Tesla's "catfish effect" triggers a chain reaction How much room for new energy vehicles to reduce prices?

Chao News client reporter Fan Guofei

"Although it did not wait for the new Tesla Model 3 below 200,000 yuan, there have been more models with price cuts recently, and it seems that it can wait."

On September 1, Tesla's new Model 3 was launched, compared with the old model, the new vehicle configuration has not been greatly improved, but the starting price has increased. Sun Gang (pseudonym) has been paying attention to the news of the new model since the beginning of the year, and is not in a hurry to place an order because the price exceeds expectations.

In addition to the launch of new cars, on the same day, Tesla's two high-end models Model S and Model X reduced their prices, with a maximum reduction of 151,000 yuan, triggering the rights protection of old owners.

In the domestic new energy vehicle market, Tesla is undoubtedly a landmark car company, whether it is a new release, or a model price reduction, every move has triggered the "catfish effect", many car companies immediately launched price reduction measures to attract the attention of potential consumers.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

A number of new energy vehicles announced price reductions

At 8 a.m. on September 1, Tesla's official website showed that the Model 3 new version was officially launched, which is the first update of the Model 3 model in 6 years, with a starting price of 259,900 yuan, an increase of 28,000 yuan over the old model, and the expected delivery time is the fourth quarter of this year.

For Tesla's new car release, many car companies have made preparations in advance. At 10:30 a.m. that day, Xpeng Motors announced that the new P7i began to reduce prices. Consumers can choose 24 periods of 0 interest or 10,000 yuan final payment reduction preferential purchase plan, and at the same time launch repurchase, replacement and other discounts, up to 24,000 yuan, the activity ends on September 30.

It is understood that the new P7i and Model 3 are both pure electric mid-size cars, and the overlap of target customers is very high, and Xpeng Motors' move is undoubtedly to grab a wave of orders before the delivery of the new Model 3.

In addition to Xpeng Motors, FAW-Volkswagen, BYD and other car companies have also announced price cuts. On September 2, BYD launched a limited-time discount for September, and the 2023 Yuan Pro paid 2,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan to buy a car, which is equivalent to a discount of 6,000 yuan. At the same time, Qin PLUS DM-i reduced the price by 5,000 yuan, Yuan PLUS by 5,800 yuan, and Tang DM-i by 3,000 yuan.

"At present, many models are vying to reduce prices, and various districts in Hangzhou have launched subsidies from time to time, and consumers are in a wait-and-see mood." A salesperson at a BYD 4S store in Hangzhou told Chao News reporter.

On September 4, FAW-Volkswagen announced that the ID.4 CROSS has officially reduced its price by nearly CNY 50,000, starting at CNY 145,900 and limited to 3,000 units. Just in July this year, SAIC Volkswagen announced that the price of the ID.3 model was reduced by up to 37,000 yuan, and the monthly sales immediately rose from 2,300 units to more than 10,000 vehicles. After the price cut, the ID.3 sold for 60% cheaper in China than in Germany, causing dissatisfaction among local consumers, who responded that it was because of China's manufacturing cost advantage.

In addition, the market price of micro electric vehicles, which is relatively low, has also been loosened. On September 1, Geely Geometry's Panda MINI launched the Asian Games bear model, priced at only 29,900 yuan, and the maximum price of other models was reduced by 10,000 yuan, and the price of all models was less than 50,000 yuan. On the same day, Leapmotor announced through the official micro account that the purchase of Leap T03 series models in September can enjoy official subsidies of up to 10,000 yuan, and the starting price is as low as 49,900 yuan.

Can consumers claim compensation after the price reduction?

Among the price reductions of a number of models, the price cuts of Tesla Model S and Model X are particularly conspicuous. Tesla's official website shows that the Model S dual-motor all-wheel drive version dropped from 754,900 yuan to 698,900 yuan, down 53,000 yuan; the three-motor all-wheel drive version dropped from 958,900 yuan to 828,900 yuan, down 130,000 yuan. The Model X two-motor all-wheel drive version dropped from 836,900 yuan to 738,900 yuan, a decrease of 98,000 yuan; the Model X three-motor all-wheel drive version dropped from 989,900 yuan to 838,900 yuan, a sharp drop of 151,000 yuan.

Since the beginning of this year, Tesla's price adjustment has been particularly frequent, and the price of Model X three-motor all-wheel drive rose to 1.0589 million yuan in May. If the owner had bought it at that time, he would have paid 220,000 yuan more than now.

