Before editing: This year, after Tesla achieved local production, the market impact can be seen. Although the repeated price cuts have made consumers feel "cut to the point of being cut", the market influence and appeal are still self-evident. In the second half of the year, Tesla's localization will increase to more than 80%, and the price will be further reduced, and its impact on the domestic new energy vehicle market will continue to expand.
Recently, Beijing’s favorable policies to add new energy vehicle license plates will make a large number of middle class a car owner. Judging from Beijing's consumption capacity, the mid-to-high-end new energy vehicle market will usher in a wave of consumption climax. The reporter visited several Tesla experience stores in Beijing and found that Tesla may become the biggest beneficiary of this market segment.
Tesla has begun to launch more Model 3 subdivided models in China, and the price of this domestic model has also stabilized. Tesla Model 3 is attracting more consumers' attention and purchases. Judging from the performance of the terminal market, the business of Tesla's experience store in Beijing is gradually heating up and sales are growing. With the huge demand released by Beijing's new lottery policy, coupled with China's growing demand for mid-to-high-end pure electric vehicles, Tesla has undoubtedly become the "most beautiful boy" in the market. With the stabilization of prices, the steady increase in localization rates, and excellent pre-sales and after-sales services, Tesla is helping "harvest" China's new energy vehicle market.
experience store ushered in a "busy moment"
As Tesla's first store in the Chinese market and also bears one-fifth of Tesla's sales in the north area of the Chinese market, Tesla Beijing Qiaofufang Grassland Experience Store is one of the important components of Tesla in the Chinese market.
"Since the new policy on subsidies for new energy vehicles was implemented at the end of April, the sales staff of Qiaofufang Grassland Experience Store have not rested for 20 consecutive days. When the terms of models above 300,000 yuan (inclusive) no longer enjoying the policy preferential terms, Tesla chose to reduce prices, and its Model 3 standard renewal version was reduced to 291,000 yuan, and the price after subsidy starts at 270,000 yuan. In May, there were obviously more customers who book and see cars." Xiao Zhao , a staff member of Tesla's Beijing Qiaofufang Grassland Experience Store, told reporters.
At Tesla's Beijing Qiaofufang Grassland Experience Store, the reporter clearly felt the "hustle and enthusiasm" of consumption in the store. The Chinese version of Model 3, Model X, Model S and other models have customers to check the car for consultation. Store staff member Xiao Zhao told reporters: "Because the domestic Model 3 standard renewal version was sold to 270,000 yuan on May 1, the store's customer flow has improved significantly and increased significantly since the May Day holiday, and there are also constant customers coming to the store during weekdays." The reporter of
found that although there are customers stopping next to each model, most consumers are still concentrated next to the domestic Model 3. Xiao Zhao told reporters: "A large number of customers come to this model, so this car is definitely a star product in our store." Among them, Mr. Wu, a post-90s consumer who came to the store to test drive, is a fan of this model. Mr. Wu said that he has been following Tesla for a long time. For him, the most important thing in buying a car is the brand and vehicle personality. The overall shape of Tesla and the sense of technology brought by the large interior screen just meet his consumer needs.
It is understood that the second half of the year, the standard renewal version of the Model 3 will be replaced with lithium iron phosphate batteries. Xiao Zhao said that if the price is adjusted, Tesla will make an official announcement on its official website. However, Xiao Zhao emphasized to reporters that the standard renewal version of Model 3 after replacing the battery may not have a price adjustment.
was opened at the Tesla Beijing Huamao Center experience store, which opened at the end of last year, and the reporter also saw the same lively scene. "Teslaunch can be driven home for 270,000 yuan. The potential car purchase demand that chooses to wait and see due to the subsidy policy has been released, and offline experience stores have ushered in a busy moment." Xiao Shi , a staff member of the experience store of Huamao Center, told reporters. In her opinion, Tesla's sales fluctuations were normal before. As Tesla's price adjustment stabilized, consumers' desire to buy gradually recovered, and sales began to recover. At the same time, Xiao Shi also said that the policy of Beijing's car purchase indicators to "car-free families" will be implemented in the second half of the year, which will be more conducive to Tesla's sales.
Entering the first lesson of China
html In early May, Tesla lowered the price of the model and wanted to sell it with a price cut, but the result did not develop in the direction it imagined. In fact, since Tesla was produced in China, due to changes in subsidy policies and other factors, the price of the domestic Tesla Model 3 has changed many times, and even raised the price first and then lowered it in the short term. Market insiders analyzed that the unstable pricing system disrupted consumers' purchasing plans and to a certain extent blocked consumers' purchasing enthusiasm.As the automobile industry around the world is facing great pressure, Tesla has provided a very good model for the automobile industry and brought hope for breakthroughs to the automobile industry. But no one expected that such companies with hope of breakthroughs would also experience sales declines. In fact, Tesla's sales decline comes from a very special consumption concept among Chinese people, buying it up or not buying it down. Consumers always feel that the price will be lower in the future, so why not wait any longer, so their hearts of holding coins to buy begin to spread.
