In 2023, the "involution" will run through the Chinese auto market almost throughout the year. The most representative ** battle of involution has also been fought from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Entering December, the ** war has been ignited again, and this round of ** war seems to be more intense than in the past.
Perhaps due to the pressure of annual KPIs, it has become an important task for major car companies to launch a sprint to the annual sales target in the last month. With the emergence of price reduction words such as "limited-time discount" and "year-end purchase", the battle of this year-end war has become more and more intense.
According to incomplete statistics, since December, nearly 20 car companies have started price reduction activities. Among them, not only representatives of new forces, but also joint venture brands, and more state-owned car companies have joined the battle. On the whole, the year-end sprint is not lost"Gold Nine Silver Ten"The popularity of the peak consumption season is indirectly driving consumer demand.
Who will be the final winner in this wave of ** war?
The third round of large-scale "** war".
Review the beginning and end of the ** war. At the beginning of this year, the first round of ** war launched by Tesla began, and by the middle of the year, the ** war rose again, and the end of the year was already the third round of large-scale ** war.
Jiyue Automobile.
On November 30, Jiyue 01, which had just been listed and reduced its price, announced a direct drop of 30,000 yuan for the whole system, indicating the start of a new round of ** war. On December 1, Chang'an Deep Blue immediately followed up and announced that the Deep Blue S7 520Pro pure electric version dropped by 10,000 yuan, and the comprehensive discount of superimposed deposit deduction was up to 16,000 yuan. On the other hand, the Roewe D7, which was just launched on November 8, also lowered the starting price from 12580,000 yuan dropped directly to 10980,000.
For brand models that have just been launched and have reduced their prices, seizing the market is the first factor to consider. As for the impact on the brand image, it is no longer insignificant. After all, there is no car that can't be sold, only the ** that is not good enough.
As strong as BYD, it is also hoping to further consolidate its position in this round of ** battle. Following the November promotion, on December 1, BYD announced the price reduction of its Dynasty series main models. Among them, the BYD Qin PLUS DM-i Champion Edition dropped directly to the 80,000 yuan range.
BYD Auto.
In the camp of new forces, Li Auto did not give up the last round of opportunities in December despite completing the annual sales task ahead of schedule. For its models, Li Auto gives a maximum of 360,000 yuan car purchase subsidy, in addition, consumers will also receive a fuel card worth 2,000 yuan.
Among foreign brands, Tesla is constantly jumping between price increases and price reductions. After 4 consecutive price increases in a month, on November 28, the official announcement of the "price reduction benefit", at the end of the year, pick up the model 3 Y, you can enjoy up to 210,000 discounts. Of course, there are also traditional giants Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen ID6 crozz offers a maximum discount of nearly 70,000 yuan;The BMW ix3 has a maximum discount of 17050,000 yuan;Mercedes-Benz EQE also put down the luxury car segment, and the price reduction of some models reached more than 160,000.
Since December, major car companies including BYD, Changan Automobile, Guangzhou Automobile Group, SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Li Auto, Weilai Automobile, Xiaopeng Motors, Nezha Automobile, Leapmotor, etc., have joined the year-end ** war, directly hitting the sentiment of consumers who hold a wait-and-see attitude.
At the end of the year, this battle must be fought
* The purpose of the war is very clear, to promote sales growth with preferential policies, and the more direct explanation is to exchange price for volume. This round of menacing ** war is also bound to lay the groundwork for the continued strength of sales at the end of the year. Obviously, in the face of almost "crazy" discounts and price cuts, coupled with the beautiful meaning of buying a car at the end of the year, consumers' mood has long been provoked.
At the end of the year, another wave of volume is the best explanation for car companies to launch a year-end war. Without the discount of real gold, how can there be tens of thousands of sales data, and how to draw a successful end to the year-end summary?
Today, most car companies have announced their sales in November, and from the cumulative sales from January to November, compared with the sales target set at the beginning of the year, most car companies still have a big gap.
According to the statistics of the annual sales target achievement rate of mainstream new energy vehicle companies, Gasgoo found that among many car companies, only Li Auto completed the annual sales target ahead of schedule. In addition to Li Auto, Geely Group is the closest car company to the target, with a target completion rate of 9309%。BYD is still 32 years away from its annual sales target of 3 million unitsWith a gap of 80,000 units, the final sprint is expected at the end of the year.
In addition, Changan Automobile, Chery Group, and VOYAH Automobile have achieved a target of more than 80%. VOYAH Automotive's annual sales target is 50,000 units, and there is still a sales target of 10,000 units to be achieved in December, and the pressure is not small.
Compared with enterprises with a target completion rate of more than 80%, other new energy vehicle companies are under more pressure. In the camp of new car-making forces, the target completion rate of Leapmotor is 6275%, Xpeng Motors' target completion rate is 6075%, NIO is 5796%, Nezha Automobile's target completion rate is only 4080% …
Whether it is standing on tiptoe to achieve the annual goal, or there is still a long way to go from the goal, the year-end impulse is a link that car companies must participate in after all. ** War has become a battle of life and death, rather than leaving the opportunity to others, it is better to fight hard.
