Original title: New energy vehicle production and sales continue to grow A number of car companies raised prices?
The latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers today (11th) shows that in February this year, the mainland's new energy vehicles continued to maintain rapid growth year-on-year.
The data shows that in February this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 368,000 units and 334,000 units, respectively, an increase of 2.0 times and 1.8 times year-on-year. Among them, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles reached 285,000 units and 258,000 units, respectively, an increase of 1.7 times and 1.6 times year-on-year, respectively. From January to February, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 820,000 units and 765,000 units, respectively, an increase of 1.6 times and 1.5 times year-on-year, respectively. The market share reached 17.9%.
What is the price increase of many car companies?
While the production and sales of new energy vehicles continue to grow, since the beginning of this year, many new energy vehicle companies have raised prices.
The reporter visited a number of car companies and learned that this round of price increases is as little as 1,000 yuan and as much as tens of thousands of yuan. Since entering March, nearly 20 new energy vehicle companies have announced price increases, involving nearly 40 models.
New energy vehicle sales staff: The price increase of new energy at the beginning of this year, first of all, there are increases, but the increases are different. We have also made preliminary statistics, including new car-making forces, but also Chinese brands, including joint venture brands, including imported brands, are in the range of price increases, with price increases ranging from 1% to 10%.
Through visiting the automobile market, the reporter learned that this round of new energy vehicle market price increases is mainly divided into two situations, one is a simple product price increase, and the other is to improve the product configuration and increase the price.
Rising raw material prices Car companies are under pressure to raise prices
In the interview, the reporter learned that due to the rise in raw material prices, the cost pressure of parts manufacturers has soared, and the price increase pressure of vehicle companies has also become increasing. A certain new energy hot-selling model, because of the high cost pressure, has appeared the phenomenon of price inversion, that is, the loss of about 10,000 yuan per car sold. Which raw materials are rising rapidly in price?
Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers: Although the market for new energy vehicles is growing very fast, we have also seen that the cost of new energy vehicles is still growing rapidly, such as the price of lithium carbonate, graphite, etc. have risen sharply.
The core component of new energy vehicles is the power battery, the battery accounts for the majority of the cost of the new energy vehicle, and the raw material lithium carbonate is the main component of the battery. The relevant person in charge of a lithium carbonate raw material production enterprise in Yichun, Jiangxi Province, told reporters that from the end of 2020, the price of lithium carbonate has risen all the way.
Liu Erlong, executive deputy general manager of Yifeng New Energy Materials Company: At that time, the price was basically maintained at about 50,000 yuan per ton, but after more than a year, it has now risen to 500,000 yuan per ton.
The rapid rise in the price of lithium carbonate is caused by the shortage of raw materials for non-ferrous metals upstream. According to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, 65% of the lithium raw materials on the mainland will need to be imported in 2021. With the explosive growth of new energy vehicles and energy storage in the world, the mainland, as the world's largest producer of lithium batteries and lithium salts, the contradiction between supply and demand of lithium resources has gradually intensified.
Experts also pointed out that in addition to the rise in raw material prices, the global chip shortage and other reasons are also the reasons for the price increase of new energy vehicles.
How to crack the price increase of raw materials and stabilize the safety of the industrial chain?
In the interview, many experts pointed out that although the sales of domestic new energy vehicles have not led to the overall sales decline due to the rise in raw material prices. However, in the long run, it will still have a considerable impact on the development of the new energy automobile industry. Therefore, how to crack the price increase of raw materials and stabilize the safety of the industrial chain has been highly concerned by government departments.
The automotive industry chain is relatively long, so enhancing the stability and competitiveness of the automotive industry chain supply chain has become a consensus in the industry. In addition to enhancing the independent and controllable ability of the industrial chain, experts suggest that it is necessary to accelerate the exploration and development of domestic lithium resources, and ensuring the supply of raw materials is the source of the contradiction between supply and demand.
Chen Bin, executive vice president of the China Machinery Industry Federation: In order to stabilize the price of raw materials for power batteries, we suggest that the relevant state departments implement some combination of strategic reserves, national reserves and commercial reserves to stabilize the price of the market.
The reporter learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that with an eye to meeting the production needs of power batteries and so on, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will resolutely crack down with relevant departments on acts of unfair competition such as hoarding and price gouging.
Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology: At the same time, improve the power battery recycling system, support efficient dismantling, recycling and other technical research, and continuously improve the recycling ratio and resource utilization efficiency.
Source: CCTV news client