July is the off-season of the traditional auto market, but after experiencing a decline in sales and a sharp plunge in prices in the first half of this year, new energy car companies still handed in excellent report cards amidst doubts.
Among the leading car companies of the new forces, Wei Xiaoli reported good news on the same day. Among them, Ideal continued to maintain a monthly sales of over 30,000 vehicles, and the sales of Weilai and Xiaopeng also showed a clear rebound trend. Many people expressed emotion: "The new forces The hard days are finally coming to an end."
But it is worth noting that in August, new energy car companies set off another wave of "price cuts". Take Tesla, which has the most discussion in the market, as an example. On August 14, Tesla officially announced the sale of the Model Y long-range version. The price was adjusted from 313,900 yuan to 299,900 yuan, and the Model Y high-performance version was adjusted from 363,900 yuan to 349,900 yuan. At the same time, the production capacity problems of car companies have once again attracted market attention.
In this case, can Wei Xiaoli truly reproduce the head pattern? What will happen next?
Wei Xiaoli's sales hit a new high, and the off-season is not short
Generally speaking, July-August is often the off-season for the sales of the auto industry. However, the overall production and sales of the new energy auto industry in July this year showed a completely different picture from previous years. According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in July 2023, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in my country will be 805,000 and 780,000 respectively, a year-on-year increase of 30.6% and 31.6%, respectively, and a market share of 32.7%. From January to July this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 4.591 million and 4.526 million respectively, a year-on-year increase of 40% and 41.7% respectively, and the market share reached 29%. The upward trend of production and sales is more obvious.
What is so special about July 2023?
From the perspective of the policy environment, although the state subsidy for new energy vehicles has officially withdrawn, automobile consumption is still one of the key points of economic development. According to incomplete statistics from the media, since July, the national level has mentioned automobile consumption 6 times, involving charging infrastructure system, new energy vehicle purchase tax relief, vehicle purchase restriction management, and automotive financial services. Automobiles are commodities with relatively high purchasing flexibility, and the guidance of policies will have a greater impact. Many consumers who hold a wait-and-see attitude have also acted under the guidance of policies, and their consumption potential has been further released.
From the perspective of new energy vehicle consumption and demand, with the improvement of new energy vehicle infrastructure and the diversification of brand models, consumers' market acceptance of new energy vehicles is gradually increasing. Moreover, new energy vehicles are not limited to first-tier cities with well-equipped facilities. Major car companies have started to compete for the sinking market, further stimulating consumer demand, and forming a benign market environment in which policies and demand resonate. There is still room for significant improvement in market share.
Of course, the favorable external environment is only part of the development of the industry. The more important reason is that all new energy car companies seize the opportunity and develop together in the fierce competition. In early August, a number of new energy car companies announced the delivery of new cars in July 2023. Judging from the data, Wei Xiaoli has attracted much attention, with monthly deliveries exceeding 10,000, respectively 20,400, 11,000, and 34,100. 10,000 vehicles, with month-on-month increases of 91.1%, 27.7%, and 4.8% respectively.
It is not accidental that Wei Xiaoli achieved the sales achievement in July. The main reason is that he took advantage of the hot models of the models on sale to drive the sales increase.
Weilai ES6 is the main hero in July, and it has impressed countless consumers with its advantages in fashion appearance, high-end smart technology and electric new energy. According to the data, NIO’s sales volume in July included 14,066 high-end smart electric SUVs and 6,396 high-end smart electric cars. Most of the SUVs were contributed by ES6, and more than 10,000 units were delivered in July.
The increase in sales of Xiaopeng in July is largely attributable to the continued hot sales of the G6 after its launch. The launch of this model has aroused the market's attention to Xiaopeng's products and technologies. From mid-July to the end of July, the G6 was delivered immediately after it was launched, and large-scale delivery has started in 110 cities across the country. In July, a total of more than 3,900 vehicles were delivered.
The gifted ideal also successfully broke the internal friction of the same model, upgraded from the previous ideal one to the current ideal L9, L8 and L7, and used the "matryoshka" strategy, taking the ideal L7, which is in the lower range of the three products, as the starting line Mass products have driven the sales of L8 and L9, and the results have been remarkable.
Generally speaking, the most difficult part of brand development is to gain popularity. As a new force in car manufacturing, Wei Xiaoli has aroused widespread heated discussions at the beginning of its establishment. It has a very good brand foundation. Sales models have consolidated word of mouth, expanded product popularity, and continued to increase their attractiveness to consumers.
In addition to the help of popular models, the improvement of related services has also boosted Wei Xiaoli's sales.
For example, Weilai chose to work hard on charging piles and battery replacement services, and has already formed certain advantages. On 2023 NIO POWER DAY, NIO released 20kW V2G charging piles on the spot, and launched a flexible battery upgrade daily rental service to meet the diversified needs of NIO car owners for battery replacement and charging, and to a certain extent alleviate users' power anxiety. In addition, Weilai lowered the starting price of all models, which also stimulated consumers' desire to buy.
Xiaopeng Motors announced the launch of five major care services for users within the range affected by the typhoon, including rescue, inspection, and maintenance, which reflects its high-speed response to the external environment and user after-sales concerns. A wave of successful forward marketing.
Ideal has established a complete direct sales service network, covering pre-sales, sales and after-sales services. As of July 31, Li Auto had 337 retail centers across the country and entered 128 cities.
