"Whether there is stricter control over secondary channels depends on whether Tesla's core interests will be affected."
Text | Peng Suping
Under inflationary pressures, the "price butcher" has also turned his face.
Think tank Jun statistics found that in the past six months, Tesla reversed the image of the past "price butcher knife", several times to increase the price of its models, of which, the Model 3 rear-drive version of the price increased 4 times, the Model Y rear-drive version of the price increased 3 times, the two models with higher configurations have also increased the price 2 times. From March 10 to March 17, in just 8 days, Tesla has raised the price of its products three times, even for Tesla, which often adjusts prices, this rhythm is quite rare.
"The 'Wait Party' has lost completely this time." Before, Tesla frequent price cuts, many potential consumers have a wait-and-see mentality, and now, people who really want to buy Tesla but have not started to start have mixed feelings, on the contrary, people who ordered early found that their new cars can appreciate like wealth management products.
Some car buyers choose to land the floating profit on the "book". Since Tesla's price increase, there have been many transfer orders in the market - because Tesla's delivery cycle often takes months, many people who ordered at the low price point last year resold orders or new cars to others when they were about to be delivered, so as to earn a large difference.
In the automotive forum, second-hand trading community and other platforms, you can see the order transfer information of many Tesla models, and the seller's bidding price is often increased by 5,000-10,000 yuan, which varies with the type of model and the time of booking.
Car traders have long been moved, and a considerable number of those who peddle orders on major platforms are professional car dealers. With the increase in the frequency and amplitude of Tesla's price increases, some car dealers have increased their efforts to "sweep goods" in the market.
The long delivery cycle allows Tesla to have two sets of price systems in the market, one is the "futures car" price of the official channel, and the other is the "spot car" price of the private transaction, and in the case of the official price fluctuations, the price of the private transaction also has more flexible space.
This makes Tesla more and more angry. Think tank Jun learned that in the recent price increases, Tesla's orders have not only not decreased, but have hit new highs in some stores and are directly full. "Now it's not just people who want to buy cars who are grabbing, everyone is going to end up." A person familiar with the matter told the think tank Jun.
But what does this "boom" mean for Tesla?
Is a steady rise in prices comparable to financial management?
"The best financial product bought this year is Tesla, which has risen by more than 40,000 in more than three months since the car was picked up." Some Tesla owners are pleased to find that the price of the car will rise after buying it, and it will rise a lot.
In the past week or so, Tesla has raised the price of its products three times, and the highest increase in the price of the Model Y long-endurance version has increased by 36,000 yuan. If the time is extended, between July 30 and November 1 last year, model 3 owners who placed orders at a starting price of 235,900 yuan picked up the car at the end of last year or the beginning of this year, and the price of the car they bought has risen by 44,000 yuan according to the current price.
Of course, this algorithm is relatively simple and optimistic - the cars that have been used and used are already used cars, and it is obviously impossible to measure the value of new cars when they are put back on the market. But rising car prices are still slowly dismantling people's stereotypes.
"The traditional conclusion that a car is a fast-depreciating consumer is being challenged, and if you choose a car well, you can even buy a wealth management treasure." Chang Yan, a senior media person in the automotive industry, sighed.
Think tank Jun found that after a brief price reduction in the Model 3 on July 30 last year, Tesla has not lowered the price of its products, and all models have increased in price at different time nodes. In comparison, the base version of the Model 3 and Model Y, that is, the rear-drive version, has increased the price more frequently, while the advanced version, that is, the high-performance version and the long-endurance version, has a greater price increase.
Under the market of price "rubbing" rise, many people have realized the income of this "financial management".
A sales information that the think tank Jun recently paid attention to on the second-hand trading platform "Idle Fish" showed that the seller purchased a Model Y rear-drive version of the model at a price of 280,700 yuan naked car, and is expected to pick up the car in late March.
Even if the price increases by 5,000 yuan, this order is still quite competitive in the market. After the price increase on March 17, the price of the model Y rear-drive version of the naked car has risen to 316,900 yuan, while for buyers, the above order is actually only 285,700 yuan, more than 30,000 yuan less than the official price.
In addition to the price, the pick-up time is another big advantage for resale orders. Hanging out of the resale order, the pick-up time is often approaching, the buyer bought the equivalent of the current car, but from the official channel to place an order, it takes a long car lifting cycle, taking the Model Y rear-drive version as an example, the current official website shows that it is 10-14 weeks - in fact, it will often be longer.
Car dealers enter the bureau to increase the price to collect the car
In the case of obvious profitability, professionals are already off the scene.