Tesla Model 3 faces this problem. Sales volume declines because people began to form an expectation that Tesla's price could be cheaper. For those who want to buy a car, they can wait until the Tesla price drops further before buying, so there is a dilemma with great Chinese characteristics. This should be the first lesson Tesla has taken since entering China.
moves closer to China's national conditions
It is reported that Tesla is planning to close experience stores in luxury locations in China's first- and second-tier cities, and instead opens some "Tesla Center" that integrates pre-sales and after-sales, integrating sales, maintenance, charging and other functions. These stores are similar to traditional 4S stores with direct sales model and are closer to the location of suburban dealer clusters. During the visit, the reporter learned that the two Tesla experience stores in Beijing Chaoyang Joy City and Shanghai Pudong Kerry Center have been closed. In the future, Tesla's stores in shopping malls may not renew their contracts after the contract expires.
Relying on its strong product strength and sense of technology, Tesla's brand value continues to improve. Tesla CEO Musk firmly believes that excellent products can make Tesla a household name car company through the word of mouth accumulated by users and the spread of word of mouth. Today, in addition to the impression of being expensive and luxurious in people's perception, Tesla is also labeled as innovation and revolution. So when most car brands have 4S stores, the "alternative" Tesla adopts the Internet thinking to sell cars.
cut off the dealer segment, and Tesla's online direct sales model has truly achieved "no middlemen to make a difference." More importantly, Tesla will close offline direct stores and implement online sales. The reason for this is that, on the one hand, Musk believes that Tesla has accumulated enough reputation, and the sales of the domestic Model 3 have proved the feasibility of online sales. On the other hand, closing offline experience stores can reduce rent, labor and other costs, and more importantly, it can reduce the selling price by about 6%.
In fact, Tesla has increased revenue and reduced expenditures so much to alleviate the problem of the capital chain. As early as January last year, Tesla announced that it would carry out personnel reforms to about 7% of its employees as part of its cost-cutting plan. Musk once said that Tesla's situation is difficult and there is no other way except layoffs.
Tesla, which is under huge financial pressure, has loaned RMB 10 billion from several Chinese banks to provide funds for its Shanghai factory under pressure. China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and others have agreed to provide financial support to Tesla. In the middle of last year, Musk applied for $61 million in loans to ease his cash flow pressure using five real estate properties in California as collateral. It is understood that Musk's loan term is 30 years and requires a monthly repayment of US$180,000.
In Musk's view, the $35,000 basic version of Model 3 has always been regarded as a "decisive card" for Tesla to achieve profitability. Whether Model 3 can achieve large-scale delivery, the investment and construction progress of Shanghai Super Factory is crucial.Now, Tesla's Shanghai Super Factory has put into mass production, with weekly production reaching the level of 1,000 vehicles, and sales are on track. The current situation of the domestic Model 3 is "order one day late, one week late." No wonder Musk was "danced" in Shanghai, after all, the five mortgaged properties were kept.
Challenger strikes against the move
For Tesla's hot sales, NIO CEO Li Bin said that although this is cruel, it is also fun.
Faced with Tesla's step-by-step pressure, even if Tesla's sales performance in April was poor, it would not make domestic new energy vehicle companies feel relieved. If Tesla continues to lower prices in the future, will it really become a disaster for domestic new energy vehicle companies? Compared with traditional fuel vehicles,
has relatively few new energy vehicle models and there is little room for choice. Therefore, the impact of price range on consumers' purchase of new energy vehicles is particularly prominent. The price span of new energy vehicles is not small. For example, the price of Porsche Taycan models reaches 1.148 million yuan, while the price of Tesla Model X and Model S series is at a minimum of 793,900 yuan. In addition to this type of luxury car model, new energy vehicles for Volkswagen consumers can be simply divided into high-end models priced at more than 300,000 yuan, mid-to-high-end models priced at between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan, and mid-to-low-end models priced at less than 200,000 yuan.
Currently, among high-end models, it is represented by NIO ES8, ES6, and Tesla Model 3 series. After the implementation of the new subsidy policy, the 300,000 yuan subsidy threshold seems to have blocked these high-end models, but the impact is not great for NIO, which adopts the battery swap model and Tesla, which chooses to reduce prices.
On April 29, NIO received 7 billion yuan in financing from national team capital such as Hefei Construction Investment Holdings (Group) Co., Ltd., solving the urgent problem. The new policy treats NIO so preferentially and reflects a clear tendency to support the development of the battery swap model. NIO's future has suddenly become much brighter. Ideal ONE, which is priced at
for more than 300,000 yuan, also chose to reduce the price in disguise. Li Xiang said that the part of the reduction in subsidies will be borne by the company, and the price obtained by users will remain unchanged. At present, the price of Ideal ONE after subsidy is 328,000 yuan, which is still within the scope of direct competition with Tesla Model 3, and is slightly more expensive than the standard renewal version of Model 3. It has to be said that under the halo of Tesla, Ideal Auto needs to spend more effort to make a breakthrough.
mid-to-high-end models with a price range of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan are mixed in the face of the new subsidy policy. What’s good is that these models can continue to enjoy subsidies and the subsidy reduction time has been extended, which is expected to revive the market that has been sluggish since the subsidy reduction in June 2019; what’s worry is that Tesla’s price cut will directly squeeze out their living space. Models in the price range of
mainly include the Tang EV of BYD (price starts at 259,900 yuan after subsidy), GAC Aion LX (price starts at 249,600 yuan after subsidy), Xiaopeng P7 (price starts at 229,900 yuan after subsidy), etc.
