Buy Now and Save! Price War Over Electric Cars Erupts in hà nội car
.The intense competition among the country’s huge number of start-up carmakers has unsettled what had been a pillar of the economy in the last few years .
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A Shanghai phòng trưng bày for BYD, China’s biggest maker of electric vehicles, has marked xuống dốc some of its older models .
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Qilai Shen for The New York Times
Claire Fu &
April 17, 2023
阅读简体中文版閱讀繁體中文版A cutthroat price war has erupted in the world’s largest automobile market .Within a week in March, Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture slashed prices on its ID. ba electric cars by 18 percent. Changan Automobile, one of China’s state-owned car manufacturers, offered $ 3,000 cash rebates, không tính tiền charging credits & other incentives for its electric vehicles. BYD, the country’s biggest E.V. maker, unveiled a second ván of markdowns in a month for some of its older models .Amid slumping tự động sales, car brands are going béo extremes béo stay competitive, offering dealership giveaways & deep discounts. Over 40 carmakers have discounted electric và gas-powered vehicles in China this year. The discounts have amounted lớn several hundred dollars for cheaper models, và tens of thousands of dollars for higher-end offerings .“ The severity of this cycle of price cuts is something that I’ve không bao giờ seen, ” said Tu Le, a managing director at the Beijing consultancy Sino Auto Insights, who has worked in the automotive industry in China & the United States for 25 years .The price competition has unsettled what was a pillar of strength in the last few years, even as strict pandemic measures shook China’s economy & undermined efforts by the ruling Chinese Communist Party Khủng instill confidence .China’s car sales fell 13 percent in the first three months of 2023. Sales of traditional automobiles plunged, while growth in electric vehicles slowed, according Khủng the China Passenger Car Association .ImageVolkswagen’s Chinese joint venture slashed prices last month on its ID. ba car, shown at a factory in Dresden, Germany .
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Jens Schlueter / Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
China’s E.V. market has grown rapidly since 2020 — doubling in sales last year — propped up partly by government subsidies. When that program expired in December after 13 years, the competition intensified phệ attract buyers in an already crowded segment of the market .At the same phút giây, traditional automakers are scrambling phệ unload inventory of older cars before tougher national emissions standards starting in July make it difficult Khủng sell diesel – & gas-powered vehicles .An already jittery market started mập spiral in January when Tesla, the American company that makes electric vehicles in Shanghai, lowered prices in China for the second thời gian in three months. Other manufacturers felt pressure béo bởi the same .This month, Wang Chuanfu, chairman và chief executive of BYD, proposed that the government extend tax exemptions, which reduce the cost of buying electric vehicles, bự 2025 instead of allowing them phệ expire this year. And China’s Auto Dealers Chamber of Commerce published an article last month calling for a six-month delay in the mới nhất emissions standards .The price cuts are not limited mập China. Tesla has also lowered prices in the United States và Europe, & its competitors have followed suit. But the intensity of competition reflects the reality that China is not only the biggest market for electric vehicles but also the most competitive .ImageWang Chuanfu, the head of automaker BYD, in 2018. He has said China should extend tax breaks on E.V.s that are mix phệ expire this year .
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Roman Pilipey / EPA, via Shutterstock
Established domestic carmakers & local start-ups, supported by Beijing’s policies encouraging growth of so-called mới ra energy vehicles, flooded the sector, enticed by a once-in-a-generation opportunity béo upend the balance of power in the car industry. By one measure, there are around 300 domestic E.V. manufacturers across China .Didi, China’s leading ride-hailing service, has developed an electric car with BYD exclusively for its drivers. Xiaomi, a maker of smartphones, has said it plans Khủng debut an electric car next year. Even Evergrande, the beleaguered property developer, was building electric vehicles, although those plans may be in jeopardy because of its debt woes .China is the leading market for electric cars, & more were sold there last year than in the rest of the world. Foreign automakers see an urgent need lớn gain a foothold in China lớn develop the know-how & manufacturing scale necessary lớn compete globally .Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said the price war “ will definitely continue ” because of the importance of producing E.V.s in large quantities .“ In the kết thúc, companies with small sales, or poor công nghệ will be easily eliminated, ” Mr. Cui said .Car companies và dealerships are now pulling out all the stops for customers. Some dealers are offering không tính tiền vacations or bottles of perfume in exchange for kiểm tra drives, while some eager sales teams are stalking charging stations in hopes of luring drivers away from the competition .Last month, a promotional poster from a Toyota dealer in the southern đô thị of Shenzhen generated buzz trực tuyến. It advertised a không tính tiền gas-powered sedan with the purchase of a bZ4X, the company’s electric sport utility vehicle. A woman who answered the phone at the dealership said there was currently no such khuyến mãi .Kevin Yang, 29, said he visited a Volkswagen dealer in Chengdu last month béo look at its electric vehicles. He was struck by a sense of desperation among the salespeople .ImageA Model tam in a Tesla phòng trưng bày in Beijing. Tesla spooked a jittery market in January when it lowered prices in China for the second giây phút in three months .
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Florence Lo / Reuters
The salesman stayed well past the kết thúc of his workday béo plead with him mập take a thử nghiệm drive. After Mr. Yang agreed mập take the car for a spin, he started receiving daily phone calls from the salesman with offers of lower prices if he was willing mập return lớn the dealership .“ The rat race is really intense now, ” Mr. Yang said .There are similarities between the frothy E.V. market in China & the early days of the điện thoại thông minh boom, when a mới nhất công nghệ sản phẩm attracted scores of upstarts lớn jostle with established foreign brands .In năm ngoái, there were more than 100 Chinese điện thoại thông minh manufacturers — a number that has been whittled xuống dốc significantly lớn four main domestic brands và Apple. Many non-Chinese brands, such as Samsung Electronics, once a điện thoại phone leader in China, barely register .Zhu Jiangming, chairman và chief executive of the Chinese E.V. maker Leapmotor, said he saw another similarity. He expects electric car prices lớn come lao dốc faster than traditional cars because, lượt thích điện thoại thông minh makers, E.V. manufacturers will benefit as the prices of components fall & features are improved .It is possible, Mr. Zhu said, that an average phệ high-end electric vehicle in China could sell for around $ 7,000 in 10 years. The average price for an electric car in China is already significantly lower than in the rest of the world, around $ 35,000 compared with $ 60,000 in Europe và $ 70,000 in the United States .William Li, chief executive of Nio, one of the top Chinese electric vehicle companies, said he planned phệ keep Nio out of the price war, which he called “ unhealthy và unsustainable. ” For traditional gas-powered automakers, “ cutting prices is their last khu nghỉ dưỡng in trying phệ secure market chia sẻ, ” he said in a statement .ImageA cửa hàng in Beijing for Nio, one of China’s top electric vehicle companies. Its chief executive has called the price war “ unhealthy và unsustainable. ”
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Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times
Some executives fear that consumers will become accustomed mập waiting for price reductions. The China Automobile Dealers Association said last month that foot lượng truy cập béo dealerships had soared after markdowns, but that orders had decreased .Leapmotor & Li Auto sought béo assure potential buyers with a guarantee offering phệ make up the difference if the company lowered prices or offered cash rebates in the next 90 days .Mr. Yang, the car shopper in Chengdu, said he expected prices béo go even lower .“ I heard that there will be more discounts soon, ” he said. “ I’m going Khủng wait a bit. ”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story
Source: https://gauday.com