The "rising price tide" of new energy vehicles has struck, and many car companies have quietly acted

The tide of price increases has struck, and new forces have quietly moved

On December 31, 2021, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022, which clearly stated that from January 1, 2022, the subsidy for new energy vehicles will be reduced by 30% on the basis of 2021. At the same time, it is pointed out that vehicles licensed after December 31 will no longer be subsidized.

That is to say, after the subsidy declines in 2022, the subsidy for pure electric passenger cars that meet the "300 km ≤ mileage <400 km" will be reduced by 3900 yuan; the subsidy will be reduced by 2040 yuan for pure electric passenger cars that meet the "cruising range ≥400 km" and the price does not exceed 300,000 yuan; and the subsidy for plug-in hybrid (including extended range) passenger cars will be reduced by 2040 yuan. Moreover, it is required that the price of the above two new energy models is less than 300,000 yuan.

As soon as the news came out, the industry predicted that the price of new energy vehicles or would rise. The first to initiate price increases are Tesla and new power car companies.

At the end of 2021, Tesla took the lead in announcing the news of price increases, and the current price of its domestic Model 3 and Model Y rear-wheel drive versions was 265,700 yuan and 301,800 yuan, respectively, up 10,000 yuan and 21,000 yuan, respectively. Model Y does not enjoy state subsidies because it exceeds the subsidy standard line of 300,000 yuan.

On January 11, Xiaopeng officially announced the adjusted price of all models. Xiaopeng P7 rose by 4300-5900 yuan, and the price after the latest subsidy was 224,200-409,900 yuan; Xiaopeng P5 rose from the original 157,900-223,900 to 162,700-229,300, and the whole series rose by 4800-5400 yuan; the Xiaopeng G3i rose from 149,800-187,800 to 154,600-193,200, and the whole series rose by 4800-5400 yuan.

The manufacturer's guidance price has also been raised after the subsidy of Nezha U and Nezha V models. Among them, some models of Nezha U were raised by 3000-5000 yuan, and some models of Nezha V were raised by 2000 yuan. Nezha V Pro Long Endurance Smart Edition and Long Endurance Smart Enjoyment Edition have both been raised by 2,000 yuan.

Ideal Car does not enjoy subsidies and does not raise prices because the price of Ideal ONE exceeds 300,000 yuan. However, its official APP shows that from February 1, the rights and interests of the first owner of the three electric and extended range system life warranties will be cancelled to 8 years or 120,000 kilometers.

In December last year, NIO issued an insurance price announcement, saying that users who paid a deposit to purchase ES8, ES6 and EC6 SUV models before December 31, 2021 (inclusive), and who pre-marketed on March 31, 2022, could purchase cars in accordance with the 2021 national new energy vehicle subsidy standards, and the price difference was borne by NIO. However, consumers who purchase from January 1 are no longer eligible for the above benefits.

In addition, since January 1, GAC Aion has also adjusted the price, the 2022 GAC AION S Plus, the price range after subsidies is 153,800 yuan - 179,800 yuan, compared with 2021, the price increased by 7,000 yuan to 14,000 yuan; the price of the 2022 AION Y was raised by 5,000 yuan to 9,000 yuan; the AION LX rose by 4,000 yuan.

"China Times" reporter also found that there are still some new energy vehicles without price increases during the visit, and the sales staff of Great Wall Euler and BYD said that they did not receive the notice of price increases, and still maintained the original price, and some models of Euler also have preferential treatment.

Overall, the price will be stable and falling

In fact, the price increase of new energy vehicles is also expected, in addition to the decline of subsidies, there is also a part of the reason behind the price increase is the shortage of chips and the increase in the cost of power batteries. Some lithium battery head enterprises have raised prices, because the price of lithium battery raw materials will increase significantly in 2021, and the prices of power battery cathode materials and electrolytes will continue to rise.

The industry's view is that in a short period of time, the decline will cause the price of models to float upwards, affecting consumers' purchase intentions, but in the long run, new energy vehicles have become a just need, and the overall impact is not large.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Association, said: "A 30% subsidy decline will have a certain impact on the growth rate of new energy vehicles, and car companies are facing the challenges of the post-subsidy era and will inevitably adjust prices." However, price increases are a short-term phenomenon, and if car companies want to remain competitive, price declines are a long-term trend. ”

At present, China's new energy vehicle market is developing rapidly, and the data shows that in 2021, the production and sales of new energy vehicles will be 3.545 million and 3.521 million units, respectively, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, and the market share will reach 13.4%, 8 percentage points higher than that of the previous year. Among its own brands, BYD's annual sales of new energy passenger cars reached 593,700 units in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 231.6%. Among the new car-making forces, Xiaopeng, Weilai and Ideal have delivered more than 90,000 vehicles. Nezha, WM and Zero Pao delivered a total of 69,700, 44,200 and 43,100 units respectively.

From the data, it can be fully seen that the current new energy vehicle market is hot. With the rapid growth of the market and the gradual decline of subsidies, China's new energy automobile industry is shifting from policy-led to market-led, and competition will become increasingly fierce.

On January 11, the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Committee released a report that the subsidy scale in 2022 was not locked from the original expected upper limit of 2 million subsidies, and the subsidy throughout 2022 will be realized. At the same time, the sales forecast of new energy vehicles in 2022 was raised, and the Association said that the original sales of new energy passenger vehicles in 2022 were 4.8 million, and should now be adjusted to more than 5.5 million, and the penetration rate of new energy passenger cars has reached about 25%.

Caamot pointed out: "With the shortage of chip supply on the supply side and the high level of raw material prices in the new year, it is expected that the automobile market will continue to show a stable and good development trend in 2022, and the annual production and sales performance will be better than in 2021."

Anxin Securities also said that in the medium and long term, the current electrification has become the consensus of traditional car companies and new car manufacturers, the resonance between the supply side and the demand side has promoted the industry into a spontaneous growth stage, and the prospect of the new energy vehicle market after the subsidy withdrawal is still optimistic. In 2022, the prosperity of the new energy automobile industry is expected to continue.