BYD cut prices for 48 hours: many car companies rushed to "respond", and some store sales were too busy

Source of this article: Times Weekly Author: Li Zhuoling

On February 19, BYD announced that it had officially opened a new era of "electricity is lower than oil". It is reported that the Qin PLUS Glory Edition is officially launched, with the official guide price of the DM-i version starting at 79,800 yuan and the EV version starting at 109,800 yuan. In other words, compared with its previous champion version model, the price of the new version of the model has dropped by 20,000 yuan.

One stone stirs up a thousand waves. After BYD released a price move, many car companies also quickly followed up. According to incomplete statistics from the Times Weekly reporter, as of the 20th, more than 5 car companies have either launched new entry-level models with lower prices, or carried out price reductions and other actions, covering SAIC-GM-Wuling, Changan Qiyuan, Nezha Automobile, etc. Zhou Yu, deputy general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Brand Division, even shouted directly on social platforms, "One word, follow!"

"The price adjustment of this round of car market can be seen that the competition in the entire automobile market will be more fierce this year. On February 20, Lang Xuehong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, told the Times Weekly reporter that overall, this wave of market price adjustment is within the expectations of the entire industry, and there will be no wait-and-see sentiment among consumers caused by sharp price cuts in March last year. "This round of price reductions is first in line with expectations, and the second is more moderate, so it will be converted into actual consumer purchases relatively quickly. ”

Wuling, Changan and other car companies have responded to the battle

As soon as the news of the launch of the BYD Qin PLUS Glory Edition came out, the first to become popular was its offline stores.

On February 20, the Times Weekly reporter consulted a number of BYD 4S stores in Guangzhou, Zhuhai and other places as a consumer, and some store staff said that as soon as the news came out of the store, there were 6 or 7 customers who booked a car;

"After the news of the price reduction came out, many people came to consult, and some customers were very excited, saying that it was strange that the price was not rushed. Judging from the price at hand, plus the insurance landing, it is a little more than 80,000, which is quite fragrant. Zhuhai a BYD store sales said. Another Guangzhou BYD store sales said that this price may still be able to give away things, but you have to apply for it then.

It is worth noting that after BYD made a move, many car companies also quickly responded.

SAIC-GM-Wuling announced for the first time that the price of the 150km advanced version of the Wuling Starlight plug-in hybrid model was adjusted from 105,800 yuan to 99,800 yuan, and the price was reduced to less than 100,000 yuan. Regarding the question of how to view "Wuling follows up BYD's price war", Zhou Yu responded that the same direction is competition, and competition is a better state than competition. "Competition" is the efforts of each individual, and "competition" is a zero-sum game.

followed by Nezha Automobile, which announced a super surprise at the beginning of the year: all products enjoy a direct discount of up to 22,000 yuan. Its CEO Daniel Zhang said on the social platform on the same day, "We also took the initiative to open the volume." ”

It is reported that the Nezha X new model Nezha X 400 Air was officially launched, with an official guide price of 99,800 yuan, and other versions of the Nezha X model dropped by 22,000 yuan, and the adjusted price was 104,800-124,800 yuan. At the same time, the whole Nezha AYA system dropped by 8,000 yuan, and the adjusted price range was 65,800-80,800 yuan.

In terms of other car companies, Changan Qiyuan announced that its A05 model will be sold at 78,900 yuan for a limited time, and shouted the slogan of "electricity is lower than oil". On the evening of the 19th, Leapmotor posted a blog and threatened, "Is the volume finished? Not enough volume at all!" In March, the whole family bucket of Leapmotor will be rolled together!" In addition, the Geely Emgrand L HiP Longteng Edition was announced to be listed on February 20, with a starting price of 89,800 yuan, which is equivalent to an entry price of about 20,000 yuan.

50,000-100,000 new energy vehicle substitution acceleration?

It is reported that BYD's price adjustment may directly refer to the dispute between oil and electricity.

"After the launch of the Qin PLUS Glory Edition, the DM-i model entered the 70,000 range for the first time, and the EV model entered the 100,000 range. BYD said on the 19th.

Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD Group's brand and public relations department, issued a document

"Next, who will buy a gasoline car. On the same day, Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD Group's brand and public relations department, posted on his social platform that thanks to BYD's large-scale effect and the advantages of the whole industry chain, the price of BYD's plug-in hybrid can be lower than that of fuel vehicles of the same level. In his view, the launch of the aforementioned models will completely kick off the decisive battle with fuel vehicles.

However, the fuel vehicle camp is not to be outdone. According to the Securities Times, Beijing Hyundai also announced on the 19th that the price of its A-class sedan Elantra model was officially reduced, starting at a minimum of 75,800 yuan. It is reported that Beijing Hyundai Elantra is currently on sale models, with a guide price of 99,800 yuan to 149,800 yuan, which may be equivalent to a price reduction of 24,000 yuan. At the same time, it also shouted the slogan "oil is stronger than electricity". In this regard, a reporter from the Times Weekly interviewed Beijing Hyundai, and relevant sources said that it was not an official event.

For the 100,000-level car market "oil and electricity dispute", Lang Xuehong analyzed to the Times Weekly reporter that in terms of price segments, the current passenger car market below 50,000 is mainly occupied by Wuling's electric vehicles, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in this market segment has reached more than 70%, which can be said to have achieved comprehensive electrification. For the 50,000-100,000 market segment, its degree of electrification is relatively lagging behind the entire industry. Previously, there were some pure electric models positioned in the price range of 70,000 yuan, but at that time, the cost advantage was not as good as that of traditional fuel vehicles at the same price, and it was difficult to achieve profitability and was stopped, resulting in a relatively high proportion of traditional fuel vehicles in this market segment before.

"With the continuous decline in the price of battery raw materials such as lithium carbonate, and the continuous increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the emergence of scale effects has made the current 70,000-100,000 yuan price range of new energy vehicles have a certain room for price reduction, which can compete directly with fuel vehicles. Lang Xuehong said that the preliminary judgment is that this round of price adjustment will bring a relatively strong pull effect to the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in lower-tier cities, followed by online car-hailing people who pay more attention to the cost of use.

According to the data of the China Passenger Car Association, in January this year, the domestic retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles was 32.8%, an increase of 7.2 percentage points from the penetration rate of 25.6% in the same period last year, but a decrease of 7.5 percentage points from the penetration rate of 40.3% in December last year.

"From the perspective of the impact of the entire new energy vehicle market, due to the relatively high sales of traditional fuel vehicles before the Spring Festival, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has declined. However, with this round of price adjustment, it is believed that the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will recover from February, and there will be a significant increase by March. Lang Xuehong said to a reporter from the Times Weekly.

"The fundamental reason for the recent price war in the passenger car market is that new technologies replace old technologies, new energy vehicles replace fuel vehicles in the process, in the process of establishing a new market order, the competition between new and old manufacturers is fierce, and it is expected that this process will last for several years, until a new pattern is formed. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, also issued a document on February 19 saying that with the rapid increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the scale of the traditional fuel vehicle market is gradually shrinking, and the contradiction between the huge traditional production capacity and the shrinking fuel vehicle market has brought a more fierce price war. Scale determines the cost and the survival status of the enterprise, and most manufacturers give priority to ensuring their share, which will inevitably lead to further intensification of price competition.