Zhongxin Finance, January 13 (Ge Cheng) Recently, new energy vehicles ushered in a wave of "price increase tide", and different from the past, this wave of "price increase tide" came to "surging surging ", with a high price increase, involving a wide range of brands.
It is understood that the participation in the price increase includes not only wholly foreign-owned brands such as Tesla, but also new car-making forces such as Xiaopeng, as well as traditional automobile manufacturers such as FAW-Volkswagen and GAC Aean. The vehicles involved have not changed significantly in terms of configuration, and the price increase ranges from thousands of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan.
Cars on display at the Xiaopeng Experience Shop. Photo by Zhang Xu, a reporter from China News Network
Taking Xiaopeng as an example, according to the different configurations, the price increase of P7 is 0.43 million yuan to 0.59 million yuan, the price increase of P5 is 0.48 million yuan to 0.54 million yuan, and the price increase of Xiaopeng G3i is also 0.48 million yuan to 0.54 yuan. After the price increase, the price range of P7, P5 and G3i is 224,200 yuan - 409,900 yuan, 162,700 yuan - 229,300 yuan, 154,600 yuan - 193,200 yuan.
Compared with Xiaopeng, Tesla's price increase is even greater, and the price of model 3 basic version models after subsidies is adjusted from 255,600 yuan to 265,600 yuan, an increase of 10,000 yuan. The price of the Model Y basic version model after subsidies was adjusted from 280,700 yuan to 301,800 yuan, an increase of about 21,000 yuan.
In this regard, the reporter contacted the relevant person in charge of Xiaopeng Automobile, who said that it was inconvenient to respond to the price increase. The relevant person in charge of Tesla said that at present, the starting price of the product before subsidies has been clearly marked on the booking page of its official website, and the estimated subsidy amount for new energy vehicles in 2022 can provide a reference for consumers.
Is this wave of collective "price increases" of car companies planned for a long time or has another hidden plot?
Infographic. Photo by Chen Jimin
"The core is desolate, the lithium is vast, and the subsidy is declining"
In December last year, the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Development and Reform Commission, issued the Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022. The notice requires that on the basis of maintaining the energy density, mileage, energy consumption and other technical indicator thresholds of the power battery system unchanged, the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles in 2022 will be reduced by 30% on the basis of 2021.
Taking models with a battery life of 300km (inclusive) to 400km as an example, the subsidy in 2022 is 0.91 million yuan, compared with 13,000 yuan in 2021, and the difference between the two is only 0.39 million yuan; while the subsidy for models with a range of more than 400km (inclusive) is 12,600 yuan in 2022 and 18,000 yuan in 2021, with a difference of 0.54 million yuan. The change in policy does have an impact, but the impact on the price of new energy vehicles is indeed limited. From this point of view, it is reasonable to say that the thousand-yuan level is still reasonable, and the ten-thousand-yuan level is all blamed on the decline of subsidies, which is really unfair.
In response to the price increase phenomenon, China-Singapore Finance connected with Shi Jianhua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, who said that nowadays consumers most importantly choose cars according to demand, and subsidies are no longer the focus. Even if subsidies decline, companies should not increase the selling price of consumer terminals, unless the product changes to provide higher value to consumers.
In the Tesla experience store in Beijing Chaoyang Qiao Fu Fangcaodi, many people came to see the car. Photo by Zhang Xu
Of course, in addition to the decline in subsidies, the phenomenon of battery price increases and chip shortages also has an impact on the terminal price of new energy vehicles. Taking the price of lithium carbonate, the main material of power batteries, as an example, at the beginning of last year, the average price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was only 50,000 yuan / ton, and recently it rose to 290,000 yuan / ton, an increase of up to 480% in just one year.
The battery system is the component with the highest cost in new energy vehicles, and its cost accounts for nearly 40%, so the battery material will grow all the way and will be further transmitted, so that the cost of new energy vehicles will surge, and major car companies are facing continuous cost pressure.
At the same time, the shortage of chips has also seriously affected the production capacity of new energy vehicles, unlike traditional fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles rely more on chip supply in the manufacturing process, and millimeter-wave radar, on-board electric energy control systems, and IGBT modules of auxiliary driving systems require a large number of chips.
Last year, ideal, Xiaopeng, Audi and other brands have affected the delivery time due to supply shortages, in order to allow consumers to pick up the car as soon as possible, respectively, put forward the late replacement of millimeter wave radar and supplementary second car key program. Due to the shortage of chips, the production capacity of car companies is insufficient, and the phenomenon of unbalanced supply and demand is also one of the important drivers of the price increase of new energy vehicles. "The core is barren, lithium is vast" has become an important problem facing the development of the entire industry.
However, some companies can calmly cope with the unfavorable situation of subsidies, insufficient chips and rising raw material costs, and maintain the original selling price at the sales terminal. The person in charge of some car companies clearly stated that the company will bear the cost of subsidies and raw materials, and will not pass it on to consumers.
Liu Min, a 5G cloud-controlled logistics vehicle driving in the SAIC-GM-Wuling plant area
Multiplying Association: The total sales volume will soar this year
In the view of industry experts, the above unfavorable factors will only lead to the short-term development of new energy vehicles being hindered, and the impact on the long term is limited.
Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, once pointed out that despite the adverse effects of chip shortages and the continuous high prices of raw materials, under the promotion of "electrification, networking, and intelligence" technological changes, the vitality of enterprises has still been significantly enhanced, and market consumer demand continues to show a trend of upgrading quality. The performance of new energy vehicles is eye-catching and maintains rapid growth. The marketization of new energy vehicles has entered a new stage of explosive growth, and has shifted from being mainly policy-driven in the past to being market-driven.
The Association said on the 11th that with the substantial increase in domestic consumers' recognition of the new energy market and the stability of policy subsidies, it will inevitably promote the surge in China's total sales of new energy vehicles in 2022 and continue to maintain a super leading position of more than 50% of the world's share.
The data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on the 12th also shows that new energy vehicles have become the biggest bright spot in the industry, with sales of more than 3.5 million vehicles in 2021 and a market share increased to 13.4%, further illustrating that the new energy vehicle market has shifted from policy-driven to market-driven, and new energy vehicles have been widely recognized by the market and consumers.
In 2022, the framework and threshold requirements of the current purchase subsidy technical indicator system will remain unchanged, and the subsidy scale will not be locked from the upper limit of the original expected subsidy scale of 2 million vehicles, and the subsidy will be realized throughout 2022. With the doubling of the scale of the new energy industry chain and the improvement of cost reduction capabilities, it is expected that the increase in new energy vehicles at the end of 2022 will be very strong.
Under the background of the improvement of battery and vehicle integration technology, policy promotion will help the scale of the new energy vehicle industry to grow significantly, and the transformation of the traditional fuel vehicle industry is accelerating. Accordingly, the HKCC will adjust its sales forecast for new energy passenger vehicles in 2022 from 4.8 million to more than 5.5 million units, showing an optimistic attitude towards the new energy vehicle market in 2022. (End)