Abstract: Online tips, offline sales inducements
A news of "an additional price increase of 7,000 yuan to pick up the car" pushed Xiaopeng Automobile into a whirlpool of suspected "fraudulent compensation".
Jiangsu City Channel recently reported that in October this year, a consumer in Nanjing, Mr. Chen, selected a Xiaopeng P7 at the Xiaopeng Automobile Showroom in a local shopping mall, and paid a deposit of 5,000 yuan to sign a car purchase agreement, but when he went to pick up the car in November, he was told to pay an additional 7,000 yuan.
The sales director of Xiaopeng Automobile's store did not approve of the additional mark-up, saying that "this is the car that is meant to be paid."
"The government has a certain subsidy for new energy vehicles within 300,000 yuan, if the contract price exceeds 300,000 yuan, it will not enjoy subsidies, so it has lowered the contract price and made up the cost when delivered", the above supervisor said, which is "all car owners are acceptable" unified operation.
But Mr. Chen said he was not informed of the operation when he ordered the car. The two sides have their own opinions, and Xiaopeng Automobile has been questioned about "cheating compensation" through the "Yin-Yang Contract".
Coincidentally 15750 yuan
From the car purchase agreement exposed in the above video, it can be seen that the model purchased by Mr. Chen is the Xiaopeng P7 670E version, the body color is moonlight silver, the interior sports red, and the model configuration includes a smart music cockpit and a 19-inch two-color sports wheel.
The car purchase agreement shows that the official guidance price before the car subsidy is 299400 yuan, and the owner buys a car for the enterprise, so the subsidy enjoyed is 15750 yuan, in addition to the optional fund of 20000 yuan and a special discount of 7000 yuan, and the total price of the final car purchase is 279650 yuan.
In fact, according to the configuration of the above-mentioned owners, after the official App of Xiaopeng Automobile placed an order, the official guidance price before the vehicle subsidy reached 322,400 yuan, even according to the 20,000 yuan car purchase rights package in the store at that time, the final price of 302,400 yuan still exceeded the new energy subsidy policy limit stipulated by the state.
If the operation of Xiaopeng Nanjing store is as low as 299,400 yuan in the contract before the subsidy, the owner can enjoy the subsidy of 15,750 yuan.
Coincidentally, the owner's final purchase price was 279650 yuan, and the final price was 7000 yuan to pick up the car, which was just 15750 yuan from the price difference of 302400 yuan before the subsidy. This is also why the sales director of a Nanjing store in Xiaopeng said in an interview that (this 7,000 yuan) is "not an additional markup, it is originally the money you have to pay."
Through this mode of operation, the car owner's purchase price is actually reduced, and the company can also receive subsidies from the state at the same time. There are also other users who post on social platforms that Xiaopeng Sales guides users to sign low-price contracts and pay back when they pick up the car, similar to Mr. Chen's experience.
For the question of "fraudulent compensation", Xiaopeng Automobile denied it, and said that the above dispute was due to a misunderstanding caused by poor communication. In order to facilitate the order, the salesman of the Nanjing store involved purchased the boutique package without the customer's confirmation (the boutique package was priced at 11,200 yuan, a discount of nearly 4,000 yuan, so there was a matter of the owner paying 7,000 yuan), and the relevant rights and interests were reflected in the vehicle sales contract signed by the customer in advance.
The relevant person in charge of Xiaopeng Automobile said that in order to cover up the purpose of wanting to obtain a high commission for boutique packages, the clerk threw the explanation that contributed to the order to the state and made a wrong explanation, resulting in the owner and the media having a wrong understanding of the purchase and promotion policies of the boutique package.
For the "boutique package" specifically included, "Phoenix WEEKLY Car" asked Xiaopeng Automobile officially, the other party responded that the event is a stage promotion at the store end, the boutique package is priced at 11,200 yuan, including brand safety explosion-proof film / quality life gift package / alpaca mat - black / Alcantara headrest / portable charging gun Plus, customers can get 7,000 yuan worth of equity points after purchasing the boutique package with the car.
However, neither the price of 11,200 yuan nor the content of the above-mentioned "boutique package" is reflected in the car purchase agreement provided by the owner, but there is a special discount of 7,000 yuan. This figure also coincides with the amount of money that the owner needs to pay back.
"Xiaopeng did not have the serious practice of cheating and compensation of car companies before, but falsely invoiced to apply for state subsidies below 300,000 yuan", Zhang Xiang, an analyst in the automotive industry, believes that from the reply of sales, Xiaopeng Automobile has been suspected of cheating and compensation, and it is more accurate to use "false invoicing" to express it.
