Recently, Jike Motors launched the all-new Jike 009, which is available in three versions: a two wheel drive seven seater aisle version, a four-wheel drive seven seater aisle version, and a four-wheel drive six seater executive version, with a price range of 439000 to 469000 yuan. Overall, against the backdrop of increasing market competition pressure, the all-new Jike 009 has increased its price and reduced its starting price by 60000 yuan compared to the old model's starting price of 499000 yuan.
At the same time, the new Jike 009 has also launched a right-hand drive version for Hong Kong and some countries and regions around the world. The Jike 009 in the Hong Kong market starts at HKD 755000 (approximately RMB 700000) after enjoying a one for one subsidy.
Regarding the significant price difference in different markets, An Conghui, CEO of Jike Intelligent Technology, stated in a media interview that Jike's pricing in different markets takes into account product costs, logistics, tariffs, and local conditions. Hong Kong itself has a relatively high cost of owning a car, such as the Toyota Alphard priced at around 760000 yuan in Hong Kong, so Jike 009's current pricing is reasonable.
In June of this year, it was reported that Jike is currently working on an extended range vehicle project and will launch the 009 extended range version. Regarding the rumors of entering the extended range car market, Jike has previously denied them. But recently, An Conghui mentioned for the first time that Jike Motors does not rule out the possibility of developing extended range hybrid cars in the future, which is too easy for Jike, but currently focuses on the pure electric market.
In the past two years, there has been a sudden change in the direction of China's new energy vehicle market. Although the pure electric market remains the largest segment of the new energy market, the growth rate of the plug-in hybrid market, including range extender, has far exceeded that of pure electric. In 2023, the sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles reached 2.804 million units, a year-on-year increase of 84.7%. As a comparison, the sales of pure electric vehicles that year were 6.685 million units, a year-on-year growth rate of 24.6%. In June of this year, against the backdrop of a year-on-year growth rate of 15.8% in pure electric vehicle sales, plug-in hybrid vehicle sales reached a year-on-year growth rate of nearly 70%.
Based on this market background, Ideal and Wanjie are like fish in water, and many pure electric brands have also turned to the extended range market, such as Zero Run and Nezha. Additionally, it is reported that Avita, Zhiji, and Xiaomi are currently planning extended range vehicles. According to market news, Xiaomi's third planned car is an extended range SUV model, mainly for household use, which will be launched in 2026.
The market trend of extended range/plug-in hybrid is more prominent in the MPV field. In the first half of this year, the top ten MPVs in terms of cumulative sales were all gasoline or plug-in hybrid vehicles; The best-selling pure electric MPV is the Xiaopeng X9, with an average monthly sales of only 2190 units. Although Jike won the Chinese brand pure electric sales championship of over 200000 yuan in the first half of 2024, the average monthly sales of Jike, which follows the pure electric route, are still less than 500 vehicles in 2009.
Many industry insiders believe that there are still significant market opportunities in the plug-in hybrid/extended range market in the short term, while the growth rate of the pure electric market has significantly slowed down. Li Xueyong, Deputy General Manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., General Manager of Chery Automobile Marketing Company, and General Manager of Jetour Automobile, once stated in an interview with First Financial News that in the next 2-3 years, the Chinese market will form a 4:3:3 market share pattern, with 40% being hybrid, 30% being pure electric, and 30% being fuel.