China’s new energy auto maker BYD suddenly announced the sales for the whole year of 2022. BYD sold 1.86 million cars in one year with an increase of 208% in sales.
BYD surprisingly achieved growth at a time when Japanese automaker, Korean automaker, and even Tesla have fallen during the Covid pandemic period. When the news came out, the Japanese media reacted immediately. Now the Chinese carmakers are not what they used to be. They go faster in the new energy race track. However Japanese and Korean automakers are reluctant to accept the fact.
Toyota in the Chinese market fell by 18.4%, Honda decreased by 42.8%, Nissan is down to 52.5% in last November 2022. Toyota, Honda and Nissan have all seen a decline for three consecutive months. The vehicles made by Japan are so popular once in Chinese market. Why the sales have suddenly dropped?
There are three reasons for this change from my point of view.
1、Chinese local auto-makers has undergone a paradigm shift. Domestic auto makers did lag behind Japanese auto makers in the fuel car era. Chinese automakers dismantled Japanese cars into parts to learn from their advanced technology. Japanese cars have been developed for many years and many technologies depend on the accumulation of experience and time. Chinese domestic manufacturers have switched to the new energy track today.
Not only in the field of automotive industry, but also in the field of cell phones market has changed either. When we mention the smart phones, the first reaction was Apple in past a few years. Chinese cell companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo’s market share has caught up recently.
There are also the in the field of footwear and clothing industry, people get used to choose Adidas and Nike.The post millennials start to choose Chinese national brands such as Li-Ning, ERKE and ANTA. China-made products have also lately been embraced by young people. The Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, JD and PDD have announced plans to help domestic products and have achieved good results.
2. Japanese car-makers take really slow movment in the new energy track. Lots of car companies are racing to electrify their lineups. Toyota isn’t moving as quickly. Toyota boss Akio Toyoda has long said that electric cars aren’t the only way forward for the auto industry. Toyota and Honda feel that new energy is not as good as fuel. New energy is the future trend in fact. Japanese automobiles will lose opportunities if they are stubborn.
3. The most critical thing is that more and more young Chinese people nowadays have changed their attitude of spending behavior. They are more supportive of domestic brands.
Many people used to think that imports products must be better than domestic. It feel that imported products will have a sense of vanity. More and more young people find that using domestic products feel more confident.The return of consumption must be accompanied by the return of self-confidence.