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Recently, Tesla China's layoffs and rehires have attracted the attention of the industry. According to Jiemian News, on June 26, some departments of Tesla China are rehiring some previously laid off employees, who are mainly concentrated in the sales and service fields. However, some bloggers revealed that employees who are rehired may need to return the N+3 compensation they received when they were previously laid off.
In mid-April this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk issued an all-staff letter, in which he said that Tesla would lay off 10% of its global workforce, involving about 14,000 people, of which employees in the Chinese market were also affected, especially the sales and service departments became the "hardest hit areas". A former Tesla sales agent said that some supermarket stores have made large layoffs, retaining only 5 to 6 employees, compared with 8 to 9 under normal circumstances, which is not conducive to the normal operation of stores.
However, while Tesla is trying to replenish its staff by rehiring, some of the employees who have been laid off have shown little interest in the rehiring. Some of them have joined new energy vehicle brands such as NIO and Ledao and started new careers.
Tesla's rehire is not the first time. At the end of April, Musk laid off a 500-person supercharger team, but in early May, Tesla began hiring some members of the team again.
Tesla's position in the global market has been solid, but in China, the world's largest new energy vehicle market, Tesla is facing fierce competition from local companies. Tesla had to take measures such as layoffs to cope with the challenges of the market.
In the first quarter of this year, Tesla delivered a total of 387,000 vehicles, down 8.5% year-on-year from the first quarter of last year, and the first quarterly sales decline in Tesla in the past four years. In 4 days, the second quarter will come to an end, and what kind of report card will Tesla hand over in the second quarter? Wall Street widely expects Tesla to deliver 450,000 EVs in the outgoing second quarter, down from 466,140 in the second quarter of last year.
At the same time, the rise of new energy vehicles in China has also put huge pressure on Tesla. Local brands such as Xpeng and Xiaomi have launched benchmark models, gradually eating into Tesla's market share in China. Tesla's biggest competitor, BYD, has a huge advantage in battery technology and production costs, coupled with the explosive growth of production capacity, which makes its production costs continue to decline. At the beginning of this year, BYD took the initiative to reduce prices and put forward the slogan of "electricity is lower than oil", which further intensified the competition in the market. In March this year, BYD's sales increased by more than 46% year-on-year.
Tesla's layoffs and rehires in the Chinese market also reflect fierce competition and changes in the new energy vehicle market. Competition among car companies means more and better choices and better products and services, which will bring more convenience and advantages to consumers. At the same time, this competition will also promote technological innovation and product upgrading in the industry, bringing consumers a better car travel experience.
Look back at the new energy vehicle industry in mainland China
The eastern region is the most developed
From the perspective of industrial chain distribution, the mainland's new energy vehicle industry is mainly concentrated in the eastern, southeastern, southwestern and southern regions, among which the eastern region is the most developed. At the provincial and municipal levels, the representative enterprises of new energy vehicles in Jiangsu Province include Nanjing Automobile, Aerospace Chenguang and Peony Automobile; The representative enterprises in Anhui Province include Chery Automobile, Weilai Automobile and JAC Automobile; The representative enterprises in Guangdong Province include Guangzhou Automobile Group, BYD, and Xiaopeng Motors.
In 2022, BYD will have the largest market share in the new energy vehicle industry
In 2022, BYD is the company with the largest market share of new energy vehicles in mainland China, accounting for 31.7% of the market share, far exceeding other brands. SAIC-GM-Wuling and Tesla both have a market share of 7.8% in China. However, the combined market share of new EV manufacturers NIO, XPeng and Li is still low at 6.9%.
The leading effect of China's new energy vehicle industry is obvious
From the perspective of sales, the CR2 of the mainland new energy vehicle industry is 39.51%, CR4 is 52.63%, and CR8 is 67.71%.
According to the latest data released by the China Passenger Car Association, from June 1 to 23, 2024, the retail sales of new energy vehicles reached 534,000 units, an increase of 19% over the same period last year and an increase of 7% over the same period last month. Since the beginning of this year, the cumulative retail sales of new energy vehicles have reached 3.789 million, a year-on-year increase of 32%. The Federation of Passenger Cars forecasts that the retail market of narrow passenger cars will be about 1.75 million units this month, a decrease of 7.6% year-on-year and an increase of 2.3% month-on-month. NEV retail sales are expected to be about 860,000 units, up 6.9% m/m and 32.7% y/y, and the penetration rate is expected to increase to 49.1%.
Zhang Yongwei, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association, believes that the production and sales scale of new energy vehicles in mainland China is expected to reach 13 million units in 2024, with a growth rate of about 40%, and the monthly penetration rate in the passenger car field is expected to exceed 50%, ushering in an important milestone in industrial development.
Zeng Qinghong, chairman of Guangzhou Automobile Group, accused the price war of new energy vehicles, saying that it is not a way to roll it up like this, and what is the purpose of the enterprise? It is to make profits, to contribute to the country, and to contribute to society. We should have a big-picture, long-term strategy, rather than a front-looking roll.
Prospective Economist APP Information Group
For more research and analysis of this industry, please refer to the "Analysis Report on Market Prospect and Investment Strategic Planning of China's New Energy Vehicle Industry" by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute
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