In recent days, the automotive industry has two news really let a lot of friends who are ready to buy a car feel a little confused, one is the continuous increase in domestic refined oil prices, after March 17 again oil prices rose, the listing price of No. 92 gasoline exceeded 9 yuan / L, the cost of fuel vehicles with the car has increased significantly; the other news is that many new energy vehicle products have increased prices, including BYD, Tesla and other brands have increased prices. In addition, at the end of last year, many domestic insurance companies increased the commercial insurance costs for new energy vehicles, and the threshold for purchasing new energy vehicles was further raised... So in fact, at present, for many people, whether to choose traditional fuel vehicles or new energy vehicles, it is indeed necessary to struggle.
From the current situation, many new energy vehicle products have shown a trend of price increases. For example, BYD announced on March 15 that the price of many models of BYD Dynasty Network and Ocean Network was raised, ranging from 3,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan, to put it bluntly, the price of hybrid models increased by 3,000 yuan, and the price of pure electric models increased by 6,000 yuan; Tesla also raised prices twice in 5 days, and domestic Model 3 and Model Y models raised prices, and the official website information showed that the price of Model 3 high-performance models and Model Y long-endurance and high-performance models was raised. The increase is between 18,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan. In addition, the prices of some models of Nezha, Xiaopeng, Extraordinary, Zero Run, FAW-Volkswagen, GAC E-An, Geometry and other brands have also risen. It can be said that in the recent period, the price increase of new energy vehicle products has become a major trend, some car companies and brands have taken a step ahead, and it remains to be seen whether other car companies will continue to follow up.
Regarding the similar industry-wide price increase of new energy vehicles, the biggest factor is the cost increase, at least manufacturers are saying so. According to our understanding, in the past few days, the price of lithium carbonate, the most important raw material for new energy vehicle batteries, has increased significantly, and the price has directly increased from thousands of pieces a ton before to more than 500,000 yuan / ton. Of course, not only the price of lithium carbonate has increased, but also the price increase of other raw materials related to batteries. The price increase of core raw materials, for many downstream OEMs, is naturally a substantial increase in cost, for many manufacturers, it may be difficult to digest the rising cost, so it can only increase the price.
Of course, we also see that some media and comments have questioned that the cost increase is indeed not false, but there is no other way for new energy vehicle manufacturers to raise prices? Because everyone understands that for the current new energy vehicles, the penetration rate is still far lower than that of fuel vehicles, although the rise in oil prices may have some impact on the purchase choices of some consumers, but this impact may still be concentrated in those "swinging" customers, and most of the customers who are sure to buy fuel vehicles are unlikely to waver. So in fact, the price of new energy vehicles rises, may be to a certain extent, the choice of "swinging customers", the leverage of the price is reflected here, is it some car companies' new energy vehicle products price increase, will affect sales?
In fact, in our opinion, for some manufacturers, the cost continues to rise, and there may be no other way but to increase prices. For example, BYD, we saw that BYD raised the price of some products on March 15, that is, the price of hybrid vehicles increased by 3,000 yuan, and the price of pure electric models increased by 6,000 yuan, we think it is still more reasonable, because the battery capacity of hybrid models is relatively small, the volume is also smaller, the capacity and volume of pure electric models are larger, and the cost is also greater. And compared with Tesla's price increase of 18,000 yuan - 20,000 yuan, BYD's price increase for new energy vehicles can be said to be very conservative.
Of course, the price increase of Tesla and BYD is real, because these two brands of new energy vehicles basically have no terminal discounts, so after the price rises, consumers really need to spend a little more money. Of course, this is also a no-way thing, because the shipments of these two brands are really too large. BYD's monthly sales of new energy vehicles have passed 90,000, Tesla has passed 70,000, and the cost of a substantial increase If these two manufacturers let these two manufacturers "digest" themselves, THEN BYD and Tesla may really be a bit "overwhelmed".
However, for some brands that are still in their infancy, the market share is not high, or the stickiness of consumer brands is relatively general, they also rise in price, which may be self-deprecating martial arts. For example, Volkswagen, zero run, Nezha and other brands, the shipment of these brands is relatively small, and many models themselves have low prices, in the market competition, it is not the kind of object that is snapped up and needs to wait for a car for a long time, so the price of these models rises, if there is no terminal discount, then it is likely to affect sales. This is also where they are different from head brands such as BYD and Tesla, in the case of low sales, they "digest" the part of the rising cost, I am afraid that it is more realistic than the increase in price to affect sales.
So in fact, the substantial increase in the core cost of new energy vehicles is indeed a test for new energy vehicle manufacturers, for head brands such as BYD and Tesla, price increases are the only choice, and after price increases, they may not affect sales. For some manufacturers and brands whose products themselves are not strong enough, it may not be a wise choice to follow the price increase, and it may be more useful to think of other methods.