Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Original title: "Why do Chinese cars dare to sell so expensive in Europe?"

Recently, batch after batch of Chinese brand new energy vehicles have gone to sea in Europe. Just looking at the price, I feel that the waist is not generally hard, so you might as well feel it:

For example, BYD recently launched three new cars in Europe, the ATTO3 (yuan PLUS), Han's and Tang's EV models, which sell for 38000 euros, 72000 euros and 72000 euros, respectively, about 263000 yuan, 498000 yuan and 498000 yuan.

Picture source: BYD car is equivalent to the sales of Han EV in Europe is more than 200,000 higher than in China. If you put it in the European home market, the prices of Han EV and Tang EV can buy BMW X5 or Audi Q7 in Europe. Among the European models of the same class, the long-lasting version of the German Model3 costs 56900 euros and the performance version costs 61900 euros. In other words, in Europe, Han EV is more expensive than Model 3 of the same level.

Take a look at the price of the listed model of Great Wall, which has also entered Europe recently.

Great Wall Wei Pai Mocha PHEV (Coffee 01) launched two models in Europe, priced at 55900 euros and 59900 euros respectively, equivalent to 390000 yuan and 420000 yuan. The price range of the domestic Wei Pai Mocha PHEV model is 295000-315000 yuan, which is higher than the domestic order of 100000 yuan.

The Lantu Free, which is listed in Norway, also starts at 719000 Norwegian kroner (about 490000 yuan). The model sells for 313600-419900 yuan in China, with a starting price of 180000 yuan.

If we sum up the pricing logic of this round of Chinese car brands going out to sea, to put it simply, it is a word, expensive!

But whether it is reasonable or not, it is worth studying.

In order to sell cars to Europe, there are several steps for Chinese cars to land in Europe. In addition to the need for local certification for vehicle quality, there are basically two supply problems to be solved: local factory production and assembly, and overseas direct import sales.

Many people will ask, since Chinese brands choose to go to Europe, why not just build factories there, like Tesla. Not to mention that Tesla's factory in Germany is challenged by local environmental protection organizations and policy restrictions, for car brands, the choice of two ways is to find a balance between the local market demand and space, and the scale of investment.

Building a factory is of course a necessary step to expand the global market, but there is also a premise for car manufacturers: to gain a certain share of the local market.

For fledgling Chinese car companies, building a local factory is quite large and risky for the investment of car brands before there is no guarantee of market demand.

The biggest cost of choosing the second way, exporting to Europe by sea, is the logistics cost. A person in charge of the overseas market of an independent brand told Pinjia that due to the impact of the current epidemic, shipping costs remained high, accounting for 20% of the total export cost. At the same time, there were tariffs ranging from 10% to 20%.

Taken together, the export cost of a car has increased by tens of thousands of yuan.

In the stage of vehicle export, Chinese cars also face the barriers of policy supervision. For example, on the grounds of low-price dumping, a large number of Chinese exports to the European Union are taxed in the name of anti-dumping. In the past few years, Chinese truck tires and electric bicycles have been found to be dumped by the European Union.

To put it bluntly, we have enjoyed the national "subsidy" dividend for the development of the electric car industry, but they are likely to be regarded as "unfair competition" when they are brought to the European market, which will disrupt the local market. This looks more like a kind of "local protectionism".

At present, the advantage of China's automobile export is that, driven by the advantages of domestic supply chain and battery cost, the cost of vehicle manufacturing still has a great advantage compared with the local production cost in Europe. Therefore, the price of German-made Model Y is not much lower than that of Model Y exported from China to Europe.

In addition, this year, the European Union is actively promoting the "carbon tariff" rule, using the calibration method of product life cycle carbon footprint to tax goods exported to the European Union. Although carbon tariffs do not yet involve cars, many experts believe that carbon tariffs are likely to be extended to the automobile field.

For Chinese cars to go to Europe, the advantage of local manufacturing is huge, and the potential risks should not be underestimated, which will affect the cost of Chinese cars going to sea.

In Europe, before we continue to talk about high prices in the "primary" stage of the Chinese market, we can talk about the new energy market in Europe, which will help us to understand the local ecology.

Although Tesla has gone crazy with price increases this year, in order to maintain his sales position in the European market, Tesla still achieves the goal of reducing costs, lowering prices and harvesting the market by reducing configuration.

Tesla launched a lower-priced single-motor rear-wheel drive version of Model Y in Europe in August, priced at 53900 euros, even lower than the long-lasting version of the Model 3.

There is another reason why Tesla is crazy about harvesting the market. Although electric cars are encouraged in policy in Europe today, the market situation is very similar to that in China a few years ago: the real marketization has not yet begun, and there are more opportunities for people to get a head start.

