China's auto market is undergoing adjustments, and international luxury cars have set off a new round of price cuts.
Recently, rumors about the significant discount sales of new cars of international luxury car brands such as Porsche and BBA (Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi) have attracted great attention from inside and outside the industry. According to reports, the starting price of Porsche's entry-level SUV model Macan has been reduced to about 450,000 yuan, and the pure electric model Taycan has started a price reduction promotion of up to 70%. Some consumers lamented that even Porsche, which was once admired by Chinese car fans and sold without worry, is no longer fragrant.
A reporter from the Shanghai Securities Daily recently investigated Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and other sales stores and found that promotional methods such as discounts and interest rates are widespread, and Porsche's electric vehicle discounts are even as low as more than six folds, and Porsche's prices within 500,000 yuan are not groundless. In addition, Mercedes-Benz and other luxury car brands have also significantly reduced the price of some models.
On July 1, a relevant person from Porsche China replied to a reporter from the Shanghai Securities Daily that the manufacturer's suggested retail price of various Porsche models has not been adjusted. FAW Audi responded to a reporter from the Shanghai Securities Daily that the adjustment of prices in some local markets is not the adjustment of Audi's official guide price.
In this regard, industry experts told reporters that the entry of international luxury cars into the "price war" is the embodiment of the industry's "involution", and China's intelligent new energy vehicle companies with independent research and development advantages are rising strongly.
Porsche Centre Shanghai Puxi on Nanjing West Road
Porsche Centre Shanghai Pudong on Dongfang Road
Porsche can also get a 6% discount
Mercedes-Benz can be discounted by 170,000 yuan
On 1 July, only a sporadic shopper entered the Porsche Centre Shanghai Puxi on Nanjing West Road. "All Porsche models except the '911' are currently limited to zero interest rate for a limited time, with no interest and no handling fee for five years." The staff of the center told reporters that in terms of discounts, the Porsche Cayenne model is discounted by eight or nine percent, and the "911" model is discounted by nine percent. "The Taycan electric model is more than 60% off. The naked car is more than 800,000 yuan, and the optional is 1.1 million yuan, and then you can get about 700,000 yuan by a few discounts. ”
The above-mentioned staff said that from a nationwide perspective, Porsche now even sells models within 500,000 yuan. However, there are also reasons for the low price, such as the lack of model selection and the location of the sales store. "The car can't be sold, so this kind of special price is engaged."
"The color is not very good for the car, and the discount is more." Staff at Porsche Centre Shanghai Pudong on Dongfang Road said that one of the important reasons for the discount is the return of funds, and now there is a backlog of existing cars, so the discount is large. "Porsche's sales were still quite high, but now the sales situation is not good. To be honest, if you use it normally for a family, you may sometimes think about a car of more than 1 million yuan. If you weren't so urgent, you wouldn't buy a new car. ”
The "wave of price cuts" is not just affecting Porsche. In the Mercedes-Benz Shanghai Guansong Star on Wenshui East Road, the staff introduced, "Taking the original price of 355,000 yuan as an example, the comprehensive discount is about 120,000 yuan in the form of loans and bank rebates." The original price of 400,000 yuan to 600,000 yuan Mercedes-Benz EQE electric car can be discounted by nearly 170,000 yuan at most. ”
On July 1, a relevant person from Porsche China replied to a reporter from the Shanghai Securities Daily that the manufacturer's suggested retail price of various Porsche models has not been adjusted. FAW Audi responded to a reporter from the Shanghai Securities Daily that the adjustment of prices in some local markets is not the adjustment of Audi's official guide price, "which belongs to the market competition of the whole vehicle and the way to attract customers."
A senior auto dealer told reporters that international luxury car companies have always been based on production and sales in the Chinese market. In order to ensure performance, the management of the sales company will also let the dealer pick up the car and press the warehouse, and then give a part of the incentive policy after picking up the car. In the case of a volatile auto market, this set of operations is prone to problems.
