"The last breath of the fuel car is broken", "The swan song of the fuel age", "The fuel car is about to end"…
In today’s public opinion environment, fuel vehicles seem to have been sentenced to "capital punishment", and the undermining of fuel vehicles has long been a mainstream trend in the automotive public opinion field.
For new energy vehicles, the trend of branding, changes in sales, the mutual confrontation between business executives, and the operation of car owners and users’ rice circles are all the focus of public opinion.
According to the Baidu index keyword search trend comparison data, the online traffic popularity of new energy vehicles and trams far exceeds that of fuel vehicles and fuel vehicles. Of course, these all reflect the "silence" of fuel vehicles.
"A joint venture is not a representative of backwardness, it has maturity and stability, and it also has the tenacity to start later." Wen Dali, executive deputy general manager of GAC Toyota, made a public shout at the Guangzhou Auto Show, which is quite worth pondering.
The joint venture "big brothers" who have promoted the development of the automobile industry in the past few decades have also had to use this peculiar way to "confess" to consumers, which can be regarded as a special footnote for the various challenges faced by fuel vehicles.
Is it true that no one supports fuel vehicles anymore? In fact, for a long time to come, the development of the global automobile market will definitely be a parallel between gasoline and electricity, and fuel vehicles are far from being sentenced to death.
The same is true from the data point of view. According to the data released by the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show, nearly 60% of the cars on display at this auto show are fuel vehicles, which is still the absolute main body. In October this year, among the 308,000 cars sold by Volkswagen in China, new energy accounted for only 8%, and fuel vehicles accounted for 92%.
In fact, users who insist on fuel vehicles may not be active in major online forums, do not operate in circles, and rarely participate in public opinion wars and war of words. They do not seem to have such a strong "sense of existence", but they still use real money to buy cars to "vote" for fuel vehicles and brands, expressing a "silent" support.
During the multi-day visit to the Guangzhou Auto Show, Zhixing Driving Road also found some voices behind the "silent majority", whose stories and choices reflect the development of enterprises and industries.
1. New energy owners returning to fuel vehicles
If young people are more likely to be attracted by new energy vehicles, then Brother Yu, who is in his 40s, is a special case.
Many years ago, when new energy vehicles were still widely questioned and challenged, Brother Yu became one of the early owners. There were two main reasons. He liked to try new technologies and thought that charging was more cost-effective than refueling. However, after a few years, Brother Yu found that he still paid by mistake.
"Now I’m angry when I mention trams." At the Guangzhou Auto Show, when Big Brother Yu and Zhixing Driving Road talked about the topic of new energy vehicles, he seemed quite excited. After a deeper understanding, Zhixing Driving Road also found that his experience has a certain group image representation, which can also bring some inspiration to consumers who are torn between oil cars and trams.
Brother Yu said helplessly, a few days ago on a business trip, came back to find the car can not start, also can not charge, many times with the brand after-sales staff communication, the final conclusion is always not in line with the quality assurance rights and interests, change the battery at your own expense, the price to tens of thousands, and ultimately can only find a third-party auto repair company to try their luck, to see if there can be a low-cost solution.
After experiencing this bad thing, Brother Yu even more believes that many early tram owners were taken advantage of and bought at a high price. The performance and functions of the car are far inferior to the current ones, and many shortcomings are also more obvious. For example, the battery life is more serious. Charging in the city often requires queuing up for empty charging piles, and the cost of charging is not cheap. The overall cost of using a car is not necessarily much cheaper than that of an oil car. More importantly, it is tiring.
In fact, like Brother Yu, car owners who are willing to buy cars for real money in the early stage of the development of new energy vehicles should be well maintained by car companies. But it backfired. After the vehicle battery failed, the brand tried its best to distance itself from the relationship and refused quality assurance. Eventually, the new energy owners like Brother Yu were pushed back into the arms of fuel vehicles.
At the auto show, Brother Yu actually went to the new energy vehicle booth for a stroll. He confessed to Zhixing Driving Road that many sales pitches are still similar today, and car purchase rights look very good.
All kinds of lifelong free, lifelong quality assurance and so on, behind a lot of details and rules are not explained in detail, after a few years really need quality assurance, it is estimated that another way of saying, just like their current tram manufacturers use some reasons to reject quality assurance.
Zhixing Driving Road also found by visiting the new energy vehicle booth that the sales staff often simply inform Sandian of the lifetime quality assurance, but did not mention the specific rules and conditions. We also found through inquiry that there are various rules behind the so-called lifetime quality assurance. If the owner is not careful, he will violate the rules, or lose the rights and interests of lifetime quality assurance because of some easily negligent reasons.
On the other hand, in the eyes of Big Brother, the current fuel vehicles have made great progress in terms of fuel consumption, making up for a competitive shortcoming. After understanding several different brand booths, he found that today’s fuel vehicle brands are developing faster in terms of gasoline-electric hybrid engines. After replacing the hybrid engine with traditional models, the fuel consumption value is directly "cut in half", and the progress is more obvious, which also makes him think that the so-called "electricity saving" advantage of new energy vehicles is not so prominent.
In addition to Big Brother Yu, Zhixing Driving Road interviewed many consumers who still firmly choose fuel vehicles in the fuel vehicle exhibition area. In their opinion, the inconvenience of charging is only secondary, and the risk of car companies going bankrupt and running away is even more important. Behind this are various vehicle function upgrades, after-sales services, maintenance and replacement issues.
Consumers’ concerns in this regard are not biased. Some time ago, the rumors of Weimar’s "bankruptcy" that swiped the screen on the whole network led to a series of chain reactions such as the lack of protection of owners’ rights and interests, the "shutdown" of some car functions, and the collapse of prices in the second-hand market.
The relevant report released by the China Consumers Association in May this year also shows that new energy vehicle companies have closed down and delisted, and it is difficult to continue to provide relevant vehicle maintenance, after-sales maintenance, and original spare parts services. The problem of after-sales insecurity of consumer vehicles is frequent.
Therefore, some consumers have admitted to Zhixing Driving Road that they will still pay more attention to the models and products of mainstream fuel vehicle brands. After all, fuel vehicles have very mature solutions and systems in this regard.
It is understood that when a fuel vehicle company withdraws from the market, the relevant after-sales services will be taken over by other main enterprises of the group or entrusted to qualified third parties. For example, after the withdrawal of GAC Mitsubishi, the relevant services will be handled by GAC Group.
However, there are many original enterprises in the new energy market. Once the enterprise has a problem, it is often a plot of "walking away". The lack of reliable related parties to continue to provide services to car owners is one of the important factors affecting consumer decision-making.
2. Worried about backstabs, etc. Party
Zhixing Driving Road found that all kinds of new energy brands at the Guangzhou Auto Show are showcasing their muscles in new technologies and experiences such as intelligent driving, charging battery life, and intelligent cockpit. There are also many models with a greater sense of technology, product power, and cost performance.
But through interviews with some consumers, we found that some consumers are actually scared away by the rapid replacement of new energy vehicles. Of course, most of them will not battle in the public opinion field, but will silently invest their car purchase budget in fuel vehicle brands.
"New energy vehicles are now being packaged more and more like mobile phones, but buying a car is completely different from buying a mobile phone." At a new energy vehicle booth, Ah Shui, who had just learned about the new model, told Zhixing Driving Road that the new energy vehicles are indeed becoming more and more "cool", but because of this, he does not know when is the right time to start.
In Ah Shui’s opinion, if he decided to buy a new energy vehicle this year, there might be newer, stronger, and more cost-effective models on the market in a few months, and even his own car would launch a facelifted model with additional features and reduced prices. This would not only make it appear that he was backstabbed, but also make the car in the quasi-new car state a little "outdated".
In this regard, Ah Shui also admitted that such problems rarely occur in fuel vehicles, such as Santana, Jetta, Accord, Camry, etc. After years of precipitation, the product power has long been very stable, and the appearance of new and modified models will not affect the experience and mentality of old car owners too much.
He used mobile phone products to make a metaphor, the fuel car is a bit like the iPhone of squeezing toothpaste, the overall difference is not bad, do not have to pursue the latest generation of products. But the new energy vehicle is now a bit like the stage of alternating between functional machines and smart machines, and there may be large product iterations at any time. If you need a car urgently, it is better to be a fuel car first, and it is better to be a new energy vehicle and so on.
In conversations with a number of consumers, Zhixing Driving Road also learned that the maintenance and after-sales system for new energy vehicles needs to be improved, which has also caused many consumers to back down.
For traditional fuel vehicles, daily scratches and collisions can be relatively simple to repair. Whether it is a 4S shop or a third-party auto repair shop, they already have a very mature system, and the price is relatively transparent.
But new energy vehicles are different, involving sensors such as radar, cameras, and chassis battery packs. Even seemingly minor scratches and collisions may damage these expensive components and even lead to changes in battery safety. As mentioned earlier, due to restrictions such as quality assurance agreements, maintenance can only choose official channels, which are not as flexible as fuel vehicles, and will continue to increase the psychological burden of owners.
Zhixing Driving Road found that, in general, the client base that still favors fuel vehicles has a more rational side, and in their opinion, the reliability, practicality, safety and long-tail cost of vehicles are more important.
That is to say, the price war and the so-called "charging is cheaper than refueling" and other selling points cannot convince these consumers to switch to new energy vehicles at present. They are waiting for a more mature opportunity, at least after the replacement no longer has a strong sense of backstabbing, the maintenance and after-sales system is further mature, and the price system of used cars is relatively stable.
3. "Yes, but not many."
When it comes to the topic of fuel vehicles, the brand side, especially the first-line sales who face customers, also has the voice over.
"There is indeed a big impact, and the number of customers I receive is obviously less." Xiao Xin, a salesperson for a Japanese fuel vehicle brand, told Zhixing Driving Road that many of the models displayed by the brand at the Guangzhou Auto Show this year are fuel vehicles, which are indeed not as lively as new energy brands.
Sales staff said that the overall impact is relatively limited, whether it is their own brand or other fuel vehicle brands, have a relatively loyal and large client base.
Although the brand is benchmarking the new energy vehicle market, it has also developed and configured technologies such as L2 smart driving and smart cockpit, but Xiaoxin found that many consumers who come to see the car are not too "cold" about these functions, but still focus on suspension upgrades, chassis design advantages, body robustness, safety, and improved control.
The intelligent driving lane also observed at the relevant fuel vehicle booths that the salesperson was interrupted by the consumer when he took the initiative to show the functional upgrade of the intelligent driving to the consumer, and was instead consulted about the interior space, tire wheelbase, and other information.
Sales staff who have served several new energy and fuel vehicle brands said that in addition to a few new energy vehicle companies that really have full-stack self-research capabilities and are "far ahead", each product has entered a relatively homogeneous stage in terms of function, performance, product power, etc. What is the competition at this time is naturally the hard power of the company itself.
For example, the safety and comfort experience brought by various hardware dimensions of the vehicle; the tonality of the brand, the stability of the pre-sales and after-sales services system, etc., are all areas where fuel vehicle brands have advantages; and the stories of overcharging and high-end intelligent driving told by new energy vehicles are more likely to take a long time to land in the future.
Sales of fuel vehicle brands have generally admitted that some customers have been robbed by new energy vehicle brands, but they still generally have confidence in their own brands and products, and do not express too much concern about future market competition.
This is actually not blind confidence. On the one hand, many new energy brands are still in the loss stage of burning money to develop and improve the system to "sell one at a loss", and there are still great uncertainties in the future. The monthly sales competition seems to be lively, but in fact most of them are far less than the sales data of fuel vehicle brands.
On the other hand, fuel vehicle brands not only have a deep technical heritage and a strong sales network, but also actively seek change and face the competition with new energy vehicle brands.
4. The hard-working elephant turns around
"New energy vehicles are the trend of the future, so the group is also transforming towards electrification, developing technologies, launching new energy sub-brands, and so on." The sales staff of a pure electric sub-brand under a fuel vehicle brand told Zhixing Driving Road that at this year’s Guangzhou Auto Show, the group did not issue the task of releasing new fuel vehicles, but only released a few new energy models. The original fuel models of the subsequent brand will also be gradually transformed into gasoline-electric mixing, plug-in mixing, etc.
The person also said that such as the design of vehicle appearance, interior space, intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving and other functions, these new energy models are equipped with standard elements. In short, "what new energy vehicles should have, we also have it." According to reports, about 40% of the current pure electric vehicle users of the fuel vehicle brand are from the previous conversion of their own fuel vehicle owners.
In the Guangzhou Auto Show, GAC Honda, GAC Toyota, Kia, Jiangqi, Changan Mazda and other mainstream fuel vehicle brands have displayed many new energy-related models such as gasoline-electric hybrid and plug-in hybrid, as well as many electrification The results of transformation, some brands are even reported by the media to cancel the traditional pure fuel version models and fully embrace electrification.
Not only that, but some of the unique selling points of new energy vehicles have also begun to appear in fuel vehicles, such as the new generation of BMW 5 series long wheelbase version exhibited by BMW, which is equipped with a 31-inch rear floating screen, which is nicknamed "big color TV" for rear passengers.
There are also the previously mentioned smart cockpit, L2-assisted driving, embedded door handles, and a more sci-fi and streamlined design language similar to new energy vehicles. It can be observed that many elements of fuel vehicles are aligned with new energy vehicles, or in order to narrow the competitive differences between them.
In this regard, the sales staff of the joint venture fuel vehicle brand said that in response to the user habits and changes in the Chinese market, the brand has indeed been making some corresponding targeted improvements, which are actually rolled up by new energy vehicles. Many configurations and designs that have been recognized by consumers may have some disadvantages in the competition if we do not integrate them in the modification.
So the question is, sales account for the main body and accelerating recovery, the client base coverage is still broad, car companies are also working hard to transform and change, why are fuel vehicles still being sung down and losing the voice of public opinion?
In the exchange with many consumers at the Guangzhou Auto Show, Zhixing Driving Road found one of the most important reasons, that is, the social thinking, user thinking and Internet thinking of new energy brands are far ahead, occupying the network of natives has the voice over.
Some new energy vehicle owners told Zhixing Driving Road that the new energy vehicle brand has done a good job in building an online and offline car owner community, which is an experience that has not been experienced before when driving a fuel vehicle.
The offline activities of new energy vehicles, online community interaction, and social interaction have gradually cultivated the owner’s sense of brand belonging. If there is any problem, they will give feedback through online social interaction, and they will also go to the Internet as tap water to help the brand promote and so on.
Obviously, when a large number of car owners are developed into such online social and interactive habits, the online popularity of new energy brands will naturally increase.
From another perspective, this is precisely what fuel vehicle brands can learn from and make up for. If fuel vehicles can break the "silent" label and gradually become active in various platforms, just like new energy vehicle brands, they can truly return to the center of the stage and return to the "C position" in the market.
