The price war atmosphere is still pervasive. At the end of the year and beginning of the year, in order to seize the peak sales season before the Spring Festival, multiple new energy brands have launched New Year's limited time car purchase discounts. According to incomplete statistics from Time Finance, multiple new energy vehicle companies such as Tesla, Ideal Automobile, NIO, Geely, Leapmotor, and Deep Blue Automobile have lowered their prices or introduced limited time discounts.
On January 17th, NIO officially announced that it will further upgrade the intelligent hardware configuration of existing models this year, and new models will be delivered gradually in March. In addition, NIO mentioned that "the Chinese New Year holiday is approaching, and we have provided short-term car purchase discounts for the 2023 model." However, it did not disclose the specific amount of car purchase discounts.
As a consumer, Time Finance learned from NIO's official customer service that NIO's entire lineup of exhibition cars currently offers discounts of 24000-40000 yuan. Exhibition vehicles ET7, ES7, EC7, and ES8 can enjoy a discount of 32000 yuan. If they have been in stock for more than 120 days, they can enjoy a discount of 40000 yuan; Exhibition vehicles ET5, ET5T, ES6, and EC6 can enjoy a discount of 24000 yuan, while those with a storage age of 120 days or more can enjoy a discount of 30000 yuan.
Time Finance has sent an interview question to NIO regarding the reasons for the launch of short-term car purchase discounts and the highlights of the 2024 model upgrade. As of the time of publication, no response has been received.
A sales consultant from NIO Guangzhou told Time Finance, "The 2024 model will upgrade the chip from 8155 to 8295."
In addition, later this month, the new version of the NIO Banyan system will receive more than 40 functional upgrades, further enhancing the performance and experience of intelligent chassis, intelligent cockpit, active safety, and full area assisted driving.
At the end of 2023, Li Bin, Chairman and CEO of NIO, stated at a media communication meeting that, "Next year's market will be fiercely competitive in the years to come. For the NIO brand, we will not trade price for quantity. Internally, we must give up our illusions. Firstly, we must give up our illusions about the severity of market competition. Secondly, we must also give up our illusions about exchanging price for quantity. NIO needs to increase its gross profit margin and enhance its sales and service system capabilities in exchange for an increase in sales."
Subsequently, in the first letter from all employees in 2024, Li Bin clarified the high priority development priorities for 2024, including ensuring long-term investment in core key technologies, ensuring leading advantages in technology and products, and delivering on time and with quality; Ensure that sales and service capabilities can cope with fierce market competition, and sales can be quickly converted into sales; Ensure that the research and development of 9 core products from 3 brands are progressing according to schedule.
According to NIO's plan, the main brand NIO will not release any new products in 2024, and the 8 models currently on sale will support NIO's sales and revenue. Last year, NIO's entire lineup of 8 models achieved sales of over 160000 vehicles.
At the beginning of 2024, car companies are frequently promoting discounts and promotions.
Industry experts believe that it is in line with market trends to communicate price information in advance during product updates in order to achieve product transition.
Coincidentally, on January 11th, Ideal Automobile also communicated with Ideal L-series models for the 2024 model year, stating that it will update the configuration of L-series models and release and start delivering the 2024 model year in March. "As the Spring Festival approaches, we have launched a car purchase discount for the 2023 model," said Ideal Automotive.
It is reported that the discount range for different versions of the Ideal L series is between 33000 to 36000 yuan. Regarding this discount, Time Finance interviewed Ideal Automobile, and relevant personnel responded that the adjustment of the car purchase policy is to cope with the intensifying price competition among three luxury brands (Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi). Ideal Automobile has launched a limited time New Year discount policy.
On January 12th, Tesla China lowered the prices of Model 3 and Model Y by a range of 6500 to 15500 yuan. After adjustment, the starting price of Model 3 is 245900 yuan, and the starting price of Model Y is 258900 yuan. After this price adjustment, the updated Model 3 and Model Y have reached the lowest prices in the history of the domestic market.
On the 16th, Geely Krypton launched a limited time purchase price for Geely Krypton 001, with a limited time subsidy of 30000 to 37000 yuan. Among them, the starting price of the entry-level model has dropped from 300000 yuan to 269000 yuan; The retail price of the high-end Extreme Krypton 001 YOU version has dropped from 386000 yuan to 349000 yuan.
On January 4th, Zero Run Motors launched a discount for the New Year's gift season, with each car eligible for up to 17000 yuan of final payment deduction. On the 5th, Lingpao Automobile launched a new year service consumption voucher activity of 350000 yuan for reservation lottery.
In terms of deep blue cars, the entire series of deep blue S7 products enjoy a discount of 1999 yuan to 8000 yuan, and users who purchase the pure electric version of deep blue S7 520 will receive an additional cash subsidy of 10000 yuan.
Ping An Securities predicts that there will still be a structural "price war" in the automotive market in 2024. The top new energy vehicle companies will face pressure on their growth rate in 2024, so the "price war" led by the top new energy vehicle companies will continue.