Why is it difficult for prospective car owners to pick up their cars?

On January 20, in the assembly workshop of Yibin Kaiyi Automobile Co., Ltd. in Sanjiang New District, Yibin City, Sichuan Province, workers were busy on the smart production line. Photo by Zhuang Geer (People's Vision)

Approaching the Spring Festival, many families want to buy a new car for the New Year. However, the model is selected, the funds and procedures are complete, and consumers in many places find it difficult to pick up the car. Repeated delays in delivery time, mark-ups or reduced configurations to pick up the car, reduction of the preferential margin... It added to the annoyance of prospective car owners.

What are the reasons behind the "difficulty in picking up the car"? When will it be mitigated? How to open up the industrial chain supply chain, so that the automobile consumer market will move towards production and marketing in the new year? This reporter conducted an interview on this.

Ordering a car is easy to pick up and difficult to pick up

"I didn't expect it to be so difficult to pick up the car now!" Beijing car owner Qin Yinsheng has signed a contract for the purchase of a high-end brand new energy vehicle before New Year's Day, but the car cannot be driven. "The salesperson told me that in December, the car purchase will definitely wait until the next year. If you want to get the priority right to pick up the car, different models need to increase the price of tens of thousands of yuan to more than 100,000 yuan. Driving a new car in the New Year is not expected. ”

Booking a car is difficult to pick up, do not want to wait for more to increase the price - many consumers feel obviously.

Some have to bear higher car purchase costs. Some car owners complained that in the past few years, the car was generally reduced in price and offered more, and now because it is difficult to pick up the car, dealers not only have no discounts, but also slightly more popular models will increase the price.

Some have delayed their plans to buy a car. Ms. Zhou, a Beijing owner, has been driving her car for more than 10 years and intends to change to a new car recently. "The old car is older, and this year or so I have been sick and thinking about buying an imported car." The family chose a model, went to the 4S shop to ask, said that if you want to save the car before the holiday, you have to increase the price, and after the price increase, you must also queue up in the car purchase group at the increased price, and there is no guarantee that you can quickly get on the car. She simply gave up the idea of changing the car, "Wait until the car is normal." ”

The reporter visited the 4S stores of many automobile brands in Beijing and found that the "difficulty of picking up the car" exists to varying degrees, among which the new energy vehicles of high-end brands, the new high-end models of some brands, and SUV and other existing cars are relatively tight, often need to wait or increase the price to buy. The staff of a 4S store in Chaoyang District, Beijing, told reporters, "I can't get a car if I want to buy it." The fastest of each model can only be mentioned in 8 to 12 weeks. The slow lifting of the car has dampened the enthusiasm of many customers, and now they see more and buy less. Consumers think that dealers are not strong, and even suspect that they engage in "hunger marketing", but dealers generally reflect that they can't get existing cars, which is not only unsatisfied by consumers, but also affects the revenue of car companies and distribution companies.

Industry insiders pointed out that the end of the year and the beginning of the year is usually the peak season for car purchases, but affected by the recent "difficulty in picking up cars" and the weakening of dealer promotions, the performance of automobile consumption is general, and the data of the China Automobile Dealers Association shows that the automobile consumption index in December 2021 was 71.4, of which the monthly store sub-index was 81.3, a slight increase over the previous month; the demand sub-index and the purchase sub-index fell to 78.6 and 82.7 respectively.

Chip shortage, logistics blockage

What are the blockages that cause consumers to "pick up the car"?

Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said in an interview with this reporter that since the second half of 2021, the supply of chips worldwide has been tight, and the prices of key raw materials for new energy batteries such as nickel, cobalt and lithium have risen sharply, which is the main reason for the poor supply chain and prolonged delivery cycle in the domestic automotive market.

The staff of a new energy vehicle brand 4S store told reporters that in the past year, the shortage of chips and the lack of power battery supply have been restricting the progress of new cars. "Although the problem of 'core shortage' has improved significantly recently, the production capacity of other parts and components has been greatly affected by the price increase of raw materials and the international epidemic, which has increased the variables of the booking cycle." In addition, it is almost the New Year, and there are more consumers who want to pick up the car as soon as possible, and the problem of consumers picking up the car is more prominent. ”

"In addition to the 'lack of cores', in the past year, the price of shipping has fluctuated sharply, the cost of shipping is expensive, and containers are 'difficult to find', which also has a negative impact on the import and export of complete vehicles and parts." Xu Haidong said that under the influence of the epidemic, logistics problems such as rising global maritime prices and container shortages have further extended the delivery cycle of new cars. In addition, some imported car production bases have been seriously affected by the epidemic, and the production capacity has not been effectively restored, and the supply of corresponding models cannot keep up with the demand. According to incomplete statistics from relevant agencies, in 2021, the average pick-up time of imported brand cars will be delayed to varying degrees, most of which are more than 3 months later than other years.

