Domestic automobile exports have been rising since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter, my country’s automobile exports surpassed Japan to become the world’s largest automobile exporter. The industry expects that exports will reach 4 million vehicles this year, making it the world’s largest automobile exporter. If we go back to before 2019, domestic vehicle exports, especially passenger car exports, were dominated by domestic low-speed electric vehicles. Although there is no official data on low-speed vehicle exports, judging from the performance of some companies in the industry, the market demand is still active.
At the end of last year, Egypt’s Dawn newspaper published an article revealing that thanks to the price advantage of low-speed electric vehicles and the dual role of African countries in reducing carbon emissions and promoting clean energy, Chinese low-speed vehicles are entering the African market, and Ethiopia is the first to try it out. The report pointed out that under the influence of Ethiopia, more and more African countries will follow suit in the future.
The Global Times reported and analyzed at the same time that Africa currently has a user market of 1.4 billion, of which young people account for as high as 70%, and young people in Africa will become the main force to promote the implementation of low-speed vehicles.
Southeast Asia and South Asia have a high population density, and the huge local tuk-tuk market is also an area where low-speed vehicles can penetrate. In addition, the regional market has a very considerable space for travel upgrades. Taking the Indian market as an example, its two-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicle market accounts for 80%. In 2020 alone, India’s two-wheeled vehicle sales reached 16 million, but passenger car sales in the same period were less than 3 million. As a potential market for the “upgrading” of transportation tools, it is undoubtedly a cake that domestic low-speed vehicle companies cannot miss.
In recent years, there have been more and more low-speed vehicles participating in some import and export trade exhibitions. For example, at the recently held third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, many companies from Jiangsu, Hebei and Henan exhibited their low-speed vehicle products.
In addition, electric field vehicles¹ and UTV² are also market segments with huge potential. It is understood that golf carts are currently the main export type of field vehicles, and the export market is concentrated in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. According to the data from Guanyan Report Network, this market accounts for more than 95% as a whole. Export data in 2022 showed that 181,800 domestic field vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 55.38%. Market favorable information shows that from 2015 to 2022, domestic field vehicle exports have been in a high growth trend year by year, and high customization and cost-effectiveness have become the absolute advantages of domestic field vehicles in competing overseas.
In recent years, the electrification of UTV models mainly for leisure and entertainment has also become a trend, which will also become a new opportunity for some low-speed vehicle companies. According to the survey data of Betz Consulting, the domestic UTV market size will be 3.387 billion yuan in 2022, and the global market size will be 33.865 billion yuan. It is predicted that the overall size will exceed 40 billion yuan by 2028.
Therefore, whether it is used as a daily commuting means or a leisure and entertainment means of transportation, the production and research capabilities of domestic low-speed vehicle companies can cover this type of segmented products.
Recently, the “Xuzhou Daily” reported that Jiangsu Jinzhi New Energy Vehicle Industry, a subsidiary of Jinpeng Group, has currently achieved low-speed vehicle exports in Turkey, Pakistan, Austria and other countries and regions. In addition, Hongri, Zongshen, Dayang and other industry leaders also have long-term deployments on exports.
In the second half of 2020, at the Global Intelligent Mobility Conference (GIMC 2020) held in Nanjing, the “Yangtze Evening News” paid attention to a local low-speed vehicle company: Nanjing Jiayuan. The “Yangtze Evening News” used “rarely known” to describe this low-speed vehicle company that once launched the star model of the Spirit Clan in the low-speed market. The report also revealed that at that time, Nanjing Jiayuan had exported related products to more than 40 countries and regions in the export market. The new Jiayuan KOMI model unveiled at the meeting was developed and designed in accordance with the EU M1 passenger car regulations, and passed the EU’s strict frontal collision, offset collision, side collision and other safety tests. At the beginning of last year, Jiayuan officially announced that it had obtained the EU M1 model export certification, and the KOMI model also officially entered the overseas export market.
Obviously, not all low-speed vehicle companies have the strength to take this path. Taking stock of the current companies, if one more quota is to be added, the industry estimates that only Hongri has a chance. In addition to this involutionary path, how many possibilities are there for low-speed vehicles?
First, continue to sink. In recent years, after the completion of a series of beautiful rural construction, rural roads have been hardened and widened, and the conditions have become better and better. Not only have villages been connected, but even households have been connected. Contrary to the improvement of infrastructure, rural public transportation has always been stuck. Therefore, it has to be said that low-speed vehicle companies have more advantages in creating marketable models for this sinking field.
Second, seek to go overseas. The overseas expansion of low-speed vehicles is not just a “take-it-as-it-is” of existing products. Several points need to be noted: first, a relatively clear understanding of the overseas target market is required, including demand, scale, competing products, regulations, policies and other aspects; second, a visionary development of marketable products in view of the differences in overseas markets; third, finding new segments and creating overseas brand effects, such as electric UTV, golf carts, patrol cars, and sanitation series products developed based on low-speed vehicle chassis.
As the capillaries of the industrial manufacturing field, the social role played by low-speed vehicle companies cannot be ignored. For most car companies, the way out of transformation is still based on the field they are familiar with. Perhaps, as the media jokingly said, “The world is not short of new sports cars or SUVs, but it is still short of a few high-quality Lao Tou Le (some media call low-speed vehicles) from China.”
Note:
1. Field vehicle: mainly used in tourist attractions, golf courses, factory areas, patrols and other scenes, so according to different scenes, it can be divided into sightseeing vehicles, golf carts, patrol vehicles, etc.
2. UTV: It is the abbreviation of Utility Terrain Vehicle, which means practical all-terrain vehicle, also called multi-functional all-terrain vehicle, suitable for beach off-road, leisure and entertainment, mountain cargo transportation, etc.
Post time: Aug-28-2024