Among them, Xiaopeng P7 was released on the fourth day after the new subsidy policy was introduced, and its pricing was also within the subsidy scope. At the press conference, Xiaopeng compared the parameters of this model with models such as Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model S, , Porsche Panamera, etc., and claimed that "P7 will become Tesla's biggest rival in China." Compared with Tesla, the biggest selling point of the P7 is that its range can reach 706km, exceeding the 668km of the Model 3 long-distance version, and is the longest pure electric vehicle in China to date. Although there is something to be praised for in terms of technology, whether the P7 can grab consumers from Tesla, which is "full of halo" when its price advantage is reduced, may not be answered until market feedback after delivery in June.
For BYD's Tang EV, GAC Aion LX and other models, its living space will also be eroded by Tesla. However, unlike Xiaopeng, Ideal and other car manufacturers, the main models of BYD and GAC are all mid- and low-end models with prices below 200,000 yuan or even below 100,000 yuan, so they are not greatly affected by policies and Tesla's price cuts.
At present, in the domestic market, the mid- and low-end markets that Tesla has not yet involved are firmly controlled by brands such as BYD, GAC, BAIC, Geely, and Chery . The market is still very large.Taking Beijing, the largest new energy vehicle market, as an example, the price of models such as BYD Qin EV, BYD Yuan EV, and GAC AION S, which have long been at the top of the list, are all within 150,000 yuan after subsidies. It can be said that except for Model 3, no model on the list has a starting price of more than 200,000 yuan. The mid-to-low-end car market in
seems to be able to enjoy a good time, and there is indeed a large number of consumers in China whose budgets are not enough to support them in purchasing more expensive models. Domestic new energy vehicles that are positioned as mid-to-high-end have almost no ability to compete with Model 3. For models with a price of around 300,000 yuan, how to withstand the pressure of Tesla will become a test in 2020.
Reporter observes
Who can stage "escape from the tiger's mouth"
data shows that in April, Tesla Model 3's sales in China fell by 64% month-on-month, but it still ranks among the top in the domestic new energy vehicle market sales rankings. Faced with Tesla, a fierce catfish that is crazy about stirring the market, my country's independent brand of new energy vehicles is under tremendous pressure. It is urgent to clarify the future development path.
The author believes that in the face of increasingly fierce market competition, my country's new energy vehicle companies must first stabilize the domestic market and maintain their local advantages. On the one hand, increase cost control efforts and maintain the current brand's price advantages. For the "three electric" systems of batteries, motors and electronic control, we actively promote technological innovation and reduce the cost of the whole vehicle. At the same time, we must also reduce weight and control costs through structural design and material selection. On the other hand, enhance brand competitiveness and accelerate the improvement of brand value such as technological added value and service added value of domestic new energy vehicle independent brands. At the same time, take the initiative to go abroad to expand brand influence. We must see huge international market potential and change the development pattern mainly based on domestic sales, so as to improve the competitiveness of my country's new energy vehicle brands. After stabilizing the domestic market,
should accelerate the transformation of my country's new energy vehicles into brand value, actively promote the transformation of brand price advantages into value advantages, and form a low, medium and high-end brand system. The core components of the electronic control of new energy vehicles in my country are highly dependent on imports, and investment in R&D of core components can be encouraged through tax reduction and exemption, financial subsidies and other policies. At the same time, social capital is encouraged to invest in the R&D team through funds, financing, etc. to improve the technical R&D capabilities of my country's independent brand of new energy vehicles.
Tesla's success proves from the other side that the premium capacity of my country's new energy vehicle brands still has room for growth. Improving the brand awareness, loyalty and quality recognition of my country's new energy vehicles is an important part of improving brand premium capabilities, and the improvement of these "three degrees" depends on a complete brand management system. Therefore, it is necessary to timely improve and improve the brand management system in combination with changes in global new energy vehicle market demand, technological progress and industrial structure changes.
The author believes that breaking the traditional marketing concept, moving out of traditional marketing models such as television, advertising, and price reduction, establishing a new energy vehicle brand communication path that integrates traditional models with the Internet as the main focus, developing new media publicity models such as live broadcasts and online advertising, and using influential figures such as internet celebrities and celebrities to increase brand publicity efforts and enhance brand awareness. At the same time, we will establish an e-commerce sales platform that is open online and offline, and make full use of artificial intelligence, VR car viewing and other technologies to enhance the experience of products and the convenience of online car purchases, and enhance brand loyalty. Finally, we can improve the brand's quality recognition and maintain brand reputation through measures such as warranty commitments for key components such as batteries, recall of problematic vehicles, and participation in charging pile construction, so as to win the favor of more consumers and potential consumers.
text: Han Dong Editor: Guo Chen Layout: Liu Xiaoye
