"A price reduction of 70,000 yuan", second-hand car dealers dare not accept new energy vehicles

　　Zhongxin Jingwei, March 31 (Liu Xueyu) "A price cut of 70,000 yuan, who can stand this?" Li Hao (pseudonym), a car dealer who works in the second-hand car market in Huaxiang, Beijing, has recently stopped accepting new energy vehicles, the reason is that "the price fluctuates too much", and this uncertainty makes second-hand car dealers feel a headache.

　　Recently, the hot search topic of "the second-hand market does not believe in new energy" has aroused the attention of netizens. Why is the new energy vehicle, which is gaining momentum in the new car market, become a "hot potato" in the second-hand market?

Why do second-hand car dealers "stay away" from new energy?

　　The price reduction model that Li Hao said was more than 140,000 last year. "This year, it has dropped by more than 70,000 yuan, and our second-hand car dealers have lost money with this car. And because of the price reduction of this model, other brands of cars are also affected. Li Hao told Zhongxin Jingwei that this kind of price reduction has caused many consumers and car dealers who bought the car in the early days to suffer a lot of losses, and now he no longer accepts new energy vehicles.

　　Wang Qi (pseudonym), a second-hand car dealer in the same Beijing area, also "did not dare to accept new energy vehicles". Wang Qi said that it is not that no one buys new energy vehicles in the second-hand car market, but the biggest factor that customers consider is price.

　　"You can buy a new energy vehicle for 70,000 or 80,000 yuan, and many customers buy a new car directly and will not consider second-hand. Those high-priced new energy vehicles are more difficult to sell in the market, because if customers have a budget of hundreds of thousands, they prefer to buy new cars and will not buy second-hand new energy vehicles. Wang Qi said that mid-to-high-end new energy vehicles are not easy to sell in the market, so he only helps consignment, and does not accept new energy vehicles.

　　Wang Zhi (pseudonym), a second-hand car dealer in Chengdu, Sichuan, still accepts new energy vehicles, but he also bluntly said that it is not easy to sell. "We are all resold to other peers, who have a target customer to come to see the car, but if the car is taken back and vacant for a long time, the price is very low, and we have to bear the risk of the price reduction of the car. ”

　　Wang Zhi said that a few days ago, he sold a new energy vehicle of a certain brand in 2022 for a month, and the final transaction price of this car was 100,000 yuan lower than that of the new car. "I usually advise car owners to continue driving without much problem, because new energy vehicles cannot be sold at a high price, and if the kilometers are larger, or there has been a collision, the market price is almost half off. ”

Second-hand market price "electricity is lower than oil"

　　It is worth noting that oil trucks have also experienced a wave of price wars since last year. Why is it also a price reduction, and oil vehicles are more popular than new energy vehicles in the second-hand market? Li Hao explained that the price of oil vehicles is relatively controllable and stable. For example, if the same 300,000 budget fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles, drive 40,000 kilometers and do not want to drive, fuel vehicles will eventually lose 50,000 or 60,000 yuan, but new energy vehicle owners will lose about 100,000 yuan. ”

　　Li Hao took Mercedes-Benz with a price of 300,000 yuan as an example, after the price was reduced by 70,000 or 80,000 yuan at most, there would be no more price reduction, but the new energy vehicle price "can't be touched at all". Wang Zhi also said that the current value retention rate of new energy vehicles on the market is not too high, relatively speaking, the decline of fuel vehicles is relatively stable.

　　According to the China Automobile Dealers Association's February 2024 China Automobile Retention Rate Research Report, the value retention rate of new energy used vehicles (electric three-year vehicles) is 54.8%. The value retention rate of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (three-year vehicles) is 55.3%.

　　Li Hao said that there are very few car dealers in Beijing who accept new energy vehicles, accounting for less than 5%.

　　According to data provided by the China Automobile Dealers Association, the trading volume of the national second-hand car market in January was 1,688,400 units, and the trading volume of new energy second-hand cars was 89,500 units. This means that the transaction volume of second-hand new energy vehicles accounts for about 5.3% of the total. The report also pointed out that prices were stable in early February, but second-hand car transactions were basically stagnant, and the uncertainty of new energy vehicles in terms of both policies and prices made car dealers more worried. At present, there are signs of vicious competition in the new energy vehicle market, and dealers need to avoid risks as much as possible.

　　Where is new energy going in the second-hand market?

　　In this regard, Zhang Hong, secretary general of the new energy branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, analyzed that the reasons why new energy vehicles are difficult to be accepted by the second-hand market mainly boil down to the following points:

　　First of all, the problem of battery residual value assessment is a major bottleneck restricting the transaction of new energy second-hand vehicles. Due to the current lack of objective and fair battery testing methods, buyers and sellers often disagree due to battery problems, resulting in difficulties in pricing electric used cars. The valuation of a battery typically accounts for half of a vehicle's value, so an accurate assessment of the battery's condition and value is critical to determining the price of a used car.

　　Secondly, the three-electric warranty problem has also affected the market performance of new energy used cars. Car companies usually provide three-electric quality assurance for new cars, but for second-hand car customers, because car companies cannot fully grasp the condition of the vehicle, they are often reluctant to make warranty commitments. This makes second-hand car buyers have doubts when buying, worrying that the quality of the vehicle during use cannot be guaranteed.

　　In addition, vehicle valuation and brand reputation are also important factors affecting the acceptance of the new energy used car market. The valuation of second-hand cars is often closely related to brand precipitation, and new energy vehicle brands are mostly young brands with insufficient reputation accumulation, so the value retention rate in the second-hand car market is generally not high. At the same time, the frequent suspension and delisting of new energy brands has also led to the lack of interest in the market for used cars of these brands.

　　The lack of unified standards is also an important reason restricting the development of the new energy used car market. At present, there is a lack of unified standards from the state or group to clarify and standardize the after-sales service of new energy second-hand cars in the second-hand car market. In the event of disagreements and disputes, it is often difficult for both parties to find a reasonable solution due to the lack of support from relevant laws and regulations.

　　Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology, said that the current new energy vehicle market has a large price reduction, which has a great impact on the second-hand car market. Due to the rapid technological update of new energy vehicles, the discontinuation of old models, and the more affordable prices and more functions of new models on the market, resulting in the rapid depreciation of new energy vehicles in the second-hand car market. This makes second-hand car dealers cautious about the new energy vehicle business, worried that it will be difficult to maintain value after the acquisition, and may even lose money.

　　Zhang Xiang also mentioned that the battery technology of new energy vehicles is not yet mature, which is also one of the reasons why the second-hand car market has reservations about it. Car owners generally believe that battery degradation is inevitable, and replacing the battery is a significant expense. This makes the cost performance of new energy vehicles relatively low in the second-hand car market, making it difficult to attract consumers.

　　Zhang Xiang said that the premium price of new energy vehicles is more expensive than that of fuel vehicles, which is also one of the factors affecting its performance in the second-hand car market. For consumers, the cost of buying new energy vehicles is relatively high, which reduces its attractiveness in the used car market to a certain extent.

　　Zhang Hong said that although the new energy second-hand car market is currently facing many challenges, with the development of science and technology, the continuous improvement of battery performance and the accumulation of brand reputation of new energy vehicles, it is believed that the new energy second-hand car market will gradually mature in the future. At the same time, the introduction of relevant standards and regulations will also provide a strong guarantee for the healthy development of the new energy second-hand car market.

(The views in the article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice, investment is risky, and you need to be cautious when entering the market.) )

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Editor in charge: Luo Kun and Li Zhongyuan