Sina Auto Releases 2021 New Energy White Paper, Highlighting User Perception Strategies and the "True Fragrance" Phenomenon

Looking back at the historic year of 2020, new-energy vehicles bucked the trend and rebounded strongly, thanks to supportive government policies. Recently unveiled, the "New-Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan" outlines a comprehensive roadmap for China's industry over the next 15 years, emphasizing the coordinated advancement of electrification, intelligentization, and connectivity. This initiative is not only reshaping China's automotive landscape but also injecting fresh momentum into global industrial development. Indeed, the automotive sector is rapidly converging with other key areas such as energy, transportation, information, and communications. Driving forward the development of new-energy vehicles has become an essential path for China to transition from being a major automotive player to a true automotive powerhouse.
On January 7, 2021, the Sina Auto 2021 New Energy White Paper Forum and the Launching Ceremony of the New Energy Big-Tech Alliance were held in Haikou. During the forum, Sina Auto unveiled the "2020 New Energy Passenger Vehicle Market Sentiment White Paper," and jointly launched the New Energy Big-Tech Alliance with the Weibo platform, aiming to fully empower influential opinion leaders in the new energy sector on Weibo. Government officials and industry experts provided comprehensive analyses of the latest trends in the new energy vehicle industry at this year's summit, while senior executives from automakers shared their insights on industry developments from a corporate perspective.
Finally, through Sina Auto's radar system, a statistical analysis was conducted on key metrics such as mentions, interactions, and readership of new-energy vehicles across three major platforms in 2020, leading to the selection of several prestigious awards for 2020, including the Sina Auto Most Anticipated Award, the Most Popular New-Energy Vehicle Award, and the Most Popular Brand Award. At the salon event, Chai Zhanxiang, Assistant Chairman of the Automotive Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, stated: "On one hand, Chinese consumers' demand for automobiles has yet to reach its peak—China remains the world's largest new-car sales market, with the overall market continuing to evolve through ongoing segmentation and deeper penetration into lower-tier segments. On the other hand, in first- and second-tier markets that are already aligning with those of developed nations, acceptance of new-energy vehicles is steadily increasing. Thanks to the arrival of new-energy vehicles, China's automotive market, despite being widely perceived as 'saturated,' continues to demonstrate remarkable vitality and sustained growth."
As the host of the 2021 (3rd) Haikou International New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle Exhibition, Xu Tao, Director of the New Energy Vehicle Development and Supervision Division at Hainan Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, stated: "2020 marked the concluding year of the first phase of Hainan's Clean Energy Development Plan. We have continuously intensified efforts to promote new energy vehicles, implementing unconventional measures to address the impact of the pandemic. At the provincial level, we have successively introduced temporary measures to boost automobile consumption in Hainan Province, along with other consumer-encouraging initiatives, all aimed at fostering policies supporting new energy vehicles. Additionally, we have organized and launched the 'New Energy Vehicles to Rural Areas' campaign, while actively advancing the construction of charging infrastructure. These concerted efforts have steadily optimized the overall environment for new energy vehicles, significantly enhancing both consumer adoption and market growth."
Additionally, Chen Yao, the editor-in-chief of Sina Auto, presented the 2020 New Energy Passenger Vehicle Market Public Opinion White Paper at this year's forum, offering insightful analysis on the current state and progress of public sentiment in the new energy passenger vehicle market.

In the 2020 New Energy Passenger Vehicle Market Public Opinion White Paper, we can see that the new energy vehicle market has clearly rebounded, with city cars emerging as the best-selling segment. Meanwhile, the share of B-segment vehicles is on the rise, and the pure electric vehicle market is primarily concentrated in the 100,000-150,000 yuan price range. Additionally, the new energy car market is increasingly expanding into third- and fourth-tier cities, while charging infrastructure continues to be a hot topic.
The next two years will be a critical period for China’s new-energy passenger vehicle industry, marking the transition from policy-driven growth to market-led development. This shift signals that the industry is on the cusp of entering a highly market-oriented, differentiated-development era—what could be dubbed the "2.0 phase." At the same time, automakers in this sector are poised to see an even more pronounced polarization trend. Due to the unique technological characteristics of new-energy vehicles, particularly electric cars, vehicle development has become increasingly agile and characterized by rapid iteration. Moreover, with growing investor interest over the past couple of years, both established and emerging automakers have introduced a remarkably diverse range of products to the market. As a result, the performance of these offerings in the marketplace has also begun to show clear signs of polarization. Meanwhile, consumers’ preferences and demands for new-energy vehicles are evolving at an even faster pace compared to those for traditional gasoline-powered cars.
For automakers and industry professionals, in this period brimming with both opportunities and uncertainties, it is particularly crucial to grasp and accurately anticipate consumer trends as well as listen closely to the voice of the consumer. We hope that through sharing insights from this report, we can help stakeholders across the new-energy vehicle sector more clearly identify emerging trends and chart a clearer path forward as they continue their ongoing exploration. Ultimately, we aspire for China’s new-energy vehicle industry to thrive even further.
For automotive companies, figuring out how to leverage new media communication methods for marketing has always been a central challenge—not only in winning consumers' favor and ultimately influencing their purchasing decisions, but also in shaping brand perception in the digital age. During the roundtable discussion of the salon titled "Content Seeding and the 'True Fragrance' Principle," prominent new-energy vehicle influencers and industry leaders engaged in an insightful, internet-minded dialogue about the growing integration of digital strategies into the EV sector. All participants agreed that modern-day marketing extends far beyond just the product itself; instead, it now hinges on mastering user engagement throughout the entire customer journey—whether by established players or newcomers. Ultimately, this evolution can be summed up as "seeding" positive perceptions in consumers' minds and embracing the irresistible allure of the "True Fragrance" phenomenon.

Xiao Yong, Deputy General Manager of GAC Aion New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., mentioned the term "real car owners," emphasizing the importance of cultivating a fan culture. He noted that even if users aren't yet official owners, they should first engage deeply within the brand's app—helping to amplify brand awareness and drive organic growth through word-of-mouth. Meanwhile, Sui Quanhui, Deputy General Manager of Changan New Energy Marketing Service Center, highlighted the need to leverage Weibo's unique approach by consistently maintaining engaging topics and encouraging active user participation. He stressed that manufacturers must foster positive interactions with their fans, while also encouraging influential figures (KOLs) to connect directly with users. Ultimately, this strategy aims to help consumers better understand and appreciate the true value that the brand offers.
Ouyang Chen, founder of Electric Planet News, advises automotive industry representatives that each company's brand must maintain authentic communication on social platforms, and executives should actively engage with users—after all, your responses can create a positive impact.
Finally, Sina’s brand-new automotive radar system compiles car-related content from three major information and social media platforms: the Sina News app, Sina.com, and Sina Weibo. After conducting statistical analysis on key metrics—such as mentions, interactions, and readership of new-energy vehicle models across these three platforms in 2020—the system selected the winners for the 2020 Sina Auto Most Anticipated Award, the 2020 Most Popular New-Energy Vehicle Award, and the 2020 Sina Auto Most Popular Brand Award.

Here is the list of winners:

　　2020's Most Anticipated All-Electric Model: Ariya

　　2020's Most Anticipated Concept Car: QX60 Monograph

　　2020's Most Anticipated Electric Platform: E-GMP

　　2020 Most Popular New Energy Vehicle Award: ORA Black Cat, GAC Aion V, Benben E-star National Edition, XPeng P7, Tesla Model 3, Taycan

　　2020 Most Popular Brand Awards: Geely Auto, Haval Brand, GAC Honda, NIO

(Editor: Zhao Chen)

Translated from Sina Auto

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