As mentioned in the previous part, technical factors will also promote the development of China's automotive aftermarket, and at the level of the industrial chain, auto brands also affect the development of China's automotive aftermarket.
In recent years, thanks to the breakthrough of new energy technology and the significant improvement of Chinese auto consumers' recognition of their own brands, the competition pattern of China's auto market has changed significantly. According to the data, the sales of new energy vehicles continue to rise, and the sales of new energy vehicles in 2024 will increase by 40.7% year-on-year, accounting for 47.2% of the total vehicle sales, nearly half of the country. In 2025, its market share is expected to reach 57%. According to the 2024 annual development report of China's auto market, in 2023, the ranking of independent brands such as Geely, Chery, and Great Wall will rise, while the ranking of joint venture brands such as Volkswagen and SAIC-GM will decline, and only one of the top 10 companies in new energy vehicle sales in the same period will be Tesla. This shows that the competitiveness of China's local auto brands in the market has been further enhanced.
According to the report, there are also differences in the maintenance habits of car owners of different brands. According to the research of the F6 Car Research Institute, from the point of view of the unit price, the unit price of basic maintenance of luxury brands is higher, Porsche, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz are among the top three with a unit price of about 800 yuan, and from the perspective of maintenance habits, Volvo, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other luxury brand owners prefer to maintain in advance.
New energy trends
With the increase in the penetration rate and ownership of new energy vehicles, the scale of China's new energy vehicle aftermarket has shown a rapid growth trend in recent years. According to the data of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, in 2023, the market size of China's new energy vehicle aftermarket industry will reach 867.72 billion yuan, and the compound growth rate in the past four years will be as high as 71.89%.
Chart: China's new energy vehicle maintenance market size and growth rate (unit: 100 million yuan)
The difference between the after-sales service content of new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles
The report pointed out that compared with fuel vehicles, new energy vehicle after-sales service has added charging pile installation, remote upgrades, energy replenishment services and other businesses, in terms of maintenance, new energy vehicle common faults and traditional car common faults are not the same, new energy vehicles less engine system maintenance, but new three electric maintenance.
In addition, the maintenance value of new energy vehicles has decreased significantly compared with traditional vehicles. According to the data of 2024, the average annual maintenance cost of new energy vehicles is 1,877 yuan, while the average annual maintenance cost of traditional fuel vehicles is about 2,635 yuan. This means that the average maintenance cost of new energy vehicles is about 746 yuan lower than that of traditional fuel vehicles. The report points out that the reason for the gap in the average maintenance cost of a single vehicle between fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles is mainly due to the fact that new energy vehicles, especially pure electric vehicles, have relatively simple power systems and do not have complex mechanical components such as internal combustion engines and transmissions, reducing the number of components that need to be replaced or maintained regularly. In addition, electric vehicles use an electric drive system and typically have fewer moving parts, resulting in less wear and tear and a corresponding reduction in the need for repairs. Many NEV manufacturers emphasize preventive maintenance through advanced battery management systems, which can detect and solve problems in advance, avoiding more expensive repair work.
Figure: Comparison of the maintenance value of new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles (unit: yuan)
The trend of intelligence
In recent years, car companies have continued to introduce higher-level autonomous driving functions, such as adaptive cruise control, automatic parking, lane keeping assist, etc., and are moving towards L3 or even higher levels of autonomous driving. Democratize smart driving technology by optimizing algorithms, adopting more cost-effective sensor combinations (e.g., cameras, radars, lidars), and partnering with vendors to reduce costs.
In terms of smart cockpits, the user experience has been continuously enhanced, and most car companies in the market are committed to creating a more interactive and personalized cockpit experience, such as multi-screen interaction, voice assistant, gesture control, etc., to improve user satisfaction and brand loyalty.
There is also a growing trend towards software-defined vehicles, with more and more features being implemented or updated through software, and OTA (over-the-air technology) becoming standard, allowing vehicles to gain new features or performance improvements without changing the hardware.
Internet giants and technology companies have joined the competition for smart cockpits, promoting the development of in-vehicle entertainment, navigation, smart home interconnection and other functions to achieve ecological integration.
The competition between car companies in the field of intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit is becoming increasingly fierce, but it has also promoted the development of the automotive industry in a more intelligent, convenient and service-oriented direction. For consumers, this means a higher quality of products and services. However, car companies also need to find a balance in this process to avoid excessive competition leading to waste of resources.
Related:
Analysis of the 2024 China Automotive Aftermarket Annual Development Report (1)
Analysis of the 2024 China Automotive Aftermarket Annual Development Report (2)
Analysis of the 2024 China Automotive Aftermarket Annual Development Report (3)
