As soon as the news of the price reduction came out, at 10 a.m. on February 20, Wang Yan from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province rushed directly to the store and won a Qin Plus Glory Edition in full. His budget is less than 100,000 yuan, and he didn't consider BYD Qin at all, and he was not very satisfied with a circle of second-hand cars, "120,000 landed joint venture cars, and after seven or eight years of driving, they still sell 40,000 or 50,000."
"80,000 yuan to buy a scooter, what kind of bicycle do you want? ”
BYD cut the "first knife of the new year".
The first shot of the first battle in the car circle in the Year of the Dragon was fired by the industry leader.
On February 19, BYD's two plug-in hybrid models, the Qin Plus Honor Edition and the Destroyer 05 Glory Edition, were launched, with starting prices as low as 7980,000 yuan. Compared with the previous champion version of the model, the two new versions of the model have dropped by 20,000 yuan, accompanied by a new slogan of "electricity is lower than oil".
BYD Qin plus Honor Edition and Destroyer 05 Glory Edition. Figure BYD Auto's official Weibo.
As soon as the news of the price reduction came out, at 10 a.m. on February 20, Wang Yan from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province rushed directly to the store and won a Qin Plus Glory Edition in full. His budget is less than 100,000 yuan, and he didn't consider BYD Qin at all, and he was not very satisfied with a circle of second-hand cars, "120,000 landed joint venture cars, and after seven or eight years of driving, they still sell 40,000 or 50,000." After the glory version of ** came out this time, Wang Yan thought about it, "This (BYD Qin plus entry model) landed 120,000 last year, why not rush?" ”
Sheng Ke, who had been waiting and watching before, also decided to get on the bus directly. He is going to buy a car for commuting in the city, and he has seen the BYD Qin plus champion version before the Chinese New Year, and in two months, ** directly dropped 20,000 yuan, "80,000 yuan to buy a scooter, what kind of bicycle do you need."
The news of the price reduction came quickly and in a hurry. On February 20th, each person visited a number of BYD stores in Beijing, although the advertisement on the large screen has been switched to the glory version, but when the sales were introduced, the ** order was still the champion version. According to the sales explanation, "(the two versions of the car) are actually not much different, and some configurations have been upgraded, such as the power-on and power-on functions and continuous voice dialogue functions. ”
Zhuang Fei, a salesman at a BYD store in Chaoyang District, Beijing, said that after the official announcement of the price cut, he and his colleagues immediately beat the previous intended customers one by one, and the customers who entered the store in the past two days were basically rushing to "7."980,000 Qin" came, and in half a day, he received six waves of people to look at the car, and 20 cars had been sold in less than two days in one of their stores. There are not many cars left, and the pick-up time for different colors is not the same, "the new white glazed blue in the Glory Edition may have to wait a month".
BYD Auto Store. Figure Visual China.
Outside Beijing, Lei Hao, a salesperson of Changsha BYD Dynasty Network, also felt the power of price reduction, "In the past two days of price reduction, the number of ** in the store has increased significantly, '798 (7Qin PLUS DM-i, which is sold from 980,000 yuan, has a good order." On February 20, Lei Hao was busy from opening the door in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon, and then he had time to stop for a bite to eat. The demand came, and the manpower was not enough, and since the resumption of work on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year (February 15), Lei Hao's store has begun to recruit people.
As soon as BYD started work, it directly threw out the "king fried", which made other players at the table unable to calm down.
One word, with! Zhou Yu, deputy general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling brand division, threw out Wuling's brand through social platforms - the price of Wuling Starlight 150km advanced plug-in hybrid sedan dropped by 6,000 yuan, 10The ** of 580,000 yuan is less than 100,000, as long as 9980,000.
Also personally down is Nezha CEO Daniel Zhang, "We also took the initiative to open the volume." Nezha S and Aya all systems dropped by 5,000 yuan and 8,000 yuan respectively, and the main model Nezha X dropped by 220,000 yuan, and the adjusted starting price is 9980,000 yuan, into the bayonet red 100,000 yuan less than 100,000 yuan pure electric SUV field.
A Nezha sales person told everyone Auto that the reason why Nezha can follow up so quickly is because the sales are dismal, and the Nezha S and GT models cannot be sold, and there are plans to reduce prices before. In December 2023, Nezha sold only 5,135 new cars, with a total of 12 deliveries throughout the year750,000 units, a decrease of 16% from 2022. The Nezha employee said, "The OA process (of price reduction) has been gone for a long time, but seeing BYD's price reduction, it has been promoted faster." ”
In addition, Changan Qiyuan has set the starting price of the A05 model at 7890,000 yuan. Although Leapmotor did not immediately announce the price reduction plan, it also sharpened its knives, and threatened on Weibo on the 19th, "Is it over?" Not enough volume at all! "It is announced that in March, Leap will bring all its models together. According to incomplete statistics per auto, as of press time, 5 car companies have followed up with BYD and announced price cuts.
