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欧美电动化转型倒退

2024-06-27

  欧美汽车制造商按下电动化转型“暂停键”。

  梅赛德斯-奔驰宣布调整电动化转型计划,将原定于2025年实现的“电动车销量占比达50%”目标推迟至2030年完成,并放缓了“2030年全面电动化”的目标,承诺未来十年将继续更新内燃机汽车产品;

  苹果公司宣布关停推进十年之久的电动车项目“泰坦计划”;

  大众汽车官方宣布,无限期推迟旗舰电动轿车ID.7在北美市场的上市计划;

  福特汽车年初宣布关停所有电动车生产线,通用汽车则推迟了新工厂的开设计划,两家均表示,由于市场需求不及预期和企业利润下滑,将推迟部分电动汽车产业相关投资计划。

电动化转型倒退 美汽车市场在发生什么

  电动化转型的倒退,正在影响着美国汽车市场的产品规划、转型方向、平台开发以及产品营销等方面。

  美国银行证券(BofA Securities)的分析报告显示,汽车制造商的产品规划部门受困于汽车产品动力总成的决策问题,因为关于为未来汽车提供何种动力的决策比以往任何时候都更不明确。“这里的动力总成难题确实导致了我们从未见过的产品规划问题”,美银证券高级汽车分析师约翰·墨菲(John Murphy)表示。

  通用汽车首席执行官玛丽·巴拉(Mary Barra)近期对公司的电动汽车转型预期进行了调整,将继续推出包括传统燃油车、纯电动汽车等多样化汽车产品,公司对替代燃料汽车(电动汽车、混动动力汽车、燃料电池汽车等)增长的信心正在减弱。事实上,除了特斯拉、Lucid和Rivian等全电动公司之外,传统燃油车正在重新受到整个行业的喜爱。

电动化转型倒退 美汽车市场在发生什么

  通用汽车原本预计,未来几年替代燃料汽车的新车型数量将占新车发布总量的64%,但目前,该公司将这一目标下调至60%。汽车分析师Murphy认为,从64%下降到60%,虽然只有4%的差距,但这实际上意味着燃油车的生命延续,以及整个行业向燃油车的重大转变。

  Murphy表示,虽然汽车制造商有很多关于混合动力汽车的讨论,但更多的是讨论而非实际行动。分析报告显示,新的替代动力总成汽车产品的数量将从2025年的36种增加到2027 年的58种,但在2028年回落到54种。

  燃油车“重获新生”的原因在于,它们能为汽车制造商赚钱,尤其是大型皮卡、高端SUV和跨界车等,通过这些燃油车赚到的钱,可以用于未来其他替代动力总成产品的开发。所以当混乱或不确定性占主导地位时,花点时间退回到舒适区,同时仍然为未来做计划,也不失一种处理方法。

电动化转型倒退 美汽车市场在发生什么

  美国一些汽车制造商现在可能正在做的是,“回到他们的舒适区,发挥他们的优势”。已经可以看到通用、福特和Stellantis正在重新专注于卡车、跨界车,而日本和韩国车企也在关注小型、大型汽车平台以及跨界车的平台。

  同时,随着电动汽车市场前景不明朗,汽车制造商正在“放弃”专用的电动汽车平台。

  AutoForecast Solutions全球车辆预测副总裁Sam Fiorani认为,在未来10到15年内,燃油车将继续占据主导地位,汽车制造商需要的是拥有更大自由度和灵活度的生产平台,如果将平台和工厂专用于一种动力总成将会占用大量成本,且在需要转移动力传动系统时,单一的平台将无法发挥作用。

  例如,Stellantis的STLA平台拥有传统内燃机基础架构,但实际上也可以适应混合动力、插电式混合动力和汽油发动机;而特斯拉也计划推出下一代“平台”,能够容纳其所有车型,以进一步降低生产成本。

电动化转型倒退 美汽车市场在发生什么

  另外,拥有独立电动汽车营销渠道的主要汽车制造商,如梅赛德斯-奔驰的EQ、宝马的i系列和丰田的BZ,正在调整、放弃这些子品牌,选择将电动汽车命名纳入到与传统车型相同的子品牌中。此举一来可以减少营销费用,降低购车成本,二来可以将电动汽车版本的销量并入燃油车版本总销量中,让账面“更好看”。

  不过,需要提出的是,目前中国电动汽车产业正在迅猛发展,极大地加剧了欧美车企对未来全球汽车势力格局演变的担忧。智能电动化技术是汽车产业发展的大势所趋,如果欧美车企此时“半途而废”,中国车企则继续不断在电动化赛道迈进,未来的局面或将会更加被动。

  虽然未来的汽车行业拥有各种燃料/动力总成组合,但看起来更像是马赛克,更多样也更复杂。但对于跨国车企来说,“既要又要”在电动化时代恐怕很难两全。


European and American car manufacturers have pressed the "pause button" for electrification transformation.

