In June, the impulse season has a model reduced to 60,000 yuan, and the A-class sedan "rolls" out of the extreme?

National Business Daily

2024-06-20 07:16Published on the official account of Sichuan Daily Economic News

Every reporter: Duan Siyao Every editor: Sun Lei

During the June impulse season, competition in the A-segment sedan market has heated up.

"The Sylphy classic model now starts at 69,800 yuan after the cash discount." A sales staff of a Dongfeng Nissan 4S store in Beijing told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that this model was launched at the beginning of this year for the 2024 model, and the starting price at that time was 108,600 yuan, and now the price has dropped by 38,800 yuan. In addition to the Sylphy Classic, the price of the new Sylphy has also dropped significantly, and the starting price has been lowered to 89,800 yuan.

In the SAIC Volkswagen 4S store not far from the Dongfeng Nissan 4S store, a promotional board marked with "Lavida Xinrui Outstanding Edition starts at 79,900 yuan" was displayed in a conspicuous position in the exhibition hall. According to the sales staff of the SAIC Volkswagen 4S store, "In addition to cash discounts, Lavida Xinrui can also enjoy sales policies such as full exemption of purchase tax for all time-limited periods, and 20% off for 3 years. ”

In addition, on June 18, FAW Toyota's official Weibo said that it would provide a limited-time comprehensive discount of 43,000 yuan for Corolla models, with prices starting at 79,800 yuan. In the course of the on-site visit, the reporter found that the terminal sales prices of many joint venture A-class cars such as Bora, Suteng, and Leiling have dropped significantly.

"With the strong rise of domestic brands in the A-segment sedan market, joint venture models have felt unprecedented pressure. In order to stabilize its market position, it has had to reduce the price significantly. A salesperson of a joint venture brand said.

According to public data, in May this year, independent brands in the A-class sedan market "oil and electricity" together, steadily occupying six of the top ten in the sales list, of which BYD Qin PLUS topped the sales championship of the A-class car market with a score of 48,600 units, surpassing Sylphy, Lavida, Suteng and other joint venture models, the once familiar Civic, Cruz, Kia K3 and other joint venture best-selling cars have fallen to 20.

On May 1, 2024, at the 18th Beijing International Automobile Exhibition, Dongfeng Nissan exhibited the Sylphy super-hybrid electric drive. Visual China Diagram

There are joint venture models reduced to "cabbage price"

In February this year, BYD Qin PLUS and Destroyer 05 launched the Glory Edition model, taking the lead in lowering the price of the A-class sedan to less than 80,000 yuan. In March, the A-class best-selling cars Sylphy and Lavida were pulled down by Qin PLUS as the monthly sales champion of A-class sedans, and since then, Qin PLUS has been occupying the position of the sales champion in the A-class sedan market.

BYD is still continuing to "put pressure" on the market. "At present, there is a cash discount of 20,000 yuan for the Qin PLUS Champion Edition model." So said a salesperson at a BYD Dynasty network in Beijing. At the same time, a BYD marine network salesperson in Beijing also said: "Destroyer 05 part of the configuration model cash discount of 10,000 yuan." ”

In the face of the impact of independent models such as BYD, the joint venture A-class sedan tried to hold the market with greater discounts. A salesperson at a GAC Toyota 4S store in Beijing told reporters: Lei Ling has a cash discount of 41,000 yuan, and this price can be negotiated again. Taking the 2023 1.5L Aggressive Edition as an example, according to the current cash discount, the starting price of Lei Ling has been reduced to 72,800 yuan.

In addition to the A-class sedan, the prices of some A+ models have also been significantly reduced, including the Civic and its old rival Sutar, which now have to lower their prices. A salesperson at a Dongfeng Honda 4S store in Beijing said: "At present, the price of the Civic is about 47,000 yuan, and the starting price of some old models has dropped to more than 80,000 yuan." ”

A sales staff of a FAW-Volkswagen 4S store in Beijing told reporters: "At present, Suteng has a cash discount of 53,000 yuan, and the top automatic excellent version of the model is an example, and the whole is 130,000 yuan." In addition, a sales staff of a Buick brand 4S store in Beijing also said: "The landing price of the entry-level model of the Valeant Pro has been reduced to less than 100,000 yuan." ”

New energy vehicles enter, fuel vehicles retreat?