Posters announcing price cuts by various car companies. Figure The official Weibo of each car company.
Despite keeping up with the pace, the effect of the price reduction was not immediate. A Nezha sales person in Zhejiang said that he received a notice of brand price reduction on the evening of February 19, but the next day "no one asked", and it has not been able to fully stimulate the market so far, "after all, it has just begun, and we have to wait."
"Qin Sweep Liuhe", which car companies are the most injured
In the eyes of many industry insiders, it is not surprising that BYD has made a big move to cut prices.
Mei Songlin, a senior analyst in the automotive industry, said that BYD took the initiative to reduce prices for no more than two reasons - first, it quickly expanded its market share through price reductions, and chose to reduce prices in the A-class car (generally referring to compact cars) market segment because "A-class car consumers are sensitive to the best, and consumers will choose whoever is good, unlike the factors considered by users in the high-end market"; Secondly, plug-in hybrid vehicles are also closer to traditional fuel vehicles, and it is not very difficult for consumers to switch from traditional cars to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
In the past 2023, BYD sold more than 3 million vehicles, becoming the global new energy vehicle sales champion and setting a record for the highest annual sales of Chinese cars. BYD expects to achieve a net profit of 29 billion yuan to 31 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 74% over the same period last year46%-86.49%。
Chen Yi, a major customer sales of BYD, believes that Qin Plus, which was first released in 2021, has reached the end of its life, and combined with BYD's sales scale, "the cost of molds, R&D, and production lines has been flattened to a negligible amount." At the same time, brands such as Wuling Xingguang are pressing forward step by step, "BYD simply drops to the bottom and replaces the inventory parts when they are exhausted." According to Chen Yi, in 2024, the BYD Hantang series will each have two facelifts, and the facelifts of BYD Han and Tang will be released next month, adding new intelligent driving functions on the basis of the old models, and the others will almost remain the same, ** will also be reduced to about 160,000.
BYD Tang DM-P. Figure BYD Auto's official Weibo.
In addition to its own financial resources, BYD's confidence in price reduction is also inseparable from the decline in the cost of car manufacturing, first of all, the decline in raw materials. In the new energy era, a considerable part of the total cost of automobiles is the cost of power batteries, and the main raw material of power batteries - battery-grade lithium carbonate has fallen from a maximum of 600,000 tons to less than 100,000 tons, which also creates more room for new energy vehicles to reduce prices.
In March 2023, Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, said that BYD has pricing power in the product ** band of 100,000-200,000 yuan, and the company hopes that the market will be stable, "don't make everyone uncomfortable, and no one else has a way to live."
As a result, BYD's strong attack throughout the year once made friends feel that there was no way out. Now, BYD is directly inserting the bayonet into the "last hinterland" of the joint venture fuel vehicle - the ** belt within 100,000 yuan, obviously, BYD wants to obtain pricing power in more price ranges.
In the context of sufficient production capacity and slowing demand, in order to stabilize growth, it is bound to snatch the cake of others. Li Yunfei, general manager of the brand and public relations department of BYD Group, directly declared war on social **: "BYD plug-in double hero 7From 980,000, this 'double nuclear bomb' thrown into the fuel vehicle market will completely open the decisive battle with fuel vehicles. Some netizens said that the current battle situation is comparable to "Qin Sweep Liuhe", which refers to the joint venture car.
Li Yunfei directly declared war on social **. Figure Li Yunfei Weibo.
According to the data of the Passenger Association, the market share of new energy vehicles in today's A-class car market is only 23%, which is the track with the smallest proportion of new energy among all types of models. In other words, this market is also a track dominated by traditional fuel vehicles.
In 2023, the top three models sold in this market are Sylphy (37.).610,000 units), Lavida (34.).580,000 units) and Qin Plus DM-i (30..)740,000 units), even in the past year, BYD Qin plus price reduction to launch the champion version, but still did not shake the position of Sylphy and Lavida. Now Qin plus continues to enlarge its moves, and the first to be injured must be a brand with a main sales model positioned below 100,000 yuan.
A person from the GAC Research Institute regarded BYD's price cut as a "typical dumping behavior". He believes that the most affected by BYD's price reduction are some brands with a small market share, "if the scale can't go up, the cost can't go down." For some large joint venture car companies, they can still support in the face of the first war, after all, there is still room for price reduction, "but it is not as moisturized as before, and it will not die immediately, but it will be difficult in the long run."
