The price of new energy is not stopped, new cars are continuous, who can understand the pain of consumers?

Now when we go to the supermarket to shop, we can see all kinds of new cars in the most prosperous position from time to time "scratching their heads", mainly new energy vehicle brands, which have attracted countless eyes and attracted most of the people to stop and watch, showing a lively and prosperous scene.

As long as you stay for a while, there will be a staff member to introduce it immediately, and the words are probably "This is a 2024 new car, all the technology is the latest, you can learn about it" Yunyun, no matter whether you will know further or not, at least you can feel the enthusiasm of these staff, and consumers can't help but sigh - you can see the new car when you go shopping, and you can also sit on it to experience it, which is indeed much more convenient than going to a 4S store.

In 2024, with the launch of BYD's Qin PLUS DM-i and Destroyer 05 Glory Edition models, the slogan of "electricity is lower than oil" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for a while, and it has also attracted other car brands to follow up.

From the perspective of car brands, the competition in the entire auto market has further intensified, some car companies are trying to stabilize their market share, and some are trying to retain the opportunity to stay at the table. So there is such a situation, the volume price of the roll price, the roll product of the roll product, the strong brand is the product and the price together.

But from the perspective of the consumer level, it is a different picture. The frequency of price wars now is calculated monthly, that is, every consumer who has just bought a car is facing a backstab, although it is early to buy early and enjoy early, and late to buy there is a discount. But the more severe the backstab gets over time. There will inevitably be dissatisfaction among some consumers.

Everywhere the price war went, there was a roar

According to incomplete statistics, since the beginning of 2024, at least more than 20 brands and dozens of models have participated in price reductions, and many of them have already cut prices many times. BYD, as a veteran of the "price reduction industry", can be called the brand with the most ruthless price reduction in 2024. Not to mention anything else, the BYD Qin PLUS DM-i model alone has been reduced to less than 100,000 yuan in March 2023, which has really given the joint venture model a dismount. Who would have thought that the price range of less than 100,000 yuan, BYD actually lowered the starting price by 20,000 yuan a year later, and came to the price range of 70,000 yuan, which is indeed beyond everyone's imagination.

Moreover, it is still a price reduction without a reduction. We compare the configuration table, and there is no difference between the Qin PLUS DM-i 2023 Champion Edition and the Qin PLUS DM-i Honor Edition.

To a certain extent, BYD is facing huge sales pressure behind playing the glory card. BYD delivered 122311 units in February, while in February 2023, BYD sold 193655 units. BYD's sales growth momentum has slowed, which is the most direct reason for its spree price reduction in 2024.

What followed was a panic price cut by friends, and car companies such as Wuling, Geely, Changan, Beijing Hyundai, and Volkswagen were all following up. On March 1, there were even 9 car companies cutting prices at the same time, and even new power brands such as NIO and Li that focus on the high-end market also cut prices by launching new entry-level models and lowering BaaS fees.

In a sense, in 2024, not reducing prices is an original sin, and it is not worthy of competition in the Chinese market. This is an exaggeration, but it is a fact. Because China's automotive industry needs to be reshuffled.

At present, China has more than 100 car companies, far more than Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea. It is expected that by 2030 or 2034, the number of car companies in China will be reduced to 10-20, or even less. In this process, the price war will be one of the important means of industry reshuffle. In other words, now it is not just a question of who will reduce the price or not, but who can reduce it more effectively.

At the time of life and death, car companies have not taken into account the feelings of consumers, whether it is a head brand or a non-head brand, only to win more market share, in order to retain more opportunities at the table.

However, for consumers, price reductions are not so friendly. Especially consumers who have just bought a car. Even some people have not been picking up the car for two or three months, and they still do not know much about the functions in the car, and it has become a "yellow flower of yesterday." How can you not be filled with righteous indignation? As for those prospective car owners who hold on to the currency and wait and see, everyone holds the mentality of "buying new and not buying old", for fear that they will be pitted, and so on has become the norm.

