According to the latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on March 11, in February this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in the mainland reached 368,000 units and 334,000 units, respectively, an increase of 2 times and 1.8 times year-on-year, respectively. At the same time as the sales of new energy vehicles have increased significantly, many car companies have also raised prices recently to see the situation that reporters visited the market to understand.
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 of new energy rose at the beginning of this year, first of all, there was an increase, but the increase was different. We have also made preliminary statistics, new car-making forces, Chinese brands, joint venture brands, and imported brands are all in the range of price increases, and the price increase ranges from 1%-10%.
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 product configuration and increase prices.
New energy vehicle sales staff: We have upgraded some configurations of the scientific and technological configuration of the product. Judging from the current market sales situation, this effect is not bad.
New energy vehicle companies have adjusted prices, what are the reasons behind it?
The reporter's investigation found that a certain new energy hot-selling model, because of the high cost pressure, has appeared the phenomenon of price inversion, and the loss of each car sold is about 10,000 yuan.
Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers: The cost of new energy vehicles is growing rapidly, such as lithium carbonate and graphite prices 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 Jiangxi 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.
Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers: There is a situation of "one power is difficult to find" for the power battery of new energy vehicles in the market, and the superior production capacity of the power battery itself is still insufficient in China.
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.
Although the current sales volume of domestic new energy vehicles has not led to an overall decline due to price increases, in the long run, the development of the new energy vehicle industry will still be affected. 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.
Zhou Ju, deputy general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Wuling Division: Through strong chain replenishment, the new energy vehicle industry chain is fully autonomous.
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: The power battery raw materials of new energy vehicles are rising sharply, in order to stabilize prices, we recommend that the relevant departments of the state implement some strategic reserves, the combination of national reserves and commercial reserves, and stabilize market prices.
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: Improve the power battery recycling system, support technical research such as efficient dismantling and recycling, and continuously improve the recycling rate and resource utilization efficiency.
Transferred from: CCTV Finance
Source: Yangtze River Network