"My new energy vehicle indicator is valid for 12 months, but now it takes 6-7 months to wait for the car to be picked up." Zhang Kun, who lives in Chaoyang District, Beijing, has been a little anxious recently because of buying a car.
The troubles of him and tens of millions of consumers suggest that the new energy vehicles that have been advancing along the way seem to have encountered some "blocking points".
On the one hand, since 2022, due to the superposition of factors such as subsidy decline and rising raw material prices, many companies have "queued up" to increase the sales price of new energy vehicles.
According to incomplete statistics, nearly two-thirds of the top 30 new energy vehicle models sold last year have announced price increases this year.
This wave of collective price hikes has caused many consumers and industry insiders to worry about the development of the new energy vehicle industry.
On the other hand, from 2021 onwards, due to the global shortage of chips, delays in the delivery of vehicles, especially new energy vehicles, have occurred from time to time.
The "Research Report on Public Opinion of Domestic Automobile Consumer Rights Protection (2021)" jointly released by Beijing Sunshine Consumer Big Data Research Institute, the Consumer Protection Law Research Center of the University of International Business and Economics and other units shows that "lack of delivery on time" has been linked to quality and service issues. As well as false propaganda, it has become a common problem in domestic auto consumer rights protection.
New energy vehicles are "rising", and industrial chain coordination still needs to go hand in hand
"From the third quarter of last year to this year, the price of upstream raw materials for power batteries has risen rapidly, causing the entire new energy vehicle industry chain to share the pressure of rising costs." Founder, chairman and CEO Li Bin said that at present, Weilai has no plan to increase prices. Next, it will determine whether to adjust the price strategy according to cost changes such as raw material prices and market conditions.
According to public data, NIO delivered a total of 9,985 smart electric vehicles in March, a year-on-year increase of 37.6%.
In the first quarter of 2022, NIO delivered a total of 25,768 smart electric vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 28.5%, achieving eight consecutive quarters of positive growth.
Among them, the delivery of the NIO smart electric flagship sedan ET7 started on March 28, and as of March 31, 163 units had been delivered.
"NIO not only has stable sales, but more importantly, considering that the average selling price of NIO's products exceeds 420,000 yuan, its high-end smart electric vehicle brand positioning and image continue to consolidate." Some analysts believe that NIO focuses on high-end products The market share of new energy vehicles, and its products are relatively easy to absorb the pressure of rising costs.
Cost pressure not only comes from power batteries, but also chips that affect the intelligent level of automobiles, and commodities such as aluminum and copper are almost all facing pressure to increase prices.
Especially automotive chips, which are considered to be the "brain nerves" of smart electric vehicles, whether the supply chain is smooth or not affects the hearts of almost all practitioners.
Whether it is the 2022 ES8, ES6 and EC6 with the latest smart cockpit hardware expected to be released in late May, or the ES7, the first SUV model born on NIO's second-generation technology platform NT2, a series of product offensives in NIO Behind the scenes, automotive chips all play an indispensable role.
"We use more than 1,000 chips for each car, and about 10% of them will have a shortage of supply." Li Bin said that the company lost some gross profit last year because of the shortage of automotive chips and the increase in prices.
It is understood that NIO’s target gross profit margin for the vehicle this year is set at 18%-20%.
Li Bin revealed that NIO has long-term and stable strategic cooperation with high-end chip suppliers such as Nvidia and Qualcomm, but there are still "blocks" in the supply chain of some basic chips.
He said that the overall vehicle production capacity will remain stable this year, but the volatility of the supply chain, especially the supply chain of basic chips, will have a greater impact on the new energy vehicle industry.
According to CICC's statistics, the current cost of new energy vehicles has increased by 10%-20%, and the cost of a single vehicle has increased by about 10,000 yuan.
Obviously, this is by no means a small amount for an otherwise lower-priced small electric vehicle.
"The price of raw materials for power batteries has been rising for a year, and the cost and selling price of some new energy models have been inverted, basically selling one for one." A car company who did not want to be named Insiders told reporters that in this case, the price increase of new energy vehicles is an inevitable trend.
"If the price increase exceeds the level that consumers can bear, it is very likely that the production and sales of new energy vehicles will decline two years ago, which will affect the healthy development of new energy vehicles in my country." Some industry analysts worry that this will give subsidies The industry shifting gears forward after the policy retreat has brought huge negative impacts.