Under the "price for volume" method, the sales of Sylphy and Lavida have increased significantly. According to public data, in May this year, Sylphy sold 31,600 vehicles, an increase of 30% month-on-month; Lavida sold 24,000 units, an increase of 13% month-on-month, ranking second and fourth in the A-class sedan market sales in that month.

Even so, joint venture brands are still under tremendous pressure in the A-segment sedan market. In the top 10 sales of the domestic A-class sedan market in May, only Sylphy, Lavida, Suteng, and Bora were on the list, and the remaining 6 seats were occupied by Qin PLUS, Destroyer 05, AION S, Xingrui, Emgrand, and Yidong. The sales of the second-place Sylphy are 16,000 units worse than the sales of the first-place Qin PLUS.

Three years ago, the joint venture brand was still in an absolutely strong position in the A-class sedan market. In 2021, Sylphy will reach the top with a performance of nearly 500,000 units, and the self-owned brand "Diyi Qin" is still striving for the goal of annual sales of about 200,000 units.

Some analysts believe that the joint venture brand has lost its voice in the A-class car market, on the one hand, it is affected by its own brand; On the other hand, it is due to the fact that the joint venture brand is too slow to deploy new energy models in the A-class sedan market.

The drama of "new energy advances, fuel vehicles retreat" is becoming more and more obvious in the A-class car market. According to the data of the Passenger Association, in January ~ May this year, the cumulative sales of A-class vehicles in traditional fuel passenger vehicles were 3.414 million, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9%; The cumulative sales of new energy A-class vehicles were 1.261 million units, a year-on-year increase of 13.7%.

During the visit, the reporter asked the sales staff of a number of joint venture brand 4S stores "whether there are plug-in hybrid or pure electric vehicle models that can be recommended", and the other party said: "We are still mainly based on fuel vehicles, supplemented by new energy." Some salespeople even pointed to a gasoline-to-electric model outside the showroom and said: "This car is not easy to sell, and the showroom is small, so it will be put out." ”

The final outcome of the independent joint venture competition is undecided

Independent new energy vehicles continue to attack the joint venture A-class sedan, and even the B-class car. At the end of May, BYD's new mid-level cars Qin L and Seal 06 were launched, and the two models are positioned as B-class cars, but the price is as low as 99,800 yuan. In terms of competitors, Qin L and Seal 06 are not only aimed at Camry, Accord and other joint venture B-class cars, but also joint venture A-class cars such as Sylphy, Lavida and Suteng.

Not long ago, Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD's brand and public relations department, revealed in the live broadcast: "(BYD Qin L DM-i and seal 06 DM-i orders) data we have been thinking about whether to send out, and then think about it or not, the release of such a blockbuster technology, has already had such a big shock and shock to the industry, we want to think about not sending it first, we will do a good job in product production, delivery and customer service, this is our most important work at this stage." ”

The sales staff of the above-mentioned joint venture brand believes: "Qin L and Seal 06 will pose a threat to the high-end models of Sylphy and Lavida, and the former is more attractive to car buyers in terms of fuel consumption and price." ”

The experience of the joint venture brand in the A-class sedan market is only a microcosm of its current situation. According to the latest data released by the China Passenger Car Association, in May this year, the domestic retail sales of independent brands increased by 12% year-on-year to 980,000 units, with a market share of nearly 60%, a year-on-year increase of 7.3 percentage points, while the retail sales of joint venture brands were only 490,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 21%.

Correspondingly, with the exception of Tesla China, the retail sales of the top 10 joint venture automakers in terms of sales volume all declined. Among them, FAW-Volkswagen had the largest year-on-year decline, reaching 17.5%, while SAIC Volkswagen and GAC Toyota fell by about 10%. Compared to April, FAW Toyota fell out of the top 10 and was replaced by Tesla China.

In this regard, Wang Xia, Chairman of the Automotive Industry Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said: "Although the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has exceeded 50% for the first time in phases, and the market share of Chinese brand passenger cars has exceeded 60% for the first time, the competition between new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles, Chinese brands and joint venture brands is far from the endgame, and each still has a lot of room for development." ”

A life-and-death battle for the future is being staged between independent and joint venture brands.

National Business Daily

View original image 287K

•