In the auto home, understand the car emperor, idle fish, little red book and other platforms, there are many professional car dealers, from the historical information, they have been in Tesla in the past six months again and again in the price increase, has handled a lot of new car orders.
On idle fish, a Hangzhou car dealer quoted to the reporter who came to consult, the Model 3 rear-drive version of the model is about 270,000, "8,000 cheaper than the official, and don't wait." ”
Car dealer quotes tend to be higher than individual quotes. Taking the above Model 3 rear-drive version as an example, the models that can be picked up in the near future are generally ordered last year, and the multiple transfer order information on the platform shows that these cars are mostly 250,900 yuan or 255,600 yuan of naked car prices, but personal quotations are often increased at about 5,000 yuan, which is nearly 10,000 yuan cheaper than the car dealer's quotation.
As professionals, car dealers are more proficient in the operation process of order transfer. At the same time, the orders in their hands are often acquired from individual users, the cost itself is higher, and the final transaction price is naturally higher.
In late November last year, Tesla due to the new energy vehicle subsidies are about to decline in the price of its Model 3 and Model Y rear-drive versions, a Taizhou car dealer immediately ordered a Model 3 rear-drive version of the model in his personal name, but just over a month later, at the end of December, Tesla raised the price of the above two models again, the car dealer immediately opened the "wide net" mode, and actively acquired orders before Tesla in the country.
According to his introduction, only by the beginning of March this year, he had accumulated more than 20 orders at a higher price. Of course, he is not the only one who sees business opportunities, after Tesla's price increase at the end of last year, the order and purchase information on the above platforms has emerged in an endless stream, especially since the middle of February this year.
"The national high price closed at 23.59 and 25.09 orders." These messages are concise and concise, but they often point out the price of the purchase order, and the quotation can reach a mark-up of about 5,000-10,000 yuan.
Recently, with the rising price of Tesla's new car, the "cheap" orders on the market are more scarce, and the bid of car dealers to receive orders shows signs of rising, and the above-mentioned Taizhou car dealers' price increase in February also started with 5,000 yuan, and recently directly increased to 10,000 yuan.
"Strong" sellers and "weak" buyers
The process of "transferring orders" is not as simple as it sounds.
Currently, Tesla's orders are non-transferable except between immediate family members. The so-called "transfer order" is only after the seller picks up the car to license, and then transfers the vehicle to the buyer.
This is roughly equivalent to a private used car transaction. The two parties to the transaction will also sign a contract in advance, a widely referenced "new car purchase, transfer and preparation transfer agreement" shows that Party B (that is, the buyer) to pay the full balance of the new car, in order to have ownership of the vehicle, Party A (i.e., the seller) undertakes to cooperate with Party B to complete the new car license plate and transfer within 14 working days, "If Party A does not cooperate with the transfer within the time limit, it is necessary to compensate Party B for liquidated damages of 500 yuan per day according to the new car rental market." ”
A lawyer told the think tank that there is no problem with the legal validity of the contract itself, but there is a relatively large risk for Party B (that is, the buyer).
"The buyer pays the balance of the vehicle, but the car is in the seller's name, if the seller does not simply want to earn the difference in the transaction, it is likely to refuse to transfer the vehicle to the buyer, or sit on the ground starting price, and then need a fee to cooperate with the transfer." The above-mentioned lawyer said that although the agreement is protected by law, the buyer can fully protect his rights through legal proceedings, but the cost of rights protection is very high.
He also added that if the vehicle cannot be transferred, the vehicle becomes a "back car", and once lost, it is very difficult for the buyer to retrieve it.
Someone on the "Autohome" forum shared an unpleasant experience of "transferring orders". A buyer went to the field to increase the price of 5,000 yuan to buy the car of the order, met first to sign the agreement, he paid the full amount of the new car, and then picked up the car, opened the pro card, insured, and licensed, everything seemed to go smoothly, and as a result, on the day of the agreed transfer, the other party said that the ID card was lost and could not be transferred. "Refund? Sorry, the seller has no money at all; call the police? It was useless, the other party said that he did not run, and the car was also in your own hands, but it was temporarily impossible to get through. ”
Compared with the buyer, the seller's risk is almost negligible - even if the order is not transferred, the loss is 1,000 yuan of deposit, and according to the think tank Jun, from the order to the pick-up, Tesla can retain the 180-day period.
Under the above transaction method, the position of the buyer and seller is not equal, and the seller is obviously stronger. The above-mentioned lawyer told think tank Jun that if the buyer has room for bargaining, he can ask the seller to settle the balance of the vehicle first, which is nothing more than adding a deposit paid by the buyer to the agreement, or agreeing on a liquidated damages for the buyer's failure to perform the transfer.