In this context, some manufacturers and dealers have adopted the method of raising prices, reducing preferential treatment and even reducing configuration, and consumers have "paid for it" and even rendered anxiety, so that consumers have unnecessary nervousness about the future direction of the car market price, and they are more and more looking forward to early car lifting, which aggravates the contradiction between supply and demand. Xu Haidong said that some high-end brands, especially dealers of imported brands, require consumers to "increase the price of the car", and some new energy vehicle companies use the financial subsidy decline as a gimmick for marketing publicity, which to a certain extent also leads to market disorder and increases the difficulty of consumers to pick up the car.

"At present, the mentality of many consumers still belongs to 'chasing up and not chasing down'. The more the manufacturer raises the price, the more the dealer renders anxiety, and the more eager the consumer is. Some consumers who were not in a hurry to buy a car and are waiting to see have also entered the market to buy, resulting in a further disconnect between supply and demand. Xu Haidong said.

Supply is gradually improving

Despite short-term problems such as consumers' difficulty in picking up cars, rising raw material prices, and chip shortages, the overall situation of China's auto market has not changed in the long run.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2021, China's automobile production and sales reached 26.082 million units and 26.275 million units, respectively, an increase of 3.4% and 3.8% year-on-year, ending the downward trend for three consecutive years and contributing an important force to the sustained recovery and development of China's industrial economy.

In response to the shortage of automotive chips, Xiao Yaqing, minister of industry and information technology, recently said that efforts will be made to open up the "blockage point" and "card point" of key product supply, concentrate on solving the shortage of chips in the automotive field, and smooth the supply channels of key components. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has made it clear that it will go all out to maintain the smooth and healthy operation of the automobile industry, increase efforts to promote the development of new energy vehicles and intelligent network enterprises, and improve the stability and competitiveness of the industrial chain supply chain. Yuan Da, director of the National Development and Reform Commission's Department of National Economic ComprehensiveIzation, said that in 2021, the national integrated circuit output increased by 33.3% over the previous year, and the supply of automotive chips is gradually increasing. Industry insiders believe that the supply chain is "strong and strong", and the steady growth of chip production will provide a strong guarantee for the delivery of new cars.

Since last year, relevant departments have repeatedly issued policies to encourage automobile consumption. In the next step, how to improve the supply of automobiles and promote the smooth operation of the market and the healthy development of the industry?

On the one hand, we must do a good job in market supervision. Xu Haidong said that the unreasonable marketing and bidding strategies of some car companies not only affect the rights and interests of consumers, but also compress the profit margins of car companies themselves. "It is necessary to effectively maintain market order, strengthen the management of manufacturers and dealers, and prevent individual practitioners from taking advantage of raw material shortages and changes in the policy environment to spread anxiety to consumers, and vigorously engage in 'fare increases' and other behaviors, so as to protect the rights and interests of consumers." Xu Haidong said.

On the other hand, to continue to stabilize and expand automobile consumption, policy support is needed to play a "combination fist". Xu Haidong said that first of all, we should do a good job of ensuring stable supply and price, ensuring the smooth flow of the supply chain, so that consumers who want to buy a car should smoothly pick up their cars, and encourage car companies to develop more models suitable for different consumer groups in China to attract potential consumers. In addition, we will continue to promote the management of automobile consumption from purchase management to use management, and effectively solve the problems of charging and parking difficulties faced by consumers in the use of consumers through the introduction of corresponding supporting measures to promote automobile consumption. "In this way, consumers will be more willing to buy and use cars."

In 2022, is the supply and demand end of the automotive market expected to enter an upward channel?

According to the analysis of the China Automobile Dealers Association, the recovery of China's automobile market in 2021 exceeds expectations, conveying to the society the hope and confidence that the market will bottom out and rebound and enter the upward channel. With the continuous improvement of raw material supply and the effective prevention and control of the domestic epidemic, China's automobile market will show a good momentum of recovery and development.

"In the first half of 2022, the tight balance between supply and demand in the global chip market may continue for some time. In the second half of the year, with the recovery of global chip enterprises' production capacity and the acceleration of the process of chip localization and replacement, the problem of 'core shortage' will be effectively alleviated. At the same time, it is necessary to see that there are still many consumers who are still waiting or waiting to pick up the car, and this part of the demand that has been suppressed by poor supply will be released in the next few months. Overall, the prospect of both production and sales in the automobile consumer market this year can be expected. Xu Haidong said.