New energy car companies have cut prices, and BBA "panicked": up to 240,000 yuan

At the beginning of 2024, a new round of price war will start in China's auto market.

In addition to a number of new energy brands such as NIO, Li and Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi (BBA) have also put down their positions in the continuous intensification of competition and slashed prices at the channel terminal.

In this regard, the industry generally believes that in 2024, the price war will still be the main theme of the auto market. Previously, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, said that new energy vehicles "start the decisive battle" and will usher in "strong growth" in the first quarter of this year.

Image source: Visual China

A number of new energy brands have announced price cuts

Entering 2024, a number of new energy brands have announced price cuts.

On January 17, NIO announced that it will update the configuration of existing models, and deliveries of the 2024 model will start in early March, while providing short-term car purchase privileges for the 2023 model. According to The Paper, there are currently discounts ranging from 24,000 to 32,000 yuan for 8 NIO models. At the same time, a sales staff revealed that NIO also has a small number of show car discounts, and the specific amount depends on the store.

According to incomplete statistics, in the two weeks before this, 7 new energy brands such as Li Auto and Tesla have announced price cuts.

On January 11, Ideal officially announced the news of price and model adjustments, with the upgrade of the configuration of the 2024 model, the price of all 2023 models will be reduced. Depending on the model version, the price reduction ranges from 33,000 to 36,000 yuan. The starting price of the Ideal L7 is directly reduced to 286,900 yuan, which is also the first time that the Ideal L series products have dropped to less than 300,000 yuan.

Both Ideal and NIO said that the price reduction is because the facelifted model is about to be launched, in fact, the price reduction of the model facelift has always been a common "routine" used by traditional car companies. Unlike the two leading new forces, Tesla has directly started the first official price reduction in 2024, which also includes the new Model 3.

On January 12, according to Tesla's official website in China, the price of Tesla's Model 3 rear-wheel drive refreshed version was reduced by 15,500 yuan to 245,900 yuan, and the price of the Model 3 long-range refreshed version was reduced by 11,500 yuan to 285,900 yuan; The rear-wheel drive version of the Model Y was lowered by 7,500 yuan to 258,900 yuan; The price of the Model Y long-range version was reduced by 6,500 yuan to 299,900 yuan.

In addition to the above-mentioned leading new energy vehicle companies, AVATR under Changan Automobile launched a limited-time car purchase right on January 8, giving away a high-end intelligent driving package or cash deduction of 26,000 yuan for AVATR 12 and AVATR 11 Hongmeng Edition, and Leapmotor launched the "New Year's Courtesy Season" On January 15, Geely's ZEEKR brand officially announced the launch of a limited-time preferential policy for the ZEEKR 001 model, with a price drop of 37,000 yuan.

BBA has lowered its body and lowered its price

In 2024, in addition to new energy vehicle companies starting to reduce prices, even Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi (BBA) will also put down their positions in the continuous intensification of competition and significantly reduce prices at the channel terminal.

According to Red Star News, although there is no official price reduction, the terminal price reduction of some BBA models exceeds 120,000 yuan. Even the best-selling Mercedes-Benz C-class, BMW 3 Series and Audi A4L consumers may "cut" more than 100,000 yuan, and the landing price is less than 300,000 yuan.

At the height of the price war in March last year, it was rumored that the price of Mercedes-Benz C-class was reduced by 110,000 yuan, and the price of naked cars of low-profile models was as low as 220,000 yuan. At that time, it was a comprehensive discount, including local subsidies, financial policies, in-store maintenance, insurance, licensing, etc., and the actual cash discount was only 50,000 or 60,000 yuan. A Mercedes-Benz dealer said, "Now the lowest starting price is 250,000 yuan, and some models are discounted by more than 100,000 yuan." ”

This round of price cuts for Mercedes-Benz C-class began at the end of last year, with the largest drop of more than 100,000 yuan in some areas. On the automotive information platform, the dealer's quotation is directly 60,000 yuan lower than the guide price. Some car owners said that the 2023 facelifted C260L with a guide price of 354,300 yuan, the naked car price was 280,000 yuan when he bought it in May last year, "The sales told me that it has recently dropped by 20,000 yuan, and the landing price is only 300,000 yuan." ”

BMW and Audi's direct benchmark for Mercedes-Benz C-Class models is the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4L. BMW's dealers are more reserved, with cash concessions generally ranging from 40,000 to 60,000 yuan. The most expensive 330Li M sports night suit, the guide price is 399,900 yuan. The Red Star Capital Bureau inquired about the dealers as consumers, and they directly gave a discount of nearly 80,000 yuan, and said that they could talk about it when they arrived at the store, and there were other courtesies, while the other 2023 BMW 3 Series, the dealers' quotations were below 300,000 yuan.

Audi saw the largest decline in the BBA. On the automotive information platform, the dealer price of Audi A4L is up to 103,000 yuan. A dealer told the Red Star Capital Bureau, "Before the Spring Festival, the 2023 Audi A4L has a maximum discount of 101,800 yuan, the color is optional, and the landing price of the 190-horsepower model is less than 310,000 yuan." "The 2024 Audi A4L was only launched in October last year, and the current dealer price is already 80,000 to 90,000 yuan lower than the guide price.

According to Red Star News, many of BBA's models are slashing prices. Mercedes-Benz A-class and GLB have reduced prices by up to 80,000 yuan, E-class and GLC have reduced prices by up to 50,000 yuan, EQE have reduced prices by up to 110,000 yuan, BMW X1 and X3 have reduced prices by up to 80,000 yuan, BMW i3 and i3X have reduced prices by up to 100,000 yuan, Audi A3 and Q3 have been reduced by up to 70,000 yuan, A5 by up to 100,000 yuan, Q5L by up to 120,000 yuan, A6L by up to 140,000 yuan, and E-tron by up to 240,000 yuan.

