A variety of popular new energy vehicles have raised prices several times in a short period of time, and some car owners have made profits by transferring orders
. New energy vehicles "order transfer" hidden risks
On platforms such as Xianyu and Xiaohongshu, orders for popular new energy models such as Tesla Model 3 and Model Y have recently been resold at high prices.
After someone ordered a car at a low price, when it was about to be delivered, it posted the information of "order transfer" to earn a price difference ranging from 3,000-10,000 yuan.
There are also some suspected "scalpers" who purchased such "orders" on various platforms and resold them.
A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily noticed that Tesla, Xiaopeng Motors and other manufacturers have announced many times that consumers' car purchase orders cannot change the owner of the car. In fact, the so-called "resale order" is likely to be the owner of the original order. When other consumers handle the transfer, consumers save a part of the price difference compared to buying a new car in the store, but what they buy is already a "second-hand car".
multiple price hikes
The "scalpers" smelled that reselling "orders" made considerable profits
From March 10 to March 17, in just seven days, Tesla raised the prices of its products three times.
Since November 2021, the price of the Model 3 rear-wheel drive version has increased 4 times, the Model Y rear-wheel drive version has increased 3 times, and the higher-profile versions of the two models have also increased the price twice.
In more than four months, the price of the Model 3 rear-drive version on sale has risen from less than 240,000 yuan to 279,900 yuan, and the Model Y rear-drive version has increased by 40,900 yuan.
A "scalper" with five Tesla orders in hand is actively looking for a buyer.
On his Xianyu homepage, the most attention is a Model 3 order of 235,900 yuan. Now the official price of this car has risen to 279,900 yuan, an increase of 44,000 yuan, an increase of 18.6%.
If the buyer pays the "transfer fee" of 25,000 yuan, he can still save 19,000 yuan and can pick up the car in advance.
The page shows that more than 100 people are following this order.
Mr. Wang, a user of Xianyu who resells Tesla Model Y orders, said that the current delivery cycle of Tesla Model 3 and Model Y has been as long as 20-24 weeks. Friends who are still watching, hurry up and place orders now, only on National Day. Car can be picked up.
I earn 4,000 yuan, and you save 30,000 yuan.
And being able to pick up the car immediately, isn't this a deal that both parties are satisfied with?
Such attractive profit margins, scalpers are moved by the wind.
The scalpers bought Tesla orders from various channels, and then resold them at high prices.
A scalper who bought an order in Xiaohongshu put out this slogan: "Resell a Tesla order, and it is possible to make money for an iPhone 13." There is also a scalper who promised to pay 2,000-3,000 yuan for tea. .
Tesla
Repeated customers need to sign "No Resale Commitment Letter"
In the private trading market for reselling Tesla orders, ordinary consumers, second-hand car dealers, scalpers, and even 4S store employees gather.
Some consumers are eager to buy a car, or want to save some money due to the price increase of the vehicle, but they do not fully understand the details of how "order resale" works.
The second-hand car dealer said bluntly: "The 'order resale' mentioned by the scalper is actually a transfer. That is, the original owner of the order has completed the registration and obtained the registration certificate and driver's license. After the transfer, the transfer will be transferred to you, which is equivalent to used car trade".
It has always been expressly prohibited for manufacturers to "resell orders".
Tesla clearly stipulates on its official website that the order cannot be transferred unless it is an immediate family member, and the order can be cancelled at will before paying for the car, but the order fee will not be refunded.
A Tesla salesperson said that the vehicle reservation order cannot be changed, and the transfer of the order is an illegal operation.
There are other brands of car companies that have stricter restrictions. If the owner of the vehicle is registered and then transferred, the manufacturer only has preferential policies for the first car owner in terms of charging, battery replacement, warranty, etc. After the transfer, the second car owner may lose this. rights and interests.
On March 16, the big V "Han Chao" exposed a "No Resale Commitment Letter" from Tesla. Tesla requires owners who have placed one or more cumulative orders to purchase multiple Tesla vehicles to sign a "No Resale Commitment Letter". "No Resale Commitment Letter", which promises not to resell to a third party within one year, and violators will pay 20% of the vehicle's billed fare as liquidated damages.
Take the Tesla Model 3 rear-wheel drive model as an example. The guide price of this model is 279,000 yuan, and the 20% liquidated damages will cost more than 50,000 yuan.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Federation, pointed out to the media that increasing the price of orders is one of the ways to effectively curb the spread of the scalper phenomenon. “Tesla’s deposit is 1,000 yuan. Even if the order cannot be transferred, the scalpers will bear less losses. If it is larger, scalpers may consider the risk to reduce hoarding, and the orders circulating in the market will decrease accordingly.”
