Tesla, backstabbing domestic new energy car companies

The “random punch” hitting the market is talking about Tesla.

On January 6, Tesla’s domestic models Model 3 and Model Y ushered in the largest price cuts in history.

The sharpest drop is the Model Y long battery life version, with a price cut of up to 48,000 yuan. As for the Model Y alone, the delivery volume in 2022 has even exceeded 450,000 units-this is a sales figure that is difficult to achieve for fuel vehicles at the same price.

Regarding the reason for the price cut, the relevant person in charge of Tesla China responded to China News Weekly on January 6: “Starting from the first principle, cost pricing.”

The market “killer” brought by Tesla in the New Year is not just a price cut.

Also on January 6, the prices of the new Model S and Model X in mainland China were announced.

Image credit: Tesla

Official information shows that the Model S dual-motor all-wheel drive version starts at 789,900 yuan, the Model S Plaid three-motor all-wheel drive version starts at 1,009,900 yuan; the Model X dual-motor all-wheel drive version starts at 879,900 yuan, and the Model X Plaid three-motor all-wheel drive The wheel drive version starts from 1.0399 million yuan. Yoke steering wheel and standard steering wheel users can choose free of charge. The above models will be delivered in mainland China in the first half of 2023.

Image credit: Tesla

In the past 2022, Tesla’s delivery volume hit a record high, but there is still a gap compared with the target set at the beginning of the year. Under the influence of multiple factors, its stock price has plummeted by 70% in the past year.

At the beginning of 2023, Tesla made a big move. Against the background of many auto companies announcing price increases, they chose to cut prices significantly, which once again disrupted the original development rhythm of the auto market.

price reduction

On the morning of January 6, after Tesla announced its price adjustment strategy, Tesla’s official website went down again. The news of Tesla’s price cut quickly became the number one hot search on Weibo.

Data source: Tesla

On January 6, Tesla China announced price adjustments for the domestic Model 3 rear-drive version, high-performance version, and Model Y rear-drive version, long-range version, and high-performance version. After the price adjustment, the starting price of the Model 3 rear-wheel drive version is only 229,900 yuan, and the starting price of the Model Y rear-wheel drive version is only 259,900 yuan.

“The price has been strong for two years, and I finally became Tesla’s leek.” A car owner who ordered the Model Y long-range version on January 1, 2021 told China News Weekly that she paid 339,900 yuan two years ago. The price ordered the Model Y rear-wheel drive version, and the price of the model has been rising since then, and was even ridiculed by riders as a “financial product” until the price cut.

According to Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Federation, it is reasonable for Tesla to cut prices. “Tesla will perform well in 2022, and the market size will increase significantly, which will lead to a reduction in costs. Naturally, the price should be reduced.” Cui Dongshu said.

According to Tesla’s sales and net profit estimates for the third quarter of 2022, its net profit per vehicle far exceeds that of other car companies, and it has more free pricing power.

Take Toyota Motor, which has outstanding profit performance in the field of fuel vehicles, as an example. The Q3 financial report in 2022 shows that Toyota Motor sold 2.62 million vehicles in the third quarter, which was 7.6 times that of Tesla (344,000 vehicles). The net profit was about $1,200, only one-eighth of Tesla’s $9,570.

In September 2022, Martin Viecha, Tesla’s director of investor relations, revealed at a technology conference in San Francisco that Tesla’s cost of producing each car in 2017 was $84,000, but in recent quarters, it has dropped. To $36,000.

In other words, even if Tesla lowers the price again in the future, it is not impossible.

In fact, before this, it was not uncommon for Tesla to adjust its price. Tesla also stated that Tesla’s pricing has always been cost-oriented. When the cost increases, the price will increase, and when the cost decreases, the price will also decrease. .

Starting from the second half of 2021, the prices of Tesla’s Chinese models have experienced “six consecutive increases”, but the price increase will come to an end in the second half of 2022. On October 24, Tesla China officially announced that it will adjust the prices of the domestically produced Model 3 rear-drive version, high-performance version, and Model Y rear-drive version, long-range version, and high-performance version. Among them, the Model Y long-endurance version has the largest price cut, with a drop of 37,000 yuan.

14 days later, on November 8th, Tesla China officially announced again that from November 8th (inclusive) to November 30th (inclusive), if you purchase an existing car and an auto insurance combination from a cooperative insurance agency and complete the delivery of the car on schedule, the final payment can be reduced. 8,000 yuan; from December 1 (inclusive) to December 31 (inclusive), the final payment can be reduced by 4,000 yuan.

Entering December, Tesla adopted a disguised price reduction strategy. On December 7, Tesla China announced the launch of a new subsidy policy-6,000 yuan for limited-time existing car benefits. Consumers who purchase eligible Tesla vehicles and complete delivery between December 7 and December 31 will enjoy an additional benefit of 6,000 yuan.

