0 down payment, 0 interest, price "fracture", joint venture car brand seeks to "exchange price for volume"

China Times

2024-05-29 18:28Posted on the official account of Beijing China Times

With the technological improvement of independent brands and the continuous escalation of price wars, joint venture brands are facing great pressure.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in April, the market share of self-owned brand passenger cars was 63.5%, up 8.4 percentage points year-on-year, a record high. This means that the market share of the joint venture brand is less than 40%. Among them, the market share of the American, Korean, and French systems only remained in single digits.

So, with the continuous price reduction of vehicles and the promotion of policies such as trade-in, will the sales of joint venture brands improve? With this problem, the reporter of "China Times" recently visited a number of joint venture brand 4S stores in Beijing, and in the case of lower prices, the stores have significantly improved in terms of customer flow.

From price increases to constant offers

In April, the retail rate of new energy vehicles once broke through the 50% mark, which means that new energy vehicles have become the choice of most users. However, the market share of gasoline vehicles has been surpassed, which is only the first step, and with it endless price cuts. In the eyes of the industry, the joint venture brand has long had a high brand influence and excellent product quality, so there will be a price increase earlier, but after the market demand is reduced, the price drop is also larger.

The reporter learned in a Lexus store that the hot-selling model Lexus ES, which used to need to be increased by about 3-40,000 yuan to buy, has no longer increased the price, but has a discount of 4-60,000 yuan. Take the all-new Lexus ES200 Excellence Edition with a guide price of 296,900 yuan as an example, and the landing price is around 260,000 yuan.

It can be seen that in the highly competitive luxury car market, Lexus's price increase system has collapsed, considering that the car needs to be purchased at a higher price before, so the current price can be said to have dropped significantly.

In the BMW 4S store, the reporter learned that the discount for new energy models is huge. Taking the BMW i3's 40 L Bright Night Package Edition as an example, its guide price is 383,900 yuan, and the current terminal naked car price is around 220,000 yuan. In the case of continuous price reduction, the BMW i3 has recently reached an average monthly sales of 5,000 units, ranking first in the sales of pure electric vehicles of luxury brands.

In addition to new energy models, BMW's fuel models also have greater discounts, of which BMW X1 has been reduced to less than 200,000 yuan. According to the sales staff, the guide price is 316,900 yuan for the four-cylinder entry-level BMW X1 sDrive25Li X design package, there is a discount of nearly 130,000 yuan, after the discount, the price of the naked car has reached about 190,000 yuan, and then counting the purchase tax and insurance, the landing price is about 210,000 yuan.

In the FAW-Volkswagen 4S store, the reporter learned that most of the models in the store now have discounts, ranging from 3 to 90,000 yuan. Taking the Tanyue with a guide price of 217,900 yuan as an example, the car currently has a cash discount of 50,000 yuan, and the discount amount can reach 63,000 yuan if purchased in installments. "The current discount is already a recent low, in addition to being able to give cash discounts, it can also provide consumers with decoration, maintenance and other discounts." The salesperson said.

In addition, joint venture brands such as Guangqi Honda, SAIC Volkswagen, Infiniti, Changan Ford, and Beijing Hyundai all have a large preferential margin. It is worth mentioning that at present, many 4S stores are promoting mortgage loans, such as Dongfeng Nissan's 0 down payment loan campaign and Beijing Hyundai's 0 interest loan program. At the same time, some models can only enjoy the maximum discount if they take out a loan. Some in-store sales staff give the practice that you can borrow 80% of the loan for 5 years, and repay the loan in advance after 2 years of repayment, which reduces the pressure and generates no interest.

In terms of trade-in, most 4S stores also have trade-in schemes. The sales staff of the Volvo store told the "China Times" reporter: "The in-store replacement subsidy is about 20,000 yuan, and consumers can drive the vehicle to the store, and we will carry out the follow-up evaluation work to save time." ”

During the visit, the reporter found that the price of some models is not the bottom, and further communication with sales can be made to increase cash discounts or car purchase benefits.

From lying flat to seeking a breakthrough

In fact, the decline in the market share of joint venture brands in recent years is related to the rise of independent brands. Wang Kun, an auto analyst, told the China Times: "At present, independent brands are seizing the market share of joint venture brands by lowering prices, and in addition to price reductions, the technical layout of independent brands in new energy is also a point of choice for consumers." ”

Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Passenger Car Association, also has the same view, he said that the joint venture car companies have an important position in the development of China's passenger car market, and for a long time, they are the representatives of advanced technology and high-quality industrial chain, and also provide important support for the development and growth of independent brands. However, with the electrification and intelligent transformation of the automotive industry, the original industrial advantages of joint venture brands are weakening, and the pressure on production capacity continues to increase.

In this context, the joint venture brand has also begun to carry out a vigorous transformation. Among them, Honda Motor recently held a press conference, Honda Motor CEO Toshihiro Mibe said that by 2030, Honda will invest 10 trillion yen (about 462 billion yuan) to devote itself to electrification transformation. Previously, Honda invested 5 trillion yen in electrification, indicating that Honda has made up its mind to promote the development of new energy.

According to the latest plan, in 2030, Honda will launch a total of 7 electric vehicles around the world, when pure electric models and fuel cell vehicles will account for 40% of global sales, the annual production of pure electric vehicles will reach more than 2 million, and by 2040, it will achieve 100% of global sales of pure electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles.

Nissan will continue to deepen its "Nissan NEXT Corporate Transformation Plan" and will launch a new strategy, "The Arc Nissan Arc Plan", starting in fiscal 2024, and plans to invest more than 400 billion yen in battery production capacity. According to the plan, Nissan will launch 30 new models in the next three years, including 16 electrified models and 14 gasoline models.

At the Beijing Motor Show, the BMW Group showcased BMW next-generation concept cars, all-electric BMW i4, all-new BMW M4 and other blockbuster products. At the same time, the MINI brand completed the world premiere of the all-new electric MINI Aceman and the Chinese debut of the all-new electric MINI Cooper. According to the plan, the first production BMW next-generation model will be launched in 2025, and at least six new-generation models will be introduced to the market within 24 months of the first model going into production.

Audi also signed a cooperation agreement with SAIC Motor on May 20 to further strengthen local cooperation to jointly develop a number of high-end intelligent electric vehicles for SAIC Audi, and jointly develop the Advanced Digitized Platform, based on which a new generation of high-end intelligent connected vehicles will be built.

In addition, Toyota, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz and other brands are also transforming to electrification and intelligence. Xu Jiaxin, an observer of the automotive industry, told reporters: "In the current automobile consumption environment, the needs of users have changed in a variety of ways. If overseas brands want to seize the market share of China's automobiles during this period, they must develop close to the needs of Chinese users. This process can be complicated and time-consuming, but it is also fundamental to the survival of overseas brands. ”

Editor-in-charge: Li Yanan Editor-in-chief: Yu Jianping

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