AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)01/08 Report--

Compared with the hot sales of new energy car companies such as Tesla and Xilai, Japanese car companies have not been very optimistic in the past year. According to the list of Japanese car companies' sales in China in 2021, only Toyota achieved double growth in December and 2021, while other car companies, including Honda, Nissan and Mazda, all declined.

Although Toyota struggled in the second half of the year because of a global shortage of semiconductors, its full-year sales hit a new record. Data show that Toyota sold 1.944 million new cars in China in 2021, an increase of 8.2% over the same period last year and a record high for the ninth year in a row. Among them, FAW Toyota sold 860019 new cars, up 8% from the same period last year, while Guangzhou Auto Toyota sold 840396 vehicles, up 11% from the same period last year. In addition, more than 240000 vehicles are mainly from Lexus and imported models.

2021 is the year of Toyota products, and there will be a brand new model on the market in almost two months. On April 10, FAW Toyota Asia Lion went public. On June 6, GAC Toyota Ling Shang went public. On June 25, GAC Toyota's brand-new generation of Hanlanda went public, realizing the sale of new and old people in the same house. On August 27, FAW Toyota Crown-Lu Fang went public. On October 30, GAC Toyota Sina went public. On November 18, FAW Toyota Lingfang went public. In addition, GAC Toyota Feng Landa has been listed on January 6, 2022, FAW Toyota Corolla Ruifang will be listed on January 10, Guangzhou Auto Toyota Weisa and other models will also be on the market one after another.

More importantly, Toyota released its electric car strategy. On December 14th, a Toyota launch shocked the industry. On the same day, Toyota displayed 17 pure electric vehicles and released a series of strategic target data at the same time. Toyota proposes that Toyota new energy vehicles will account for 75% of total sales in 2030, strive to sell 3.5 million vehicles a year, invest 4 trillion yen (224 billion yuan) in pure electric in 2030, and launch 30 new pure electric vehicles by 2030. In addition, Lexus will become a pure electric brand, achieving 100% pure electric in Europe, North America and China, and the goal will be extended to the world by 2035.

Let's take a look at Honda. Honda's cumulative sales in China in 2021 were 1.5615 million, down 4.0% from a year earlier, including 768200 for Guangzhou Auto Honda and 793300 for Dongfeng Honda. As for the reasons for the decline in sales, officials say it is affected by a shortage of parts.

Compared with Toyota, Honda launched fewer new cars in China in 2021, including brand-new Civic, style, Accord, Yingshi, Odyssey, Ericsson and so on. In terms of sales volume, Accord is the carrying sub-model of Guangzhou Automobile Honda, with a cumulative sales of 201301 units for the whole year, followed by Haoying. As a sister model of CR-V, Haoying sold 166240 vehicles in the year, followed by colorful Zhi, which ranked third, with a cumulative sales volume of 173870 vehicles. In addition, the annual sales of the classic hatchback car was 96326. As for Dongfeng Honda, CR-V is the main sales force, with cumulative sales of 222325 vehicles for the year, 191417 for XR-V and 166127 for Civic, and 52214 for Ericsson.

Honda also released its electrification strategy during the year, launching a new pure electricity brand "EVOR N" and a new intelligent and efficient pure electricity architecture "ERO N Architecture". Honda China said it would launch 10 pure electric vehicles in the Chinese market in the next five years and sell only pure electric and hybrid models in China from 2030, instead of new fuel vehicles. As for the new cars, one is the e:NS1 from Dongfeng Honda and the other is the e:NP1 from Guangzhou Auto Honda. The two models are sister models and will be launched this year.

Let's take a look at Nissan. Unlike Toyota and Honda, Nissan's sales in China include passenger cars and commercial vehicles. According to the data, Nissan sold 1.3815 million vehicles in China in 2021, down 5.2 per cent from a year earlier, of which Dongfeng Nissan (including Qichen) sold 1.1349 million vehicles, down 6.4 per cent from a year earlier. In terms of specific models, the seventh generation Teana sold a total of 163741 sets in the whole year, 513193 units in the Xuanyi series and 161152 units in Xiaoke. As for the new Qijun, which has just been replaced, the authorities have not announced its specific sales, but sales are expected to rise in December. Since the listing of the new Qijun, the monthly sales of the new Qijun have been maintained at about 4000 vehicles under the influence of three cylinders. in December, Zhengzhou Nissan listed the old four-cylinder Qijun, with prices of 189200 yuan and 192800 yuan respectively, which are more expensive than the new and old models. I don't know how the market is performing. From the market performance of Dongfeng Nissan, the chip shortage and the impact of the epidemic led to a decline in sales to a certain extent, but the listing of three-cylinder Qijun is also another important reason for the decline in sales.

Finally, Mazda sold 184000 vehicles in China in 2021, down 14.3 per cent from a year earlier. Mazda announced sales of only three models in China, namely, Anksera, CX-5 and CX-30, all from Changan Mazda, with cumulative sales of 90700 Anksera, 26100 for CX-5 and 17300 for CX-30. In other words, FAW Mazda CX-8 and Atez sold a total of 49900 vehicles.

A major change took place in China in 2021, that is, the merger of Changan Mazda and FAW Mazda was settled. On August 24, Mazda Motor Co., Ltd., Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. and China first Automobile Co., Ltd. issued a joint statement. According to the content, (new) Changan Mazda will be changed to a joint venture jointly funded by three parties, with Changan Automobile, Mazda and FAW holding 47.5%, 47.5% and 5% respectively. (new) Changan Mazda will inherit the related business of Changan Mazda and Mazda. At the same time, FAW Mazda will be changed to a joint venture jointly funded by Mazda and (new) Changan Mazda to continue to undertake the related business of Mazda brand cars. The official announcement said that in the future, the three parties will maximize the business structure and operation model of joint ventures in China in order to better meet the growing needs of the Chinese market.

At present, the merger of FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda has not yet been determined and needs to be reviewed by the relevant departments. However, the merger of FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda is basically certain, and the sales and after-sales service of the two companies are in the process of merging.

For Mazda, the following efforts in China will also be more focused on October 8, when Mazda also announced SUV plans to launch five cross-border SUV models, namely, "MAZDA CX-50", "MAZDA CX-60", "MAZDA CX-70", "MAZDA CX-80" and "MAZDA CX-90" between 2022 and 2023.

In fact, under the influence of the current shortage of chips in the automobile industry, the decline in sales is nothing new. at present, since most of the chips need to be imported, and the epidemic in overseas markets is still at risk of spreading, there is no guarantee that the virus will not suddenly stop some factories in a place, or even paralyze the supply system of the whole region. In such a bad environment, the global semiconductor supply chain continues to affect the production and sales of global auto companies. Entering 2022, the "inner volume" of the automobile industry will become more and more obvious, and the rapid development of new energy vehicles will also force traditional car companies to transform.

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