New energy car companies standing in the wind are also anxious

Sales fell 15.8 per cent and rose 138 per cent, according to the results of January 2019 for China's overall auto market and for new energy vehicles. In the winter of the car market, the new energy vehicle is still full of spring, becoming a unique landscape. Standing in the vents of the new energy vehicles, it seems that the spring breeze, but in fact there are many hidden anxieties behind the counter-trend growth. The 2019 New Deal on New Energy Subsidies has yet to be unveiled, although various downgrades have been circulating in recent times, with car companies and consumers rushing to conclude deals before subsidies recede further. In recent years, subsidies for new-energy vehicles have fallen steeply each year. Four ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, have pointed out that the subsidy for new energy vehicles will decline by 20% from 2016 to 2017, and the subsidy standard will decrease by 40% from 2019 to 2020. Indeed, new energy subsidies have fallen faster than originally planned, with subsidies already shrinking by 20 per cent in 2017, sharply adjusted in 2018, and even likely to be eliminated in 2020. Alternative-energy vehicles cannot wean themselves off subsidies when battery costs and energy-density technologies fail to meet consumer demand. The downturn alone has triggered anxiety among carmakers, not to mention subsidies for complete weaning. In recent years, the race against time has become the norm for new energy car companies, accelerated by subsidies and other policies. In 2018, sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 1.256 million vehicles, up 61.7% over the winter. However, the rapid growth has been accompanied by quality problems. Domestic new energy in 2018 Source vehicles recalled a cumulative 139,000 vehicles, accounting for about 11% of sales that year. The main reasons for the recall include battery, brake booster vacuum pump, automatic transmission and other issues. Among them, about 111,000 new energy vehicles of its own brand have been recalled, with BAIC New Energy topping the list with 69,000 vehicles. The frequent occurrence of quality problems has become a severe test for the development of new energy vehicles. On the one hand, new energy vehicles are still in their infancy, even the world's leading technology in Tesla, has not been able to eliminate security risks, a number of recalls; On the other hand, in order to launch products to the market before next year's subsidy recession, some domestic new energy vehicle enterprises do not strictly abide by the relevant technical standards and specifications in the process of design, manufacture, verification and use, such as insufficient testing and verification of new energy battery products. And the quality of new energy vehicles hidden dangers, will inevitably affect consumer confidence. While new-energy vehicles have continued to grow at a rapid pace this year, it is worth noting that not all car companies are following suit, but are beginning to differentiate. BYD, the multi-year domestic champion of new energy sales, maintained strong growth in January, rising 291.1 per cent year-on-year to 29,000 vehicles, while Beijing Automotive New Energy, second only to BYD in terms of sales last year, was unable to do so, with 4,512 vehicles sold in January, down 43.7 per cent year-on-year and production plummeting 98.2 per cent to 142 vehicles. New energy companies in the wind mouths are also worried that competition in the new energy market is getting fiercer, with joint ventures such as Dongfeng Yueda Kia, Beijing Hyundai and Dongfeng Nissan rolling out electric cars. Snatch the market share of independent brands, Weilai, Weimar, Xiaopeng and other car-building new forces have also begun to share a slice of the new energy market. Still, BAIC's biggest crisis stems from itself, as evidenced by the fact that it accounted for more than half of the recalls of its own new-energy vehicles last year. Beijing Automotive New Energy Vehicle (BAV), which relies on micro pure electric vehicle (MEV) to drive sales and relies heavily on subsidies, still has many deficiencies in product, technology and quality. At present, BAIC New Energy is experiencing the "labor pain" of transformation in the face of higher market requirements for the comprehensive competitiveness of new energy products and the further decline of new energy subsidies. Earlier this month, Zheng Gang, general manager of Beijing Automotive New Energy, stepped down for medical reasons. BAIC New Energy, which has experienced "handsome change", is speeding up the adjustment of its product strategy and striving for product upward and brand upward. Although the rapid development of the new energy market is the general trend, not all enterprises standing in the wind will fly. In the future, many new energy vehicles will be eliminated by the law of survival of the fittest. Especially after the subsidies are completely abolished in the future, it will depend on the real ability of the car companies. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released the first batch of subsidies catalogues for new energy vehicles in 2019, including 106 models from 49 companies. More companies are entering the field of new-energy vehicles, but the number of models on the catalogue is actually relatively small compared with the first 118 models last year, largely because of the new policy's increasing demands on products. Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of Chenglian Association, believes that the mainstream models of pure electric vehicles have the advantages of power, economy, safety, There has been a significant improvement in terms of comprehensiveness and comfort. At the same time, the average endurance of pure electric passenger vehicles has greatly increased, and the introduction of low-endurance models has drastically decreased. The endurance of this model is generally 400 kilometers, of which Chuanqi reaches 510 kilometers. New technologies and products are the cure for dependency on subsidies and anxiety about their retreat for new energy car companies.