Due to the price difference too much, the old car owner openly expressed dissatisfaction. On September 1, an open letter titled "Joint Statement of Tesla Model S/X Owners" circulated online. The letter showed, "As the first batch of car owners in China, I am very saddened by Tesla's recent price reduction of related models." Most of our car owners have experienced a long wait of 1~2 years in the process of buying a car, and the expectation and trust in Tesla have made us choose this excellent electric car. However, this price reduction is as high as 200,000 yuan, which seriously affects the value of our vehicles and our love for Tesla. We believe that Tesla has the responsibility to reasonably compensate the owner for the loss caused by this behavior. ”

In the letter, the old car owner put forward four demands, including free charging rights, free FSD (full autonomous driving) function, extended warranty services, and future redemption discounts. As of press time, Tesla has not publicly responded.

Guo Haijing, a lawyer at Zhejiang Labor Law Firm, said in an interview with Chao News that the car purchase contract is signed on a one-car basis, unless there is a corresponding compensation clause in the car purchase contract, and consumers can make compensation claims based on this. The basic principle of the Contract Part of the Civil Code is autonomy of meaning, that is, the parties enjoy the right to voluntarily conclude contracts in accordance with the law, and no unit or individual may illegally interfere. "Consumers are willing to buy, they are not cheated or unfair, etc., but they demand compensation because they have reduced the price, and there is no legal basis to support compensation."

Guo Haijing also said that according to the relevant provisions of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, whether the price is reduced or increased, car companies should do a good job in proper publicity to protect consumers' right to know.

How much room for price reductions is there for new energy vehicles?

According to the China Passenger Association, retail sales of new energy vehicles in August were about 700,000 units, up 9.2% month-on-month and 31.5% year-on-year. Among traditional automakers, BYD's new energy vehicle ranked first with sales of 274,400 units in August, while Geely Automobile, SAIC Motor and GAC Aion sold 152,000 units, 92,000 units, and GAC Aion units, respectively. In terms of new automakers, eight companies, including Li Auto, NIO, Leap Auto, Xpeng Motors, Extreme Krypton Automobile, Deep Blue Automobile, and Nezha Automobile, delivered more than 10,000 units a month. Among them, Li Auto exceeded 30,000 units for three consecutive months; Compared with the first record high of 20,000 vehicles last month, NIO has declined; After returning to the "10,000-vehicle club" in July, Xpeng maintained more than 10,000 in August, achieving year-on-year double growth for the first time this year; Zeekr achieved year-on-year growth for seven consecutive months.

Although the sales volume of some brands has reached a record high, the profit performance of car companies is not optimistic, and most of the new forces in car manufacturing are in a state of loss. According to the financial report data in the first half of the year, NIO, Avita and Xpeng bicycle lost 190,000 yuan, 160,000 yuan and 120,000 yuan respectively, all of which exceeded 100,000 yuan; The performance of Navy Blue and Zerorun was slightly better, and the loss of cycling also exceeded 40,000 yuan.

Under the large loss, how much room is there for new energy vehicles to reduce prices? Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology, said in an interview with Chao News that although most of the new forces in car manufacturing are in a state of loss, in order to improve capacity utilization and market share, there is also the possibility of continuing to reduce prices in the future. "Tesla and other car companies have strong bargaining power, and other car companies can only follow the price reduction, otherwise they will face the risk of being out." Only after the production and sales of new automakers reach a certain scale, can they make a profit. ”

Zhang Xiang expects that in order to complete the set sales target, car companies will have a big price reduction promotion at the end of the year. "However, for consumers who have the need to buy a car, it is definitely the most cost-effective to buy a car now, after all, buy early and enjoy early."

Soochow Securities believes that the volume of new cars listed in the third quarter of this year will continue to increase, and sales are expected to continue to increase under the gradual recovery of terminal demand. Recently, there have been many price adjustments by new energy brands, but competition is the new normal in the automotive industry, and the improvement of scale effect also has an important impact on the improvement of bicycle profitability.

At the 2023 China Automotive Industry Development (TEDA) International Forum held on September 2, Lei Ping, deputy general manager of China FAW Group, believes that involution has become a hot word in the automotive industry this year, and many car companies have a single means to break the game, and can only brush the sense of existence through price reduction, and the elimination of the automotive industry is accelerating. "To break the circle, car companies fundamentally rely on building differentiated competitiveness of products, and instead of focusing on competitors, it is better to find ways to meet the needs of users' use scenarios."

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