Reporter Zhao Yuhan Yang Tianyue
Dongfeng Citroen has a maximum discount of 9,3 yuan, and FAW's models have a maximum subsidy of 7,50 yuan... Recently, a wave of car price cuts began in Hubei and gradually swept many parts of the country. According to incomplete statistics, nearly <> car companies have joined the price war. This "crazy involution" price reduction has the intention of boosting consumption, and there is also the helplessness of slow-selling fuel vehicles to clear inventory.
However, the possible sequelae of the car market caused by the large price reduction overdraft of future consumption power have also caused concern in the industry, and some car companies have begun to clearly say no to the price war.
Price wars or clearing inventory
If Tesla's price reduction at the beginning of the year took the lead in opening the price war in the new energy market, then the recent spread of the war to the field of fuel vehicles began in Hubei.
On March 3, the news that the maximum subsidy for the purchase of new cars of major brands of the Dongfeng series in Hubei Province reached 6,9 yuan spread rapidly on the Internet. Taking the Citroen C6 model as an example, the original medium and large sedan of more than 20,12 yuan is only more than 4,<> yuan after the discount. As soon as the news came out, consumers from all over Hubei poured into <>S stores, and even many consumers around Hubei planned to buy cars across provinces.
Hubei's big promotion is gradually transmitted throughout the country. On March 3, China FAW launched the "Qihui Jilin - 9 Million Yuan Time-limited Benefiting People" campaign for consumers in Jilin Province, covering passenger cars of FAW Hongqi, FAW Besturn, FAW Volkswagen, FAW Audi, FAW Toyota, Jetta and other brands, as well as light goods products such as FAW Jiefang, with a total subsidy of 1 million yuan and a maximum subsidy of 5,3 yuan for a single vehicle. On March 7, Longgang District of Shenzhen announced that Longgang's new round of car purchase subsidy policy began to be implemented, with a total subsidy of no more than 3 million yuan, and a maximum of 10,3000 yuan for a single car.
In addition to the subsidy price reduction of some government and enterprise efforts, in the past few days, the news of model price cuts from various dealers has also been dazzling. However, the reporter's investigation found that these price reduction and subsidy news are true and false. For example, it is rumored on the Internet that the price of the Beijing Mercedes-Benz C-class car has been reduced by 11,4 yuan, but the reporter consulted a 6S store sales staff in Beijing and was told that this news is not true, and the current discount range is about <>,<> yuan.
Why did the unprecedented price reduction in the car market suddenly appear this year? Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Passenger Association, analyzed that this may be related to the new "National 7B" regulations that will be implemented on July 1 this year. Although there is no authoritative news to confirm that after the implementation of the new regulations, the previous "China VI A" new cars will not be licensed, car companies still hope to clean up the inventory as much as possible before the implementation of the new regulations to prepare for the replacement of models.
Compared with new energy vehicles, fuel vehicles have generally been sluggish in recent years, and the pressure to clean up inventory is greater. Therefore, this round of price reduction is more concentrated on fuel models, especially fuel models of joint venture car companies that are slow to expand the new energy market.
Used car dealers lose money selling cars
The wave of new car price cuts has led to sales, but this is not good news for the used car market. After the Spring Festival this year, the second-hand car market in Huaxiang has resumed its long-lost liveliness, but recently the market passenger flow has fallen again. A senior car dealer who has been in the industry for more than ten years told reporters that the recent second-hand car market is indeed not very good. "The inventory cars collected before this wave of price cuts basically have to lose 10,000 or 20,000 to sell them, which is still a small loss."
"You can only lose money and go first, it is useless to carry it, this is no way, the second-hand car industry has this risk." The above-mentioned car dealers said that the impact of this price reduction affected various subdivision models, Toyota Camry, Highlander, BMW 5 Series, Borgward, Porsche Macan price reduction is relatively obvious. "These models will lose tens of thousands of dollars a year or so for quasi-new cars, and some models can even lose hundreds of thousands."
The reporter learned that for a long time, the purchase price of second-hand cars has been calculated based on the price of new cars, and now the price of new cars has been greatly reduced, and the assessment price of second-hand cars has also dropped significantly. Another car dealer said that if the price reduction of new cars continues, it will continue to have an impact on the used car market.
Some car companies say no to price wars
When more and more fuel vehicle brands are involved in the price war, new energy vehicle companies have not followed.
On March 3, Li Auto launched the "Protection Rights and Interests of Ideal Car Users to Purchase a Car", announcing that from now on, Li Auto will order the ideal L series through the official channel of Li Auto, and within 13 days from the order date, if the official price of the purchased model is reduced, Li Auto promises to take the initiative to return the difference. On March 90, Zerorun, Nezha and Denza also launched official price insurance rights similar to ideal.
NIO, another leading company of new forces, although it has not launched a price insurance right, has also said that it will not reduce prices. Pu Yang, assistant vice president of sales operations of NIO, recently communicated with the media: "We confirm that there will be no price reduction through ET5 allocation reduction or equity reduction. In his opinion, this wave of price cuts came fiercely and retreated quickly. Even if the price is significantly reduced, fuel vehicles will not change the process of automotive energy innovation.
Why haven't many new energy vehicle companies followed suit and reduced prices? Wang Meng, an expert of the Automobile Dealers Association, analyzed that on the one hand, some new energy vehicle companies are still in a state of burning money and losing money, the cost of bicycles is high, and there is no room for significant price reduction. At the same time, if high-end brands such as NIO and Ideal blindly reduce prices for sales, it will also have a certain degree of impact on brand image.
The temptation of large price cuts to consumers is obvious, and the establishment of consumption-driven effects is visible. However, the market that relies on price cuts to lead the fire is likely to have "sequelae". Wang Meng believes that the big price reduction will overdraft future consumer demand in advance, and for car companies, how to balance the relationship between sales, profit and brand image needs to be considered holistically.