BEIJING, April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2015 when the global automobile industry went through a downturn period, China, however, had become the biggest single market for 7 years in a row. According to Chinese official data, the manufacturing and sales number in 2015 reached 24.5033 million and 24.5976 million, setting a new global historical record.
Despite some decline in Chinese market growth in 2015 compared to the last few years, the general sales number is still steadily increasing. Among all these data, the market share of Chinese domestic auto brands achieved a notable growth, which makes itself the only department to make it. With their excellent performance in the segment market of SUV, Chinese domestic brands sold more than 8.7376 million passenger cars, making an increase of 15.3% year-on-year. A market share of more than 40% makes it strong enough to stand with foreign auto brands as equals.
The unique performance of Chinese brands benefits much from the support of the government. Made in China 2025, released last May and often quoted as "the guideline to Chinese governmental manufacturing strategy's first decade", clearly mentions that the support for domestic brand development is to be enhanced.
Meanwhile, topics such as "where the automobile industry is going to head during its adjustment period of structure", "how domestic brands are going to develop", as well as "how they are going to step out to the world", are among the significant issues during the two meetings of National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference this year.
Apparently, under the guidance of policies, Hongqi, GreatWall, DongFeng, Geely and the other Chinese brands will, march further and maybe even play an important role in overseas market.
Amongst them all, the one worth special attention is China's premium auto brand Hongqi. Born in 1958, it is a household name possessing an irreplaceable status. According to Chinese media, in recent years the brand is trying to break the ice by committing its "Hongqi Revival" plan. Also at the upcoming Auto China 2016 in April, Hongqi is said to bring H7 Hybrid and L5 while also premiering several conceptual models that will be ready for mass production in 2 years. The series of movements are read as that Hongqi, which takes the burden of Chinese local industry' prosperity, are thriving to push Chinese auto brands' new wave to a higher level.
To sum up, the European and American auto brands will have to be confronted with a great challenge. The once-likely "Chinese auto brands threat theory" might come into reality in two or three years in the future. As Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, was worried about, it is about time the probabilities of Chinese automobile stretching overseas were considered. Even if China only distributes 10% of its manufacturing for exports, we would also have to bear considerable risks in the local market. For all the foreign brands who are involved in Chinese market, the acceleration of technology and product input seems specially inevitable and significant, because the Chinese and foreign auto brands have been ahead of time.