ZEEKR doesn't want to fight ** wars, but it has never been afraid of ** wars. Zhu Ling, vice president of ZEEKR Automobile, pointed out that in the face of the best war, ZEEKR Automobile just endured it, while others were bleeding. According to Zhu Ling's point of view, the first war is "killing a thousand enemies and losing eight hundred" after all, but in the face of fierce competition, the first war is a war that has to be involved.
**Under the war, who has more confidence?
However, the ** war is always a bloody battle, at the expense of profits, in exchange for dazzling sales figures. This war of attrition requires the strong capital of car companies as the backing, as well as considerable cost reduction space as a buffer. However, behind the ** war, there is another situation. Some car companies not only did not burn out their funds, but they became more and more profitable.
BYD has always been one of the main companies in the war, but it has also become one of the most profitable car companies.
BYD's third-quarter financial report shows that the total revenue in the third quarter was 16215.1 billion yuan, net profit of 104$1.3 billion. Roughly estimated, BYD can earn 1. per day in the third quarter1.5 billion yuan. At the same time, BYD sold a total of 82 new cars in the third quarter40,000 units, compared with the profit situation in the third quarter, BYD's single car profit finally exceeded 10,000.
BYD Auto.
On the other side of the lucrative side, BYD is also an important participant in the first war. However, the more fierce the war, the more BYD can make money. Now, BYD can even push down a Qin PLUS DM-i Champion Edition model** to 8980,000 yuan, and there is still a profit to be made.
The automobile industry has always been an industry that pursues scale, and car companies can only achieve breakeven when they reach a certain level of sales. Of course, if you want to ensure profit margins, you also need strong hematopoietic ability and cost control ability behind it, so that profitability can be well reflected.
In response, BYD responded that the company's profitability continued to improve and showed strong resilience by virtue of its continuous improvement of brand power, continuous expansion of scale advantages and strong industrial chain cost control capabilities. According to Wang Dong (pseudonym), a person in the automotive industry, "the scale effect can flatten the cost and make car companies have greater profit margins." In addition, BYD realizes self-development and self-production through vertical integration of the first chain, and the core first plate, "which can reduce the cost of a single vehicle to a minimum." ”
Li Auto announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2023, with quarterly deliveries and financial data both reaching the best in history. Among them, 105108 vehicles were delivered in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 2963%。Quarterly revenue was 346800 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2712%。Operating profit and net profit for the same period were 23400 million yuan and 28100 million yuan, achieving four consecutive quarters of profitability.
Ideal car.
Li Auto is also known as one of the new forces that will control costs the most. Ma Donghui, chief engineer of Li Auto, pointed out that in order to continue to maintain brand competitiveness in China's auto market, it is necessary to first have the ability to maintain stabilitySecondly, it is necessary to meet the needs of more and more user scenarios.
In terms of cost control, in the face of the uncertainty of the automobile market, Li Auto clearly distinguishes the differences between the best modes in order to control costs to the greatest extent. Ma Donghui said, "We divide the first chain into different modules, only do the necessary parts, and choose the self-developed self-made judgment criterion is efficiency, so we have achieved a good balance between upstream costs and risk control." ”
Specifically, for parts that are less different from traditional cars and new energy vehicles, Li Auto favors cooperation with mature first-class businessmenFor the unique core components of new energy vehicles such as motors, Li Auto chooses to build its own factory and cooperate with leading companies. Ma Donghui emphasized.
It can be seen that in addition to the first war, finding new models and establishing new barriers is the confidence for car companies to win the competition. The first war is based on the premise of sacrificing their own profits, in the era of new energy vehicles, who has strong cost control ability and significant scale effect, who can stand in an advantageous position in the first war.
**The battle is in its endContinue the volume in 2024
At this point in the analysis, the logical closed loop of car companies participating in the first war has also emerged. Exchange price for volume, achieve scale, achieve cost reduction with scale effect, and then reduce prices to attract consumers, and continue to achieve large-scale improvement. "Scale-scale-scale reduction--vehicle cost reduction-price reduction-price reduction to attract users-continue to increase scale." Therefore, this also explains the pursuit of scale effect behind the persistence of car companies in their annual target values.
Yu Jingmin, general manager of SAIC Volkswagen, has elaborated that among the joint venture brands, SAIC Volkswagen IDThe series is very competitive, and although it is still in a loss-making state, it will eventually cross the break-even line as sales increase. In addition, SAIC Volkswagen continues to make money in the fuel vehicle sector and can provide support for the new energy sector, which is also SAIC Volkswagen IDThe series dares to participate in the first battle and maintain the reason for preferential policies.
Gasgoo car shooting.
If you don't get off the table, keep fighting. **In the trend of 2024, "involution" will continue to be the keyword. Fu Yuwu, honorary chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, said that this year's car market is a volume, and next year will be more volume, with a high degree of homogenization of products, coupled with weak domestic demand, the competition will be very fierce next year.
However, the war continues, and the automobile market pattern is bound to diverge in the involution. Some car companies are facing layers of pressure in the first war, such as Tesla's profit margin, which has been affected to a certain extent. Some companies are benefiting from the first war, and BYD and Ideal are becoming more and more profitable. There are also car companies that are stretched thin in the first war and are always in a state of loss, of course, there will be companies that walk off the table and are eventually eliminated.
As Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, said, the three-year elimination competition for smart electric vehicles has begun and will last from 2023 to 2025.