Image source: Visual China
For the auto market, if there is any definite keyword in 2024, it must be the price war that will be fought in 2023, and it will continue to "fight" in 2024.
Recently, Titanium Media App visited the market and found that at the end of the year, major auto brands have increased discounts, and finally worked hard for the year-end goal. Many front-line car salesmen said that it will be more difficult to achieve the goal in 2023 than in previous years. And this also allows the price war to continue to be staged in 2024.
Fuel vehicles: price for volume
In order to achieve the annual sales target, it is normal for car companies to expand their promotional methods at the end of the year. But 2023 is different from previous years. As 2023 is the first year of the post-epidemic era, the sales targets set by car companies at the beginning of the year have increased significantly compared with previous years. However, many car companies found that their sales did not meet expectations at the end of the year. This also makes the preferential policies at the end of 2023 stronger than in previous years.
Among them, the preferential strength of traditional fuel vehicles can be said to have reached a jaw-dropping level.
In a FAW-Volkswagen 4S store in Beijing, the two most popular gasoline vehicles in the store are the sedan Sutar and the SUV Tanyue. Titanium Media App found that compared with the end of April, the preferential strength of these two fuel vehicles has been significantly improved, of which the preferential strength of Suteng has been expanded by 10,000 yuan to 40,000 yuan, and Tanyue has also been expanded to 45,000 yuan.
The sales staff of the 4S store told Titanium Media App that the Volkswagen brand has discounts all year round, but the discount from mid-November to late December is the highest in the year. "There is no way, under the impact of new energy vehicles, we can only continue to expand the preferential efforts in order to maintain sales. The salesperson said, "The situation in our store is not bad, the Japanese car store next door has a greater discount than us, but there are not as many people as before." ”
According to the statistics of Titanium Media App, from January to November 2023, the sales of joint venture brands are generally declining, and only Beijing Benz has achieved a slight growth. The biggest decline was made by Japanese brands.
A sales consultant at a Dongfeng Honda 4S store that sells hot-selling models such as CR-V and Civic said that most consumers who come to the store to see the car are coming for the CR-V. The reason is that the discount for this car at the end of the year is as high as 45,000 yuan, which is 30,000 yuan more than the 15,000 yuan in the first quarter. "There is no way, in order to sell the car, I can only keep increasing the discount. But that's how it works. ”
It is reported that the Honda CR-V was once the first choice for Chinese families when choosing family SUVs, and has long dominated the sales of joint venture SUVs. However, in 2023, the car's sales myth has been ended, and the monthly sales ranking has never entered the top three again, ranking only 11th in November. The CR-V's best-selling month over the past year was December 2022, when it sold nearly 23,000 units, ranking among the top three compact SUVs in terms of sales.
Like Honda, Toyota is also stuck in relying on extra discounts to sell cars. A sales staff of FAW Toyota's 4S store told Titanium Media App that the current discount for its main Asian Dragon model has reached 60,000 yuan, which is an increase from 40,000 yuan in the third quarter.
"Even so, sales have not been satisfactory in recent months. The salesman said. According to the data, the sales of Asian dragons reached 6,825 units in November, down 23% month-on-month. FAW Toyota's cumulative sales in the first 11 months decreased by 9.34% year-on-year to 717,000 units.
A sales staff of a Buick 4S store told Titanium Media App that the difficulty of selling cars this year has increased significantly compared with previous years. The 4S store is currently selling more than 40 new cars per month, compared with more than 100 in previous years.
"The car is not easy to sell, and the operation of our store is not very good, and the profit of the whole company last month was only 50,000 yuan. The salesman said. It is reported that this Buick 4S store has more than 80 employees, including sales.
It is understood that the Buick brand also increased its discounts at the end of the year. For example, the entry-level sedan Buick Veran, which has a starting price of 128,900 yuan, currently has a discount of more than 50,000 yuan, with a maximum discount of more than 40%, which is almost halved.
In addition, the other main sales models of the Buick brand, Regal and Envision, also gave discounts of more than 70,000 yuan and more than 50,000 yuan respectively, with discounts of 36% and 25% respectively. "Thanks to the year-end expansion, more than 80 units were sold this month (December), almost double that of the previous month. The above-mentioned Buick sales said.
Another company that saw an increase in sales due to the expansion of discounts was the Audi brand 4S store.
A sales person at the brand's 4S store told Titanium Media App, "Our store has sold more than 1,700 cars this year, and it's okay overall." "The main promotional tool is cash discounts, and the discounts at the end of the year are even greater." ”
The three best-selling cars in its stores are Audi A4L, Audi A6L and Audi Q5L, which are currently discounted by about 30%, and the cash discount is more than 100,000 yuan. "The A4L, which started at 320,000 yuan, has now dropped to more than 220,000 yuan. It's equivalent to a drop of one level. The aforementioned Audi sales said.
According to the price reduction list of Chedi, the current price reduction of fuel vehicles is significantly higher than that of new energy vehicles. Among the 20 fuel vehicles with the highest decline, the maximum reduction exceeded 30%, and the maximum reduction even exceeded 40%. Among them, the price of the Land Rover Discovery Sport Edition was reduced by 155,800 yuan, a decrease of 40%. The price of this luxury mid-size SUV has been as low as less than 250,000 yuan.
Among the 20 new energy vehicles with the highest decline, the largest decline was more than 20%. Although the price reduction is not as "exaggerated" as that of gasoline vehicles, the price reduction is much higher than in the past.
New energy vehicles: Discounts will be expanded at the end of the year
The sales consultant of Li Auto told the Titanium Media App that if the licensed city is Beijing, the current discount can be 36,000. "This month, you can also give an additional fuel card worth 2,000 yuan when you pick up the car, and counting other gifts, the comprehensive discount can almost be 40,000 yuan. The sales consultant said, "Such a big discount is unprecedented." If it weren't for the sales at the end of the year, it would not have been possible to have such a big (preferential policy). It is reported that Li Auto is the only new force to complete the annual sales target. It will sell a total of 376,000 new vehicles in 2023, with a target completion rate of more than 125%.
Among the new energy vehicle companies, including the new forces, BYD is the second to achieve the annual sales target. The company will sell a total of 3.024 million new vehicles in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 62.3%, and successfully completed the annual target of 3 million units set at the beginning of the year.
In order to successfully achieve the annual goal, BYD started the year-end sprint as early as early November. At that time, Qin PLUS DM-i launched a promotional plan with a discount of 10,000 yuan, and the starting price after the discount was only 89,800 yuan. After entering December, BYD expanded the number of models enjoying discounts, and many models of its Ocean Network and Dynasty Network have cash discounts of 5,000-20,000 yuan.
"Now there are not only cash concessions, but also interest rebate policies, which can make the loan interest minimum. A BYD 4S store sales consultant told Titanium Media App that its stores can not only enjoy BYD's official preferential policies, but also have additional discounts. After calculating the quotation, he said, "If you can pick up the car before the end of the month, you can still get a discount." During the tour of the car, the salesman tried his best to persuade the author to place an order now, because "there will be no such discount next year".
A BYD supermarket store located in a shopping mall
As BYD's biggest competitor in the domestic market, Tesla's sales consultant also desperately hopes that the author can "place an order now". A sales consultant of the brand said that now orders can also enjoy the "old with new" referral activity of 1,750 yuan, and there is also a low interest rate policy of 2.75% lower than the previous 3.5%. "By next year, these preferential policies will be gone. There's never been a better time to get started. It further said that only the Model 3 is still available, and the Model Y will have to wait more than 2 weeks.
"Even if you place an order now, you don't have to worry about the price reduction in the future. Because Tesla has a 60-day warranty agreement. The sales strongly recommend that the author pay a deposit of 1,000 yuan now. "At the end of the car, I enjoyed the lowest price in two months. He said that Tesla's sales consultants will receive sales tasks every month, and he is still a few units short of this month. It is reported that as of the end of November, Tesla's domestic sales increased by 32.7% year-on-year to 528,000 units.
