Sales volume has dropped for three consecutive years, has the price of new energy vehicles increased?
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “NBD car” (ID: NBD-AUTO), author Sun Tongtong.
The year is approaching, Zhang Min (a pseudonym), who lives in Shanghai, plans to start a new hybrid car with a plug-in.
“Although the subsidy is now less, but there is no price increase.” Zhang Min told the “Daily Economic News” reporter, 4S shop sales staff is constantly “loising” his loan to buy a car, and promised that only loans can enjoy lower discounts. price.
“The price of the car is very transparent now. There is no profit by selling bare cars. Only other expenses can be collected.” A salesperson of a 4S store in Shanghai told the Daily Economic News reporter that as long as the customer accepts it, many Links can be charged, for example, the application fee for new energy licenses, financial loan fees, insurance rebates, etc.
In fact, consumers can apply for new energy licenses themselves, and the price is around 300 yuan. However, in order to save trouble, some consumers are still willing to hand over to the 4S shop agency, the service fee is 1000-2000 yuan.
According to the reporter’s understanding, after the subsidies for new energy vehicles have fallen sharply, many manufacturers insist on “no price increase”, but terminal sales charge fees in various names to compensate for the loss of profits caused by “insurance”.
The Battle of “Insured Price”
Recently, the reporter visited a number of 4S stores in Shanghai and found that, as Zhang Min said, after the subsidies for new energy vehicles dropped sharply, the sales terminals did not raise prices, but opened the battle of “insured prices”.
According to the requirements of the 2019 new energy subsidy policy, state subsidies and local subsidies have fallen sharply. Since June 25, owners of new energy vehicles (excluding new energy buses and fuel cell vehicles) will no longer be eligible for subsidies from local governments.
In the state subsidy, the pure electric passenger car with the cruising range of 250km or less will be subsidized; the pure electric passenger car with the cruising range of 250km to 400km will be subsidized to retreat 60%; the pure electric passenger with the cruising range of 400km or more The car subsidies 50%. For plug-in hybrid models, the pure electric vehicle mileage is greater than or equal to 50km, and the subsidy will be reduced from 22,000 yuan in 2018 to 10,000 yuan.
Before, there have been rumors in the market that new energy vehicles will face price increases after the subsidies have fallen sharply. However, at present, the major brands have not only raised their prices in the terminal market, but instead launched a “price insured” battle.
“There is no price increase, the subsidy is less than that in June, but the manufacturer’s guide price is ‘official’, so the price is almost the same as before the retreat.” Shanghai Roewe brand 4S shop sales staff on the “Daily Economy News reporter said thatIn order to facilitate the transaction, the sales staff also earned additional subsidies for the customers for the “trade-in” subsidy activities.
The reporter learned that Shanghai’s “old-for-new” policy is for the Shanghai Economic and Information Commission to cooperate with SAIC to support the replacement of the national standard 3 and below. Since March 1st, the Shanghai Standard (including Shanghai C) national standard three and below emission standards vehicles have been eliminated. For consumers who purchase Roewe, MG and Datong products, SAIC Group provides fuel vehicles with high environmental protection standards. Ten thousand yuan reward, redeem the reward of 15,000 yuan for each new energy vehicle.
“We can help you collect a used car, so that it meets the redemption standard, you can get a subsidy of 15,000 yuan.” The sales staff told reporters.
In the Geely New Energy 4S store, the reporter saw that the pure electric car geometry A has become the “main model” and is in a prominent position. The store sales staff said that the car did not raise prices, and recently the manufacturer also launched a promotional campaign, at least 5,000 yuan.
Image Source: Every reporter Sun Tongtong photo
In addition, Changan New Energy also announced that in order to protect the interests of consumers, after June 25, Changan New Energy will not increase its prices.
Cars lose money at a loss
After the subsidies have fallen sharply, it is also a helpless move for manufacturers to adhere to the “insurance” policy. The current auto market is still in a state of decline, and new energy vehicles have also ushered in a trough after high-speed growth.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers data showed that the production and sales of new energy vehicles in September were 89,000 and 80,000 respectively, down 29.9% and 34.2% respectively over the same period of the previous year. This is the third consecutive month of sales of new energy vehicles after the implementation of the 2019 new energy vehicle subsidy.
It is worth noting that the decline in production and sales of new energy vehicles is significantly higher than the overall auto market. Data show that China’s automobile production and sales in September completed 2.209 million and 2.271 million, respectively, down 6.2% and 5.2% from the same period of the previous year.
The new energy car market is welcoming the “cold winter” and the market competition is more intense.
“Don’t dare to raise prices, the overall market is not good, and the price increase is even more people have not bought.” A self-owned brand 4S store sales manager told the “Daily Economic News” reporter, in order to maintain sales and compete for consumers, take “insurance” “Policy is also helpless.
However, the “insurance” policy also makes car companies and dealers bear hugeThe profit pressure. “In fact, the impact on the dealers is not too big, the ‘insurance’ funds are borne by the manufacturers.” The above sales manager said that some manufacturers will count this part of the funds on the dealers, so that dealers who are already profitable The days are even more sad.
As the subsidies for new energy vehicles have fallen sharply, the profit margins of car companies are gradually being compressed, and the car companies are more “insured”, making profits more difficult.
“Almost all new energy vehicle businesses are losing money, and they are not profitable at all. For companies, adhering to the ‘insured price’ policy can only be achieved when the battery list is truly open and various resource directories are open to reduce costs.” Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, said in an interview with the reporter of “Daily Economic News” that at present, the procurement cost and production cost of enterprises are relatively high. Although the “battery whitelist” is released, many enterprises Still dare not use, the attitude is more cautious, and also observe the policy direction.
In the view of Cui Dongshu, in the future, the price of new energy vehicles will inevitably decline. Now manufacturers are “insured” to stabilize the market. Some car companies rely on the profits of traditional fuel vehicles to support the new energy vehicle business, and some car companies can only Loss at a loss.
But the original intention of subsidies to retreat is to hope that the new energy auto industry will shift from a policy-driven to a market-driven one. However, the “insurance” policy implemented by automakers seems to have weakened the market’s driving force. “At present, the market drivers of new energy vehicles are still relatively weak.” Cui Dongshu said that the price of traditional fuel vehicles is relatively low, Tesla is about to be made in China, and the spontaneous combustion accidents of new energy vehicles are frequent, which reduces consumers’ new energy vehicles. The enthusiasm for buying.