At the moment, such sentiment is very common on social media and automotive websites.

Also, the speed of new energy vehicles is too fast, breaking the rhythm of fuel vehicles "three years of change, six years of generation", some brands have completed three new models in less than a year, just say this rhythm, really can't keep up.

Electrification is not stopping there

The price reduction itself is to compete for more market share, but consumers are complaining and wait-and-see because of the continuous price cuts of car companies. There seems to be a contradictory relationship between the two.

Objectively speaking, the current car market is in a period of great change, new brands are rising, there is bound to be a certain degree of chaos, such as product design concepts change, product function experience has been innovated, the original price system has been broken, and even the car purchase process has become different, the "harm" to consumers is inevitable, but also forced to helpless.

However, no matter how big the consumer complaints and the wait-and-see sentiment is, the electrification of China's auto market will not press the pause button because of this.

At present, China has achieved independent and controllable key components such as motors, electronic controls, and drive systems, and the progress of standardization and modularization has laid a solid foundation for large-scale production capacity. These are the foundations for the rapid growth of China's new energy vehicle market.

At the same time, Chinese companies have launched product lines for different consumer groups to enhance market competitiveness. For example, Ideal and Wenjie have created a new situation in the field of range extension, especially Ideal, with the highlight performance of L-series products, it has become the first new power brand to achieve profitability, providing a valuable sample case for the Chinese auto market.

In addition, the decline in battery costs is the basis for the price reduction of new energy vehicles, which to a large extent makes brands have more capital to invest in other fields, accelerating the innovation of new energy vehicles.

Since 2023, the prices of major battery materials have dropped significantly, taking lithium carbonate as an example, the price in December was reported at 112,000 yuan/ton, down nearly 80% from the high point of 500,000 yuan/ton in January, and the average price of ternary lithium batteries was reported at 0.515 yuan/Wh, down nearly 45% from the high point of 0.92 yuan/Wh in January. Taking a BEV with a range of 400km (with 50kWh) as an example, for every 100,000 yuan/ton drop in lithium carbonate price, the cost of a single vehicle will drop by 3,500 yuan, and the cost of lithium carbonate for a single vehicle from January to December 2023 has dropped by nearly 14,000 yuan.

Some institutions expect that there will still be room for the price of power batteries and main materials to decline in 2024. Due to the price proximity brought about by the cost reduction and the enhancement of the product power of new energy vehicles, the sales structure of new energy vehicles is also changing, and it has gradually penetrated from the middle and low levels to the upper level of the market.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicts that the sales of new energy vehicles in 2024 will be 11.5 million units, a year-on-year increase of 38%. With the expansion of production and sales, many new technologies in the automotive industry will be the first to be applied in the Chinese market. With the joint action of various forces, the electrification of China's auto market can only be further accelerated.

Previously, Wang Chuanfu said, "The development of new energy vehicles will only run faster and faster, and will not give us the opportunity to stop, slow down, and take a breath." He also said, "The monthly penetration rate of new energy vehicles may exceed 50% this year." ”

To a considerable extent, the electrification of China's auto market and the development of Chinese brands are on the same path, that is, it is through the development of new energy that Chinese brands have achieved continuous increase in market share, which was 38% in 2020 and has reached 56% in 2023.

From the perspective of Chinese automobiles, electrification must be carried out to the end.

Under this premise, all complaints (consumers) and sacrifices (new energy brands that have been eliminated from the game) are just episodes in the historical process that will eventually be overcome.

The people evaluate the car

Speaking of consumers, buying a car must be budget-conscious, but in the face of price reduction, we can only relax our mentality at present. If there is any way to reduce the "damage", it is to really clarify your car needs, if you can buy it or not, then wait, if you have to buy it and you want to buy it soon, then try to choose a big brand, at least after-sales can be guaranteed.