On the 19th, Li Xiang, CEO of ideal automobile, called on his microblog: the increase of battery cost is outrageous. On the same day, Great Wall Motor Company Limited(601633) its brand Euler released the model price adjustment plan, and Weima automobile announced that it would increase the price on the same day.
“Buy is earn.” Recently, a number of sales managers of Direct stores of new energy vehicles said in an interview with the reporter of China Securities Journal, “due to the rise of raw material prices, the prices of many new energy vehicles have been raised to alleviate the cost pressure.”
According to incomplete statistics, after the Spring Festival, more than 15 auto enterprises announced price increases due to rising raw material prices. Among them, Tesla raised the price three times in seven days Byd Company Limited(002594) choose to announce the price increase late at night, leaving only 10 minutes for consumers to order before the price increase; Xiaopeng automobile official announced that the price will rise from 0:00 on March 21, and the price increase will be compared with Tesla
“With the rise of oil prices, the annual fuel expenditure is thousands of yuan; if you want to change an electric car, a car has increased by 5000 yuan – tens of thousands of yuan. It’s better to walk.” Xiao Zhang, who has just worked for three years to buy a car, fell into a “dilemma”.
Shen Hui, founder of Weima automobile, said that China’s oil price has risen sharply. According to the calculation of 100000 kilometers in five years, the electricity consumption of intelligent pure electric vehicles can save about 80000 yuan more than that of oil vehicles.
new energy vehicles lift the “price rise tide”
Tesla China is the pioneer of this round of “price rise tide” of new energy vehicles, raising prices three times in seven days. On March 17, the price of model y rear wheel drive version was raised by 15060 yuan to 316900 yuan. On March 15, the prices of model 3 and model y long-range and high-performance versions increased by 1400020000 yuan. On March 10, the price of model 3 high-performance version increased from 10000 yuan to 349900 yuan; The prices of model y long-range and high-performance versions increased by 10000 yuan to 357900 yuan and 397900 yuan respectively.
“The customers who place orders these days are relatively concentrated. There are 15-20 orders every day. We are not sure when the company will adjust the price again.” For the recent frequent price increases, Xiao Wu, sales manager of a direct store of Tesla in Beijing, said that the whole industry is facing the price increase of upstream raw materials, and the car collection cycle is about two months, but customers’ willingness to buy is still strong.
The Byd Company Limited(002594) official of domestic electric vehicle giant released the “explanation on model price adjustment” at 23:50 on March 15. The price was raised from 0:00 on March 16, which was joked by netizens: “only 10 minutes for customers to place an order.”
The price adjustment explanation shows that affected by the continuous sharp rise in the price of raw materials, Byd Company Limited(002594) automobile will adjust the official guidance price of new energy models related to dynasty.com and ocean.com, with an increase range of 3 Jointo Energy Investment Co.Ltd.Hebei(000600) 0 yuan.
Great Wall Motor Company Limited(601633) its brand Euler released a model price adjustment statement on March 19, saying that the price of all 2022 models of Euler cat (including GT version) will be adjusted, and the comprehensive guidance price will be increased by 6 Jiangnan Mould & Plastic Technology Co.Ltd(000700) 0 yuan after subsidy, which will take effect from 0:00 on March 23.
It is worth noting that Euler black cat and white cat announced to stop receiving orders in February this year. “Despite the advantages of the industrial chain behind the Euler brand, this car still brings huge losses to the company. Take black cat as an example. After the sharp rise in the price of raw materials in 2022, the single black cat lost more than 10000 yuan.” Dong Yudong, CEO of Euler brand, said reluctantly.
The new forces of car making also followed the rising price tide. On March 18, Xiaopeng automobile announced that it would adjust the price of cars on sale. The increase range of the price before the subsidy was 1010020000 yuan. The price adjustment will take effect from 0:00 on March 21. Nezha automobile released the model price adjustment instructions on the 17th, which will increase the price of models on sale by Dingli Corp.Ltd(300050) 00 yuan. The price adjustment will take effect from 0:00 on March 18. Weima automobile announced on March 19 that it would increase the price of models on sale by 70 Lingyi Itech (Guangdong) Company(002600) 0 yuan after comprehensive subsidies, which will take effect from 0:00 on March 28.
raw material cost pressure increases
The continuous sharp rise in the price of raw materials is the reason frequently mentioned by major automobile enterprises in the price increase letter.
