Economic Observer Network reporter Wang Shuaiguo "After 12 o'clock tonight, the price of our long-endurance four-wheel drive version (339,000) will be raised to 347,400 yuan. On the evening of February 15, Wang Zhiwei (pseudonym) received a message from the sales staff of Ford's new energy automobile supermarket that Ford's first domestic electric vehicle in China, the Mustang Mach-E, was his favorite model, and the car had just begun to be delivered at the end of last year.
Since the beginning of the year, Wang Zhiwei has received price increase news from many brands such as Xiaopeng Automobile and SAIC Feifan. These news are urging Wang Zhiwei to hurry up and place an order, otherwise he will spend thousands of yuan more on the car. As for the reason for the price increase, the sales of each company are nothing more than "battery prices have risen", "chip supply is not available" and "state subsidies have declined".
Entering 2022, the new energy automobile industry has to bear the impact of the decline of subsidies for new energy vehicles while facing the tight supply problems caused by the shortage of chips and batteries. According to the mileage and other related requirements, the subsidy for pure electric models will be reduced by 3900 or 5400 yuan, and the plug-in hybrid model (NEDC endurance is not less than 50km/ WLTC endurance is not less than 43km, including range extender models) will be reduced by 2040 yuan. According to the plan, this year is the final year of subsidies for new energy vehicles, and car companies have begun to prepare for the full withdrawal of subsidies.
These pressures have interacted with the outbreak of new energy vehicle consumption, which has directly brought about the first wave of new energy vehicle price increases in 2022.
According to the incomplete statistics of the Economic Observer reporter, in the two and a half months from the end of 2021 to February 15, 2022, there were 16 domestic car companies that announced the price increase of their new energy models, including Tesla, Weilai, Xiaopeng and Nezha, 4 new car-making forces, 7 traditional car companies such as BYD, GAC Eian and SAIC Roewe, as well as 2 joint venture brands of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen and 2 foreign brands of Volvo and Ford. The price increase of each model ranges from 1,000 to 21,088 yuan, mainly concentrated between 3,000 and 6,000 yuan.
From the perspective of price increases, some versions of Tesla and Nezha car models rose by more than 10%, and saic motor Feifan's two models rose the least, less than 1%.
At present, from the initial Tesla announced price increases, to the later new car-making forces, traditional independent brands, joint venture brands and foreign brands also participated, new energy vehicles are confirming the reality that has truly entered the market-led development stage.
Tesla and Nezha have the most violent price increases
This wave of price increases in the new energy vehicle market was first set off by Tesla in China. On the last day of 2021, Tesla's official website in China showed that the price of the rear-drive versions of the Model 3 and Model Y models increased. Among them, the price of the Model 3 rear-wheel drive version was adjusted to 265,652 yuan, an increase of 10,000 yuan from the previous price; the price of the Model Y rear wheel drive version was adjusted to 301,840 yuan, an increase of 21,088 yuan from the previous price.
Price fluctuations for Tesla models have become commonplace in the global market. However, unlike before, Tesla's price increase node is just one day before the national new energy vehicle subsidy fell by 30%.
In 2022, with the implementation of the subsidy decline policy, various car companies began to have a variety of different reactions. In the initial stage, the models of Weilai, Nezha, GAC E'an, SAIC Feifan and other brands rose in price.
Car company price increase table (watchmaking: Wang Shuaiguo)
Xiaopeng Automobile, BAIC Jihu, etc. chose to pay out of their own pockets, setting a transition period for this year's subsidy decline, such as Xiaopeng Automobile introduced a sales policy that paid a deposit before 24:00 on January 10 and can still enjoy the rights and interests of the state subsidy in 2021.
Recently, the Economic Observer reporter visited a number of new energy vehicle sales stores and found that Xiaopeng Automobile has raised the price of new cars on January 11 according to the original plan, while the price of new cars of BAIC Jihu has not yet been adjusted.
"After the last time I sent you [the new price list], the price was adjusted." On February 16, a Salesman of Xiaopeng Automobile in Beijing told the Economic Observer that the price of new cars rose between 4300 yuan and 5900 yuan.
A salesperson of BAIC Jihu said: "At present, the price of the car has not risen, but this car (referring to the Alpha T 653S) will soon change the configuration, the motor will be replaced by Siemens to BAIC motor, and the battery will be replaced from SK to Ningde era battery." ”
At the beginning of January this year, when the reporter went to the store to inquire, the sales staff of the above-mentioned Jihu said that "if you book a car now, if there is a car of the right color, it can be delivered in 15 days, if there is no color you want, the pick-up time is 45 to 60 days, and it is not necessarily too late to enjoy last year's subsidy policy." Pick up the car before February 28 and you can still enjoy last year's subsidy. According to the fastest delivery speed of 15, the two models of the Extreme Fox are also about to usher in a price increase.
