Don't just stare at car companies cutting prices, the "car purchase subsidy war" has started in many cities
Lead
Introduction
With the slowdown of economic development and the frequent occurrence of black swan events, consumers' purchasing power and purchase confidence have been affected, which cannot be cured by price concessions.
Author丨Li Sijia
Editor-in-charge丨Li Sijia
Editor丨Duan Yongqi
Since BYD threw the "deep sea bomb" of Qin PLUS Glory Edition DM-i, major car companies have followed the brand and launched different degrees of car purchase subsidies or replacement policies. This kind of price battle opened by a bunch of people has filled the car market after the year with a smoke of "decisive battle at the beginning". From independent to joint ventures, from traditional manufacturers to new car-making forces, all of them are stimulated by this pungent gunsmoke.
For a time, slogans such as "electricity is lower than oil" and "oil is stronger than electricity" began to fly all over the sky, making the nerves of the auto market more tense after the year, and making the atmosphere of price competition in the market more intense. As of March 15, the scale of price reductions in this year's auto market has reached half of that of the whole year of 2023, and there may be larger, stronger and longer-lasting price battles in the future.
When car companies started dazzling price concessions, many cities also responded positively, and successively started a boom in car purchase subsidies. Shanghai, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Dalian and Hefei provide subsidies of different amounts according to different energy forms and car purchase prices.
The background of the "car purchase subsidy war" in major cities is that the national level has been supporting the promotion of automobile consumption for many years, and during the two sessions this year, Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, said in response to reporters' questions that there should be two key points to promote consumption this year, one is to promote automobiles, trade-in, and the other is to boost service consumption.
In Wang Wentao's view, promoting the trade-in of consumer goods is not only a favorable measure to enhance the current economic growth momentum and consolidate the recovery, but also a long-term support for promoting high-quality development.
As a result, various provinces have successively introduced new policies such as car trade-in and price concessions, aiming to further stimulate automobile consumption and stimulate domestic demand, which is of positive significance for promoting regional automobile consumption and promoting the development of the new energy vehicle market.
First of all, the "Shanghai Release" issued a document on March 4 that the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce recently issued a new round of fuel vehicle trade-in subsidy policy and new energy vehicle replacement policy.
Specifically, the content of the replacement policy is that in 2024, individual consumers can apply for a one-time car purchase subsidy of 2,800 yuan if they scrap or transfer the non-commercial fuel passenger cars with emission standards of China V and below registered in Shanghai, and purchase the China VIB fuel passenger cars from automobile sales enterprises registered with the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Department.
At the same time, individual consumers who scrap or transfer the non-commercial passenger cars registered in Shanghai under their own names, and purchase new pure electric passenger cars from automobile sales agencies registered with the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Department, and the registered use nature is non-operational, can apply for a one-time car purchase subsidy of 10,000 yuan.
From the perspective of replacement standards, Shanghai's subsidy policy is divided into fuel vehicles and pure electric vehicles in the form of energy, and the subsidy amount is different depending on the form of energy. What the two have in common is that users need to transfer or change their own vehicles and then buy a new car before they can apply for a one-time car purchase subsidy.
It is worth mentioning that in 2023, Shanghai's new energy vehicle market will hit a number of new highs, with 354,000 new energy vehicles promoted, and pure electric vehicles accounting for more than 50% of the new private vehicles, completing the green and low-carbon action target in Shanghai's transportation field ahead of schedule. By the end of 2023, the number of new energy vehicles in Shanghai will reach 1.288 million, ranking first among cities in the world.
Among the super first-tier cities, in addition to Shanghai, Beijing has also symbolically participated in the car purchase subsidy in the form of an automobile consumption festival.
On March 22, the Beijing Chaoyang Automobile Consumption Festival opened. During the event, 16 brands and more than 20 models such as BYD, Tesla, Xpeng, Jihu, and AVATR were unveiled, and multiple benefits such as brand direct drops, replacement subsidies, and free maintenance were launched.
In terms of discounts for specific models, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 offers up to 55,000 yuan, Tuyue refers to up to 50,000 yuan, BYD Dynasty has a down payment as low as 15%, Tesla has launched a time-limited car insurance subsidy of 8,000 yuan, which can save up to 38,600 yuan, and Volvo XC90 has a purchase tax subsidy of 50% and a replacement subsidy of 15,000 yuan......
Previously, Chaoyang District, Beijing has launched a 20 million yuan automobile consumption voucher distribution activity. At this auto consumption festival, consumers can receive superimposed subsidies provided by the government, car companies and platforms for on-site car purchases, and enjoy different car purchase discounts, but there are fewer participating models.
Unlike Shanghai's harsh conditions and Beijing's low number of models, consumers can receive subsidies for those who purchase new passenger cars in Chongqing.
Specifically, from March 5, 2024 to the end of March, users who purchase naked cars with a price of less than 200,000 yuan will be given a municipal financial subsidy of 2,000 yuan per vehicle, and users who purchase naked cars with a price of more than 200,000 yuan will be given a municipal policy subsidy of 3,000 yuan per vehicle.
The restriction in Chongqing is that the scale of this round of subsidy funds is 20 million yuan, and it will end after the completion of the capital subsidy or the expiration of the declaration period. And each owner is limited to one new passenger car.
Judging from the car purchase subsidy policies launched by the above-mentioned cities, there are different degrees of restrictions. Cities such as Dalian, Hefei, and Zhengzhou also have similar characteristics, either date restrictions, amount restrictions, or purchase standard restrictions, and participation is not as great as in previous years, especially last year.
You must know that since the government and enterprise subsidy frenzy began in March last year, to the later local auto shows, and then to the "Hundred Cities Linkage" car festival and the "Thousands of Counties and Towns" new energy vehicle consumption season and other activities have emerged in an endless stream, there is a momentum of "the country urges you to buy a car".
Even in such an unprecedented, large-scale, and wide-ranging consumption stimulus, it is difficult to fully touch the hearts of this generation of consumers. Nowadays, the "symbolic" participation of major cities must not make big waves.
Because with the normalization of price wars, while allowing some consumers to buy cars in advance, a number of "waiting parties" have also been born. According to a McKinsey survey, more than 60% of people have a neutral opinion on price wars. This shows that the overall effect of price reductions is extremely limited.
According to the report, 64.1% of consumers remain neutral and 16.4% are negative about price wars. Overall, more than 80% of respondents said that the price war did not have a positive impact on their car purchase decisions.
In addition, with the slowdown of economic development and the frequent occurrence of black swan events in recent years, consumers' purchasing power and purchase confidence have been affected, resulting in a decline in car sales. The state of the economy has a direct impact on people's willingness to buy a consumer such as a car, and when the economy is uncertain, consumers will reduce their spending on unnecessary expenses, and car purchase plans will be postponed or cancelled.
In addition, urban traffic congestion and parking difficulties have also become the reasons for affecting car sales. With the acceleration of urbanization, traffic congestion in many cities is becoming more and more prominent, and parking spaces are becoming more and more tight. These problems have brought difficulties to car owners in their daily travel, and also made some potential consumers who are ready to buy a car have some concerns.
Solving this dilemma will require the joint efforts of the automotive industry, government and all sectors of society.
From the current point of view, it is difficult for the car purchase subsidy policy opened in many cities to take effect quickly. Even if in the future, more diverse, more extensive, more preferential, and more comprehensive products may be introduced in the future, but it is difficult to have a boost effect like the one in 2009 when cars went to the countryside.
|Li Sijia|
The leader of the anti-coriander alliance and the long-term occupier of the first floor of the commune