Let time and the market judge.

　　In the past many years, the market dividend of Chinese cars has continued to strengthen, especially during the peak period of the SUV market, whether it is independent or joint venture, whether it is top or bottom tier brands, all have the characteristic of launching one popular model. But this phenomenon came to an abrupt end in 2018 when China's automobile production and sales experienced negative growth for the first time, and it was precisely from that year that the automobile market underwent a drastic change.

　　If practice is the only criterion for testing truth, then time is the best criterion for testing popular products. Especially when the car market bid farewell to savage growth and returns to rational and normalized competition, it can highlight the strong strength of automotive products. This also means that there will be a trail of explosive products in the stock market competition.

　　Looking back now, there have also been many "dark horse" models in the car market in the past few years. For example, Chang'an CS75PLUS, BYD Song pro and Chery Tiggo 8 in 2019; Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, Tesla Model 3, BYD Han and Tank 300 in 2020; Ideal ONE in 2021, BYD Qin/Song PLUS DM-i, etc.

　　It must be acknowledged that these models are powerful, but at the same time, it should be noted that after the emergence of these popular models, the products of countless other brands have more or less become mere shadows. Especially since 2022, the Chinese automotive market has become increasingly introverted, and brand differentiation has become increasingly severe. Where should those brands that are gradually declining go.

　　There is no 'comeback'

　　This year's "price war" in the car market has left many people with vivid memories. According to incomplete statistics, more than 30 car brands have joined the price reduction promotion ranks. In fact, 'price wars' occur every year. It has been counted that the car brands with the most severe price cuts are "30% off Leopard, 60% off Tiger, and 50% off Cadillac". Of course, Buick Chevrolet is not far behind.

　　The usual practice of exchanging prices for markets has left these brands burdened with too much ridicule in their early years. In fact, it is also true that many consumers have calculated how much a certain model is worth buying. In such a vicious cycle, products with constantly decreasing prices are becoming increasingly unpopular, which directly leads to the decline of these brands.

　　Recently, the industry has described many new cars on the market that have lowered their prices as "flipping the table" pricing. In fact, apart from those brands that have been passively and significantly reduced their prices, some brands have already learned from their mistakes and lowered the threshold for new car prices even earlier. In 2019, the price of Dongfeng Peugeot's new generation will be reduced from 508 to 159700 yuan, and in 2020, the price of Dongfeng Dongfeng Yueda Kia Kaikubao will be 161800 yuan.

　　From today's perspective, these two cars undoubtedly set a precedent in the "price war" of recent years, with standard B-class cars dropping to the price of A+class cars. But in terms of sales, whether in the year of the new car's launch or in the future, these two brands that have had peak performance have not received more help due to the internal competition of these two cars.

　　Of course, the stalling of celebrity products is not only a problem faced by joint venture brands, but also a struggle for independent brands. Chang'an Auchan X7, Jetway X70, Dongfeng Fengshen Yixuan, etc. have all been popular for a while, but they can't compete against the sales decline caused by the intensified competition. Even Haval H6 and Wuling Hongguang MINIEV are not as brave as before.

　　However, as the share of independent brands continues to rise, the continuous decline of joint venture brands becomes even more eye-catching. Strong as Toyota and Volkswagen's "dual car" strategies, Buick Chevrolet is still stuck in the quagmire of exchanging price for quantity. Those joint venture brands in the second tier and below, no matter how outstanding they perform in the global market, are still unable to make more progress in the Chinese market.

　　Not advancing or retreating seems to have become the choice of many foreign brands. At the beginning of last year, Dongfeng Group officially withdrew from Dongfeng Dongfeng Yueda Kia. At the end of October last year, GAC Group officially announced the bankruptcy application of GAC Fick. Recently, there was news that a Japanese joint venture brand in China was about to exit the Chinese market.

　　Although multiple foreign brands have repeatedly emphasized that they will not give up on the Chinese market, the performance of Hyundai Kia, Renault Nissan, Stellantis, and Ford among the top ten automotive groups in the world in the current world's largest automotive market, China, is extremely inconsistent with the strength of their global giants.

　　The market is so cruel, no matter what efforts these declining brands make, they still cannot win the favor of Chinese consumers. So far, only domestic brands have experienced cases of "resurgence", and there is no such model among joint venture brands, which is the most terrifying.

　　Limited high-end

　　Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, once said that with the acceleration of new energy vehicles, the competition in China's fuel vehicle market will become more intense. In 2021, there will be 85 brands in the traditional fuel vehicle market, of which 34 brands will sell less than 1000 vehicles per month; Nine brands have disappeared. Over the next 3-5 years, 80% of Chinese fuel vehicle brands will be shut down and transformed

　　Many people summarize the difficulties of joint venture brands as being stagnant in the new energy vehicle market and unable to adapt to the ever-changing Chinese market. So, looking at it this way, more independent brands are taking too big a step in the new energy field, resulting in demand not keeping up with supply, with a focus on the stagnation of many high-end new energy brands.

　　Around 2015, the first wave of new car making forces emerged like mushrooms after a rain, with over 60 new car making forces of all sizes emerging in the Chinese automotive market. However, due to market competition, industry adjustments, and other factors, new energy vehicles have started to reshuffle, with successive thunderstorms in Sailin, Byton, and Bojun. There are only a few high-end players who have survived to this day, including NIO, Ideal, and Xiaopeng.

　　By comparison, the new forces of the national team only started arriving late in 2018. SAIC Zhiji, Feifan Automobile, Dongfeng Landu, BAIC Jihu, Chang'an Aveta and other newly built national teams have basically deployed at least two products by the end of last year. For brand building, these high-end brands have all entered the right track.

　　As a result, all high-end new energy vehicle brands in the Chinese automotive market have engaged in close combat in different segmented markets and business areas. The final result is also obvious. The Li Auto has won the competition, and Weilai and Xiaopeng have failed. The brand of the newly built national team has basically maintained a monthly sales level of around 2000 vehicles, making it difficult to say it has been successful.

　　If we have to summarize the most successful high-end new energy brands at present, in addition to their ideals, Jikron and Tengshi are considered at the forefront. Therefore, this also provides a very obvious inspiration to the industry. Whether it is Ideal, Extreme Krypton, or Tengshi, their main core product points are not intelligent or electric, but practical, cool, and brand are their outstanding advantages.

　　So Zhiji, Landu, Jihu and Aveta are trying to emphasize smart electric brands all the time. Does this show that the current Chinese automobile market is actually not ready to accept smart electric products. On the contrary, in the traditional luxury brand market, while Audi Mercedes Benz and BMW are cutting back on low-end products, their high-end product sales are still increasing.

　　It can only be said that on the track of intelligent electrification, automotive products will be highly homogeneous, and the self talk of automotive brands is far from reaching the core needs of consumers. And the consumer base in the high-end electric vehicle market is quite limited, so what strategy can these brands have in place?

　　At this critical moment of transformation in the automotive industry, all the questions are currently unanswered, and we can only slowly get through the "winter" and wait for the warmth of spring to bloom.