In the face of BYD's strong attack, the joint venture fuel vehicles have also made a counterattack.
On Feb. 20, Beijing Hyundai dealers imitated BYD's poster and shouted the slogan "Oil is stronger than electricity", announcing that the Elantra would be reduced to 7The sales start at 580,000 yuan, a decrease of up to 240,000 yuan. In addition, SAIC-GM's Buick brand has also launched limited-time discounts or replacement subsidies for some models, such as Buick LaCrosse, Valeant Pro, Envision Plus and other models, all of which are discounted by 350,000 to 650,000 yuan, ** to 100,000 to 150,000 yuan.
Beijing Hyundai's dealers imitate BYD's posters. Figure: Beijing Hyundai dealership.
There are also some brands that are waiting to see BYD's next move, and then give corresponding countermeasures.
Cheng Yi, an employee of GAC Aion, said that the current Qin Plus DM-i has not had a great impact on Aion, "we couldn't grab the amount of Qin Plus DM-i", but will continue to observe BYD's next operation, such as whether there are further price reductions for Yuan and Song models, in this regard, Cheng Yi revealed that Aion has also prepared countermeasures.
BYD's price cut announcement is enough to make the entire car circle nervous, and this seems to be just the beginning.
BYD's official trailer shows that its Ocean Network's best-selling model Dolphin will also usher in the Glory Edition on February 23. Some BYD sales said that at that time, the price of the whole series may be reduced to the glory version, which also means that a wider range of ** war is still brewing.
In 2024, there is no most volume, only more volume
In 2023, Weimar, the former leading new car-making force, fell before the finals. As soon as the construction starts in 2024, another new force, Gaohe Automobile, announced the suspension of production, and the prelude to the new energy battle royale in 2024 will begin.
Optimism seems to have become a luxury in the circle. He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xpeng Motors, said in this year's groundbreaking letter that 2024 will usher in more fierce competition, "This year is the first year for Chinese auto brands to enter the 'sea of blood' competition, and it is also the first year for the knockout competition." Almost at the same time, Geely Automobile Group CEO Gan Jiayue also mentioned in the commencement letter that 2024 will be the volume **, volume products, volume services, volume traffic, which will be the "most volume" year.
In June last year, He Xiaopeng said that by 2030, there will be only eight mainstream new energy vehicle companies left. According to statistics, at present, there are 77 car companies in the Chinese market, and as many as 129 passenger car brands. This may mean that market obsolescence will become the norm.
He Xiaopeng. Figure Visual China.
Wang Chuanfu, who pulled the trigger for price reduction this time, judged last year that the industry was in the era of "fast fish eating slow fish, not the era of big fish eating small fish". His point of view is that in the next 3 to 5 years, the auto market as a whole or different market segments will continue to fight, "(car companies) if they don't rush up, there will be no chance."
On February 18, Wang Chuanfu spoke again: "At present, the transformation of the automobile industry has entered the deep water area, and the development of new energy vehicles will only run faster and faster, and will not give us the opportunity to stop, slow down and take a breath." ”
Wang. Figure Visual China.
Judging from the response speed of Nezha, Wuling and other car companies to BYD's price cuts, various car companies are familiar with the first battle, and once the first shot is fired, they will follow the price reduction.
However, Chen Yi is not optimistic about the "following the trend" of various car companies to reduce prices, he believes that Wuling, Nezha, and Qiyuan are all new cars last year, and the sales volume has not yet risen to reduce the price, and the development cost cannot be diluted.
Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Passenger Association, believes that "with the reduction of the cost of lithium carbonate batteries, the reduction of the cost of car manufacturing, and the rapid development of the new energy market, the formation of scale effect, the product has more profit margins", the battle will be more intense in 2024.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher at the Pangu Think Tank, also feels that the war may continue to a certain extent. However, with the gradual maturity of the market and the continuous improvement of consumers' requirements for product quality and service, car companies also need to pay more attention to the improvement of product quality and service, not just competition.
Mei Songlin, a senior analyst in the automotive industry, said that through the cruel war, a number of weak and small car companies will be eliminated, and eventually the winner will be king, and the automotive industry will form a competition pattern of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons or the Warring States Seven Heroes.
In addition to **, Mei Songlin feels that the gunsmoke in 2024 will also permeate the high-end of the brand, overseas markets, and the landing of intelligent driving. "If the upward trend of independent brands in 2023 is 'small lotus only shows sharp corners', then 2024 will be a year to launch a charge against mainstream luxury brand BBA, and in 2024, it will further expand its results, and it is expected to vigorously penetrate Chinese-made intelligent new energy vehicles in mature markets (such as Europe and Japan). ”