Spring Festival car market survey: luxury cars reduced prices, new energy vehicles increased prices

The shortage of chips has been alleviated to some extent. During this year's Spring Festival, the supply of vehicles in many 4S stores in Beijing is relatively sufficient.

When the first financial reporter visited the Beijing auto market during the Spring Festival, he found that many luxury brands are no longer difficult to find a car, and at the same time, there are large discounts on terminal prices. In the past year, the terminal price of luxury brand models has rebounded due to supply problems caused by chip shortages. With the recovery of chip supply, luxury brands have once again cut prices.

However, with the decline of subsidies, some new energy vehicle companies have announced price increases, and there are no preferential activities during the Spring Festival. At the same time, the pick-up cycle of some new energy vehicles is still long, and the battery shortage still brings certain challenges.

Luxury cars generally have a price reduction

"At present, most models have existing cars, and the chips have basically recovered, but there are still not many existing cars, which is mainly due to the fact that it is still during the New Year, and at the same time it has been affected by the epidemic factors." A sales manager of a Mercedes-Benz 4S store in Beijing told reporters that the Mercedes-Benz C-class discount is 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, and the E-class car discount is about 40,000 yuan, and the discount will last until the fifteenth day of the first month. As the number of car customers increases in the next year, the discount is likely to decrease.

Compared with 2021, the situation of Mercedes-Benz's car source has eased, especially since the second half of last year, the shortage of car supply is a common problem faced by automobile 4S stores. The reporter visited the market during the National Day Golden Week in 2021, when some of the 4S stores' exhibition cars were even sold out. Mercedes-Benz E-class and other hot models were basically not in stock at that time, and it took about two months to pick up the car. The preferential treatment of many models such as Audi and BMW has also been greatly narrowed.

"Now it is a few thousand yuan cheaper than a few years ago, and the preferential activities began a few years ago, and there will be discounts in the short term, and the discount strength is about 10%." The sales manager of a BMW 4S store in Beijing told reporters that most of the current car series have existing cars, even if it is about half a month. Although the chip problem has been alleviated, the highest-end models have been reduced in some functions.

Audi's lack of cores has also eased. The reporter learned from a 4S store that the Audi Q5 discount is 80,000 to 90,000 yuan, and the hot-selling model A6 is 50,000 to 60,000 yuan. "Most models have existing cars, and some configuration models do not have existing cars, and they can get to the store in about a month." The 4S store sales consultant told reporters that the impact of the chip is still there, but normal sales have not been affected. The impact of the chip is manifested in some high-end models, and some icing on the cake functions have been reduced. Buying a car now is more appropriate, and it is cheaper than a few years ago.

Unlike the situation with Audi Mercedes-Benz BMW, there is no discount on the price of Lexus terminals. The reporter learned that the car dealers rushed the performance before the end of the year, and now the new task indicators that have just passed the new year have not generally come down, so some models have no discounts.

From the sales data, the sales of some models of Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the third quarter of 2021 fell sharply due to chip tension, and the inventory index also declined. Entering 2022, with the sufficient supply of vehicles, the overall inventory of automobiles has risen. According to the data released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, the inventory warning index of Chinese automobile dealers in January 2022 was 58.3%, up 2.2 percentage points from the previous month, and the inventory warning index was above the boom-bust line.

The China Dealers Association pointed out that the overall market was stable in January 2022. Affected by the scattered epidemic, various localities have advocated the local New Year, and the reduction of the number of people returning to their hometowns has slightly reduced the demand for car purchases. Some places have introduced policies to encourage automobile consumption, stimulate some automobile consumption, and stimulate certain sales. At the same time, the supply of automobiles tends to stabilize, and the inventory level of dealers has rebounded, but it has not yet returned to normal levels. The mismatch between supply and demand caused by low inventories still needs some time to adjust.

The supply of batteries for new energy vehicles is tight

Unlike the luxury car market situation, the new energy vehicle pick-up cycle is still long. With the decline of subsidies for new energy vehicles, some new energy vehicle companies have announced price increases, including Tesla, Xiaopeng Automobile, BYD and other car companies.

There is no shortage of new energy vehicle companies in many shopping malls in Beijing, which often open supermarket stores on the first floor of the mall to display models and sell them at the same time. In a shopping mall newly opened in a certain area of Beijing last September, there are already many car companies such as Xiaopeng Automobile, Ideal Automobile, Jihu and Lantu Automobile. Among them, Lantu Automobile is sold in the form of a temporary exhibition hall and has not yet opened a storefront.

"There are no offers during the Spring Festival, there are activities in January, and the launch is the pure electric city version of lifelong free charging, when the booking can pick up the car before the Spring Festival." During the Spring Festival, people will not buy a car if they do not have new indicators. This month (February) if it is a new indicator, buy a pure electric version can be given a lifetime free maintenance. If it is replaced, for users of civil servants and public institutions, a lifetime free charge will be given. Lantu Automobile sales consultant told reporters that it is now necessary to wait about two months to pick up the car, not because there is no car, but the logistics are affected. Before the Spring Festival, there were customers who booked cars on January 21, and the 28th of the same month arrived, and Dongfeng's factory was working 24 hours a day before the Spring Festival. At present, Lantu Automobile has not announced a price increase.

"During the Spring Festival, 24-hour customer service is not closed, these days there are more people consulting, this morning there are about 20 people consulting." Buy a car with a warranty, a 1,000 yuan fuel card and a foot pad. Currently, it is not affected by the shortage of chips. Under normal circumstances, the user can pick up the car in 7 to 8 weeks. An ideal car sales manager in Beijing told reporters.

The reporter learned from a number of new energy 4S stores that new energy vehicles have fewer preferential activities during the Spring Festival, which also has a certain relationship with Beijing's lottery policy. The new energy indicator will wait until May, and Beijing will only put the number twice a year. "Unlike buying new energy vehicles in other places, you can buy them at any time." And because there is no indicator, everyone is not in a hurry to buy a car during the Spring Festival, and the activities done by manufacturers are not many, basically those who want to buy a car pick up the car before the Spring Festival. Lantu Auto sales manager told reporters.

During the Spring Festival, Xiaopeng Automobile also did not launch special promotions during the Spring Festival. From the perspective of delivery cycle, many models need to wait. The sales manager of Xiaopeng Automobile told reporters that Xiaopeng Automobile is now the fastest to order P7, but it will also wait about 11 weeks, and the other two models will have to wait for more than 3 months. Because the chip and battery are still relatively tight, the waiting cycle is longer.

At present, Xiaopeng Automobile has announced a price increase. The above-mentioned sales manager said that the decline of national new energy subsidies, the rise in the price of battery raw materials and the shortage of chips have led to the increase in the price of new energy vehicles. The problem of battery tension will still exist this year, and many new energy manufacturers now have such a situation.

At present, a number of new energy vehicles have achieved a good start. Ideal, Xiaopeng and Nezha delivered 12,000 units, 13,000 units and 11,000 units in January, respectively, with a year-on-year growth rate of 128%, 115% and 402% respectively. NIO delivered 9,652 units in January, up 33.6% year-on-year.

Source: CBN

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