Mercedes Benz announced an adjustment to its electrification transformation plan, postponing the target of "50% sales of electric vehicles" originally scheduled for 2025 to be achieved by 2030, and slowing down the goal of "comprehensive electrification by 2030," promising to continue updating internal combustion engine automotive products in the next decade;

Apple announces the shutdown of its ten-year long electric vehicle project, the Titan Project;

Volkswagen officially announced an indefinite delay in the launch plan of its flagship electric sedan ID. 7 in the North American market;

Ford announced the shutdown of all electric vehicle production lines at the beginning of the year, while General Motors postponed plans to open new factories. Both companies stated that due to lower than expected market demand and declining corporate profits, they will postpone some investment plans related to the electric vehicle industry.
What is happening in the US automotive market due to the regression of electrification transformation

The regression of electrification transformation is affecting product planning, transformation direction, platform development, and product marketing in the US automotive market.

The analysis report from Bank of America Securities shows that the product planning departments of automakers are struggling with decision-making issues regarding automotive product powertrains, as decisions about what kind of power to provide for future cars are clearer than ever before. "The powertrain challenges here have indeed led to product planning issues we have never seen before," said John Murphy, senior automotive analyst at Bank of America Securities.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra has recently adjusted her expectations for the company's electric vehicle transformation and will continue to launch diversified automotive products including traditional fuel vehicles and pure electric vehicles. The company's confidence in the growth of alternative fuel vehicles (electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, etc.) is weakening. In fact, apart from all electric companies such as Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian, traditional fuel vehicles are regaining the favor of the entire industry.
What is happening in the US automotive market due to the regression of electrification transformation

General Motors originally expected that the number of new models of alternative fuel vehicles would account for 64% of the total new car releases in the coming years, but currently, the company has lowered this target to 60%. Automotive analyst Murphy believes that the decrease from 64% to 60%, although only a 4% gap, actually means the continuation of the life of gasoline powered cars and a significant shift in the entire industry towards gasoline powered cars.

Murphy stated that although there is a lot of discussion among car manufacturers about hybrid vehicles, it is more about discussion rather than actual action. The analysis report shows that the number of new alternative powertrain vehicle products will increase from 36 in 2025 to 58 in 2027, but will fall back to 54 in 2028.

The reason for the revival of fuel powered vehicles is that they can make money for car manufacturers, especially large pickup trucks, high-end SUVs, and crossover cars. The money earned from these fuel powered vehicles can be used for the development of other alternative powertrain products in the future. So when chaos or uncertainty dominates, taking some time to retreat to the comfort zone while still planning for the future is also a way to deal with it.
What is happening in the US automotive market due to the regression of electrification transformation

What some American car manufacturers may be doing now is to "return to their comfort zone and leverage their strengths.". It can already be seen that General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis are refocusing on trucks and crossover vehicles, while Japanese and Korean car companies are also focusing on small and large car platforms as well as crossover vehicle platforms.

Meanwhile, with the uncertain prospects of the electric vehicle market, car manufacturers are abandoning dedicated electric vehicle platforms.

Sam Fiorani, Vice President of Global Vehicle Forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, believes that in the next 10 to 15 years, gasoline vehicles will continue to dominate, and car manufacturers need production platforms with greater freedom and flexibility. If the platform and factory are dedicated to one powertrain, it will consume a lot of costs, and a single platform will not be able to function when the powertrain system needs to be transferred.

For example, Stellantis' STLA platform has a traditional internal combustion engine infrastructure, but in reality, it can also adapt to hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and gasoline engines; Tesla also plans to launch the next generation "platform" that can accommodate all of its models to further reduce production costs.
What is happening in the US automotive market due to the regression of electrification transformation

In addition, major car manufacturers with independent marketing channels for electric vehicles, such as Mercedes Benz's EQ, BMW's i-series, and Toyota's BZ, are adjusting and abandoning these sub brands, choosing to include electric vehicles in the same sub brands as traditional models. This can reduce marketing expenses, lower car purchase costs, and also incorporate the sales of electric vehicle versions into the total sales of gasoline vehicle versions, making the book "better looking".

However, it should be pointed out that the current rapid development of China's electric vehicle industry has greatly intensified the concerns of European and American car companies about the future evolution of the global automotive power landscape. Intelligent electrification technology is the trend of the development of the automotive industry. If European and American car companies give up halfway at this time, Chinese car companies will continue to move forward in the electrification track, and the future situation may become even more passive.

Although the future automotive industry has various fuel/powertrain combinations, it looks more like a mosaic, more diverse, and more complex. But for multinational car companies, it may be difficult to achieve both in the era of electrification.