AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/09 Report--

Fuel car sales are "hard to rise" and electric car stories are "hard to tell", which may be one of Honda's current domestic dilemmas.

On October 13, 2021, Honda China released its electrification strategy, launching a new pure electricity brand "EVOR N" and a new intelligent and efficient pure electricity architecture "ERO N Architecture". Honda China announced at the press conference that it will launch 10 pure electric vehicles in the Chinese market in the next five years, and will sell only pure electric and hybrid models in China from 2030, instead of new fuel vehicles.

At the press conference, Honda China brought two new pure electric vehicles, 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 to each other, positioning the small pure electric SUV. Among them, Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 was officially listed on April 26, 2022, and Guangzhou Automobile Honda e:NP1 was officially launched on June 20. The subsidized price range of the two models is 17.5-218000 yuan.

Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 and Guangzhou Auto Honda e:NP1 are sister models of each other, based on the Honda-developed EVR N Architecture F platform, the overall shape is derived from the Honda e:Prototype prototype, the closed intake grille with long and narrow headlights is very electric car style, and the central Honda LOGO has its own lighting effect. In terms of interior decoration, the design style of Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 and Guangzhou Auto Honda e:NP1 is still slightly traditional, but there is still a great breakthrough compared with Honda fuel vehicles, which is equipped with 15.2-inch high-definition ultra-thin frame center control screen, as well as 10.25inch color all-LCD digital dashboard, central control screen built-in Honda full-stack intelligent control ecosystem eDrexN OS, integration of Honda SENSING 360 intelligent driving assistance system and Honda CONNECT intelligence guidance interconnection system. In terms of power, the mileage of the lowest / second low configuration model is 420km under the maximum power of 134kW under CLTC, and the mileage of the highest / second high configuration model is 510km under the CLTC condition of 150kW.

Both e:NS1 and e:NP1 carry Honda's dream of competing in the new energy market. However, the ideal is very plump, the reality is very bony, the performance of these two electric cars is really not satisfactory. According to the retail data of the Federation of passengers, Dongfeng Honda sold 147,537,349,878 e:NS1 vehicles respectively from May to August in 2022, with a cumulative sales of 1911 vehicles, while GAC Honda e:NP1 sales from June to August 2022 were 110,269,273 vehicles, respectively, with a cumulative sales of 652 vehicles.

Recently, the "Tramway report" learned that at present, these two models have a large degree of profit. Among them, Guangzhou Auto Honda e:NP1 orders 2000 yuan directly to 22000 yuan, equivalent to a direct drop of 20, 000 yuan, coupled with terminal store discounts, this car can at least discount more than 35000 yuan. Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 order 10, 000 yuan directly to 30000 yuan, equivalent to a direct drop of 20, 000 yuan, coupled with the terminal store discount, this car can also discount more than 35000 yuan. The information shows that the discount period is up to October 31, 2022.

As a small pure electric SUV with more than 150000 yuan, there are few competitors of the same class and price, because many compact pure electric SUV can be bought at this price, such as BYD Song PLUS EV (18.08-197800 yuan), Xiaopeng G3i (16.89-201900 yuan) and Guangzhou Automobile AION Y (16.89-201900 yuan). The price is high and the product power is not as good as the models in the same price range. Is the main reason for the poor performance of Honda electric cars. Therefore, compromise with the price is the only way to get the market as much as possible.

In addition, the decline in fuel vehicle sales is also a reality that Honda has to face. According to data released by Honda China, from January to August 2022, Honda accumulated sales of 949314 terminal vehicles in China, down 3.8% from the same period last year, including Guangzhou Auto Honda 488179 and Dongfeng Honda 461135. Due to the epidemic situation, shortage of spare parts and other factors, the overall fuel car market is in a state of decline, and there is nothing wrong with the decline of Honda fuel vehicles, but at present, new energy vehicles are showing blowout growth. Honda's performance in the domestic new energy vehicle market is indeed difficult to have bright spots.

For Honda, the domestic market is clearly more grim. In the domestic market, Honda stands on the same starting line as Baidu and Xiaomi, but in the field of intelligence, Honda's technology accumulation is obviously lower than that of Baidu and Xiaomi, and this is even more true of Xilai, ideal, Xiaopeng and so on. for Honda, it may face more challenges. As for overseas markets, Honda is on the same starting line as Toyota, Nissan, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Tesla is dominant in the global market and does not have other strong competitors to disturb the situation, so Honda still has advantages in overseas markets. but at present, independent brands are speeding up to go to sea, and they will also face development pressure in the future.

Honda's performance in the new energy vehicle market is also the status quo of most joint venture brands. According to data released by the Federation of passengers, from January to August 2022, domestic new energy vehicle sales totaled 3.2629 million, an increase of 119.8 percent over the same period last year, of which 2.7618 million independent new energy vehicles were sold, an increase of 133.6 percent over the same period last year, accounting for 84.64 percent of the total market share, while the sales of mainstream joint venture new energy vehicles were only 194100, an increase of 89.5 percent over the same period last year, accounting for 5.95 percent of the total market share. In addition, sales of luxury new energy vehicles were 307000, up 54.0% from the same period last year, accounting for 9.41% of the total market share.

Among the joint venture brands, only FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen are developing better. In 2021, Volkswagen launched five pure electric models in the Chinese market, including the ID.3, ID.4 X/ID.4 CROZZ and ID.6 X/ID.6 CROZZ. Although the sales volume of these models is far less than that of the mainstream independent brands, they are outstanding among the joint venture brands. Data show that from January to August 2022, ID.4 X/ID.4 CROZZ sales were 23039 and 29959, ID.6 X/ID.6 CROZZ sales were 8149 and 14535, and ID.3 were 15395. In contrast to other joint venture electric vehicles, whether it is the mainstream joint venture Buick micro-blue, or the positioning luxury Mercedes-Benz EQC, the performance in the domestic market is difficult to be optimistic.

Toyota leader Akio Toyoda has repeatedly blasted electrification in public, but last year unveiled the most ambitious transformation plan in history: 30 electric cars will be launched by 2030, and its high-end brand Lexus will be fully transformed into an all-electric brand. By 2030, the sales target of new energy vehicles is planned to reach 3.5 million, accounting for 75 per cent of total sales. To achieve this goal, Toyota will invest 4 trillion yen ($35 billion) in electric vehicles by 2030.

In fact, Volkswagen is more decisive than Toyota, Honda and other brands. As the world's largest car market and the world's largest new energy vehicle market, Volkswagen is highly dependent on China, and Volkswagen's achievements in new energy vehicles. It is to follow the pace of the market, while Toyota, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and other brands are worried and swaying, after all, decades of fuel technology will be overthrown. Difficulties are inevitable. However, with the rapid rise of Tesla and China's own brands, time is running out for the pioneers.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat