Whether the high-priced models of new energy are reasonable or not, the market will give the answer
"I didn't have money to buy domestic products before, but now I don't have money to buy domestic ones", "If you don't work hard, you can only drive Mercedes-Benz E, BMW 5, and Audi 6 in the future", these jokes represent many people's feelings about the current new energy vehicle market. The prices of high-end new energy models released by car companies such as BYD, Weilai, Wenjie, Zeekr, and Ideal are often 500,000, 800,000, or even more than one million yuan, which is close to traditional luxury cars. Lei Jun responded at the press conference: "Don't shout 90,000, it's impossible! 140,000 don't need to talk about it anymore, you still have to respect technology!"
What is convincing is that these domestic electric vehicles that are benchmarked against the Maybach S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Porsche Paramela and Cullinan are applauded and applauded. Although most brands are still in the order stage and cannot be counted as sales figures, Yangwang U8, which is priced at 1.09 million yuan, officially said that the global cumulative orders exceeded 30,000 units, and the ideal opened reservations for more than 10,000 units during the Guangzhou Auto Show, and the number of orders on the day of the M9 press conference exceeded 54,000. Some people sell at a high price, some people are willing to buy at a high price, and the subsequent use experience is acceptable or even far beyond expectations, and the number of repairs or complaints is maintained at a relatively reasonable level in the industry, which is very reasonable. As for whether the value judgment is reasonable, and whether the price is too high because the "IQ tax" is too high, it is a matter of opinion.
As we all know, whether it is a gasoline car or an electric vehicle, the price war in the small family car market has always been cruel, and low-end models are often more favored by the market. However, low-end models mainly bear the role of drainage, just selling such low-priced varieties, there is not much story to tell, and domestic car companies without high brand added value blessing can often only "lose money and make money", which is unprofitable. In the long run, its own brand image will also be pulled into the quagmire, and consumers will not dare to buy it if they sell high-priced models. More importantly, being in the new track of new energy, domestic car brands do not have too much "baggage" in terms of technology and image. Dare to set prices and set high prices, indicating that these domestic car companies are trying to grasp the pricing power of new energy products, use high-priced models to demonstrate the strength of car companies, and enhance the brand image of car companies.
Of course, this is also closely related to the relatively poor competitiveness of the current new energy product line of traditional foreign-funded car companies such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, which have not yet reacted. In other words, it is not that these foreign-funded car companies do not want to set high prices, but they are not yet on the wheel, and once the electric models of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi mature, the price may not necessarily "let go" consumers.
Similarly, whether it is a gasoline vehicle or a new energy vehicle, the audience positioning of high-end models and low-end models is quite different. Ring fat swallow thin, rich and thrifty by people. The high-end models of new energy vehicle companies in the domestic market can be "eaten" by mid-to-high-end users. So how many mid-to-high-end users in China's auto market are the concerns of these new energy car companies. According to the report of the Passenger Association, from January to November 2023, the sales of cars priced at more than 300,000 yuan accounted for 13.4%, and the cumulative sales exceeded 2.59 million units, with a year-on-year growth rate of 30.8%. In comparison, the cumulative sales of cars priced below 300,000 yuan were 16.74 million, a year-on-year growth rate of 2.2%. This may indicate that there are still many people who are willing to pay for new energy high-end models, and the phenomenon of higher and higher prices for new cars has a realistic basis.
Building a car is more expensive than making a mobile phone, and high-end models can ensure profits, and then ensure the R&D investment of car companies. It is said that the average car brand to build a car with a total investment of 300 to 400 people, the cost of 1 billion yuan to 2 billion yuan, Xiaomi Auto claims to be the first car as a whole to invest 3400 engineers, R & D costs of more than 10 billion yuan, so look at the hope of 90,000 free shipping consumers are indeed a little optimistic. With the positive interaction between higher profits and higher R&D investment, it may not be surprising that brands comparable to Porsche and Tesla will appear among these domestic new energy vehicle companies in the future.
Wen l Jiang Guangxiang