The first new energy logistics vehicle company officially announced a price increase! How do operating dealers cope with the price increase?

"Some manufacturers do not have much conscience, and some factories directly increase the price of 10,000 yuan per car." Huang Shan (pseudonym), head of the new energy logistics vehicle operation dealer who is isolated in Quanzhou, said to tram resources.

As new energy logistics automakers adjust the price of electric vehicles, new energy logistics vehicle distribution operators have also been implicated.

On April 1, New Gio Automobile issued the "Explanation on Model Price Adjustment" announcing the adjustment of the price of new energy commercial vehicles on sale, ranging from 11,000 to 17,000 yuan, due to the rapid growth of the company's order volume and the further increase in costs after entering 2022.

For a time, price increases have become an indispensable topic in the field of new energy logistics vehicles.

The impact of price increases on operating dealers

According to a new energy logistics vehicle sales staff in Shenzhen, "At present, the price increase of hot new energy logistics vehicles is relatively large. "Their new energy logistics vehicles have also increased in price.

"Some manufacturers are more conscientious and only rise by 3,000 yuan, and some manufacturers directly rise by 10,000 yuan." Huang Shan, head of the dealership that operates new energy logistics vehicles in Fujian, revealed more news.

Although the prices of the hot-selling new energy logistics vehicles have risen to varying degrees, some models have not seen price increases for the time being. However, some people told tram resources that although they have not received the price increase notice for the time being, if everyone rises, they should also rise, and then it will not be so big impact.

Huang Shan told tram resources that after learning that the price of battery materials increased, they chose to replace the model for the first time. However, if the overall price of all models in the field of new energy logistics vehicles increases, the operating dealers and drivers are still the ultimate bearers.

The price increase caused by the shortage of upstream raw materials and chips is transmitted downstream, and the impact on operating dealers and drivers is very intuitive. For operating dealers, the operating costs have further increased, and the volume of vehicles has also decreased compared with before. For drivers, with the rise in bicycle prices, drivers' intention to buy cars has greatly decreased and they are more inclined to rent cars, and the entire transaction link is more hesitant and worried.

The emergence of the epidemic black swan has impacted the logistics people at the bottom.

Multiple factors have led to an increase in the price of the vehicle

Excluding the epidemic factors, the decline of the national subsidy, the shortage of chips and the rising price of raw materials upstream of power batteries are the reasons for the overall price increase of electric vehicles. At the end of 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other four departments jointly issued the "Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022". The "Notice" pointed out that the subsidy for urban logistics distribution vehicles will decline by 20% on the basis of 2021, taking the pure electric light truck with 100 kWh electricity as an example, on the basis of meeting the technical requirements, the subsidy will be 6300 yuan less in 2022 than in 2021, and this part is mainly borne by the automakers and consumers.

At the same time, the dual pressure of chip shortage and rising raw materials upstream of power batteries has also brought cost pressure to battery factories and vehicle manufacturers, forcing price adjustments. With the implementation of Europe's strictest "carbon emissions", the global demand for electric vehicles has further climbed, coupled with the impact of the epidemic on the production rhythm of upstream factories, there is a shortage of chips and raw materials such as lithium carbonate, and the supply is in short supply. According to the current market public data, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate is very "perverted". In 2021, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate was only 68,000 yuan / ton, and now it has risen to 500,000 yuan / ton.

At the same time, the problem of chip shortage has continued to this day, Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota and other car companies have cut production plans, according to the latest news, due to chip shortage, Ford Motor in Michigan to produce Mustang car factory will stop production next week for a week.

Will the upward trend in prices continue?

When will the price increase be mitigated? When will the new energy vehicle market get back on track? This is a concern for all new energy logistics people. In 2022, the new energy vehicle market is facing the problems of subsidy decline, chip shortage and rising prices of raw materials for power batteries, and the price of new energy logistics vehicles as a means of transportation is far less affordable than that of passenger cars.

The shortage of raw materials has led to an increase in the price of power batteries, according to incomplete statistics, since the second half of 2021, most battery manufacturers have completed at least two rounds of battery product price increases. Battery factories and automakers are facing tremendous pressure, from bottom to bottom to operating dealers, end users, the new energy logistics vehicles that are already on the edge of the market have once again fallen into darkness.

In this regard, Ouyang Minggao said that the shortage of resources is short-term. On the one hand, demand will return to the fundamentals, although the driving force for the growth of electric vehicle sales will exist for a long time, but the demand amplification caused by factors such as panic inventory reserves is a temporary factor, and with the improvement of lithium carbonate supply capacity, it will gradually return to the basic demand side.

On the other hand, from the supply side, the current lithium ore mining represented by Australia has accelerated, and it is expected to reach the demand side level in 1-2 years, and in the long run, lithium resources are sufficient and the recoverable amount continues to increase.

Industry insiders have also reminded that they do not have to worry too much about the high price of lithium. On the one hand, the market mechanism itself will achieve adjustment, on the other hand, the relevant departments are also accelerating the upstream and downstream supply and demand docking of the industrial chain and market supply assurance. It is expected that starting in the second half of 2022, the capacity that can be released is considerable, and the development of the new energy automobile industry can maintain a stable growth rate, and the upstream supply can be guaranteed.

In terms of chips, on January 12 this year, Wang Weiming, director of the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a press conference that global companies have increased the production capacity of automotive chips, and it is expected that the supply of automotive chips will increase in the second half of 2022, and the shortage of chips will improve.

That is to say, in the second half of this year, the supply problem of power batteries and chips will be alleviated.

How do new energy logistics vehicle operators respond to the price increase?

For the entire new energy logistics vehicle market, cost reduction and efficiency increase are the only way to finally achieve true marketization. In the context of the shortage of raw materials for power batteries, chip shortages, and repeated epidemics, compared with vehicle companies with strong anti-risk capabilities, the situation of new energy logistics vehicle operation dealers is more difficult, with OEMs "raising prices" on the top and "bargaining" with drivers. Cost is a mountain that weighs on the operating dealer, and it is also very difficult to operate the dealer in the face of drivers who are extremely sensitive to price.

After the general increase in model prices, how do new energy logistics vehicle operators respond? In the face of the driver's hesitation, what changes will the new energy logistics vehicle make?

On May 10th, the 16th sharing meeting of the tram resources new energy logistics vehicle distribution / operator president class will be the unveiling agenda of the 5th China New Energy Automobile Industry Conference in 2022, focusing on the new trends, new patterns, and new ecology of the development pain points of new energy logistics vehicle distribution operators, and exploring the way to become bigger and stronger.

This president's class will closely combine the characteristics of small and scattered distribution operators, partnership system and dependence on upstream resources, and conduct in-depth discussions with industry associations, machine factories, financial service enterprises, and distribution operators around hot topics such as "how to choose partners", "how to manage the core team", "how to prevent core business backbones from becoming their competitors", "how to expand in different places" and "how to choose upstream resources".