In the same process, adding car dealers in the middle can diversify risks for buyers to a certain extent.
The above-mentioned Hangzhou car dealer said that he would first sign an agreement with the seller, then pay the full amount, and take the seller's information required for the transfer; after finding the buyer, he would sign an agreement with the buyer to assist him in the transfer.
The point is that the seller's information will definitely be placed in the car dealer, "otherwise we wouldn't dare to hit the full amount." "For car dealers who have been trading used cars all year round, the required documents and related processes are very familiar.
The above-mentioned lawyer also pointed out that the probability of default between buyers and car dealers is relatively low, and even if there is a default, it is relatively easy to protect rights in the later stage. "However, buyers should still buy vehicles from car dealers, on the one hand, the possibility of default is relatively low, and on the other hand, the law will be more protective of consumers." He said.
Tesla order "gold content" decline?
Factors such as the high price of raw materials have made Tesla's price increase stable in the short term, and the entry of professional car dealers has increased the circulation of orders and new cars to increase a guarantee, and now Tesla's order situation is very hot.
"The terminal feedback is that the order is full." Sun Shaojun, a person in the field of automobile circulation and founder of car fans, told the think tank Jun that after the price increase, the number of orders for Tesla models did not decrease but increased, in addition to the panic consumption of "waiting parties", there are more people who have joined the team of "speculative orders".
The re-explosion of orders may not have been expected by Tesla itself. In the past week, Tesla has repeatedly raised prices, and some analysts believe that it is not only related to the rise in raw material prices, but also most likely affected by the current production capacity. On March 16 and 17, Tesla temporarily suspended production for two days, which will obviously affect the next delivery rhythm, and the analysis pointed out that tesla adjusts the delivery rhythm by increasing the price of some models and controlling orders.
The large increase in orders is of course a good thing for car companies, but in the case of hot trading in the "spot car" market, the "gold content" of Tesla's "futures car" orders may have to be discounted to a certain extent - it is difficult to say how many orders are placed for hoarding. If Tesla's price rises further, even if the order just placed now, there will be arbitrage space in the future.
The market firmly believes that the price of new energy vehicles represented by Tesla will rise, on the one hand, the price of upstream raw materials will not decline in the short term, and the cost of the automobile supply chain will further increase, on the other hand, the recent rise in oil prices and other factors have also made new energy vehicles accepted by more people.
Some of Tesla's own features also make it easier to change hands on secondary channels. Sun Shaojun analyzed to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that in addition to the large price fluctuations, Tesla does not have the rights and interests of the first car owner, and it is more convenient to string goods in the secondary channel, and some brands have exclusive rights and interests for the first owner, which is not suitable for transfer.
For Tesla, the current order, if not the car purchase order of the real owner, seems to have little impact. As for whether the car will change hands after picking up, and how high the price has risen, in fact, it has long been out of Tesla's business process. Some people close to Tesla told the think tank Jun that at present, Tesla has not taken effective measures to prevent a large number of offline transfers.
Tesla, which has built its own channels for direct operation, has actually formulated some rules to prevent car dealers and other secondary channels from reselling models in large quantities. It is understood that for the case of individual procurement of multiple units, Tesla will require the signing of a "non-resale commitment letter", the purchaser promises that within one year after picking up the car, it will not transfer or actually transfer to any third party, if violated, Tesla requires a 20% penalty for the fare, otherwise it will restrict the binding account change of the relevant vehicles and supercharge and other services - this is also the reason why many car dealers have no way to buy their own cars and can only go to the market at high prices to collect orders.
"Whether there is stricter control over secondary channels depends on whether Tesla's core interests will be affected." The above-mentioned people close to Tesla said.
In late July 2020, Tesla began to restrict the transfer of orders, and in mid-October of the same year, it terminated the confidence guarantee program, and "no reason to return the vehicle within 7 days" entered history, mainly because there were many car dealers who went to order and then returned the car. "This kind of play will affect Tesla's cash flow and damage its vital interests, but now it is only a secondary channel that the price is a little out of control, and it has no impact on Tesla itself." The person analyzed.
From Tesla's point of view, restricting the circulation of secondary channels is actually very simple. In the short term, the amount of deposit can be increased, the threshold of "hoarding orders" can be increased, and the risk that orders cannot be transferred out in the later stage; in the long run, after the capacity increase, the supply chain cost will be further controlled or even reduced, the official price will fall, and the space for secondary channels will be squeezed to the end.