NIO crushed its own second-hand market with a price cut
Whether it is out of leveling the rights and interests of new and old car owners, or in order to ensure the value retention rate of its own second-hand cars, NIO still has more benefits than disadvantages by removing the rights of power replacement. Although the new energy second-hand car market is still immature, it is imperative to establish a standardized evaluation, trading and after-sales system.
The results of NIO's equity adjustment began to show, and its monthly sales exceeded 20,000 units for the first time.
A few days ago, according to NIO's official data, 20,462 new cars were delivered in July, a year-on-year increase of 103.6%, a record high. Among them, the delivery of the new ES6 exceeded 10,000 units, setting a new monthly delivery record for a single NIO model.
While NIO's sales have increased, the retention rate of its used cars has caused controversy among car owners. On social platforms, there are many posts that car owners complain that the retention rate of NIO's second-hand cars has become lower.
A NIO ET7 owner said that NIO's previous guaranteed price was indeed conscientious, but after adjusting its rights, "80,000 were directly cut in only two months", and the valuation was still 370,000 on April 12, and it became 290,000 on June 19.
In order to support the price of its own second-hand cars, NIO released its official second-hand car business as early as 2021 to maximize the protection of user interests and reduce consumers' concerns about the value retention rate of second-hand cars.
However, under the pressure of declining sales and urgent need to improve gross margin, NIO, which is known for its service, seems to be unable to care about the second-hand car business.
Car owner: 200,000 a year price drop
"When I bought it, it was 407,400, and now NIO's official second-hand platform offers 220,000 yuan, a loss of nearly 200,000 yuan a year," said Mr. Che, who said that the NIO ET7 he purchased was licensed in July last year, ran 20,000 kilometers in one year, and has not yet taken risks, only "directly discounted by 5" in one year.
Mr. Zhang's experience is not unique, and many car owners told Lu Jiu Business Review that NIO's model switched to the NT2.0 platform, superimposed on factors such as splitting rights and interests, resulting in a serious price drop in second-hand cars.
The owner Yangyang told Lu Jiu Business Review that the NIO signature version she purchased "cost 428,000 naked cars, 15,000 kilometers a year, and finally sold for 274,000 on NIO's official second-hand car platform." According to the summary of many car owners, NIO with a 1-year old car is the most devalued, and it will be much better if it is more than 3 years old.
"The price of NIO's official second-hand car platform is ridiculously low", said Mr. Jiang, the owner of the car sold on other platforms with a 40,000 higher official price, "I thought that NIO's official second-hand car was to ask for a price, but I didn't expect it to be the lowest price."
Taking the NIO EC6 as an example, the NIO App shows that the price of the NIO EC6 75kWh sports version with an age of 8 months and a mileage of 02,000 kilometers is 248,000, while on the Guazi used car platform, the price of the NIO EC6 75kWh sports version with a vehicle age of 7 months and a mileage of 14,000 kilometers is 279,800.
In addition, according to the feedback of car owners, NIO officially does not accept second-hand cars at present, and takes the initiative to help car owners connect to cooperative third-party platforms.
"They directly pushed me to Tiantian (patting the car), saying that the official price of the car collection is relatively low", Mr. Jiang said, not to mention that the commission of 10,000 yuan charged by the car every day, the official second-hand car staff of NIO did not communicate with all parties in advance about the precautions, and the whole process of selling the car was not smooth, "I was going to buy a NIO ET5T existing car, but I couldn't pick up the car because of the rights and interests of the old car."
In order to sell at a higher price, some car owners began to sell themselves through platforms such as salted fish and Xiaohongshu, "although all the processes have to go by themselves, which is a bit troublesome, but the selling price is higher." ”
Lu Jiu Business Review learned from NIO, "At present, NIO's used car business has undergone some optimizations, and we can coordinate auctions for users and provide users with competitive vehicle disposal prices in the form of bidding." If the local auction platform is not covered, we will also provide users with quotations through service provider bidding. If neither of the first two bids is a floating auction, NIO will issue an appraisal price to give the user a reserve price. ”
In fact, in June this year, Li Bin said when he was face-to-face with users: "Our starting point for second-hand cars is to do a good job in the retention rate, but second-hand cars are a very high-tech thing, and our department is also making strategic adjustments, introducing more cooperative second-hand car companies to allow more market entities to participate."
Previously, when there was no new energy second-hand car price system in China, NIO launched a second-hand car business to maintain the value retention rate and maintain price stability, so as to increase the stickiness of car owners and seize more market share.
