On April 5, GM Honda reached a deepening cooperation to jointly build a new platform to build a series of low-cost trams based on the next-generation Ultium battery technology, and the first models are scheduled to be launched in North America in 2027. The two sides also said that the price of the jointly produced electric vehicles will be lower than that of Chevrolet-Explorer, and the price range of the domestic chevrolet-Explorer is 169,900-23.99 million yuan.
At the same time, due to the impact of comprehensive factors such as the continuous rise in the price of upstream raw materials, all domestic Tesla models have risen three times in a row; the starting price of each model of Weilai's products has also been raised by 10,000 yuan, etc., and electric vehicle manufacturers have raised prices.
Under the trend of rising prices of electric vehicles, can manufacturers who take the "low price" strategy impress consumers more?
Under the tide of price increases, the temptation of "low prices" is becoming more and more obvious
Putting aside the highlights of green environmental protection, the trams that once won with low prices and subsidies have increased in price one after another, which is undoubtedly giving the market to each other. So where did the market share shift go?
In 2021, wei xiaoli sales reached 90,000 vehicles, and another data is more eye-catching, that is, Wuling Shenche - MINI EV, according to open source securities research report data, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV cumulative sales in the first half of 2021 as high as 182767, occupying half of the pure electric mini car market.
According to the data disclosed by Autohome, in the domestic pure electric vehicle market, the mini car (A00, A0) market represented by Wuling Hongguang has developed rapidly, occupying 35% of the pure electric vehicle market.
Mini cars account for the highest proportion of pure electric vehicle models
First of all, with personalized positioning to break the game, Wuling Hongguang reduced the van elements into a 2-seater car, the shape of the fashionable atmosphere and small and exquisite, full of lines are loved by young people.
Then from the price concept out of the circle. After all, its price of 40,000 to 60,000 yuan is too close to the people, and such a "low" price gives people a feeling that they can't afford to lose money and can't be deceived. The target customers are all over the consumer class, down to the graduates who have just entered the society for just need to be transported, to the mother and father who pick up and drop off their children, and the carless people who only have two wheels and so on. Such a broad target customer base is difficult to sell low.
It can be seen that the two characteristics of "personalization + low price" may be an important reason for the success of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV.
In the concept of "low price", GM Honda is also interpreting it with partners.
According to Jizhi Power analysis, if the in-depth cooperation between GM and Honda can successfully develop an electric vehicle of less than $30,000, it will not only reduce manufacturing costs, but also accelerate the expansion of the market share of electric vehicles. Most importantly, this phenomenon is popular with consumers, and it will also set off a new wave of "low prices" in the market.
From the above phenomenon, it can be predicted that the performance of low-priced cars and affordable cars with prices between 50,000 yuan and 200,000 yuan will be more prominent in the market. The actual data is the same, open source securities research report shows that the sales of models with a price of 50,000 to 100,000 yuan account for 12.5% of the annual sales in 2019; the sales of models with a price of 100,000 to 150,000 yuan account for 30.1% of the annual sales in 2019; and the sales of models with a price of 150,000 to 200,000 yuan account for 10.8%.
Similarly, consumer preferences are similar in the overall passenger car market. Among them, the sales of models with a price of 50,000 to 100,000 yuan accounted for 22.2% of the annual sales in 2019, the sales of models with a price of 100,000 to 150,000 yuan accounted for 32.4% of the annual sales in 2019, and the sales of models with a price of 150,000 to 200,000 yuan accounted for 15.8% of the annual sales in 2019.
In 2019, the proportion of passenger car sales in various price ranges in China
From the overall market point of view, the sales of electric vehicles have been digested by the first- and second-tier markets? Of course not.
According to the open source securities research report, from 2016 to 2019, the sales of electric vehicles in first- and second-tier cities gradually fell from nearly 75% to about 60%. The awakening of the sinking market has begun.
Proportion of electric vehicle sales in the sinking market
Sinking market demand is increasing, and "low price" is still the first choice
Due to the ease of listing, cheap electricity prices and the gradual popularization of charging equipment, the penetration rate of electric vehicles in first- and second-tier cities has reached a greater development. Relatively speaking, the penetration rate of electric vehicles in the sinking market is still relatively low.
On September 15, 2021, Zhou Lijun, president of E-Car Research Institute, pointed out in the "New Energy and China Sinking Market Report", "In fact, the continuous improvement of new energy vehicle sales and the continuous sinking of the market are like shadows. The proportion of users in the new energy vehicle market in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities has increased significantly in recent years, accounting for nearly 30% in the first half of this year, which has become a new driving force for the market. ”
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, there are currently about 300 cities (including prefecture-level cities, autonomous prefectures, districts and leagues) in China, 2856 counties, and 41658 townships. The population of the sinking market outside the first- and second-tier cities accounted for 77.55%. Among them, the number of young people in small towns is as high as 227 million, which is becoming the largest incremental market in current automobile consumption.
Ai Media Consulting survey shows that in 2021, the proportion of people in China's sinking market who have plans to buy cars but have not yet purchased them is 54.7%. Among the first- and second-tier cities, it accounted for only 48.7%. The higher the proportion of people who are willing to buy a car, it just shows that the sinking market is a potential automobile consumer group and a very potential automobile consumer market.
With the improvement of the consumption level of the sinking market, consumers have higher requirements for the pursuit of durability and the balance of cost performance of travel vehicles. Ai Media Consulting survey shows that 49.4% of the sinking market users have a car purchase budget of 100,000-200,000 yuan, and the budget of 50,000-100,000 yuan accounts for 27.1% of the car buyers. It is evident that models in the price range of 50,000 to 200,000 have fully occupied most of the field of vision of consumers in the sinking market.
epilogue
Thanks to the new energy vehicles to the countryside jointly carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce from July 2020 to December 2020, while promoting the promotion and application of new energy vehicles in rural areas and the upgrading of travel modes, it has also promoted the recovery of the domestic automobile market after the epidemic, and undoubtedly accelerated the transformation of the new energy vehicle market from policy-driven to market-driven.
The shift in consumer choices and the awakening of the sinking market have shifted the overall sales of electric vehicles to lower-priced models. To meet the needs of travel, both low prices and affordability seem to have become the mainstream of the next electric vehicle.