● Our reporter Jin Yidan
A few days ago, Tesla announced price cuts for some models, with a maximum price reduction of 37,000 yuan. A reporter from China Securities Journal recently visited a number of auto brand stores and learned that Wenjie, Xiaopeng Motors, and Ideal Auto have all increased their sales discounts.
Since the beginning of this year, due to factors such as shortage of parts and supply chain obstructions, the completion of annual sales of car companies has lagged to a certain extent. As of the third quarter, BYD has achieved 79% of its annual sales target, while Tesla still has 40% of its sales target unfinished, and 30% of automakers have achieved less than 50% of their annual sales target.
Industry insiders said that in the fourth quarter, in order to complete the annual sales target, various car companies have successively entered the sales sprint stage and accelerated the digestion of orders in hand, and new orders are expected to hit a new high.
Intensified discounts
Recently, Tesla announced that it will adjust the price of Model 3 and Model Y sold in mainland China. Depending on the model version, the price will drop by 14,000 yuan to 37,000 yuan.
This is Tesla’s first price cut this year. According to incomplete statistics, since 2022, Tesla has raised prices five times around the world, with a maximum price increase of more than 40,000 yuan per vehicle. Since September this year, Tesla’s price strategy has begun to adjust. If you purchase insurance types designated by cooperative insurance companies, you can enjoy an insurance subsidy of 8,000 yuan, which will be returned to customers in the form of deducting car prices.
However, Tesla customer service said that this price reduction model cannot be used in combination with the 8,000 yuan insurance subsidy policy. If the car owner has placed an order at the price before the price reduction but has not picked up the car, he can choose between the current official website price and the insurance discount. For owners who have already picked up the car, Tesla does not currently have a price difference subsidy policy.
The Qjie brand designed by Celis and Huawei launched promotions at almost the same time as Tesla. The relevant person in charge of Huawei said that since the early morning of October 24, Wenjie canceled the original financial discounts, differentiated gifts for each sales store and other services, and gave a unified insurance value of 8,000 yuan to the purchasers of some existing car models.
The reporter also visited a number of sales stores such as Xiaopeng Motors and Ideal Auto, and learned that various car companies have recently launched relatively strong car purchase discounts.
“Except for the Xpeng G9, all other models of Xpeng Motors currently enjoy a discount of 5,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan from the final payment. In addition, the ‘Double Eleven’ event can also be reduced by 3,000 yuan.” A direct sales of Xiaopeng Motors in Chaoyang District, Beijing Store salesperson Wang Bin told reporters.
“Currently, the final payment of Lili ONE can be reduced by 15,000 yuan, and 50,000 points will be given; Lili L8 will also be given a 5,000 yuan optional discount when placing an order before the end of the month.” Said the staff of the ideal car store in Chaoyang District Blue Harbor.
Significant boost
Strategies such as price cuts and discounts have brought immediate results to the sales of car companies.
“The official website has collapsed. We sent reservation information through private chat, and we helped to make reservations from the intranet.” In a Tesla direct-operated store in Chaoyang District, Beijing, sales manager Wang Peng introduced to reporters while sending mass messages, “The first day of price reduction. , We were busy from 8 in the morning to the early morning, and the store received twice as many customers than usual, and about 7-8 orders were placed.”
“Our store has started promotions since October 25th, and there are already 5 orders.” The reporter learned from the Huawei Smart Life Museum in Futian District, Shenzhen that some models of the Wenjie M5 and Wenjie M7 under the Wenjie brand are currently discounted. 8000 yuan.
In addition, as the vehicle purchase tax halving policy and the new energy vehicle purchase subsidy policy will end at the end of this year, it has played a role in promoting the sales increase of car companies at the end of the year.
According to the latest new energy vehicle promotion subsidy program, the OEMs currently producing pure electric new energy passenger vehicles can enjoy a car purchase subsidy of 9,100 yuan per vehicle or 12,600 yuan per vehicle (depending on the specific cruising range), which is equivalent to an indirect reduction of Consumer car purchase costs, and this subsidy policy will end on December 31, 2022.
The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued an announcement on May 31. In order to promote automobile consumption and support the development of the automobile industry, the purchase date is within the period from June 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 and the price of bicycles (excluding VAT ) of 2.0-liter and below passenger cars with a displacement of not more than 300,000 yuan, the vehicle purchase tax will be halved.
The Passenger Federation said that with the implementation of the halving policy on vehicle purchase tax entering the countdown stage, the attention of potential consumers to purchase cars has increased significantly. The Huaxi Securities Research Report stated that the current policy stimulus is strong, continuous, and covers a wide range. Considering the factors of advance purchases before the policy exit in the fourth quarter of this year, it is expected to drive the further release of car sales.
Accelerate sales at the end of the year
In the first half of this year, there were serious parts shortages and supply chain problems in the global auto industry. Many leading car companies such as BMW, Toyota, and Honda stopped or reduced production, which had a certain impact on the sales of car companies throughout the year.
According to incomplete statistics from the public information, as of the third quarter of this year, one-third of the major car companies in the domestic auto market have completed less than 50% of their annual sales. Only Nezha, BYD, and GAC Group have annual sales. The completion progress is over 70%.
In terms of new car-making forces, as a rising star, Nezha Automobile’s sales in the first three quarters of this year exceeded “Wei Xiaoli”, reaching 111,000 units. The annual sales target is 150,000 units, and 74% of the annual target has been completed. In contrast, the sales pressure of Xiaopeng Motors is highlighted. The sales volume in the first three quarters of this year was 98,600 vehicles, which is less than 40% of the annual sales target of 250,000 vehicles.
The competition among the “top players” of new energy vehicles is fierce. BYD sold 1.185 million units, 79% of its annual target; Tesla delivered 909,000 new cars globally, 60% of its annual target.
Tesla said the company has now begun the transition to a more stable product delivery rhythm, increasing vehicle production as soon as possible by increasing weekly production in Fremont, U.S. and Shanghai, China, as well as ramping production capacity in Berlin, Germany and Texas, U.S.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects Tesla’s fourth-quarter deliveries to reach a record level. “The company will sell all the cars it produces, and demand in China is very strong,” Musk said.
On September 28, BYD held an online press conference announcing its entry into the European market and started the delivery of new cars in many European countries such as Germany, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. On October 4, BYD also signed a cooperation agreement with SIXT, a German car rental company. SIXT will purchase at least 100,000 new energy vehicles from BYD in the next six years, including the newly launched Yuan PLUS, the first batch of thousands of vehicles ordered. The electric cars are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year and enter service in the following weeks.
Haitong International said that it is optimistic that BYD will rapidly increase its volume in the European passenger car market from the fourth quarter, which will bring new growth momentum to its performance. The scale effect gives profit elasticity, and it is predicted that BYD’s annual sales will exceed 1.8 million units.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicts that my country’s auto sales are expected to reach 27 million units in 2022, a year-on-year increase of about 3%; new energy vehicle sales are expected to reach 5.5 million units, a year-on-year increase of over 56%.