The Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, whose sales have been sluggish, is targeting the rural market. On May 5, Wuling Motors announced that in order to better meet the needs of the masses and promote the consumption of rural new energy market, the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV family has reduced the price by up to 22,1 yuan. Previously, Hongguang entered the market with the low price of MINI EV, won the global sales championship of small pure electric vehicles, and built itself into a "net celebrity" model. However, with the intensification of market competition and the contraction of the domestic mini vehicle market share, the sales of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV began to decline, and the choice of "going to the countryside" at this time may be the beginning of a new wayfinding.

Official surrender "to the countryside"

The Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, which costs less than 3,<> yuan, is back.

According to the price list released by Wuling Hongguang, the price of the Hongguang Air EV four-seater 300km advanced version model was reduced by 1,3 yuan, and the price was reduced to 6,98 yuan. The four-seat 300km standard version of the Air EV, the advanced version of the two-seat 300km, and the standard version of the two-seat 300km will be reduced by 1,6 yuan, and the prices will be 68,6 yuan, 58,5 yuan and 78,300 yuan respectively. In addition, the "Internet celebrity" model Hongguang MINI EV 300km Café, 200km Play, 200km and 6000km all have a price reduction of 6,38 yuan, and the reduced prices are 6,18 yuan, 5,18 yuan, 4,98 yuan and <>,<> yuan respectively.

In addition to the price reduction of the above-mentioned models, the starting price of the Hongguang MINI EV family model has also returned to less than 3,2 yuan. "The current price of the MINI EV Easy is 98,3 yuan, compared to 28,4 yuan previously." A Wuling Motors 5S shop salesperson told a Beijing Business Daily reporter that the model is a limited-time offer, and the discount period is from May 22 to June 6.

In July 2020, the Hongguang MINI EV was officially launched, and with an ultra-low price of 7,2 yuan, it is known as the "national scooter". However, due to factors such as rising raw material prices in March last year, the price of the Hongguang MINI EV was raised, and the starting price also exceeded 88,3 yuan. Regarding the price reduction, Wuling Motors said in the announcement: "The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Charging Infrastructure to Better Support the Rural and Rural Revitalization of New Energy Vehicles, encouraging new energy vehicle enterprises to support the purchase and use of new energy vehicles in rural areas. Wuling took the lead in responding to the national call and announced that the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV family dropped up to 3,1 yuan, firing the first shot of new energy vehicles to the countryside. Wuling Motors said that small new energy vehicles will become an important force to promote the promotion and application of new energy vehicles in rural areas, and Hongguang MINI EV is easy to drive, stop and save money, and solves people's pain points for short-distance travel with outstanding convenience, low cost of use and safety.

The Beijing Business Daily reporter learned that the model with a limited time discount of 2,98 yuan is the "MINI EV Easy Model", with a cruising range of only 120 kilometers. Industry insiders believe that the 120-kilometer cruising range of the model is not dominant in the current pure electric vehicle market that starts at 400 kilometers. However, in terms of rural market use scenarios, the 120-kilometer Hongguang MINI EV can meet the needs of daily short-distance commuting.

According to data released by Kaiyuan Securities, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in first-tier cities in China has exceeded 50%, but the penetration rate of some third- and fourth-tier cities is less than 10%, and the market space stimulated by new energy vehicles going to the countryside is huge. "Wuling Hongguang's lowering the price threshold is also better to prepare for new energy vehicles going to the countryside." Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Vehicle Market Information Association, said that in March this year, the penetration rate of pure electric vehicles in medium-sized cities rose to 3%, and the county and rural markets increased to 23%, but there is still a lot of room for growth.

Sales are under pressure

In fact, behind the "going to the countryside" of the entire Hongguang MINI EV, it is also related to the sales pressure it is facing.

After its launch in July 2020, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV gained a lot of fans with its mini vehicle positioning and a starting price of 7,2 yuan, and sales exceeded 88,20 units within 1 days of launch; in 5, Hongguang MINI EV sales exceeded 2021,42 units; in 6, the model won the global small electric vehicle sales championship with 2022,55 units, contributing nearly 4/1 of Wuling Motors' annual sales. According to statistics, since its launch, the cumulative sales of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV have exceeded 3.110 million units.

However, from the fourth quarter of last year, the Hongguang MINI EV began to lack stamina. Data show that from October to December last year, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV sales fell by 10.12%, 13.8% and 20.8% year-on-year, respectively; In the first quarter of this year, sales of this model fell by 31.7% year-on-year; In April, sales fell 26.3% y/y, from 4,27 units to less than 4,5 units.

In fact, before this official reduction, Hongguang MINI EV has lowered the threshold for car purchase in disguise. In May this year, SAIC-GM-Wuling launched a "monthly battery payment" purchase plan for the Hongguang MINI EV. It is understood that after the user uses the car purchase plan, the official guidance price of Hongguang MINI EV is 5,3 yuan, and the down payment is only 28,1 yuan to pick up the car.

Yan Jinghui, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, believes that in recent years, some car companies have poured into the small car market, which has intensified competition in this segment. At the same time, the "upward attack" of the domestic electric vehicle market has also further shrunk the market share of small cars, causing certain pressure on Wuling Hongguang. Data show that in the first quarter of this year, the sales of pure electric models reached 108.13 million units, a year-on-year increase of 2.00%. Among them, sales of A13-class electric vehicles were 1,55 units, down 1.<>% y/y.

In addition to the impact of the adjustment of the sales structure of the pure electric vehicle market, industry insiders believe that the recent deviation in the positioning of all models of Hongguang MINI EV has led to its weak sales after enjoying the dividends of the market segment. Previously, after the Hongguang MINI EV became popular, Wuling Motors began to enrich its product matrix. At the same time, Wuling Hongguang began to aim at "the best way to open up the life of young people's cars, and treat the car as a trendy item". Models such as the Hongguang MINI EV Convertible and the Hongguang MINI EV GAMEBOY HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED ONE AFTER ANOTHER, AND THE PRICE HAS ALSO CONTINUED TO RISE. In the eyes of industry insiders, Wuling Motors has labeled Hongguang MINI EV with "personalization" on keywords such as cost performance and transportation, and the social attributes brought by it can indeed improve a certain premium ability. However, at present, the pure electric models launched by domestic car companies are working intelligence and personalization, which can provide consumers with more freshness, which also makes Hongguang MINI EV encounter a bottleneck period. At this time, Hongguang MINI EV chose to "go to the countryside", and for Wuling Motors, perhaps the channel sinking is more important.

Beijing Business Daily reporter Liu Yang Liu Xiaomeng