Economic aspects | Why is car consumption making a comeback?

On March 20, the Xinjiang "3.15" International Auto Show came to a successful conclusion. In just a few days, this year's auto show has really presented a feast of "experiencing the car fashion journey" for 150,000 visitors, and also stimulated automobile consumption.

According to the data, during the auto show, a total of 17,598 vehicles were sold, with a sales amount of 2.63 billion yuan, a record high in sales, and the auto show drove related industries to achieve an output value of more than 10 million yuan and created thousands of temporary jobs.

Behind the data reflects the good situation that under the joint action of macro policy efforts and market players, the vitality of Xinjiang's automobile market has accelerated, the economy has developed steadily, and new momentum has continued to grow.

Consumption upgrading releases market potential

Automobile consumption is an important driving force for consumption growth. In Xinjiang, automobile consumption accounts for 30% of the total weight of social retail products above designated size in Xinjiang. At the same time, automobile consumption is connected to industrial production, lower to sales and services, long industrial chain, wide radiation, strong driving force, is of great significance to maintaining stable and rapid economic growth.

The data shows that from January to February 2022, the retail sales of vehicles above designated size in our region were 9.19 billion yuan, an increase of 20.2% year-on-year. Overall, the sales volume of most car companies has a clear upward trend.

The automobile market is also facing profound changes, how to better stabilize automobile consumption, adapt to new changes in the market, tap and release market potential, will be a major car companies will face for a long time to face the problem.

In recent years, with the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the concept of consumption has also been continuously updated, and automobile consumption is upgrading from "survival type" to "enjoyment type".

Zhang Jianqi, a citizen of Urumqi, took a fancy to a 7-seater SUV at the auto show, "The family has a large population, in order to facilitate the travel with the family, I want to replace a 7-seater car." After a few days of price comparison, he finally picked up the new car at a preferential price.

In the face of strong consumer demand, companies have also increased their promotional offers. Exhibitors competed to launch multiple preferential concessions to attract consumers, and on-site bookings could enjoy the manufacturer's preferential treatment in terms of purchase tax, finance, replacement, maintenance and other aspects.

"At this auto show, in addition to daily discounts, we also gave 3,000 yuan of cash direct discounts, and at the same time gave away value-added maintenance packages." Liu Tao, general manager of Xinjiang Junda Automobile Sales Service Co., Ltd., said.

In order to further stimulate the enthusiasm for automobile consumption, Xinjiang launched the automobile consumption promotion season. The Department of Commerce of the Autonomous Region has guided 14 prefectures and cities in Xinjiang to hold more than 40 auto show activities, 60 car service promotion activities into the community, and launch more than 700 manufacturer activities, with an estimated preferential amount of more than 300 million yuan.

Liu Bin, deputy director of the Autonomous Region Department of Commerce, said that the automobile consumption promotion season activities launched throughout Xinjiang will jointly launch pragmatic measures to facilitate the people on the basis of the existing policies such as new energy purchase tax reduction and reduction and automobile facilitation services, and jointly with automobile manufacturers, automobile sales enterprises, banks, and refined oil products trading enterprises.

Low-carbon environmental protection has become a new trend

Although traditional fuel vehicles are still the main force in sales, 70% of the brand manufacturers in the "3.15" international auto show in Xinjiang have exhibited their new energy vehicles in an attempt to pry open new growth points.

In the end, BYD sold 823 new energy vehicles, ranking in the top three of the sales list, which is also the first time that new energy models have broken into the top three sales of the auto show.

"BYD has a good sales performance in the Xinjiang market, and the technological innovation of the new car can further meet the needs of consumers and get rid of the demand for charging dependence." Yan Xin, manager of the Xinjiang region of the western theater of the bydir dynasty automobile sales division, said.

New energy vehicle brands such as Ideal, Weilai, GAC E-An, and Xiaopeng have all appeared together, and the intensive launch of new cars continues to deepen the impression of these cutting-edge brands on consumers.