Zhang Xiang said that the behavior of "false invoicing" is widespread in the automotive industry, and it has a long history. Unlike new energy vehicles that strive for state subsidies through virtual invoicing, 4S stores falsely invoice fuel vehicles in order to reduce the purchase tax, for example, according to the 15% purchase tax algorithm, the invoice is 10,000 yuan less to pay 1500 yuan less purchase tax.
Of course, there are also people in the industry who hold the opposite opinion. Zhong Shi, an analyst in the automotive industry, said that it is difficult to determine whether Xiaopeng has "cheated" behavior based on this case alone, but from the perspective of actual operation, Xiaopeng has certain risks, because this behavior belongs to "rubbing the edge ball".
Zhong Shi believes that when Xiaopeng directly operated the store sales, if it did not collude with the user in advance, Xiaopeng would be in a passive position. "The development prospects of Xiaopeng Automobile are very good, and it will be better and better in the future." In this case, the company's vision of things should be high, and everything must be compliant and law-abiding, otherwise it is easy to damage its reputation."
At present, Xiaopeng Automobile has reached a settlement with the owner of the car, and at the same time, the sales staff involved and the person in charge of the store involved have been seriously dealt with.
Online tips, offline sales inducements
"Anyway, I suggest you choose the 670N+ version, this one is very cost-effective, the waiting cycle is not too long, this month's order can also enjoy 19,800 yuan of state subsidies, December 12 before the order there is a 20,000 yuan equity package, no. 13 equity directly minus 10,000 yuan." Xiaopeng sales in three different stores all have similar words for offline consulting users.
Sales said that other consumers who choose P7 models will be advised to choose the 670N+ version or the 670N version, but with the extension of the delivery cycle of the 670N version, the model is no longer recommended.
According to the official, the basic price of the 670N+ version of the Xiaopeng P7 is 289,700 yuan, and the price of personal car purchase after state subsidies is 269,900 yuan. Sales told Phoenix WEEKLY Automobile that the current order of the model can enjoy a 20,000 yuan car purchase rights package, which is used for the configuration of the model and financial policy preferential deductions. If consumers choose to pay in installments, it will occupy 12,000 to 17,000 yuan of the quota, at which time the sales will persuade consumers to carefully choose the optional package of vehicles, so as not to deduct enough, resulting in the total purchase price of the car exceeding 300,000 yuan.
"Phoenix WEEKLY Auto" found that on the official mini program, App and official website of Xiaopeng Automobile, when the user purchase price exceeds 300,000 yuan, a prompt will jump out: the total price of the model you choose has exceeded 300,000 subsidy lines before subsidy, and you will not be able to get comprehensive car purchase subsidies; it is recommended that you consult the store sales classmates and adjust the vehicle selection appropriately...
If the total price exceeds 300,000 yuan, there will also be hints on the Xiaopeng Automobile App
During the visit of "Phoenix WEEKLY Car", for the 670E version, which was priced at 299,400 yuan before the subsidy, offline sales gave advice on not recommending purchase. "After the selection, the price can easily exceed 300,000 yuan, and there is no need to buy." Compared to the 670N+, the 670E is just an upgrade from XPILOT 2.5+ to XPILOT 3.0, which in my opinion is not much different, and it is not cost-effective for you not to enjoy subsidies. ”
When the reporter said that he was more inclined to the 670E model and asked the sales whether there were other ways to get state subsidies, the sales clearly stated that "do not do illegal things, nor dare to do", and then added: "Xiaopeng has a lot of freedom, some things cannot be operated in principle, but we can wait until the time to sign the contract to talk in detail." "The implication of the sale seems to verify that state subsidies can be obtained by making low-price false invoicing through contracts."
Gu Na, a full-time lawyer at Zhejiang Guosheng Law Firm, told Phoenix WEEKLY Automobile that if the seller knew that the total price of the model exceeded 300,000 yuan and also let the vehicle enjoy state subsidies through other means, then this behavior constituted "fraudulent compensation".
In fact, offline inducement for users to buy subsidized models is not an act of Xiaopeng's sales presence.
