No morning sun lasts a whole day. The "national god car" Wuling Hongguang MINI EV also had to worry about sales. In January this year, Wuling launched a limited-time discount of 3,000 yuan, and as of March 31, the starting price of the Hongguang MINI EV was only 29,800 yuan; in late May, Wuling responded to the call for "new energy vehicles to go to the countryside" and reduced the starting price of the Hongguang MINI EV to 29,800 yuan.
In order to stimulate sales to the greatest extent, during the "6.18" period, it also cooperated with a short video platform anchor Yige to reduce the price in the form of cashback discounts and other promotions, and the entry price of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV was directly pulled to 27,000 yuan. In addition to official discounts, terminal stores are also actively promoting promotional activities, such as buying a car and getting a gram of small golden beans and so on. The result? Sales volumes are still "falling endlessly".
Wuling Hongguang MINI EV sold 13,763 units in June, down 32,486 units from the same period. In the first half of this year, the cumulative sales volume was 122037 units, down 43.02% year-on-year. However, to add insult to injury, from the feedback of terminal owners, many of the Hongguang MINI EVs currently on sale were produced in October last year, and some cars even have a stock period of more than one year. In other words, the supply of Hongguang MINI EV exceeds demand, and the factory may have a large amount of idle capacity.
Wuling Hongguang MINI EV "stall", in fact, is also reasonable.
On the one hand, the number of players has increased, and the competition has intensified. Wuling Hongguang MINI EV became a hit, activating the new energy A00-level market, and more and more players poured into the track. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 20 types of mini pure electric vehicles on the market. These competing products are all based on the Hongguang MINI EV as the enemy, comprehensively shaping the product power to implement precision strikes. For example, the popular Geely Panda mini has stronger battery life, fast charging and intelligence than the Hongguang MINI EV. There are many competing products, and the sales of the Hongguang MINI EV will inevitably decline.
Young people, on the other hand, are ditching microtrams. The Wuling Hongguang MINI EV is highly sought after by young people, and in addition to its low price, it is also due to its playability. With stickers, decorations and wheel changes, the trendy modification makes young people willing to embrace the Hongguang MINI EV. But after two or three years of tossing, changing those things, enthusiasm dissipates as the novelty disappears, and young people are naturally less willing to buy Hongguang MINI EV. In fact, it's not just young people who are leaving it – in the first five months of this year, the cumulative sales of the new energy A00-class market 257863 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 38.8%.
So, can Wuling Hongguang MINI EV return to the peak in the future? In private opinion, it is difficult to go to the sky.
For NEDC models with a range of 120km, considering the impact of environmental and other factors, the actual mileage may be discounted by at least 20%. There is no problem with picking up children, shopping on the street, etc., but who does not have an emergency. In case you have to run a little farther and happen to forget to charge, you will have to find another way to travel; NEDC 170km range, the endurance has come up, the result only supports slow charging, it takes 9 hours to fully charge. Can this charging efficiency protect yourself from emergencies? The lowest price of CLTC models with a range of more than 200 km is 55,800 yuan. I'm afraid not many people are willing to spend 60,000 yuan to buy a micro-tram that can almost only take people.
Wuling Hongguang MINI EV is a cheap attribute, which reduces the real travel needs of consumers and allows users to stay in a small circle. But life is always changing fast, and no one stays stuck in place all the time. When the demand for diverse travel becomes stronger and there are better options on the market, they will pay for practicality. Wuling Binguo, which was launched in March this year, is the new "Wuling God Car" that came into being.
The starting price of Wuling Binguo is 59,800 yuan, which is slightly more expensive than the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, but it has been improved in all aspects, the most important thing is that it is a small car, which is more advantageous in practicality. Because the product power can better meet the diversified travel needs, many consumers are willing to add some money to buy Wuling Binguo, and the sales volume also explains everyone's choice - sales in June reached 19,118 units, an increase of 6.12% month-on-month; In the three months on the market, the cumulative sales reached 61,272 units.
Suzuki, the "king of Japanese cars," sold 220,000 units in China in 2011, while GAC Toyota sold only 267,000 units that year. The result? Suzuki parted ways with Changan in 2018 and completely withdrew from the Chinese market. The Wuling Hongguang MINI EV is like the Suzuki of the past, relying on the general environment to become a "god car". But when the market becomes more mature, delisting is inevitable.
But one thing is to say, no matter what the outcome of the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, it is enough to go down in Chinese automotive history.