Cost control, energy consumption, lightweight and high intelligence have become the selling points of new energy vehicles. With the improvement of consumers' awareness of energy conservation and the continuous improvement of supporting services for new energy vehicles, the market demand for new energy vehicles in Xinjiang is accelerating.

Wang Juan, a citizen of Urumqi, bought a new energy hybrid car at the auto show. "New energy vehicles are economical and environmentally friendly, the cost of electricity is low, and the purchase tax is exempted from new cars." At the same time, the manufacturer provides lifelong maintenance services for vehicle motors, electronic controls, batteries, etc., which solves our worries. Wang Juan said.

Under the background of the continuous release of market demand for new energy vehicles, charging and replacing facilities are also constantly improving. According to the statistics of the State Grid Urumqi Power Supply Company, as of the end of December 2021, the company has built 2 charging stations and 1 substation, a total of 115 charging piles. Among them, there are 35 DC charging piles and 80 AC charging piles, covering the electric vehicle charging network of various commercial blocks and residential quarters in the city, and has realized the technologies of fast and slow charging, orderly charging, and V2G charging of new energy vehicles.

In addition, in order to improve the healthy development of Xinjiang's new energy vehicle charging facilities industry, the Xinjiang Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Expert Committee issued the "Xinjiang New Energy Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Construction (Group) Specification", which clearly stipulates the technical indicators of charging piles, post-operation and maintenance construction, infrastructure construction, to the power distribution part, battery exchange and charging related requirements. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the number of new energy vehicles in Xinjiang is expected to reach 150,000, and 30,000 charging piles will be built.

Industrial upgrading brings new opportunities

Corresponding to the consumption upgrade, there are new opportunities brought about by industrial upgrading.

With the rapid development of the mainland in the fields of mobile intelligence, mobile Internet, unmanned driving, and mobile payment, the intelligence of automobiles has become the next outlet for the development of the industry.

For the automotive market, to seize this round of intelligent opportunities, it is necessary to build a new ecosystem through industrial marriage and cross-border integration, and carry out in-depth cooperation and integration with other enterprises in the field of AI, mobile Internet and other technologies to create a new experience of online and offline integration.

During the visit, the reporter found that ideal, Weilai, Xiaopeng, BYD and other cars have long been rolled out in major shopping malls.

"Young people like to get information from the Internet, we move the car experience to the mall, more can increase the customer's sense of experience, can increase the frequency of consumers offline contact with the brand and the possibility of sales transactions." Yan Xin said.

On the booths of the Xinjiang "3.15" International Auto Show, sales staff can be seen everywhere receiving the audience of the auto show, but also broadcast live on mobile phones to answer the questions of consumer consultation in the live broadcast room.

"The new auto retail model that integrates online and offline makes it more convenient for consumers to buy a car online, and also helps professional, convenient and efficient automotive after-sales service." Jiao Lili, general manager of Xinjiang Tianhui Huasen Automobile Sales service Co., Ltd., said.

At present, the post-90s and post-95s have begun to become the main body of automobile consumption, and this generation grew up in a digital era. In order to meet consumer demand, more and more automobile sales companies are promoting the integration of online and offline consumption to form a consumption format with more service capabilities.

"During the auto show, we gave an additional thousand yuan preferential subsidy, which is not limited to consumers who watch the exhibition offline, but also consumers who inquire online." Liu Zhonghui, sales consultant of Xinjiang Borun Star Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., said.

The rapid growth of automobile sales and ownership has also created a new growth point for the automotive aftermarket.

Wang Ronghuan, president of the Xinjiang Automobile Maintenance and Modification (Decoration) Association, said that the activity of the new car consumer market has also driven the development of the downstream industry of the automobile industry. It has a positive impact on car credit, car insurance, roadside assistance, motor sports, car maintenance and modification, car rental and car travel. (Reporter Hei Hongwei)