Reporter Fang Chao and Quartz Jing reported from Shanghai.
One word, with! At 13:21 on February 19, Zhou Yu, deputy general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Brand Division, released the above information on personal social **, and a picture released by Zhou Yu showed, "Wuling Starlight 150km Advanced Edition Glory Price 9."980,000 yuan", a price reduction of 6,000 yuan compared with before.
The reporter of China Business News noticed that behind the rapid release of the price reduction information of star models by SAIC-GM-Wuling, BYD has taken the lead in the morning of February 19 to start the "first shot" of the new energy vehicle war in the Year of the Dragon, announcing the launch of the glory version of the two models of Qin plus and destroyer 05, and pulling the plug-in hybrid model ** into the 70,000 yuan range for the first time.
The new round of ** war in the car market can be described as "hot and hot". According to the reporter's incomplete statistics, after BYD's official announcement of the price cut, six car companies, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Changan Qiyuan, Nezha Automobile, Beijing Hyundai, and Buick Automobile, followed up and announced the price reduction information of relevant models, officially opening the curtain of the 2024 auto market.
Not reducing prices** may not win the favor and recognition of consumers, because the buying habits of Chinese consumers are to buy up rather than down. Zhang Hong, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, also told reporters that how car companies can make profits while achieving scale is "an urgent problem."
The competition of electric vehicles is the embodiment of full market competition in the field of new technologies, the gospel of consumers, and the competitive weapon of China's electric vehicles to the world. Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Passenger Association, said recently, "In the rapid growth in the next few years, 2024 is a critical year for new energy vehicle companies to gain a firm foothold, and the competition is destined to be very fierce." ”
Lift the curtain of "electricity is lower than oil".
At 9 o'clock in the morning on February 19th, BYD shouted the slogan "electricity is lower than oil" on the official Weibo, and launched the Qin PLUS destroyer 05 Glory Edition model, among them, the Qin PLUS Glory Edition DM-i version 5 models, the official guide price is 7980,000 yuan—12580,000 yuan, which means that BYD's plug-in hybrid model has entered the 70,000 yuan range for the first time.
On February 19, it announced that the starting price of its Wuling Starlight 150km advanced plug-in hybrid sedan was reduced to 9980,000 yuan, while the original price of the model was 10580,000 yuan, that is, a one-time price reduction of 6,000 yuan.
Not only BYD and SAIC-GM-Wuling, but also on February 19, Changan Qiyuan announced that the price of its Qiyuan A05 dropped to 7Starting from 890,000 yuan, the official guide price of the model is 8From 990,000 yuan. Not only that, Nezha Automobile also announced price reductions for a number of main models on February 19, such as Nezha X price reduction 2 for all models20,000 yuan, the price of Nezha Aya is reduced by 8,000 yuan, and the price of Nezha S is reduced by 5,000 yuan.
We also took the initiative to open the book. On February 19, Daniel Zhang, CEO of Nezha Automobile, revealed in his personal social ** that Nezha Automobile's "four old models continue to increase sales, and two new cars will soon start promotion."
Interestingly, after new energy brands such as Nezha Automobile and BYD announced price cuts, many fuel vehicle brands also quickly followed up, pushing the industry's first-class war to a white-hot state.
On February 19, the poster of the official price reduction of Beijing Hyundai Elantra models was circulated on the Internet**, and the above models were the lowest**7Starting at 580,000 yuan, relevant information shows that the original price of the Elantra model is 9980,000 yuan, that is, the price reduction is more than 20,000 yuan, however, according to reports, the relevant person in charge of Beijing Hyundai has since responded to the outside world that the price reduction of the above models is not an official activity.
Buick also announced on February 19 that it will launch price reductions or replacement subsidies for some of its models for a limited time, among them, the new generation of Buick LaCrosse, Valeant Pro, and Envision Plus will provide 350,000 yuan, 550,000 yuan, 650,000 yuan bicycle discount and replacement subsidy.
The reporter noticed that after February 19, there are still many car companies announcing price reduction information, such as on February 20, Geely Automobile's Emgrand L-HIP Longteng version was listed, it is reported that a total of two models were launched, and the prices were 8980,000 yuan and 9980,000 yuan, of which the price of the entry-level version of the new car was reduced by 20,000 yuan.
