China RV market analysis



Since the first independent intellectual property RV came off the production line in 2001, the RV has nearly 20 years of development history in China. Today, the "radical" evolution of the Chinese RV market has finally begun: sales increased by 74% from January to November 2021, and the growth rate in November still reached 48%.

A large number of RV manufacturers have emerged, and the number of RV camps has grown rapidly. Although China's RV market is developing rapidly, consumers are relatively unfamiliar with RV products and the awareness of RV camping is not strong, which is still the bottleneck of future growth. Therefore, increasing the exposure of RV products, providing consumers with more test driving and experience opportunities, and gradually improving the supporting facilities and related services of RV travel will be the core driving force for sustainable growth of the RV market.

In 2020, China's bicycle RV market showed a low trend after a high trend, the downturn in the first half of the year showed a low growth pressure, and the second half of the year gradually picked up. The impact of the pandemic on long-distance and overseas travel will remain extremely large in 2021, and the RV market will show good growth.

1, the overall size of the RV market

China's RV market has grown rapidly in recent years, from 5,000 units in 2017 to 7,374 units in 2018, an increase of 62%. In 2019, it increased to 9,177 units, an increase of 24%. In 2020, the domestic passenger cars affected by the epidemic are relatively depressed, and the imported passenger cars are also significantly reduced.

From January to November this year, the RV market reached the level of 11,465 units, an increase of 47%, reflecting the rapid recovery of consumption in the RV market after the epidemic.

Due to the complexity of the multi-point distribution of the epidemic, the car market sales are relatively structural growth, and the RV performance is outstanding.

The seasonal law of China's RV market is obvious, the spring and summer RV purchase demand is strong, and there is still a wave of demand at the end of the year, and the overall performance of the RV market is volatile.

This year's June-November RV sales performance is strong, becoming a bright spot in the growth of the car market, especially in October-November RV performance is still strong.

2. Product analysis of RV market

The product structure of China's RV market is quite different from the United States, Canada, Australia and other developed countries, in these countries, trailer RV often accounts for about 90% of the total sales of RV, which is mainly caused by the high penetration rate of towed models in these countries, sufficient parking space, and the trailer RV itself is affordable and more flexible.

• The penetration rate of towed models is higher: Usually, towed motorhomes need SUVs and pickup trucks with displacement of 2.0T and above. Due to the high number of car owners in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries, the car market is more mature, so the popularity rate of SUVs and pickups that can be towed is also relatively high, and the daily use of trailers is less hindered.

• Large area, sparse, sufficient parking space: in most cases, owners do not need to worry about the parking problem of trailer trailers and tractors.

• Trailer RV affordable, high flexibility: from the point of view of the product itself, due to the lack of power system, the price of trailer RV is 30% to 50% lower than the price of self-propelled RV of the same size on average, and the internal space is more spacious and flexible, high practicality. Therefore, in the case of having a tractor that meets the requirements and has sufficient parking space, consumers usually choose the more affordable and more powerful trailer RV.

From the data to see the Chinese market situation, from the existing product types, in the short term, China's RV models will still be self-propelled, of which C-type RV will still occupy a dominant position.

From the point of view of consumer demand, it is difficult to drag the road, the fine policy is inconsistent, and it is difficult to drag the RV around the world. Therefore, to see more C-type motorhomes equipped with "forehead beds" on the road will become the most mainstream model on the road in the next 3-5 years.

Due to the influence of driver's license, the average user chooses the RV below 6 meters to achieve better driving safety and the versatility of the driver's license.

4, RV enterprise product analysis

The B-type RV represented by Datong and Quanshun and the C-type RV made by the second-type chassis represented by Iveco. At present, the products of the RV market are mainly Jiangsu enterprises, Nanqi IVeco and SAIC Maxus are the main enterprises; Jiangling's RV products are also relatively rich and develop rapidly.

Foton Motor and the Great Wall pickup truck hostel products have also been launched. At present, the market size is small, and the pickup truck represented by the Great Wall still has room for development as the RV market, and the A-type RV, large trucks and non-well-known chassis as the carrier of the RV will not have too much sales in the short term.

Driving qualification is a major decision indicator for manufacturers to manufacture products, so light trucks below 6 meters are the main products, and enterprises are also more of these. The analysis of a class of chassis products shows that enterprises are more favored by low-threshold products, indicating the common disease of the domestic manufacturing industry, low-threshold products are easier to imitate manufacturing, and products with serious homogenization have entered the stage of price competition. Due to the uneven quality of various products, the reputation and brand of RV products will gradually differentiate, the product direction of various types of enterprises will gradually become clear, and enterprises that adhere to quality and cost-effective will win, and some enterprises will gradually be eliminated.

5. Regional market characteristics

The current regional characteristics of the development of the industry are more obvious. Jiangsu is the main sales region, followed by Shandong, Zhejiang, Liaoning and other regions. This year, the Guangdong passenger car market fell quickly.

With the development of the new coronavirus epidemic, because it is not possible to travel abroad in the short term, domestic short-distance road trips are actually a new choice for many high-end groups, and it is also a good pull for the RV market, and the domestic road trip market has become a main RV market. Therefore, motorhomes are also favored.

With the high growth of the market, some RV companies have also begun to choose new market opportunities here, therefore, the RV market in the next period of time to show a faster new round of growth.