According to the price/preferential trend report released by Anluqin as of the end of October, the preferential range of the overall passenger car market in October was 24,700 yuan, and the preferential range in October increased by 2,600 yuan from the previous month, an increase of 11.8%. Among them, the preferential range of new energy passenger vehicles in October was 11,900 yuan, a slight decrease of 200 yuan from the previous month, a month-on-month decrease of 1.9%.
However, judging from the trend of car companies launching promotional policies one after another at the end of the year and the general increase in the preferential rates of most new energy vehicles, the preferential range of new energy passenger vehicles in November and December showed a trend of expansion. According to the Passenger Car Association, compared with the year-end promotion efforts of previous years, which have stabilized and contracted, the promotion of the auto market will continue to grow at the end of 2023, and the promotion of fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles will increase month-on-month.
Will the price war continue in 2024?
The price war has lasted for a whole year in 2023, and I believe that many consumers have such a question: will the price war continue in 2024? After all, for ordinary consumers who plan to buy a car in 2024, they are happy to see a-for-tat price war between car companies. Because it means that the benefits you can enjoy will become even bigger.
In this regard, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, said that the price war will continue until 2024, and the competition in the market will be more intense. "Due to the decline in lithium carbonate prices and the decline in battery prices, the trend of oil-to-electricity conversion continues, and the price war will continue further, and the fuel vehicle market is still a difficult situation. Cui Dongshu said.
Cui Dongshu also said that with the decline in real estate, Chinese consumers' enthusiasm for investing in buying houses has returned to rationality, so the demand for car purchases has continued to recover in the near future. He predicts that the overall retail sales of passenger cars in 2024 will be 22.2 million units, an increase of 3% from 2023. The market growth of new energy vehicles in 2024 is expected to be relatively optimistic, with the wholesale of new energy passenger vehicles expected to reach 11 million, with a net increase of 2.3 million units, a year-on-year increase of 22%, and a penetration rate of 40%, with new energy passenger vehicles maintaining a strong growth momentum.
As the price war continues and the head gathering effect further intensifies, some industry insiders pointed out that 2024 and the next few years will be the most bloody years for car companies, and they will be the key years to decide whether they can stay at the table before 2030.
Previously, a number of car company executives have said that the auto market will enter a new round of elimination stage in the next few years.
Liu Jie, vice president of Li Auto, said that from 2023 to 2025, it will be the most critical knockout competition for the entire industry. In his opinion, in this round of elimination, no company can sit back and relax, and no company is absolutely leading and safe. It further said that it may be at the end of next year, and it will be known which companies will end up at the table.
He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng Motors, also said that in the next three years, from 2024 to 2026, market competition will further intensify. In the past few years, it has been very cruel competition, and no one dares to say that they have climbed out. He further said that it is more difficult to win this war in a situation where all competition and friends are good, than in the era of mobile Internet.
Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, said that the market competition from 2024 to 2025 will be more fierce, and he warned his colleagues that it will be miserable if they give up their illusions. It is reported that NIO's top priority in 2024 is to "sell cars well".
In 2023, WM Motor, which was once at the head of the new car-making force, collapsed. In 2024, who will fall into a year of disappointment? Perhaps the answer can be found in the sales figures announced by the major new car companies at the end of the year.
Under the backdrop of a number of new forces like to mention their growth achievements, Nezha Automobile's year-end results are particularly eye-catching. It delivered only 5,135 new vehicles in December, down 34.1% year-on-year and 58.9% month-on-month. For the whole year of 2023, the cumulative deliveries of Nezha Automobile decreased by more than 16% year-on-year to 127,500 units. Nezha Automobile has also become one of the few new forces with declining sales in 2023.
It can be seen that as soon as 2024 begins, the knockout round has already begun.