Mercedes-Benz Shanghai Guansong Star located on Wenshui East Road
Under the background of "price war", the industry is deeply "involuted"
In the first five months of 2024, the retail sales of the domestic passenger car market, including fuel vehicles, decreased by about 400,000 units compared to the same period in 2019, which is the lowest point in the same period in history.
According to the sales data of the Passenger Association, in May 2024, the retail sales of domestic mainstream joint venture brands will be 490,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 21%. Among them, the retail share of German brands was 18.6%, down 2% year-on-year; The retail share of Japanese brands was 14.8%, down 3.2% year-on-year; The market share of U.S. brands was 6.7%, down 1.4% year-on-year.
At the same time as the overall sales volume fluctuated, the "price war" came and went, and the industry was deeply "involuted".
From January to May 2024, industry prices fell by 6% on top of last year's 10% decline. More than 40 car companies and more than 120 models have implemented price reductions, and the number of models with price reductions exceeds 60% of the total price in 2023.
"The depth of the industry's 'involution' not only aggravates consumers' wait-and-see sentiment, but also has a great impact on the steady operation of car companies." Wang Xiaoqiu, president of SAIC, told reporters.
Track switching acceleration. From January to May 2024, the domestic market sales of traditional fuel passenger vehicles accounted for 60.3%, down 9 percentage points from the same period in 2023. Wang Xiaoqiu introduced that the current reality of the industry is that the profitable fuel vehicle market continues to be under pressure, and the profitability of new energy vehicles with relatively fast sales growth is generally poor.
International luxury car companies, which were once relatively better than the market, are also feeling more of a crisis in the Chinese auto market.
Judging from the financial report, in the first quarter of 2024, the BMW Group's sales in the Chinese market will be 187,500 units, a year-on-year decrease of 3.8%; Mercedes-Benz passenger car (including smart) sales in the Chinese market were 168,900 units, a year-on-year decrease of 11.6%; Only the Audi brand sales increased in the first quarter, to 155,300 units, a year-on-year increase of 14%, but some industry insiders said that Audi's growth was also due to price for volume.
Since 2022, Porsche's sales in China have declined for two consecutive years; In the first quarter of 2024, Porsche delivered 77,640 new vehicles worldwide, down 4% year-on-year; In the same period, Porsche delivered 16,340 vehicles in the Chinese market, a year-on-year decline of 24%.
AITO Wenjie intelligent new energy vehicle cooperated by Celis and Huawei
While the international luxury car market is cold, China's smart new energy vehicles are also rising strongly.
According to the latest data, the AITO Wenjie M9 model cooperated by Cialis and Huawei has exceeded 100,000 units in just six months since its launch, ranking first in sales of models with more than 500,000 yuan for nine consecutive weeks. The new M7 Ultra model has been on the market for only 20 days, and the total number of units has exceeded 30,000 units. These achievements have surpassed many international luxury brand car companies.
According to the portrait report of the first batch of owners of Wenjie M9 released by Jielan Road, an automobile data agency, the average age of the car owners surveyed is 37.3 years old, the proportion of car owners over 40 years old has reached 30%, the marriage rate is 90%, the average number of people living together is 4.2, and there are many children. The report also pointed out that most of the first owners of the M9 were purchased or replaced. Among them, international luxury brands are the main source of additional purchases, accounting for about half of the total, and there is a certain proportion of sports cars/high-performance cars in the additional purchase sources, such as Porsche 718, Mercedes-Benz GLE, AMG, etc.
"Under the general trend of new energy vehicle transformation, the development code of the automobile industry is to focus on long-term and unwavering innovation and enterprising under electrification, intelligence, digitalization and networking." Kang Bo, vice president of Cialis, said that in the context of the rapid development of the global new energy vehicle market, Cialis, as a representative enterprise of China's new energy vehicle industry, is exploring a development path for Chinese auto companies through continuous innovation and practice.