It can be seen that BBA's new energy models have generally declined significantly. In addition, after the launch of the 2024 model, most of the 2023 models will be reduced in price and cleared for stock promotion.

"There is still some room for growth in the luxury car market, but the competition is still fierce and prices will fall. In this regard, Lang Xuehong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said.

New energy vehicle companies want to "smash" BBA "jobs"?

"In 2023, everyone is talking about the word volume, in fact, this is not unusual, and the automotive 4P marketing will begin to roll in an all-round way, volume price, volume product, volume channel, volume promotion. The market pressure in 2024 is bound to be great. In the past two days, we have also been looking at the new cars that have been released one after another, and there is no doubt that the pure electric market will usher in a consumption upgrade. Fan Junyi, general manager of Geely Automobile Sales Company, previously said.

The industry generally believes that the pattern of China's auto market in 2025 will be more obvious, and some car companies will fail in the fierce knockout competition.

Judging from the sales pattern in the past two months, BYD and Tesla are still far ahead. New car-making forces such as NIO and Xpeng are facing the impact of brands such as ZEEKR and Zhiji, and the recent launch of popular products such as M7 and M9 is challenging Li Auto's leading position among new car companies. At the same time, NIO, Li and Wenjie are also working together to attack the new energy vehicle market of more than 500,000 yuan, which used to be the hinterland of traditional luxury brands.

"I've been working in the automotive industry for more than 30 years, and most of my time outside of Germany, but I've never seen such a chaotic price war in China. At a recent communication meeting, Ke Shimai, President and CEO of Porsche China, said.

In order to avoid falling into a price war and ensure the quality of terminal dealers' operations, Porsche has begun to reduce the supply of products in China and supply production capacity to regional markets with greater demand, such as North America and Europe.

But for traditional luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, as well as joint venture brands such as Volkswagen and Toyota, the Chinese market used to be their largest regional market in the world, and in the face of the wave of new energy vehicles and the attack of Chinese brands, they cannot simply transfer production capacity and supply abroad. The race to launch low-priced products in China by "flipping the table" and "smashing jobs" may become the new normal for these overseas giants.

In 2024, the chaotic war between car companies continues?

Previously, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, said that new energy vehicles "started the decisive battle" and will usher in "strong growth" in the first quarter of this year. A number of car company executives also said that the internal volume and melee in 2024 will not end, but will become more and more intense.

According to Red Star News, Lin Jinwen, vice president of ZEEKR Intelligent Technology, previously said, "As long as there are enough players, the industry will be enough to roll up, and the number of players will gradually decrease." In the next 2-3 years, volume is the norm, and all competing products and brands will be out of the market soon if they do not have the ability to roll and afford it. ”

Liu Jie, vice president of commercial at Li Auto, pointed out that "by the end of 2024, the top winners in different types of new energy market segments should have been basically stable, and the new energy companies on the table will further expand their market share in the later stage." ”

Hua Chuang Securities Research Report believes that because the price of joint venture vehicles and electric vehicles is still not to the end, and the space range is relatively large, it is expected that the price pressure in 2023 will continue in 2024. Ping An Securities Research Report predicts that the "price war" dominated by the head new energy vehicle companies will continue in 2024, especially in the mainstream price band of 100,000-200,000 yuan.

The reporter found that this wave of promotions by many car companies continued until before the Spring Festival. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, previously pointed out that this year is a big year for sales. The later the Spring Festival, the longer the market boom period before the Spring Festival, the more it will bring about a stronger pre-holiday consumption growth in the auto market.

Lang Xuehong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, also commented that most of the peak demand for cars before the Spring Festival actually came from consumers in lower-tier cities and rural areas, who are more inclined to choose traditional fuel vehicles. This will make the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in January drop for a short time, and the relevant new energy vehicle companies will feel a certain pressure, and the price reduction promotion at this stage is also for car companies to compete for the market.

However, the person in charge of sales of a head new energy vehicle brand said that the price reduction promotion before the Spring Festival is a "small fight", and at present, the company has not formulated large-scale promotion or price reduction measures, and it is expected that there will be no large-scale price reduction before the Spring Festival.

When price cuts become the norm, what kind of car companies can break through?

In this regard, Zhang Hong, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, analyzed that in a certain period of time, car companies hope to reduce prices and promote promotions in order to expand their market share. However, for car companies, there is no profit for a long time, how car companies will survive, how to develop and develop, and how to maintain the stability of talents, all of which are worthy of deep thinking and even reflection.

Whether the price reduction behavior of car companies can bring a significant increase in sales also needs to be observed objectively and rationally. Some Chinese consumers have the habitual thinking of buying up rather than buying down, and when car companies cut prices, consumers think that there will be further room for price reductions, so they hold on to the currency and wait and see, which will lead to the failure of car companies' desire to greatly increase sales.

The fierce price war will also lead to the withdrawal of some car companies that can no longer afford the price war and accelerate the survival of the fittest in the automobile industry. In 2023, the sales volume of the top 10 car companies in terms of car sales will already account for 85% of the total car sales, and the advantages are relatively stable. Therefore, when price cuts become the norm, only car companies with perfect supply chains, strong R&D and innovation capabilities, and strong capital reserves are likely to stand out in the protracted price war.

From the perspective of car companies, if they want to stand out from the price war, they must pay attention to and grasp the market demand, and launch differentiated products that can meet the needs of different consumer circles, only in this way can they be invincible in the fierce competition.

Upstream news integrates Red Star News, CBN, The Paper, China-Singapore Jingwei, Finance Associated Press, Yangcheng Evening News, etc