Since March, many consumers have found that going to gas stations to refuel cars has gradually increased the cost.
The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has affected the world energy trade pattern, superimposed on the impact of the epidemic on logistics costs, and gasoline prices in many countries in the world have soared to new highs within the month.
Someone on the social platform said: "Or new energy vehicles are more economical." ”
But when consumers' eyes turn to new energy vehicles, they find that new energy vehicles have also ushered in a wave of price increases.
Today, some media reported that Xiaopeng Automobile will increase its price after 12:00 p.m. this Sunday, with an increase of between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan, of which P7 will increase by nearly 20,000 yuan and P5 will increase by 10,000 yuan.
This situation is not unique, and Tesla, the world's leading electric vehicle company, has also been raising prices in March.
On March 10, Tesla China's official website showed that the price of Model 3 high-performance version and Model Y long-endurance and high-performance version were raised by 10,000 yuan. As for the reason, on Sunday, Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla and SpaceX were already feeling huge inflationary pressures.
On March 14, Dan Ives, an analyst at investment bank Wedbush, said in an interview with the media that Tesla may raise prices again in the next two weeks to adapt to the tight supply environment. Ives added, "Tesla has the ability to pass on inflation that it does not intend to absorb to consumers, as Netflix and Amazon did." ”
Sure enough, on March 15, after 5 days, Tesla raised prices again. Tesla's official website in China shows that the price of each model has been raised by 14,000-20,000 yuan. On March 17, only two days later, domestic Tesla announced price increases three times, according to Tesla China's official website on March 17, the price of Model Y long-endurance version and high-performance version has been raised to 375,900 yuan and 417,900 yuan.
This increase is more than 5% from the price of 357,900 yuan and 397,900 yuan of the same model at the beginning of the month.
Late at night on March 15, BYD Automobile could not bear the cost pressure, and issued a price increase notice on the official Weibo: Affected by the continuous sharp rise in raw material prices, BYD Automobile will adjust the official guidance price of new energy models related to Dynasty Network and Ocean Network, ranging from 3,000-6,000 yuan. The price adjustment took effect from 00:00 on March 16. This is BYD's second price increase notice in the past three months.
Looking at the above reasons for the price increase of new energy vehicles, it can basically be attributed to the cost of raw materials and inflationary pressures.
According to western securities statistics, since December last year, the frequency of price increases for auto consumer goods has ranked first among all major categories.
The reason behind it, in addition to the decline in subsidies for new energy vehicles, the "chip shortage" that has continued since the epidemic has also increased the cost, and the price of core raw materials has soared, such as the raw materials for lithium batteries: lithium ore and derivative chemicals.
Since last year, under the objective gap between supply and demand, lithium concentrate, lithium carbonate, lithium iron phosphate, lithium hexafluorophosphate... They have broken through the historical high and risen to a sky-high price that makes car companies "too expensive".
As for chips, Ukraine, which has recently been mired in armed conflict, is a major supplier of rare gases such as neon gas, which is a necessary material in semiconductor lithography.
For various reasons, the price increase of new energy vehicles is inevitable, but has its sales declined?
Recently, the economic data in February was released, and the sales of new energy vehicles increased sharply year-on-year, slightly lower than the previous month, but the penetration rate hit a new monthly high. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the All-China Passenger Transport Association, said that the trend of new energy vehicles in the past years has gradually increased in the relative downturn at the beginning of the year, and the new energy started strongly in January and March 2021, and continued to strengthen in May and December. Due to the small impact of the new energy vehicle subsidy policy this year, the trend in February is still very strong.
CITIC Securities said that the industry production and sales data was released smoothly in February, the sales volume of new energy vehicles continued to increase year-on-year, and the demand for replenishment inventory after the Spring Festival began to appear, and the overall data slightly exceeded market expectations. Affected by the supply chain impact brought about by the rise in raw material prices and the risk of war, the valuation of the automotive industry has recently been sharply adjusted, and the market has gradually reached a consensus on the risk factors of the industry and the profit reduction of the sector. For new energy vehicles, mainstream car companies continue to introduce high-quality models to enhance the industry boom, and the upward trend of the industry is clear.
The just-concluded National Two Sessions also mentioned the important role of new energy vehicles in the field of consumption, and the agency suggested that investors should consider the support of the policy for the development of the new energy vehicle industry in the future, and more local governments will encourage policies or will land to support the continuous release of new energy vehicle sales.
Specific to the investment target, China Merchants Securities said that the mainland new energy vehicles are in the rapid penetration range, consumption acceptance, product richness are rapidly improving, is currently in the beginning of the active inventory replenishment cycle, there is no problem in the demand for new energy vehicles, the problem is that the lack of core and the high cost of bulk leads to the supply shortage of supply.
In terms of vehicles, China Merchants Securities believes that it is advisable to choose targets with strong right to speak in the industrial chain, focusing on recommending BYD, Great Wall Motor, GAC Group, Geely Automobile, etc. with excellent sales performance or potential for explosive cars; in terms of parts and components, it is optimistic about the head enterprises with cost, product advantages and card position intelligence and electrification trends, focusing on recommending Fuyao Glass, Bethel, Zhongding Shares, Xingyu Shares, Echody, etc., and recommending Xinrui Technology, which benefits from the high-voltage fast charging industry trend, and Suao Sensing, which benefits from the automotive sensing.