Li Xiang, CEO of ideal automobile, said that at present, the brands that have contracted with battery manufacturers to determine the price increase range of batteries in the second quarter basically announced the price increase immediately. The rise in battery costs in the second quarter was very outrageous. Most of those who have not yet raised their prices have not been negotiated about the price increase range, and they will generally raise their prices immediately after they are negotiated.
“Since this year, the price of upstream lithium salt has nearly doubled, and the price of power battery has increased by 10% – 20%.” Industry insiders of a first-line battery factory in China told the China Securities Journal, “China’s high-quality battery supply capacity is limited. Battery factories are in a state of full production and full sales, and the supply of products is in short supply.”
According to the data of Baichuan Yingfu, on March 18, the mainstream quotation range of China’s battery grade lithium carbonate (99.5%) market was between 514000 yuan and 520000 yuan, and the average price was stable to 517500 yuan / ton; The mainstream transaction price of China’s industrial lithium carbonate (99.2%) ranged from 497000 yuan to 500000 yuan / ton, and the average price level stabilized to 497500 yuan / ton, with a year-on-year increase of more than 500%.
Tight supply and demand is an important factor driving up the price of lithium salt. In recent years, the market demand for new energy vehicles has been expanding, while the supply of lithium salt mining is limited. According to the data of China Automobile Association, from January to February, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 820000 and 765000, with a year-on-year increase of 1.6 times and 1.5 times. In February, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 368000 and 334000 respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 2.0 times and 1.8 times.
The reporter of China Securities Journal found in the research that the price increase of automobile enterprises lags behind the cost increase, and the price increase range is also less than the cost increase. “Because now the new energy vehicle market is in a period of rapid growth, compared with the current profits, most vehicle enterprises pay more attention to the market share, so they would rather sacrifice the profits to keep the market share.” The person in charge of a car enterprise said.
take multiple measures to promote the development of the industry
On March 18, according to the Ministry of industry and information technology, the Department of raw materials industry and the first Department of equipment industry jointly held a symposium on the operation of lithium industry and the price rise of upstream materials of power batteries.
The meeting required that upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain should strengthen the connection between supply and demand, work together to form a long-term and stable strategic cooperative relationship, jointly guide the rational return of lithium salt price, strengthen efforts to ensure market supply, and better support the healthy development of strategic emerging industries such as Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) automobile.
Relevant industry insiders attending the meeting disclosed to the reporter of China Securities Journal that on the one hand, the raw material factory can directly sell lithium salt to end customers to reduce the circulation link and control the price difference between the factory and the factory; On the other hand, we can strengthen the development of lithium resources in China and increase market supply.
The decline of subsidies for new energy vehicles is another major problem faced by auto enterprises under the pressure of raw material cost. During the two sessions this year, many heads of auto enterprises suggested extending the subsidies for new energy vehicles to help auto enterprises tide over the current difficulties.
Long Yunzhou, founder and director of Nezha automobile, suggested that more tax and financial support should be given to new energy vehicles. Such as extending the period of exemption from purchase tax and consumption tax for consumers to buy new energy vehicles, increasing personal subsidies for purchase and deducting personal income tax, giving low interest special loans or issuing special bonds to new energy vehicle enterprises, etc.
Guangzhou Automobile Group Co.Ltd(601238) chairman Zeng Qinghong suggested that first, the subsidy policy should be inclined to consumers for the purpose of boosting and encouraging the consumption of new energy vehicles. Second, in order to accelerate the supporting construction of new energy vehicles, the subsidy policy is inclined to the construction party. Third, strengthen research and improve other incentive policies as soon as possible to ensure the effective and sustainable development of the market after the cessation of subsidies for new energy vehicles.