Considering that the price of new energy vehicles is already higher than that of traditional fuel vehicles at the same level, this concern is not unfounded.
"To solve the current problem of rising raw material prices, in addition to moderately accelerating the development progress of domestic lithium, nickel and other energy metal resources and helping domestic enterprises to steadily develop foreign raw material supply channels, it is also necessary to strengthen the supply and demand connection between the upstream and downstream of the new energy vehicle industry chain." The above experts Said that the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain should work together to "walk in step" and jointly share the cost increase caused by the price increase of raw materials.
Otherwise, a certain link of the industry chain alone will absorb all the upward pressure, and it will be difficult for the entire industry chain to win in the end.
To solve the "difficulty in picking up a car", car companies should not let consumers pay the bill
Chip shortages and rising battery raw material prices have also led to repeated complaints from consumers about delayed deliveries of new energy vehicles.
"The rise in costs such as batteries directly leads to a decline in the profits of car companies. Some car companies may wait for the price of raw materials to drop by extending the delivery cycle." Some industry experts said that another major reason for the delay in delivery of car companies is the shortage of automotive chips. .
There are forecasts that the automotive chip supply chain will return to normal levels in the third quarter of this year.
However, if automakers delay delivery in anticipation of lower costs, they are suspected of passing on their own business risks to consumers.
Some experts in consumer rights protection suggest that consumers sign a contract with a company when purchasing a car, and should stipulate in the contract the responsibility for breach of contract that the car company should bear when the delivery of the vehicle is delayed.
In addition, the relevant regulatory authorities should also pay attention to the phenomenon of delayed delivery by car companies, and take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
"Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles are in the development stage. Some technical standards and industry norms are still immature, and relevant policies are also in the process of gradual improvement." Deputy Secretary General of China Law Society Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association , Chen Yinjiang, a specially invited researcher at the Consumer Protection Law Research Center of the University of International Business and Economics, said that the relevant departments should strengthen the supervision of consumers who report prominent problems such as disguised price increases, hidden charges, compulsory tying, false publicity, and vehicle safety in the field of auto sales. , take effective measures to ensure market order, crack down on illegal activities, so as to guide and standardize the healthy development of the new energy vehicle industry.
"Whether it is a vehicle company or a car sales company, it must treat consumers with integrity, do not force bundling, do not make false propaganda, honor commitments in good faith, and prevent bullying, deceit and misleading, and illegal charging. At the same time, consumers should also Improve self-protection awareness." Chen Yinjiang reminded that consumers should pay attention to keeping relevant certificates for car purchase and maintenance, and pay special attention to the verbal promises of merchants about refunding car purchase deposits and insurance deposits.
He suggested that consumers should keep the deposit or deposit receipt in the process of buying a car, record the verbal commitment of the merchant when necessary, and actively strive to sign a paper deposit or deposit refund agreement.
According to CICC's analysis, the impact of battery price hikes has already come to fruition, and the initial negative effects of automakers' follow-up price adjustments have basically been exhausted.
It is expected that the continued high prosperity of new energy in the future will further alleviate market concerns, so the judgment that "the annual sales volume of China's new energy vehicle market will exceed 5 million in 2022" remains unchanged.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Association, reminded that although the rebound of the new crown pneumonia epidemic has greatly affected people's lives, many auto companies have also felt difficult, but in the world "lack of core and short lithium" "Under the situation, the status of China's passenger car market in the world has been greatly improved, reaching a new high.
"Especially the market share of China's new energy vehicles, which has recently accounted for 65% of the global market."
He told reporters that in 2020, the proportion of China's auto market sales in global auto sales will rebound to 32%, remain at 32% in 2021, and rise to 36% in January-February 2022.
Cui Dongshu believes that to analyze the prospects of China's new energy vehicle market, it is necessary to see not only the strong purchasing power of consumers, but also the market's increasing recognition of new energy vehicles and a certain tolerance for the price increase of new energy vehicles. .
He also predicted that the current rise in raw material prices is unsustainable and will eventually return to rational market pricing.
"I believe that the sales data of new energy vehicles in March will surprise everyone, and we also believe that China's new energy vehicles will still have a good market performance this year."
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Xu Yajie Source: China Youth Daily