Data show that Tesla sales will once again hit a record high in 2022. According to the estimated sales data of the Chinese market released by the China Passenger Association on January 5: In 2022, the Shanghai Gigafactory will deliver over 710,000 vehicles throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 48%; Model Y alone has delivered over 450,000 vehicles , almost tying Tesla China’s delivery performance of 480,000 vehicles in 2021. In addition, the number of deliveries of more than 50,000 vehicles in a single month from Tesla’s Shanghai factory was nine times. In April, due to the impact of the Shanghai epidemic, the delivery volume of Tesla’s Shanghai factory also fell to a freezing point, reaching 1,512 vehicles.

newest

According to the data provided by Tesla, in the whole year of 2022, Tesla’s total global delivery volume will exceed 1.31 million vehicles, achieving a year-on-year growth of 40%. Among them, the two models of Tesla Model 3 and Model Y will deliver a total of 1.247 million vehicles in 2022, which is still the mainstay supporting their sales.

However, 2022 is also a year for Tesla’s stock price to suffer setbacks. Its stock price fell by nearly 70% in 2022, from the high-light moment of the market value of over one trillion US dollars at the beginning of the year to less than 400 billion US dollars today.

In the beginning of 2023, in addition to Tesla’s price cuts, the new Model S and Model X will also start to exert force. ‍

Image credit: Tesla

The data shows that Model S Plaid has a battery life of about 672 kilometers (CLTC working condition), the maximum power reaches 1020 horsepower, and it only takes 2.1 seconds to accelerate from 100 kilometers to 100 kilometers. After purchasing hardware upgrades, the maximum speed reaches 332 kilometers per hour. The fastest production car on the face of the earth”.

Image credit: Tesla

Model X Plaid also has extremely powerful performance, and its 0-100km/h acceleration of 2.6 seconds is enough to leave rivals at the same level in the dust. It is worth mentioning that users can choose Yoke steering wheel or standard steering wheel for free.

And Tesla’s actions at the new car level are not limited to the new Model S and Model X. It is understood that Tesla has officially delivered the pure electric truck Semi in 2022, and the pure electric pickup Cybertruck is expected to start delivery this year.

At present, Tesla’s pure electric pickup Cybertruck has many fans. This model, which was unveiled in 2019, was originally scheduled to go into production at the end of 2021, but it has repeatedly “jumped tickets”. It is reported that as of mid-November last year, Cybertruck orders had exceeded 1.6 million.

In addition, it has recently been reported that Tesla’s low-priced version may be launched in 2024. Analysts at venture capital firm Loup Ventures believe that the Tesla Model 2 will debut in 2024, but if Tesla releases a lower-priced model prematurely, it may slow down the sales of the Model 3 and it will be difficult to meet the demand. Production capacity of new cars.

chaos

Tesla’s price cut has had a big impact on the new energy vehicle market.

It is worth noting that Tesla’s price reduction occurred when the state subsidies for new energy vehicles were completely withdrawn. In response to the pressure brought about by the withdrawal of state subsidies, more than a dozen auto companies have officially announced to increase the price of new energy models. Amidst all the “rising” voices, Tesla’s “diving” price cuts have brought a lot of pressure to other companies.

On December 31, 2022, BYD Auto’s official Weibo stated that it had decided to officially adjust the official guide prices of related models from January 1, 2023, with an increase ranging from 2,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan; Starting from January 1, 2023, the prices of its models will be raised, ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 yuan; Chery also announced an increase in the prices of some new energy models, including the Little Ant Sweet Powder, Small Ant Charm, Little Ant 300,000 Ant Fan models and Unbounded Pro models have a price increase of 3,000-9,000 yuan. At the same time, Changan’s new energy vehicle brand Deep Blue Automobile and Geely Automobile’s two new energy vehicle brands have announced price increases for their models. Jikrypton, which has been established for less than two years, has also joined the price increase camp this time.

In addition, among the joint venture brands, North and South Volkswagen have also raised the prices of new energy models. On January 2, 2023, SAIC Volkswagen will adjust the three models of ID.3/ID.4 X/ID.6 X, except ID.3 Apart from the price increase of 13,000 yuan for the pure Zhixiang version, the prices of other models have increased by 6,600 yuan; FAW-Volkswagen also adjusted the prices of the ID.4 CROZZ/ID.6 CROZZ models, and the price increase was also 6,600 yuan.

At present, BYD is the car company with the most strength to compete with Tesla. In the new energy vehicle market, both Tesla and BYD have achieved profitability. In terms of sales volume, in December 2022, BYD sold 235,200 new energy vehicles, compared with 99,100 in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 137.30%. So far, the cumulative sales of BYD’s new energy vehicles in 2022 will be 1.868 million, a year-on-year increase of 152.46%. This is another year after BYD’s annual sales doubled in 2021. From the perspective of total sales, BYD has surpassed Tesla, but if only from the perspective of electric vehicle sales, Tesla is still far ahead.

A senior media person in the auto industry believes, “Tesla has no marketing, and price reduction is its only way to enter the market. This method is effective in the early stages of market development, and as market competition intensifies, the effect will become worse and worse.” However, Some analysts in the auto industry believe that Tesla’s principle of attacking the market has always been the first principle, and the seemingly irregular “chaotic punches” follow Tesla’s own “rules”.

At present, there is a huge contrast between Tesla’s rapid sales growth and the public opinion environment it faces. “Tesla insists on not advertising, and invests more than 95% of its resources in research and development and production. In the ‘consumer-oriented’ market, it can continue to win the favor of consumers.” Tesla said.

In 2023, can Tesla continue to lead the way?

Author: Liu Shanshan