If you look at the top sales of new energy vehicles in Europe, you will find that the top three models are all about 50,000 euros, of which the Skoda Enyaq is only available in the European market, has the same platform as Volkswagen ID.4 and is very similar in size. Next is the majority of small cars, with the exception of Audi Q4 e-tron and Mini Cooper EV, there are no strong local BBA models on the list, and there are not a few petrol-to-electric models.

Data and watchmaking: the German brands that are strong in the first Electric Research Institute are not only cautious in China's electric car market, but also half a beat behind in their home market.

At the same time, only one plug-in model, the Ford KUGA PHEV, is at the top of the list, and there are fewer plug-in hybrids in Europe as a whole.

It can be seen that the weakness of local brands in new energy products has left little room for the European market to choose electric cars.

Therefore, Europe's taste in electric cars has not really been formed, and this is an opportunity for Chinese brands.

In addition to the lack of products, Europe has strict bans on many functions of auxiliary driving on the road, as well as problems such as imperfect charging facilities, which also make Europe's demand for high-range and more reliable electric vehicles higher at this stage.

Although in most people's perception, it seems to be a consensus that Europeans prefer cars. However, judging from the current sales of new energy vehicles in Europe, Tesla's hot sales and ID.4 sales are higher than those of the ID.3, and the small electric car Renault zoe, once the top seller in Europe, is not even in the top 10.

Considering that over the past decade, China's new energy vehicle market has also experienced a stage of long-range from low to high, fuel cars and batteries can be sold, to high-end models continue to be superior, a large number of models continue to be KO, and the market structure is gradually moving to a balanced development stage.

It also shows that, at least in the electric car market, cars with too low range are not in line with European taste after all, and they really have too little choice.

So why price at cost? European oil prices soar, and European subsidies for electric cars are still stimulating demand in the electric car market. However, unlike China's new energy vehicle market, which is becoming more and more market-oriented, the European new energy vehicle market is still a policy-driven market.

In addition, countries also have strict restrictions on subsidized model standards. For example, according to the latest news in France, the subsidy provided by the French government to tram consumers has been increased from 6000 euros to 7000 euros, while the subsidy applies only to electric cars produced in Europe at a price of less than 47000 euros.

The standard of Dutch electric car subsidy is only for models with a price below 45000 euros.

It can be seen that it is not so easy to squeeze into the subsidy list of European countries, and it is also easy for Chinese brands to return to the old path of cost-effective performance.

At the present stage, Chinese brands enter Europe in the form of vehicle export. The cost of pricing is not only manufacturing costs, shipping costs, local operating and marketing costs, but also how to reflect the positioning of products and brands in overseas markets.

In Europe, because of the local auto industry and the strength of local brands, even Toyota can hardly guarantee its influence in Europe as in the North American market.

Li Bin, founder of Xilai, who recently also promoted the European strategy, said that the low recognition of Chinese brands in Europe is still a common phenomenon.

Breaking the stereotype of brand cognition, catering to and shaping the taste of electric cars of European users has become the first step for Chinese brands to go abroad in Europe at this stage.

Great Wall Automobile Paris Auto Show booth Source: great Wall Automobile official WeChat therefore, the introduction of products with higher prices and higher added value, on the one hand, can occupy the cognition of European users with more reliable and technical products. At the same time, establish the technical strength and image of the brand.

The development history of Japanese cars in Europe, which is good at opening up overseas markets, can be used for reference.

When Japanese cars first entered the European market, they were also faced with the problem of low acceptance and a strong local automobile industry. But Japanese cars still find a breakthrough. In the market segment of sports cars and compact cars, Japanese cars still have an advantage. Toyota MR2, Toyota Corolla GT, Toyota Celica GT and so on were once very popular in the European market.

However, in the era of internal combustion engines, the growth of Japanese cars in the European market is still very limited.

In today's electric era, the slow transformation of European automakers and the transformation of Chinese brands have created such an opportunity: the opportunity for Chinese car brands to reshape in the international market.

This reshaping is not even based on any alignment.

Of course, high pricing is actually only a sign that Chinese car brands are going out to sea at the present stage, which is actually the comprehensive result of many tests, such as global environmental uncertainty, local trade protection, and how car brands stabilize their overseas business.

However, when such a historical opportunity lies ahead, there is no reason not to seize it.

For Chinese, perhaps just as they once envied the prices of luxury goods in Europe, they will also feel superior when it comes to cars in a few years' time.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:Ping-Drive, by Dong Nan and Wang Fei.

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