In mid-October this year, Phoenix WEEKLY Auto found in Tesla stores that sales are more inclined to recommend models that enjoy state subsidies: "Compared with the long endurance of 347,900 yuan, the basic version of the Model Y of 276,000 (after subsidies) is a motor and 18 kWh of electricity, and the power is actually converted to 80km endurance." If you don't have the need to run long distances frequently, there is really no need to choose a car with 340,000. ”
However, the sales also made it clear that this is only personal advice and does not force users to make decisions.
The allure of subsidies
For a car company, what does new energy subsidies from the government mean?
Since the central government subsidized the promotion and application of new energy vehicles in 2009, China's new energy vehicle market has enjoyed a subsidy dividend for 12 years. According to the liquidation statistics of the ministry of industry and information technology and the ministry of finance for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles, the cumulative government subsidies in the past 12 years are about 129.5 billion yuan, covering more than 1.9159 million new energy vehicles. If you add the 18.3 billion yuan of pre-allocated funds for 2019-2020 recently announced by the Ministry of Finance, the cumulative subsidies for new energy vehicles in China will reach 147.8 billion yuan.
In 2017, a total of 16 companies in the A-share market had negative net profits after excluding preferential subsidies. Among them, the top three are all car companies: Ankai Bus received a total of 581 million yuan in subsidies throughout the year, but the net profit loss was 230 million yuan; Yaxing Bus received a total of 229 million yuan in subsidies before and after, but the annual net profit was only more than 42 million yuan; Jinbei Automobile received 116 million yuan subsidies, with an annual net profit of more than 15 million yuan.
It is not difficult to find that subsidies from the government have become the key to the above-mentioned enterprises to turn losses into profits. Yutong Bus, BYD, Ankai Bus, Foton Automobile and other listed car companies have received the highest amount of subsidies during the subsidy dividend period, but according to the financial report data of the above-mentioned enterprises from 2017 to 2020, due to the decline in subsidies for new energy vehicles, their net profits have declined significantly.
The huge subsidies received by automobile companies mainly come from the national new energy vehicle promotion subsidies, and their allure can be imagined, which is why in the early stage of the development of new energy vehicles, car companies cheated subsidies by having no license plates, lack of electricity in cars, inconsistent labels, and idle parties and dealers.
At the beginning of 2016, the Ministry of Finance and other four ministries and commissions conducted special inspections of 93 major new energy vehicle manufacturers. Among them, the total number of vehicles suspected of cheating and illegal compensation reached 76,374, involving a total subsidy of 9.2707 billion yuan.
Affected by this, the subsidy review standards have become more and more stringent, and after the car companies have cheated on compensation, the relevant models will be stopped and sold. This is also why some people in the industry believe that Xiaopeng Automobile, which is in a critical period of development, is completely unnecessary to risk high risks to make up for fraud.
With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle market, subsidies have also begun to decline. In April 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the Notice on Improving the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles, which clearly extended the implementation period of the financial subsidy policy for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles to the end of 2022, and in principle, the subsidy standards for 2020-2022 will be reduced by 10%, 20% and 30% respectively on the basis of the previous year.
According to the national new energy subsidy policy in 2021, pure electric vehicles with a price of no more than 300,000 yuan before subsidies can enjoy subsidies: models with a cruising range of more than or equal to 300km and less than 400km are subsidized by 13,000 yuan, and models with a cruising range greater than or equal to 400km are subsidized by 18,000 yuan.
This means that in 2022, the subsidy amount for pure electric models with a range of more than 400 kilometers will be reduced by 5400 yuan. However, even if the subsidies are gradually declining, the terminal sales of new energy vehicle companies will still take the state subsidies as one of the highlights for introduction.
"Phoenix WEEKLY Auto" found that near the end of the year, a number of new energy 4S stores/direct stores of different brands will put the state subsidy in 2022 decline by 30%. Some brands said that the state subsidy does not follow the time booked, but follows the final payment time of the vehicle to persuade consumers to book a car before 2021.
The sales of some brands such as Xiaopeng and Euler said that as long as they can be ordered before January 1, 2022, they will continue to enjoy the subsidy policy in 2021, and the difference caused by the decline of state subsidies will be borne by the manufacturer.
Ironically, for subsidies, Xiaopeng Motors executives are actually opposed.
He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, said in an interview with the media in 2019, "The decline in subsidies for new energy vehicles is a positive for enterprises, because new energy vehicles will sooner or later leave policy protection, return to market competition, and return to users." In its view, reducing subsidies is a process of big waves for the new energy automobile industry, eliminating enterprises with poor competitiveness, leaving behind enterprises with independent innovation strength.