, etc. Statistics show that the average price difference between European electric vehicles and fuel vehicles of the same level is about 50%, while the average price of electric vehicles in China is only 20% higher than that of fuel vehicles.
In addition to the large overall market size and fierce competition, Chinese companies' control over the power battery supply chain also brings cost advantages. Currently, six of the top ten battery manufacturers in the world share are Chinese companies, with the number one CATL exceeding 30%. The second place is BYD, which is a battery supplier.
CITIC Securities research report believes that in the field of new energy vehicles, Chinese companies have started early in R&D and have high self-iteration efficiency. With their current product and technical strength, they are expected to achieve breakthroughs in developed countries and regions such as Europe.
Compared with other traditional brands and new forces, BYD's biggest advantage lies in its years of accumulation in the new energy field. In addition to having been actively mastering core technologies such as batteries, motors, electronic controls and IGBTh for many years, BYD's new energy vehicle's product planning and layout and market share are also among the best.
In 2021, BYD passenger cars had a cumulative sales of 730,000, of which more than 80% were new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of more than 200%. Just in April this year, BYD officially announced the suspension of fuel vehicles, which is the first time among global car companies that mass-produce fuel vehicles.
From January to August this year, BYD's sales reached nearly 1 million vehicles, surpassing Tesla to rank first in the world. In the Chinese automobile market, with the hot sales of flag models such as Han and Tang, the domestic average selling price is even higher than that of mainstream joint venture brands such as Volkswagen.
In addition to the steady increase in product strength and brand strength, BYD established its European headquarters in the Netherlands as early as 1998 and contacted dealers from all over the country.In the field of commercial vehicles, since BYD electric buses entered the British market in 2015, they have been selling in many European countries such as France, Germany, Hungary, West and Finland. In 2017, BYD also established the first electric bus factory in Europe in Hungary .
Wang Chuanfu once revealed that BYD has accounted for more than half of the UK electric bus market, and its share in the capital London has reached 90%.
BYD buses in the UK market. Image source: BYD
In addition, after 24 years, BYD's business in Europe has expanded to solar energy, energy storage, trucks and forklifts, covering more than 20 European countries and more than 100 cities.
's self-sufficiency supply chain advantages, as well as the world's number one sales and the influence brought by commercial vehicles, all provide the cornerstone for BYD to further expand overseas. In June this year, BYD's market value exceeded 1 trillion yuan for the first time under the influence of many positive factors.
faces a large number of competition among Chinese peers in Europe
However, in the electric bus market, BYD, which is "dougu Qiubai", has a passenger car in Europe, but it faces a large number of competition among Chinese peers in recent years.
According to statistics from European consulting agency Inovev, before 2020, the number of Chinese automobile registrations in Europe was only about 10,000, but it soared to 80,000 in 2021; in the first half of this year alone, the number of Chinese automobile registrations in Europe reached 75,000. Inovev therefore predicts that the sales of Chinese-made cars will reach 150,000 units this year.
According to research company JATO Dynamics, domestic cars account for 14.7% of registered registered cars in Europe in 2021, making it the second largest source of electric vehicles in Europe, second only to Germany.
Similar to BYD, whether it is the traditional SAIC MG, Wuling , FAW Hongqi, Dongfeng Lantu, BAIC Jihu, or the new forces' NIO , Xiaopeng , Aizhi , etc., most Chinese new energy vehicle companies use Norway as a springboard for landing in the European market.
Norway has the highest penetration rate of electric vehicles in Europe. Since 2009, Norway has introduced a series of preferential policies including exemption of registration tax, import tariffs, parking fees, and purchase taxes, which has a huge benefit to Chinese automakers with a large number of brand models. From January to July this year, the number of registered electric vehicles in Norway was nearly 5,800, an increase of 204% year-on-year.
Based on Norway, Chinese electric vehicles have further penetrated into other countries' markets. Especially after the outbreak of the epidemic, the stability of global supply chains is seriously threatened. In contrast, China has kept the impact of the epidemic to a minimum, and automobile brands are less affected by supply chains such as chips, providing an opportunity for them to open up more overseas markets.
Chinese auto brands have concentrated on scrambling Europe, which has further intensified the competitive pressure. Compared with new forces such as NIO and Xiaopeng, which have only sold hundreds of vehicles this year, traditional car companies are better in terms of layout speed and market share with more sufficient cash flow and supply chain advantages.
In Europe, SAIC MG is the earliest Chinese car brand to be laid out. As early as 2019, MG sent the first batch of EZS models to the UK market.
MG was originally a British car brand, and was deeply loved by the late Elizabeth II queen. After the parent company Rover Group went bankrupt, MG was first acquired by China Nanqi Group and later merged into SAIC Group . SAIC also took advantage of MG's influence in the UK and Europe to use it as a bridgehead to enter the UK.
Under the influence of the first-mover advantage, MG's sales have grown rapidly in the past three years. In 2019, MG had less than 2,000 units in Europe in the whole year, and it grew to 26,000 units in just one year. In the first half of this year, MG sold more than 45,000 units in Europe.
In July this year, SAIC's first batch of 1,000 MG MULAN (the overseas version is called MG4 ELECTRIC) set off from Shanghai Haitong Wharf and crossed the ocean to Europe. It is planned to arrive in Europe for sale in the fourth quarter. SAIC said that this model is the first "global car" built on the pure electric platform of "SAIC Nebula". It is expected that with the help of new cars, Europe is expected to become MG's next 100,000-level market this year.
In July this year, MG MULAN was sent to Europe. Image source: SAIC Group
. In terms of channels, MG's brand sales outlets have rapidly expanded from 65 in 2020 to more than 400.
In addition to MG 4 ELECTRIC, according to the German Business Daily, in the next year, Europe will have many new Chinese cars such as NIO ET7, Ora Good Cat , Zekr 001, covering multiple market segments such as large and small cars, SUVs, and crossover .
Compared with the first-mover brands, BYD passenger cars lack advantages in brand awareness and channel levels, and do not have a domestic self-sufficiency supply chain. At present, BYD still has the dilemma of insufficient production capacity in China, and there is no plan to build a passenger vehicle manufacturer or battery factory in Europe. In the future, in addition to expanding sales channels, what form will be used to operate the European market remains to be verified.
However, compared with Japan, which entered the market of both developed countries two months ago, Europe is more vast and the market size is larger. In 2021, although Europe set a record for the lowest sales volume since 1990 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain crisis, it still reached about 12 million vehicles, far exceeding Japan's 4.5 million vehicles in the same period. Compared with the Japanese market, which has a more symbolic significance, the actual impact of layout in the European market is even greater. This is a tough battle for BYD and China's new energy vehicles.
BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu Picture source: BYD
Dongfeng Lantu CEO Lu Jian said when exporting the first batch of cars that Chinese brands go overseas are not only in the commercial sense, but also in the design, R&D and production standards, and are a demonstration of China's cultural soft power and China's intelligent manufacturing. Driven by new energy vehicles, China's automobile exports exceeded 2 million for the first time in 2021, and exceeded 1.2 million vehicles in the first half of this year, surpassing Germany to become the world's second largest automobile exporter.
Therefore, in the context of the overall accelerated takeoff of China's new energy vehicles, BYD, as a "high-performance student" in the domestic market, should make greater breakthroughs overseas. It is worth mentioning that at the online press conference, BYD once again launched a brand initiative of "cooling the earth by 1℃". This is really a mixed feeling for Europe, which is deeply in an energy crisis due to the explosion and leakage of the Nord Stream pipeline.
This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.
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