After the Spring Festival in the Year of the Dragon, the automotive industry set off a fierce price war, with BYD taking the lead in cutting prices to trigger a chain reaction, and the price reduction tide of new energy models reached a historical peak. However, in April, the wave of price reductions gradually subsided, and no mainstream car companies launched official price reductions in the past half a month. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, believes that the current price of low-end models has basically bottomed out.
But on April 15, Aion announced a price reduction of 10,000 yuan for AION Y Plus (excluding Y Plus 310 Xingyao). Previously, Aion launched the Y Plus Xingyao, with a price of 99,800 yuan, which directly hit the price of the mainstream A-class pure electric SUV to less than 100,000 yuan, and established the lower limit of the price band in the market of this class. This time, the AION Y Plus official drop of 10,000 yuan, all versions have formed an overwhelming cost-effective advantage over competing products, a typical late-mover victory. Is this price reduction of AION Y Plus the final pricing of this round of industry price war, or will it open a new round of price "arms race" in the auto market? Whether the former or the latter, the moment Aion makes a move, the market pattern is destined to rise again.
In the new round of price war, Aion has the final say
As the pricer in the pure electric market, the AION Y Plus official reduction measure does not play gimmicks, and directly reduces the official guide price of all versions except the AION Y Plus Xingyao by 10,000 yuan in a "one-size-fits-all" manner. For many friends who use gimmicks such as time limits and subsidies to fish in troubled waters, the official drop of AION Y Plus has no threshold for users to understand, and the real concessions are clearly given to users, which suddenly rectifies the price order of the market at the same level and sets a new benchmark for cost performance. The finale debut, rectifying the market, is the AION Y Plus.
After the launch of Y Plus in February, and the official drop of 10,000 yuan this time, each version of the AION Y Plus model has an incomparable cost-effective advantage.
Y Plus Xingyao, for only 99,800 yuan, consumers can own a 5㎡ Bigger House, breaking the embarrassing situation that only A0 pure electric cars can be purchased within 100,000 yuan in the past, which cannot meet the needs of families. Thanks to the space advantages brought by the AEP2.0 pure electric platform, the AION Y Plus has almost no competitors in the same price range, allowing consumers to enjoy a luxurious and comfortable large space experience with a lower budget.
The official reduction will bring the price of the 610km range pure electric model into the price range of 130,000 yuan. At a minimum official guide price of 133,800 yuan, you can buy a high-quality large-space pure electric SUV with a range of 610km, which was unimaginable before. The 610km battery life is too fragrant, whether it is a daily commute or a long-distance inter-provincial trip on holidays, users can set off immediately, without frequent charging, which greatly enhances the freedom of travel, and truly achieves "worry-free battery life, go if you want to go".
In addition, now only 145,800 yuan, you can have the only 610km endurance + high-end intelligent driving in the same class of "all-rounders", in addition to ultra-long battery life, but also with the help of advanced high-end intelligent driving technology to ensure driving safety and convenience, to meet the needs of modern consumers in pursuit of personalized and high-tech experience.
At a time when friends have been weak in the price war, AION Y Plus has dropped 10,000 yuan, which can be called a textbook "mending knife harvest". Behind this sharp official drop is the support of Aion's industrial chain strength and scale advantages in the industry. At the moment of the price war, Aion once again declared through a sharp official drop of 10,000 yuan: "How to determine the price of pure electricity, Aion has the final say." ”
The price war is fought to the end, and the first half is hard to see the strength in the second half
After the fierce fight in the first half, Aion knows that the long-lasting price war competition is the real hard power and deep heritage. With its excellent cost control ability and large-scale effect, Aion can not only calmly cope with short-term price competition, but also rely on its complete industrial chain integration advantages and excellent manufacturing strength to steadily fight the entire price war, and establish its dominant position in the field of pure electric vehicles.
Cost control first depends on the strength of intelligent manufacturing. Aion has the world's only new energy vehicle lighthouse factory, which is more awesome than the benchmark factory, after all, "lighthouse" means to lead the future manufacturing direction. With the help of digital means, GAC Aion has improved production efficiency by 50% and reduced costs by 58%, approaching zero defects. As a clear example, Aion produced 270,000 units in 2022 and a total of 500,000 new cars in 2023 without adding one person, doubling the cost-effectiveness.
Second, it depends on a stable and controllable supply chain. Aion is one of the very few car companies in the world that has achieved full-stack self-development and self-production of core three-electric vehicles, and it will be more comfortable in controlling costs. For example, the first phase of the Inpai battery factory can meet the installed capacity of 600,000 vehicles, and the production cost can be reduced by about 20%-30% by self-developed and self-produced. At the same time, self-development and self-production have a higher degree of matching and flexibility for its products, which will also prompt suppliers to improve quality and optimize prices.
Although the industry reshuffle brought about by the price war has intensified and the head effect has become more and more significant, Aion has shown strong competitiveness in the price war by virtue of its strong cost control ability and scale effect, which not only gives Aion the confidence to continue to launch a price war, but also makes Aion the world's fastest car company to break one million sales. Prior to this, it took 5 years for Wuling, 7 years for Lynk & Co, 12 years for Tesla, 13 years for BYD, and 35 years for Toyota to achieve one million production and sales for the first time.
Under the new scale effect, coupled with the title of double champion of quality and value retention rate, Aion can also optimize after-sales costs, forming a closed-loop of cost control in the whole process from R&D, manufacturing to after-sales.
Through this official reduction, Aion not only reactivated the market heat, but also relied on the ultimate cost optimization ability and excellent market performance, allowing the industry to see Aion's king style in the second round of price war. At the same time, it also indicates that Aion will continue to expand its leading position in this round of price war and consolidate its leading position in the pure electric vehicle market.