On February 19, the BYD Qin plus Glory Edition and the Destroyer 05 Glory Edition were officially launched, 7Minimum sale at 980,000 yuan. On the same day, Wuling Starlight, Nezha X, Changan Qiyuan A05, etc. followed up with price reductions, with a decrease of 050,000 yuan—220,000 yuan," the Federal Reserve ** research report said, "It is expected that other car companies may follow." ”
Decisive battle in the A-segment car market
The price of raw materials for power batteries has been greatly reduced, giving room for electric vehicles to reduce prices. Zhang Hong told reporters. Cui Dongshu also believes a few days ago: "The cost of electric vehicle batteries accounts for about 40% of the cost of the whole vehicle, and the first two years of lithium carbonate soared to nearly 600,000 tons and then gradually declined, and recently ** to below 100,000 yuan, creating space for the decline of the overall cost." ”
Not only that, Zhang Hong also believes that the product lines of various car companies are becoming more and more abundant, and many car companies have developed 3-5 different levels of electric vehicles within a year and introduced them to the market. ”
Sohu Auto data also shows that in 2023, a total of 742 new cars will be launched in China, a further increase compared with 2022. Among the 742 new cars on the market, there are 655 facelifted products, accounting for 8827%, and 87 new models, accounting for 1173%。
Zhang Hong further told reporters that in January this year, only BYD and Tesla took the lead in cutting prices, and most car companies took a wait-and-see attitude, "Since February, more car companies have chosen to join the ranks of price cuts." ”
In addition to factors such as the decline in power battery raw materials, the increase in models, and fierce competition, further combing the information on the models that have been officially announced in recent days can be found that behind the most advanced means of warfare, the real intention is to compete for the A-class car market.
In the eyes of industry insiders, whether it is as low as 70,000 yuan Qin PLUS Glory Edition DM-i version, Changan Qiyuan A05, or Wuling Starlight 150km advanced plug-in hybrid sedan that has entered the 100,000 yuan range, many car companies have recently set off a ** war model range of less than 100,000 yuan, and this belongs to the traditional advantage market of joint venture brand A-class fuel vehicles, such as Nissan Sylphy, Volkswagen Lavida and other joint venture brands are quite popular with consumers.
Not only that, the A-class car market space has reached millions of units, which is one of the largest segments in the automotive industry, and the data of the Passenger Association shows that although the market size of the A-class car will drop to 4.75 million units in 2023, it will still account for 46% of the entire car market share.
Outstanding plug-in hybrid models in terms of car purchase cost and use cost, the industry's best will form a strong substitution effect for traditional joint venture A-class fuel models, not only plug-in hybrid models, Zhang Hong said: "The relationship between fuel vehicles and electric vehicles is no longer a competitive relationship of coexistence and co-prosperity, but is evolving towards the competitive relationship between one and the other, that is, selling more electric vehicles, will sell less fuel vehicles." ”
Industry reshuffle or accelerate
The price reduction at the beginning of 2023 is due to the fact that some car companies have not completed their sales plans in 2022, and some car companies have received subsidy support from local administrative departments. Zhang Hong believes that in the first quarter of 2024, there will also be some car companies that fail to complete their sales plans in 2023, so there is an incentive to digest inventory pressure as soon as possible.
The reporter previously combed through the sales targets of car companies and found that in 2023, only three car companies, Li Auto, BYD, and VOYAH Automobile, have completed their annual sales targets, while the completion rate of more new energy vehicle companies, including new car-making forces, is only about 70%, and even some car companies have a completion rate of less than 50%.
Cui Dongshu recently said that in 2024, the national passenger car market war will still be fierce, and he believes that the fundamental reason for the recent passenger car market war is that new technologies replace old technologies and new energy vehicles replace fuel vehicles.
With the rapid increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the scale of the traditional fuel vehicle market is gradually shrinking, and the contradiction between the huge traditional production capacity and the shrinking fuel vehicle market has brought a more fierce battle. Scale determines the cost and the survival status of the enterprise, and most manufacturers give priority to ensuring their share, which will inevitably lead to the further intensification of competition. Cui Dongshu said.
It is worth noting that behind the fact that many new energy vehicle companies have cut prices to increase sales, the problem of difficulty in making profits has also attracted attention from the outside world, and even aroused doubts in the industry.
We can't just stare at the penetration rate, if the development of new energy vehicles is a loss to make money, most car companies are not sustainable development, and it is not a good phenomenon, or to the best value and good experience to the market. Yang Xueliang, senior vice president of Geely Holding Group, said publicly a few days ago.
This year is the first year for Chinese auto brands to enter the 'sea of blood' competition, that is, the first year of the knockout round. He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, said recently. Geely Automobile Group CEO Gan Jiayue also said in a letter to all employees that 2024 will be another "most volatile" year, "volume **, volume products, volume services, volume flow", he believes, "everything has reached the 'time to see the real chapter'." ”
Zhang Yongwei, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association, once bluntly said that from the perspective of the competitive environment, the automotive industry, especially the new energy vehicle industry, "the development environment in 2024 and 2025 will be more involuted and more difficult." ”
Some industries I think there is a chance to breathe, tired to take a breath, in the new energy vehicle industry can only run faster and faster, it does not provide you with the opportunity to stop, slow down, take a breath, this is the competitive environment of our industry, the comparison is to see who runs faster than whom, to see who can resist pressure. Zhang Yongwei added.