As the electrification craze sweeps the world, China and Europe, two of the world's most important economies, have taken the lead in setting the benchmark for the auto industry. At the same time, Chinese enterprises, which are becoming increasingly globalized, have also set their sights on the European market.
On January 29th, SAIC, which has won the first domestic sales in overseas markets for five consecutive years, issued the international business strategic goal of the 14th five-year Plan: annual overseas sales strive to exceed 1.5 million vehicles; Europe and other key overseas regional markets are profitable; sales in the European market reached 300000 units in 2025, accounting for 70% to 80% of new energy vehicles.
"this year we will launch three or four cars in the European market, almost one in the first quarter, from the entry level to the middle end to the high end, and we will have a new coverage [for the European market] in the next 12 months." Yu de, assistant president of SAIC, general manager of the international business department and general manager of SAIC International, focused on the European market plan after announcing SAIC's "14th five-year Plan" international business strategic objectives.
Data show that SAIC achieved overseas sales of 390000 vehicles in 2020, an increase of 11.3 per cent over the same period last year. On this basis, if it is to reach the target of 1.5 million vehicles sold annually in overseas markets at the end of the 14th five-year Plan, accounting for 15 per cent of SAIC's sales, it means that its average annual compound growth rate needs to be more than 25 per cent.
"to form a 1.5 million-magnitude market, there must be some large-scale market support during the 14th five-year Plan period, otherwise it will be too scattered." According to Zhao Aimin, secretary of SAIC's international party committee and deputy general manager, the annual sales of these "heavyweight" markets are 50,000 vehicles or even higher. Among them, the first to reach the class of 50,000 may be in the ASEAN region, including the Middle East and European markets. "this time may be 2021 or 2022, and we will have 3-4 or more of these 50, 000-vehicle markets."
In 2020, SAIC's own brands MG and MAXUS sold more than 40, 000 vehicles in developed countries in Europe, which seems to be close to the planned 50, 000 "heavyweight" market. In the European market, however, traditional fuel cars have been phased out and replaced by electric models, including plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles.
SAIC, despite its best performance in the European market last year with more than 10, 000 vehicles and carbon credits of more than 40 million euros, still failed to make it into the top 20 in the European market for new energy vehicles.
Data show that in 2020, Renault ZOE won the top single model sales in the European new energy vehicle market with sales of nearly 100000 vehicles, about 80, 000 more than Smart Fortwo EV, which ranked 20th.
Thanks to the European Union's subsidy policy for new energy vehicles based on the 2050 "European Green Agreement" on comprehensive carbon neutrality, a total of 1.3671 million new energy passenger vehicles were registered in Europe in 2020, an increase of 142 per cent over the same period last year and a market penetration rate of about 11 per cent. Among them, pure electric models accounted for 6.2%, plug-in hybrid models accounted for 4.8%.
"We expect the 2030 fleet emissions target to be added to the new round of discussions on the European Green Agreement, which will complicate business plans and investment decisions and pose great challenges for the auto industry. But this can only be achieved through large-scale electrification. " Joachim Damasky, executive director of the German Association of Automobile Industries, gave the direction for the realization of the "European Green Agreement" at the 2021 China Electric Motor car Forum not long ago.
"I think the technological revolution brought about by the so-called electric cars [in Europe] is a good window for SAIC." Yu de and SAIC's overseas market team judged that tighter carbon dioxide emissions in Europe will certainly lead to the elimination of some small gasoline cars, which is a new market and an opportunity for Chinese companies.
Just a month before SAIC set a "small target" for the European market, the Xiaopeng G3 was officially exported to the Norwegian market, and a hundred new cars have been delivered to 28 towns in Norway; subsequently, Aichi announced that it had reached a strategic cooperation with French partner Car East France and officially landed in the French domestic market. Prior to this, Xilai Motors also said that it had set up a special team to enter the European market.
SAIC will complete the layout of more than 1000 overseas marketing service outlets this year, of which 500 are in Europe. " A SAIC insider revealed that "the group's requirement for the European market is that it must make a profit during the 14th five-year Plan period."