However, NIO, which was previously caught in the painful period of model remodeling, still focuses on the sales of new cars, and it is difficult to focus more on the second-hand car business, which affects the retention rate of NIO's second-hand cars.
According to the latest report on China's automobile retention rate in the second quarter of 2023 released by Autohome Research Institute, NIO's retention rate fell by 3.18%, ranking tenth, lower than brands such as Extreme Krypton and Lili.
Second-hand car dealers: wait and see and dare not collect
In June this year, NIO announced that it would adjust the price of all new cars and the rights of the first owner, which is equivalent to a reduction of 30,000 yuan in the starting price of all models. This move was immediate, quickly igniting the enthusiasm of car owners to buy.
With NIO's newly launched ES6 and other models on the market, second-hand car dealers dare not accept other models, worried that car owners "buy new rather than old".
In the used car market, "fast forward and fast out" is the core of profitability. In June this year, second-hand car dealer Da Liu turned a NIO upside down. He said, "If there is a buyer who clearly wants to buy a used car from NIO, I will arrange for the team to collect the car to ensure a quick turnaround." ”
NIO has always been in the used car market. "For a car like me that leases batteries, third-party car dealers are reluctant to accept them, because they don't buy batteries, so it's difficult to find buyers," Yangyang said, "As long as NIO in the BaaS model is in hand, it needs to pay rent, which is higher than the cost of some oil trucks." ”
In addition, NIO models that use the BaaS solution to rent batteries need to bear the rental cost of the car after the second-hand car dealer hoards the car, which increases the operating cost, which is also an important reason for many car dealers to be discouraged.
"I didn't know much about NIO's battery model before, and I took a NIO that didn't buy out the battery, and it was sold only in two or three months, and I could only bear the battery rent at a loss." Da Liu said.
Originally to dispel consumers' concerns about the quality of second-hand car batteries, due to additional costs, NIO's vehicle electricity separation and BaaS battery rental services seem to be less paid for by the market.
More importantly, NIO's rights and interests are "not with people but not with cars", under such a policy, many consumers on the sidelines are more concerned about rights, resulting in cars that are not easy to sell, and second-hand car dealers are unwilling to collect.
"Without the rights and interests of the first owner, I always feel inferior," said Chen Si, who had previously looked at NIO's second-hand cars.
Huang Teng, the old car owner, said that his ES8 has been driven for more than three years, and he bought 540,000 when he bought it, and now it doesn't matter if he sells 100,000, "Unlimited free power changes are too fragrant, and this right is not sold for much money." ”
In fact, not only NIO, but also second-hand car dealers are cautious about other new energy models.
First, new energy second-hand vehicles are easily affected by factors such as battery attenuation and model updates, and sales are a problem. Many second-hand car dealers always find the customer first when collecting the car.
Second, the maintenance cost of new energy is higher, and if the pure electric vehicle does not use the battery for a long time, it is easy to cause vehicle damage, affect the life of the car, and need the car dealer to charge it at intervals.
Third, since the beginning of this year, new energy vehicle companies have fought price wars, and second-hand car dealers who previously regarded Tesla and Ideal as financial products have been inverted by the price of new cars, and many second-hand car dealers have suffered serious losses, resulting in many car dealers no longer willing to take risks to collect new energy second-hand cars.
Industry: Good thing in the long run
In the short term, NIO's equity adjustment has indeed had a certain impact on the retention rate of second-hand cars.
This year's iteration of NIO's models coincided with the window period for the first wave of old car owners to replace new cars, resulting in a large number of old cars emerging on the market, which affected the price of its used cars under the market relationship of oversupply.
However, many people in the industry believe that in the long run, NIO's equity adjustment is a good thing for its second-hand cars.
"Electric Zhishi Dayu" said that there are huge differences between NIO's used cars and new cars, including the previous official second-hand, that is, there is no power exchange rights. After removing the power exchange rights this time, the rights and interests of used cars and new cars have become the same.
After NIO separates the power exchange rights from the vehicle, and the rights and interests of used cars and new cars do not have the rights and interests of the battery replacement, it can dispel the concerns of many car owners who have previously waited and watched about this rights.
Lu Jiu Business Review learned from a number of staff members of NIO's official second-hand platform that there is currently no difference between the rights and interests of NIO's first car owner and second-hand car owner. Compared with the second-hand cars purchased on third-party platforms, it is only "the second-hand cars purchased by the official second-hand car mall are uniformly given an extended warranty of 30,000 kilometers a year, as well as unlimited roadside assistance for life".
In addition, if consumers buy second-hand car owners through third-party platforms, they can pay for power replacement at the exchange station normally.