Xiaopeng Motors
Require orders to be linked with real name
On March 23, the relevant person in charge of Xiaopeng Motors stated that the product orders of Xiaopeng Motors are all linked by identity verification, and the identity information must be verified before the contract can enter the delivery process.
Xpeng Motors also stated that if a customer cancels the reservation due to personal reasons, the vehicle order will be re-integrated into unified management, and there is no possibility of private second-hand order resale.
Xpeng Motors also specifically stated that the purchase channels of Xpeng Motors are unified across the country and cannot be operated through private online transaction resale.
We will reserve the right to pursue legal responsibilities of relevant parties.
Xpeng Motors will not be held responsible for any disputes or damage to rights and interests of consumers arising from private transactions.
an expert
What are the risks of "order transfer"
Although the buyer and the seller will sign a contract to ensure the smooth progress of the transaction, even if there is a contract, such a private transaction is actually full of risks.
For example, the car must be in the name of the seller. If the seller and the buyer are in different cities, the seller needs to send the driving license and registration certificate when transferring the ownership.
It takes time to send it. At this time, the buyer's money has been transferred. If the seller is unwilling to transfer, it will be very troublesome to go back.
Although many people stated in the contract, "If Party A fails to cooperate with the transfer of ownership within the time limit, it shall compensate Party B for liquidated damages according to the new car rental market", but once the seller breaches the contract, the buyer's rights protection cost is very high.
According to industry insiders, the "second-hand car" market is a mixed bag with various vehicle conditions. If it enters the market for trading again, it will already be a third-hand car, and the price will depreciate to varying degrees.
Consumers still have to weigh the pros and cons and think twice when deciding to buy a "transfer order" new energy vehicle.
Text/Reporter Lin Lishuang
RAM
How to break the "raw material trap" of new energy vehicles?
Since this year, lithium carbonate has become an uncertain factor affecting the development of the new energy vehicle industry.
The effect of the continued high price of lithium carbonate continues to be transmitted to the downstream of the industrial chain, bringing a lot of pressure to power battery and new energy vehicle companies.
What makes lithium prices continue to rise?
How can new energy vehicles resolve the "raw material dilemma"?
On March 17, Nezha Automobile released a description of model price adjustment. Affected by many factors such as rising upstream raw material prices and tight supply chain supply, the prices of models on sale will be raised from 0:00 on the 18th.
Chery New Energy, Xiaopeng Motors and many other car companies have also raised their prices recently.
This round of price adjustments by car companies is closely related to the rising prices of raw materials such as lithium carbonate.
As the core component of new energy vehicles, the development of power batteries is highly dependent on resources, and the key materials used include lithium, nickel, cobalt and other metals.
Among them, lithium accounts for nearly half of the cost of cathode materials.
Public market data shows that in 2021, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate will continue to rise from 68,000 yuan / ton at the beginning of the year, and today, the price is about 500,000 yuan / ton.
Industry insiders believe that the high lithium price is mainly due to the imbalance between supply and demand.
In 2021, my country's new energy vehicle industry will develop rapidly, with production and sales exceeding 3.5 million units, a year-on-year increase of 1.6 times.
Since the beginning of 2022, the rapid development momentum has continued.
"The exceeding expectations of the new energy vehicle market will inevitably push up the demand for upstream materials and bring about a short-term supply shortage." Du Shuo, managing director of SDIC Innovation Investment Management Co., Ltd., told reporters.
"In 2016 and 2017, lithium prices also experienced an upward cycle, because of the rise in demand due to subsidies for new energy vehicles." Wu Yanhua, secretary general of the Lithium Branch of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said that whether it is lithium salt or upstream minerals, resources It takes a certain period of time to build and expand production, and it is difficult to release new production capacity in the short term, all of which have caused price fluctuations.
Industry insiders also believe that there is no need to be overly nervous about high lithium prices.
On the one hand, the market mechanism itself will achieve an adjustment role, on the other hand, relevant departments are also accelerating the connection between upstream and downstream supply and demand in the industrial chain and the market to ensure supply.
"We expect that starting from the second half of 2022, the capacity that can be released one after another will be considerable, and the upstream supply can be guaranteed while the development of the new energy vehicle industry maintains a stable growth rate." Wu Yanhua said.
Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a symposium related to the operation of the lithium industry, listened to the production, expansion and sales of key enterprises, and required upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain to strengthen the connection, work together to form a long-term and stable strategic cooperative relationship, and jointly guide the rational return of lithium salt prices. Better support the healthy development of my country's new energy vehicles and other strategic emerging industries.
Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that focusing on meeting the production needs of power batteries, moderately speed up the development of domestic lithium resources, and combat unfair competition such as hoarding and price gouging.
According to Xinhua