Most brands have concentrated on price adjustment twice during the year, Tesla has increased prices three times in 7 days, and the highest price increase of new energy models has reached 30,000 yuan... After the lack of cores and the withdrawal of compensation, the new energy vehicle market will welcome the keyword of "price increase".
According to incomplete statistics from the oxcart network, since the beginning of this year, 17 major passenger car companies have announced an increase in the price of new energy models. Among them, bydir, Xiaopeng, Nezha Automobile and other price feedback is quite rapid - the beginning of the year to make up for the decline of the country, the rapid rise in raw material prices since the first quarter prompted its two concentrated price increases during the year.
At the end of last year, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Development and Reform Commission officially issued the "Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022", which shows that in 2022, the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles will decline by 30% on the basis of 2021, and it is clear that new energy vehicles licensed after December 31, 2022 will no longer enjoy purchase subsidies.
After the new national subsidy policy was released, some new energy vehicle companies announced that they were affected by the decline of subsidies, and the price increase ranged from 2000-7000 yuan.
The impact of this subsidy decline is relatively controllable. As early as April 2020, the four ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Notice on Improving the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles", which clarified that "in principle, the subsidy standards from 2020 to 2022 will decline by 10%, 20% and 30% respectively on the basis of the previous year", that is, new energy vehicle companies should have been prepared for this, which is also an important reason why the national subsidy decline at the beginning of the year did not trigger a large-scale price increase.
In contrast, the march price increase wave was more widespread and more influential. In the past week alone, 9 new energy vehicle companies have announced price increases, all of which invariably point to "the continuous sharp rise in upstream raw material prices".
The so-called upstream raw materials mainly point to the price of batteries, and the price increase caused by the shortage of chips that has been involved has not become the main reason for the price increase of new energy vehicle companies.
Previously, the relevant person in charge of a new energy vehicle company said in an interview with the media that the power battery supply leader Ningde Times has increased its price twice since the second half of last year, with an increase of 20,000 yuan.
CATL responded that due to the upstream price increase, the price of some battery products has been dynamically adjusted.
Specifically, the main materials of the battery cells have suffered different degrees of price adjustment - research institution data show that in January last year, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was 40,000 yuan / ton, while the price rose to 270,000 yuan / ton in the same period of this year, and in March, this price soared to 510,000 yuan / ton; the price of cobalt metal rose from 274,000 yuan / ton at the beginning of the year to 568,500 yuan / ton recently, and cobalt sulfate rose from 57,000 yuan / ton at the beginning of the year to 120,000 yuan / ton.
Li Xiang, founder and CEO of Ideal Auto, said bluntly: "At present, brands that have contracted with battery manufacturers to determine the price increase in the second quarter have basically announced price increases immediately. If there is no price increase, most of them have not yet been negotiated, and the price will generally increase immediately after waiting for the negotiation. The increase in battery costs in the second quarter was very outrageous. ”
Huaan Securities research report pointed out that lithium prices will be more sustainable in the future for a period of time. However, because the current new energy vehicle market has shown a trend of "after marketization drive, product strength strongly supports consumer demand", the rise in raw materials has not significantly reversed downstream demand.
Other industry views believe that after two months of crazy rise, lithium carbonate prices will return to a relatively calm range, and with the release of production capacity in the second and third quarters, prices are expected to pull back slightly. At the same time, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently held a symposium to require upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain to strengthen the docking of supply and demand, and jointly guide the rational return of lithium salt prices.
However, before the price of lithium or upstream materials falls, the price pressure will still be transmitted to end consumers through new energy vehicle companies.
The price increase of upstream materials, the pressure of car companies to cope, and the follow-up price increase of models are beyond reproach, but the stability of the new energy price system exposed is also worth considering. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, believes that compared with the cost resolution capacity accumulated over many years in the production of fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles are currently more vulnerable to cost constraints, and the price system is still immature.
New energy vehicles still have a long way to go if they want to continue to penetrate and seize the market share that is critical to life and death.