Following the suspension of booking of the three models of Changan Ben E-Star National Edition, Heartbeat, Joy and Xinyi, other models of The Ben E-Star National Edition will also be suspended.
On April 24, Changan New Energy WeChat public account issued an announcement on the suspension of orders for the National Edition of the Ben E-Star model.
The announcement said that the recent impact of the shortage of upstream raw materials and the production capacity of vehicles and parts have led to a long delivery cycle of the Pebbon E-Star national version. As a result, orders for the Peen benz E-Star National edition will be suspended from April 25.
For users who have previously ordered through officially designated channels, Changan New Energy said that it will coordinate production resources to meet the scheduling plan of existing orders and ensure that users who have booked cars pick up their cars as soon as possible.
As a micro-electric vehicle under Changan Automobile, Changan Benz E-Star was first listed on April 13, 2020, of which the national version was listed on January 15, 2021. On April 1 this year, Changan New Energy also adjusted the price of the Ben E-Star National Edition colorful model, and the official guidance price was raised by 4,000 yuan. The reason for the price increase, similar to the reason for the suspension of subscription, is affected by factors such as the rise in the price of upstream raw materials.
According to the official website, Ben Ben E-Star currently has seven models: Pure Heart Edition, Pleasing Edition, National Edition Colorful Edition, National Colorful Limited Edition, Heartbeat Edition, Xinyue Edition and Xinyi Edition.
Among them, the three models of the Heartbeat Edition, the Xinyue Edition and the Xinyi Edition have stopped booking in November last year; the National Edition Colorful Limited Edition listed on March 7 this year has been suspended; and the official guidance price of the colorful models on sale is the lowest, with a price adjustment of 53,800 yuan.
After the suspension of the national version, the Ben E-Star will only have a 69,800 yuan Pure Heart Edition and a 74,800 Yuan Appreciation Edition on sale.
In contrast to the suspension and suspension of the acceptance of the mini car booking, at the 2022 Changan Automobile Global Partner Conference held on April 13, Changan Automobile launched a new pure electric vehicle brand "Changan Deep Blue" and released the first new car under the new brand, the C385. At the same time, it announced that it will operate Changan UNI as an independent brand and will electrify all products.
Coupled with the previous appearance of Avita 011, from the perspective of Chang'an's recent layout, hitting the high-end market is obviously its focus this year. For the field of mini cars, Changan may also make a new layout.
On April 22 this year, Changan Automobile unveiled the Changan LUMIN mini-car built by Changan EPA0's new pure electric platform, and the new car is expected to be booked in May this year and launched in the second half of the year.
Two days apart, Changan Automobile suspended the booking of some E-Star models on the one hand, and launched a new mini car on the other hand. This shows that although the cost of raw materials for new energy vehicles has risen sharply at present, and the pressure on mini cars with lower prices is greater, Changan is still inseparable from the mini car market.
On the one hand, after Wuling Hongguang MINIEV created a phenomenon-level explosion in the micro pure electric market, the potential in this field was valued by more and more car companies. From the perspective of Changan Ben E-Star, its national version has received a large number of orders with a cost-effective advantage since its listing.
In 2021, Changan's new energy vehicle sales reached 100,000 units, but the sales of the micro-electric vehicle Changan Benben E-Star reached 76,000 units, accounting for more than 70% of Changan's total sales of new energy. In the first quarter of this year, the sales volume of The Ben E-Star also accounted for more than 85%.
With the gradual rise in the price of related raw materials for automobile manufacturing, "cost-effective" has increasingly become a burden for mini cars. While the vehicle does not have sufficient profit margins, the price increase is also easy to trigger the situation of "depowdering". In November last year, Benben E-Star faced the suspension of some models and the delay in delivery due to the lack of cores, and at the same time, it also triggered the question of "disguised car price increase" by car owners.
On the other hand, from the perspective of product configuration and performance, the positioning of Changan LUMIN may be lower than that of Ben Ben E-Star. Industry insiders said that the launch of the LUMIN model is used to supplement the camp of Changan mini cars. Compared with Ben E-Star, LUMIN is less affected by related parts, which is more conducive to mass production and helps Changan new energy vehicles to go.
Obviously, in the new energy vehicle sector, it is difficult to compete with other independent head car companies by developing micro-electric vehicles alone, and it is difficult to say that it is profitable, and it is also subject to the shortage of raw materials and the rise in prices. However, for Changan Automobile, the first models of Avita and Changan Deep Blue have not yet been officially listed and delivered, and at present, Changan's new energy vehicle sector still urgently needs the power of mini cars.