On November 17th, Ideal Car announced on Weibo that in a short time of 1 hour and 42 minutes, the booking volume of Ideal MEGA exceeded 10000 vehicles!
At the same time, Ideal also announced a more ambitious slogan: "We are confident that Ideal MEGA will become the first choice for families with over 500000 yuan, with sales ranking first regardless of energy or body form
It should be noted that MPV models have always been a niche market in the entire automotive market: in 2022, sedans accounted for the highest proportion of passenger car sales in China, accounting for 49.6%, followed by SUVs, accounting for 45.8%, while MPV sales accounted for only 4.6%.
But the current situation is that new energy vehicle companies are rolling up in this niche market, and in the fourth quarter of 2023, multiple car companies have released MPV new cars.
Ideal entry into the MPV market
Among numerous new power car companies, Ideal Automobile is widely praised for its precise grasp of the segmented market, and its models are often dubbed as "refrigerator, color TV, big sofa" and "nanny god car".
The first car of the Ideal ONE (mid to large SUV, official selling price 338000 yuan) was launched in 2018 and redesigned in 2021. Ideal ONE accurately targets the core needs of home users, winning market recognition through a series of product configurations such as adding programs+6 seats+large space+triple screen, and relying on a single popular model to become one of the new forces of independent brand car manufacturing. In September 2022, the delivery of the Ideal L9, a luxury six seater SUV, began. In November 2022, the delivery of the Ideal L8 for intelligent luxury mid to large SUVs began. In March 2023, the family's five seater flagship SUV, the Ideal L7, began delivery.
On November 17th, data released by Ideal Automobile showed that as of now, the cumulative delivery volume of Ideal Automobile in 2023 has exceeded 300000 units, becoming the first Chinese luxury brand to achieve annual sales of 300000 units. In the past October, the total insurance coverage of the Ideal L series reached 40088 units, including:
The Ideal L9 reaches 12653 units, making it the best-selling model with a price of over 400000 yuan, regardless of energy or body form.
The Ideal L7 has reached 15357 units, making it the best-selling model with a selling price of 300000 to 400000 yuan, regardless of energy or body form.
The ideal L8 reaches 12078 units, ranking first among 300000 to 400000 six seater cars. In addition, in the latest week 46 of 2023 (11.6-11.12), the weekly sales of Ideal Cars reached 10000 units. As of November 12, Ideal Cars had sold 15400 units this month, continuously leading the new forces. In terms of sales of new energy brands in the Chinese market, Ideal Automobile ranks fourth and is the highest ranked luxury brand in China on the list.
And the latest MPV model, Ideal MEGA, almost "blindly ordered" over 10000 vehicles in just one hour and 42 minutes before it was fully released. According to the process of releasing Ideal Automobile, the model was officially released in December this year, showcased in stores in January next year, and user delivery will only begin in late February next year.
It is reported that Ideal MEGA is the first pure electric vehicle of Ideal Automobile, with a price range of no more than 600000 yuan. Equipped with 800V high-voltage platform+5C overcharging technology; Dual motor intelligent four-wheel drive, 0.5 seconds; Full size MPV, comes with numerous features such as extra large space. Officially, MEGA has the world's fastest charging speed, with a charging time of 12 minutes and a range of 500 kilometers.
It is worth noting that the ideal MPV appearance design once sparked a heated discussion among netizens. On October 17th, on the day Ideal Automobile announced its weekly sales, Li Xiang updated the pictures of the company's new MPV MEGA on Weibo and added an article to let netizens guess its wind resistance coefficient.
As soon as the picture was sent out, some netizens jokingly claimed that the exterior design of the new car was suspected of being a "jumping off building model". The main reason for this is that in May this year, a blogger released a video of their own simulated ideal MPV MEGA exterior design, stating that the exterior design of mass-produced cars is basically consistent with its design. In response to this, Li Xiang bluntly stated that if the design is like this, he will take out all the design teams and jump off the building himself.
After Li Xiang revealed the true appearance of this MPV, many netizens believed that there were indeed some similarities, so they jokingly referred to it as the "jumping off a building model".
MPV or New Battlefield for Automobile Enterprises
According to data from Tianfeng Securities, in the fourth quarter of 2023, a total of 5 car companies released MPV models, including Lando Dreamer (pure electric/extended range 2 models), Ideal MEGA, Xiaopeng X9, Great Wall Gaoshan, and Jianghuai Ruifeng RF8.
In the fourth quarter, the proportion of MPVs in new cars was much higher than the current level, reaching 18%.
Shengang Securities pointed out that the high-end MPV market, which was previously monopolized by Buick GL8, Toyota Sena, Honda Odyssey and other models, is attracting more and more new players. High end household MPVs have become a new battlefield for intense competition among car companies such as BYD Tengshi, Geely Krypton, and Ideal. Since 2022, Lantu, Jikron, and Tengshi have successively released high-end MPV products, entering the household market. On October 18th, Wei Pai released its first MPV "Gaoshan". A month later, Volvo will launch its first MPV, followed closely by Ideal and Xiaopeng, with prices ranging from 300000 yuan to over 500000 yuan.
In fact, on November 17th, in addition to the ideal opening of MEGA bookings, Xiaopeng Motors also opened bookings for its first MPV model X9, claiming to be the "world's only standard MPV with active rear wheel steering", priced from 388000 yuan.
Chinese car companies are accelerating the layout of high-end MPV products to help stabilize and improve the MPV market. The latest data from China Automobile Association shows that in the first nine months of 2023, China's MPV sales reached 778000 units, a year-on-year increase of 17.34%. In the top 15 sales ranking of the MPV market from January to September 2023, BYD's Tencent D9 has surpassed the Buick GL8.
The reasons why Chinese car companies are rushing to enter the MPV market are not complex. Shengang Securities stated that in the past, the total size of the MPV market was relatively small, with a focus on commercial use and meeting mid to low end demand, and the penetration rate of new energy was low. Nowadays, the functionality of MPV has expanded from single commercial to household use, and with the shift in demand, new energy is expected to accelerate. Compared to sedans and SUVs, MPV models are larger and more suitable for a smaller audience. However, the demand and aging trend of families with two or three children will bring about a larger market for household MPVs. Each company has adopted corresponding strategies in product positioning, design, and marketing for household users. Compared with traditional MPVs launched by joint venture car companies, Chinese brand MPVs mostly use hybrid or pure electric powertrain, equipped with more comfort and intelligent configurations, with higher cost-effectiveness. New energy MPVs have become a new track in the automotive market.
Analysts point out that the launch of more MPV new products will further expand this market. Compared to the sedan and SUV markets, high-end MPVs have less competition, and the market pattern has not yet been completely stable. There is a possibility of differentiated positioning and pricing, and a new blue ocean is rapidly forming.