Previously, there were many opinions that with the intensification of competition in new energy vehicles, Wei Xiaoli's "veteran powerhouse" head structure has tended to fall apart. But at present, relying on the advantages of popular models and full-process service policies to improve the satisfaction of old users and the trust of new users, Wei Xiaoli has completed a sales counterattack. However, the short-term results are not enough to show that Wei Xiaoli has truly returned to the top. Looking forward to the future, the competition among related companies in terms of products and services will become more intense. Under such circumstances, whether Wei Xiaoli can maintain the growth trend and realize the market position Improve again?
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, what will happen to Wei Xiaoli?
It is not difficult to find in the July sales list that other new forces and second-generation players in the field of new energy vehicles besides Wei Xiaoli are also developing strongly. Among them, GAC Aian’s monthly sales reached 45,025 units, ranking first, which has already surpassed the ideal by a large margin; zero-run monthly sales of 14,335 units, ranking fourth; Jikrypton’s sales volume is also considerable, as high as 12,039 units, ranking among Xiaopeng Motors superior.
In addition, it is worth noting that while other car companies are still struggling at the 10,000-unit level, BYD’s July sales have reached 261,105 units, becoming the absolute top seller and carve up most of the market; Tesla continues to expand the Chinese market. The financial report shows that the growth rate of Tesla's Chinese market has surpassed that of the US domestic market, and the profit from bicycles is very considerable.
Although Wei Xiaoli has shown signs and trends of returning to the top due to the good sales in July, the strength of other new energy car companies should not be underestimated. If he wants to truly return to the "Big Three" of the new forces, he still needs to pay more. Work hard.
It is reported that after the success report in July, many car companies have already taken action and invested in a new round of fighting, among which making a fuss about price is still an important direction. At the beginning of August, Leapmotor announced the news of price cuts for some of its models, covering the Leaprun C01 606 Smart Edition, Leaprun C01 717 Smart Edition and other models, and the price was reduced by up to 20,000 yuan. Subsequently, more than 10 car companies including Chery New Energy, SAIC MG, and BYD participated in the event in different ways, such as official downgrades, new car discounts, and terminal profit sharing. The models are mainly new energy vehicles.
Under this situation, Wei Xiaoli also has some preferential actions in August. For example, Weilai announced that users who paid a deposit to purchase Weilai's new car during August will receive 30 battery exchange experience coupons after picking up the car, which can be used to deduct the full order amount (including electricity and service fees) when paying for battery exchange orders. ). In addition, Weilai has adjusted the price of home filling piles since August 1, and dropped by 2,000 yuan or 2,700 yuan depending on the type. On August 3, the ideal L9 Pro version was launched, and the price was 30,000 yuan lower than that of the L9 Max. It can be seen that the wave of price cuts led by Tesla in the field of new energy vehicles has not receded, and many brands are still trying to gain room for growth from prices.
Li Xiang, CEO of Ideal Auto, once said: "Price cuts cannot increase sales, but they can hurt competitors." At present, even if price is not the only factor that determines sales, consumers will inevitably make purchase choices in the face of multi-brand price cuts for new energy vehicles. It is also necessary to weigh the price and performance, and even some consumers may succumb to the price and appropriately reduce the performance requirements. Therefore, brands with cost-effective advantages are more attractive to consumers.
With the continuous catching up of other brands, Wei Xiaoli's preemptive advantage is not so obvious at present. In terms of technological innovation and customer service, compared with established car companies, it still needs to accumulate experience; and in terms of cost performance, considering the cost factor, It is also difficult to achieve perfection. In the subsequent development, price concessions are only auxiliary, and it is necessary to work hard to cultivate "internal skills" in terms of products in order to cope with various changes in the external competitive environment.
But at present, on the product side, production capacity issues have a direct impact on Wei Xiaoli's future delivery. Li Xiang, the founder of Ideal, publicly stated on Weibo: "The production capacity is the only bottleneck in this quarter, and there is no solution this quarter." When NIO switched from the NT1 platform to the NT2 platform, it exposed the quality, Capacity problem. Xiaopeng Motors has also been complained by consumers about the long delivery cycle, and it takes three months for the order to be delivered.
Sales conversion is a complex process of "traffic-order-production-delivery". When major car companies happily celebrate sales growth, they are actually facing some delivery problems and capacity bottlenecks. According to public data, Weilai currently has two production bases. The first factory in Hefei has a designed production capacity of 240,000 vehicles, and the second factory in Hefei has a current production capacity of 100,000 vehicles. The design production capacity of Guangzhou base in Guangdong is 200,000 vehicles. Ideal currently has two production bases. The Changzhou base in Jiangsu is expected to produce 400,000 vehicles. The Beijing base is temporarily planning to produce 100,000 vehicles. vehicle type. In the face of the huge market demand for new energy vehicles with a considerable growth rate, these production capacities are clearly in short supply.
Of course, Wei Xiaoli is also actively responding. For example, Xiaopeng Motors has reached a cooperation with Volkswagen and received a capital increase of 700 million US dollars. Based on this, Xiaopeng may be able to further make up for the shortcomings of the supply chain and truly return to "Wei Xiaoli". In addition, the policy encouragement is still continuing, which can enhance Wei Xiaoli's confidence in completing the production capacity ramp to a certain extent.
The China Passenger Passenger Association predicts that the new energy vehicle market will usher in a greater increase, stimulated by factors such as car company promotions, consumption policies, and the launch of a large number of new energy vehicle products in the second half of the year. Under the upward trend of the industry's prosperity, Wei Xiaoli's marketing power and brand reputation in the camp of new car manufacturers cannot be ignored. If he can continue to give full play to his product and service advantages and release production capacity to a greater extent, he is still expected to truly meet at the peak. .
Author: Yu Yan
Source: Songuo Finance