China News Service, Beijing, January 7th, title: Tesla stirs China's auto market

　　China News Agency reporter Wang Qingkai

　　After thinking about it for half an hour, Chen Shentao logged into the official website and returned the reserved Weilai ES6.

　　On the first day of the new year, Tesla officially announced the pricing of the two domestic Tesla Model Y models. The long-life version of Model Y is priced at 339,900 yuan (RMB, the same below), and the high-performance version of Model Y is priced at 369,900 yuan.

Compared with the previous pre-sale price, it was reduced by 148,100 yuan and 165,100 yuan respectively.

　　"This price is indeed beyond my expectation." Chen Shentao told a reporter from China News Agency that he had also learned about ModelY before ordering Weilai ES6, but the pre-sale price exceeded the budget too much, and finally selected Weilai.

Now the official pricing of ModelY is not much different from that of Weilai ES6, "ModelY is more cost-effective for me in terms of brand and other aspects."

　　Chen Shentao's ideas are not alone.

According to media reports, on the 1st, Weilai's official website system "collapsed" due to a large number of chargebacks.

But Weilai later responded: "The news that the official website system has encountered a large-scale chargeback is untrue, and has filed a complaint against the relevant platform.

　　Weilai's SUV models EC6 and ES6, priced at 368,000 yuan and 358,000 yuan respectively, are direct competitors of ModelY.

　Catfish or crocodile?

　　For the domestic passenger car market, the news of the price cut of the domestic Tesla Model Y is like throwing a crocodile into a pond.

　　Tesla has been considered the "catfish" in this pond.

Many people in the industry hope that Tesla can bring a "catfish effect" to the Chinese passenger car market. By stimulating some companies to actively participate in market competition, it will stimulate the vitality and innovation of Chinese car companies, and then achieve a curve in the field of new energy vehicles overtake.

　　It now appears that whether Tesla is a "catfish" or a "crocodile" is unknown.

　　It is unclear whether the news that Weilai Automobile suffered a large number of chargebacks is true.

But what is true is that at noon on the 1st, due to the surge in traffic, the order page of Tesla's official website in China "collapsed."

According to the Shanghai Tesla store, the number of inquiring customers in the store soared during New Year's Day.

As of the 3rd, the order has exceeded 10,000, and the test drive has been scheduled for two to three months.

　　With ModelY domestically produced, Tesla will further compete for the domestic mid-to-high-end new energy vehicle market.

According to data from the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference, in the first 11 months of 2020, the sales of domestically produced Model 3 alone will reach 114,000, far surpassing competitors of the same level.

　　In response to the impact of Tesla ModelY, Weilai Automobile and Xiaopeng Automobile both responded.

　　Li Bin, chairman, founder and CEO of NIO, said that some auto companies set prices at cost, so prices will get lower and lower.

However, Weilai has considered many factors in the future from the beginning, and will not let the car owners who buy Weilai first suffer.

　　Xiaopeng Motors CEO He Xiaopeng said that Tesla's price cut is just a marketing tool, and it is a double-edged sword.

　　In any case, for domestic car companies, Tesla's battle book has come to the door.

The competition of "pinpoint versus wheat mang" is inevitable.

Some people believe that a large number of domestic small and medium electric car manufacturers will lose their living space.

　　But Wu Zhixin, deputy general manager of China Automotive Technology Research Center Co., Ltd., is optimistic.

He told a reporter from China News Agency that Tesla did put a lot of pressure on Chinese automakers, but Chinese automakers would inevitably compete with international companies in order to "go global."

　　"From another perspective, Tesla is actually pushing China's electric vehicles to iteratively upgrade. Chinese car companies must dare to compete with some high-end brands. Some companies may fail, but in the end this part of the companies that will remain is the head of China and the world. A car company." Wu Zhixin said.

Sword refers to traditional car companies

　　Tesla's goal does not seem to be limited to competing for market share in the field of new energy vehicles.

Some models of traditional luxury car brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi are also affected by the sharp price cuts of Tesla ModelY.

　　According to Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, compared with the impact on new forces such as Weilai and Ideal, the domestic Tesla ModelY may have a more serious impact on the traditional fuel vehicle market.

　　"Compared to Tesla, the products of the new car-making forces have a more distinctive label. In particular, high-end brands such as Weilai have been recognized by consumers for their good service quality, and the loyalty of their circle groups is extremely high. The impact should not be great.” Cui Dongshu believes that the competitive relationship between Tesla Model Y and Audi Q5, Mercedes-Benz GLC, and BMW X3 will change significantly. The price of Model Y will have a certain advantage and will attract more luxury car consumption. group.

　　From this perspective, the new domestic car-building forces seem to have become comrades in the same trench with Tesla.

Shen Hui, the founder, chairman and CEO of Weimar Motors, said, "Because of Tesla, Chinese consumers have a deeper understanding of electric vehicles, which also helps us these emerging electric vehicle companies to grow faster." .

　　In the traditional impression, the cost of new energy vehicles is relatively higher than that of traditional vehicles. In particular, the cost of new energy vehicles is difficult to reduce, and the overall cost of new energy vehicles is relatively high before the production scale of new energy vehicles is enlarged.

　　Today, Tesla's domestic ModelY has changed this view to a certain extent.

Cui Dongshu believes that given that SUVs are very popular in the Chinese market, ModelY may sell better than Model3 in China, and Tesla's sales in China this year are expected to reach 300,000.

Especially in megacities, ModelY should perform better due to the advantages of license resources.

(Finish)