In addition, since the end of January, BYD, Great Wall Euler, and SAIC-GM-Wuling, which have not previously increased prices, have also released price increase news.
According to the incomplete statistics of the Economic Observer reporter, among the above 16 car companies that have released price increase news, the most price increase is the three versions of Nezha Automobile - Nezha U Pro 400 Light Edition, 400 Industry Customized Edition and 500 Industry Customized Edition, which increased by 13,000 yuan, an increase of 10.59%; followed by Model Y, with a price increase of 21,000 yuan, an increase of 10.16%; BYD Yuan rose by 5.56%-8.77%, SAIC-GM-Wuling Nano EV gains were 5.47%-6.02%.
The smallest increases were for saicid motor Feifan's two models, the ER6 and MARVEL R, with prices raised by 1,000 yuan and 2,000 yuan respectively, and the increases for each version were 0.50%-0.64% and 0.77%-0.92%.
Secondly, the price of the Ford Mustang Mach-E long-endurance four-wheel drive version and the Extreme Kr 001 YOU version was raised by 0.84 million yuan box by 0.8 million yuan, an increase of 2.48% and 2.22%.
In this wave of price increases, Nezha Automobile has become the most concerned car company. After the new energy country made up for the decline, the subsidy per vehicle was reduced by 3900 or 5400 yuan (divided into two levels), and the price increase of Nezha UPro 3 version reached 13,000 yuan, which made it difficult for the outside world to understand. In the view of some industry insiders, Nezha Automobile, which originally took the low-end route, significantly increased the price of some models at this time, or will dissuade many consumers who are waiting and considering buying these models.
However, it is worth noting that the price increase of the other 4 versions of Nezha UPro is between 3,000 and 5,000 yuan, and the price increase of individual versions is higher or has little impact on the overall sales.
Why the price increase?
For the reasons for the price increase, the news conveyed by car companies is that the global chip shortage and the rising price of raw materials for power batteries continue to lead to an increase in the production cost of new energy vehicles, in addition, the national new energy subsidy policy has further increased the cost pressure of car companies by 30%. These reasons are there for all to see.
Recently, the world's leading battery raw materials consulting company - benchmark mineral intelligence agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence released data show that from January 2020 to January 2022, the prices of battery-grade cobalt, nickel sulfate and lithium carbonate rose by 119%, 55% and 569% respectively. In ternary material batteries, the cost of cathode materials containing lithium, cobalt, nickel and other metal elements accounts for nearly 50% of the cost of battery materials.
The popularity of the demand side and the lack of supply side are the two major "culprits" of the rise in the price of battery raw materials, in 2021, the automobile market has repeatedly erupted in the mining incident, and car companies and battery manufacturers have frequently signed long-term supply agreements. The delivery of products by car companies is also deeply troubled. Musk has repeatedly said that the lack of power battery production capacity has affected Tesla's delivery rhythm, and said that Tesla itself is accelerating the research and development of power batteries, hoping to achieve self-satisfaction in the future to meet some battery needs.
In 2021, automotive chips are also in serious shortage under the influence of multiple factors such as the epidemic, natural disasters, and artificial hoarding, and prices have exploded. However, the "darkest hour" of the automotive chip famine has passed, and industry insiders are optimistic that the balance between supply and demand of automotive chips will be achieved as soon as possible or in mid-2022.
If the pressure brought by batteries and chips can still be digested by car companies, then the subsidy decline in 2022 has become the "last straw" to promote the price increase.
At present, due to the lag effect, the sales of new energy vehicles in January did not show the overall decline due to price increases. According to data from the Association, domestic sales of new energy vehicles reached 347,000 units in January 2022, up 132.0% year-on-year.
In this regard, the Association said that some traditional car companies have been affected by chips and lowered their expectations in 2021, and transferred the undelivered order resources to the first quarter of the 2022 car market, so the efforts to ensure a good start and guarantee delivery will be implemented in the first quarter. However, in two or three months, in the case of all the original orders delivered and the general price increase of new energy vehicles, if the market can continue to maintain a high growth rate, it can fundamentally show that the new energy vehicle market has got rid of its dependence on financial subsidies.