More importantly, sales are picking up as NIO cancels free battery swaps and prices all models fall. And the larger the car ownership, the higher the used car turnover.
"There are many factors that determine the retention rate of second-hand cars, such as ownership, sales, consumer satisfaction, technology, brand capabilities, etc.," said Zicheng, a senior observer of new energy vehicles, adding that the separation of rights and car prices lowers the threshold for buying cars, which is conducive to sales and has a positive impact on the retention rate of second-hand cars in the long run.
He added that NIO is a representative enterprise in the field of new energy vehicles, and this practice has a demonstration effect on the new energy second-hand market.
According to the above-mentioned NIO sources, with the significant increase in new car deliveries, the value retention rate of NIO's second-hand cars has begun to stabilize and recover.
It cannot be ignored that if the price of second-hand cars drops seriously, it will affect the owner's willingness to sell the car and replace it with a new car, which limits the circulation of second-hand cars in the car market to a certain extent. Transmission to the new car market will also affect its new car sales. After all, the gross profit margin of many new energy vehicle companies is some distance from the critical point of profitability, and more cars need to be sold.
In addition, the current fierce competition in the new car market has indirectly affected the development of the used car market. According to the latest data from the China Automobile Dealers Association, the inventory warning index of China's automobile dealers in July 2023 was 57.8%, and the inventory warning index was above the boom and bust line, which means that the automobile circulation industry is in a recession range, and many consumers are in a wait-and-see mood.
Market: New energy second-hand cars cross the river by feeling stones
According to the "2022 China Automobile Brand Value Retention Rate Report" released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, the one-year retention rate of pure electric vehicles represented by model Y and Extreme Krypton 001 is more than 80%, which is close to the three-year retention rate of fuel vehicles, which indicates that the retention rate of pure electric vehicles is lower than that of fuel vehicles.
In addition, J.D. Consumer Insights and Market Research Institute. Power's "2022 China Automobile Value Retention Rate Research Report" shows that the three-year average retention rate of pure electric vehicles is only 51.9%.
Generally speaking, the retention rate of second-hand cars is closely related to new car sales and ownership, and the performance of new energy second-hand cars is even worse.
Unlike fuel vehicles, most new energy brands are self-operated, and car companies set the price of new cars, which makes second-hand new energy vehicles too dependent on new cars. In order to improve the turnover rate, the new energy used car will be priced according to the rhythm of new cars of car companies.
Da Liu pointed out that last year everyone hoarded Tesla, ideal, at that time new energy vehicle companies increased prices, second-hand car market also rose, as a result, at the beginning of the year car companies crazy low-price war, all smashed in their hands, many people lost money to sell.
According to the law of second-hand car transactions, the price of new energy second-hand cars is determined based on many factors such as ownership, new car price, brand power, and after-sales service.
However, the new energy used car market lacks a complete set of evaluation, sales and service systems. Whether it is pricing or circulation, the new energy used car market is still groping.
In recent years, Tesla, NIO, Xpeng and other car companies have successively launched the official second-hand car section to escort the value retention rate of their own cars. As a non-standard product, the attribute of one car and one price makes "officially certified used cars" have natural service advantages.
However, in the long run, it is not easy for car companies to do a good job in the used car business.
First of all, the official second-hand car operation of car companies is not ideal, mainly because the price of official second-hand cars is generally higher than that of third parties, but consumers who buy second-hand cars are more sensitive to price.
Secondly, the current new energy vehicle market is rolled into a purple sea, coupled with factors such as the increasing number of cars, it is difficult for car companies to "burn money" to provide high-quality replacement services.
When NIO first launched its official second-hand car business, Li Bin said that NIO would give owners who wanted to sell cars at a very competitive price, which under normal circumstances was equal to or close to the highest price on the entire network. And this year, NIO introduced more used car companies to cooperate. According to Tencent Deep Network, Li Bin's statement is "don't think that the price of official second-hand cars is the highest, other second-hand car dealers may be higher than official second-hand cars".
This also shows that the road for car companies to maintain value and buy back second-hand cars is not good.
It is worth mentioning that the share of the new energy used car market is gradually increasing. According to the second-hand car transaction data released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, in June 2023, a total of 60,200 new energy second-hand vehicles were traded nationwide, an increase of 6.5% from May and an increase of 10.2% over the same period of the previous year.
With the influx of new energy vehicles into the second-hand car market, accelerating the establishment of a standardized and perfect system from evaluation to transaction to sales is a barrier that must be passed to promote new energy second-hand vehicles into the fast lane.