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Looking back on 2021, the term "difficulties and twists and turns" could not be more appropriate to describe SAIC-Volkswagen's performance. SAIC-Volkswagen, as the former annual sales champion, lost the top sales of Chinese passenger cars for three years in a row.

According to the latest figures released by SAIC, SAIC sold 5.4635 million vehicles in 2021, down 2.45 per cent from the same period last year. Among them, SAIC Volkswagen, as a profit cow, sold 1.242 million vehicles in 2021, down 17.50% from the same period last year, making it the brand with the largest decline in annual sales under SAIC Group.

According to the historical data of the automobile industry, SAIC-Volkswagen sold 2.0651 million vehicles, 2.0018 million vehicles, 1.5055 million vehicles and 1.242 million vehicles respectively from 2018 to 2021, with a slight increase of 0.1% in 2018 compared with 2017. From 2019 to 2021, it fell 3.07%, 24.79% and 17.50% respectively. The above data clearly reflect that SAIC-Volkswagen's sales have declined for three consecutive years compared with the same period last year, with year-on-year declines of more than double digits in 2020 and 2021, making it the group's biggest decline for two consecutive years.

Compared with FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC-Volkswagen's performance is even more "ugly". According to official FAW-Volkswagen data, a total of 1.8578 million new cars were sold in 2021, including 988700 Volkswagen brand terminals, 700100 Audi brand terminals and 169000 Jetta brand terminals. For comparison, FAW-Volkswagen accumulated terminal sales of 2161888 vehicles in 2020. Although FAW-Volkswagen's sales fell 14.06% year on year in 2021, it was still ahead of SAIC-Volkswagen by an absolute advantage. This is also FAW-Volkswagen winning the top spot in China's passenger car market for three consecutive years, while SAIC-Volkswagen has declined for three consecutive years compared with the same period last year, and the highlight moment seems to be gone forever.

Of course, the main reason why FAW-Volkswagen can lead SAIC-Volkswagen is that its brands have a clear division of labor, including Jetta brand in the middle and low end market, Volkswagen brand in the mainstream market and Audi brand in the luxury market. Among them, Audi brand is the absolute sales source of FAW-Volkswagen leading SAIC-Volkswagen. Compared with SAIC Volkswagen, it also has three major brands. Including Skoda in the middle and low end of the market, the Volkswagen brand in the mainstream market, and the Audi brand in the luxury market, of which the Audi brand is the latest layout of SAIC Volkswagen in the luxury market, but did not begin to deliver until this year. According to the data, FAW-Volkswagen leads SAIC-Volkswagen by more than 600000 vehicles, most of which come from the contribution of Audi brand, but if we just compare the Volkswagen brand, FAW-Volkswagen is actually comparable to SAIC-Volkswagen.

Throughout 2021, the layout of SAIC-Volkswagen brand in the traditional fuel vehicle market is not very wide, such as mid-term revamped Passat, mid-term revamped Toguan L, etc., with obvious upgrades in appearance and configuration. By contrast, SAIC-Volkswagen has a more intensive layout in the pure electricity market, launching the ID.4X, ID.6X and ID.3 successively. As of November 2021, the sales of the three models were 18594, 6436 and 3901 respectively, which is only a decent achievement for new models that have just launched.

For SAIC-Volkswagen, the biggest development of the year was the launch of the first SAIC Audi model. On September 26th, SAIC Audi's first model, Audi A7L, was officially launched. The price range of A7L 55TFSI is 59.97-696700 yuan, and it is announced that it will be officially delivered in early 2022. At the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show, the Audi Q5 e-tron, the second model of SAIC Audi, began pre-sale, and the new car announced a pre-sale price range of 40-520000 yuan. In addition, SAIC Audi full-size large SUV fuel car Audi Q6 has also been exposed, the new car will be launched in the second half of this year. New Year's Day, Audi A7L 55TFSI was officially delivered this year, while Audi A7L 45TFSI was officially launched. The new car is basically the same as 55TFSI in appearance and interior. The powertrain is replaced with a 2.0T turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a maximum power of 180kw (245hp) and a peak torque of 370N ·m, matching a seven-speed wet double-clutch transmission. Jia Mingdi, general manager of SAIC Audi Marketing, said bluntly: "We hope to become the 'ceiling' for luxury car production in China." the sales target in 2022 is not the most important. SAIC Audi hopes to continue to build and consolidate its brand image and positioning.

As for Skoda brand, as the layout of SAIC Volkswagen in the middle and low end of the market, its sense of existence in the domestic market is getting lower and lower. According to data released by Skoda Motors, a total of 700000 vehicles were delivered worldwide in the first three quarters of 2021, down 2.9 percent from that in the first three quarters of 2021, of which 52700 vehicles were delivered in China, down 57.8 percent from the same period in 2020.

Skoda has a lot of domestic models in China, including Kodiak, Komick, Krook, Mingrui, Express School and so on, but none of them can realize the "popular style", especially in the SUV market. As we all know, SUV has always been the focus of domestic car companies, especially independent brands. Harvard H6, Changan CS75, Geely Boyue and other models are all outstanding in the SUV market. Although Skoda also has three SUV models, the models lack bright spots and sales are very general.

Of course, the current situation of SAIC-Volkswagen has a lot to do with product word-of-mouth, product strategy and enterprise marketing, especially in independent brands such as Geely, Great Wall, Changan and other independent brands have accelerated the layout of the middle and high-end market. form a head-on confrontation with the joint venture brand. At the same time, in the new energy vehicle market, the rapid rise of Tesla, Lai, Xiaopeng and ideal has forced SAIC-Volkswagen to accelerate the transformation of new energy vehicles and launched three electric car products in a few months, obviously feeling "flustered".

Of course, from the perspective of the market environment, SAIC-Volkswagen sales fell sharply in 2021, which has a lot to do with the shortage of parts, but it is difficult to cover up the development of SAIC-Volkswagen in the joint venture brand market and pure electricity market. The shortage of chips will improve in 2022, and SAIC-Volkswagen may rebound, but with the rise of its own brands, it adds some uncertainty to the market.

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