In the ongoing price war, major automotive brands have released their sales results for the first quarter of this year. According to statistics from Interface News, most car brands achieved year-on-year growth in sales in the first quarter, with Wenjie experiencing the largest increase, with sales increasing six times. A few brands such as NIO and Nezha have experienced a year-on-year decline in sales.
Last year, Wenjie sold only 11700 vehicles in the first quarter, while Ideal sold 52600 vehicles in the first quarter with its L-series extended range model. Since the beginning of this year, the growth rate of Ideal Automobile has slowed down, and the official has adjusted the expected delivery of vehicles in the first quarter from 100000 to 103000 to 76000 to 78000. Since the launch of the new M7 last year, the sales of Wenjie have significantly rebounded, and the sales in the first three months of this year have continuously exceeded expectations, winning the monthly sales championship of the New Force.
Among "Weixiaoli", NIO has slightly declined compared to the first quarter of last year, with monthly sales still hovering around 10000 units, making it difficult to reach the level of 20000 units in the middle of last year. Previously, NIO also lowered its first quarter sales guidance from 31000 to 33000 vehicles to 30000 vehicles. Currently, the first quarter sales have reached its lowered sales expectations.
Xiaopeng grew by 19.7% compared to the same period last year. In fact, after the failed launch of the G9 model at the end of 2022, Xiaopeng's sales in the first quarter of last year decreased by 47.25% year-on-year, almost halving. After the G6 model was launched in the second half of the year, Xiaopeng's sales improved and rebounded to 20000 units in the fourth quarter. The popularity brought by G6 has not been sustained, despite Xiaopeng's multiple discounts and price reductions on its models, the average monthly sales of Xiaopeng in the first quarter of this year were less than 10000 units.
Both Zero Run Automobile and Jike achieved high year-on-year growth, with Zero Run increasing by 217.92% to 33400 vehicles and Jike increasing by 117.01% to 33000 vehicles. Nezha and Aian experienced a slight decline.
In addition to new forces in the automotive industry, some traditional car companies have also announced their first quarter sales, with BYD, Geely, and Great Wall all achieving year-on-year growth, with Geely's growth rate reaching 49%.
Compared to the price war that began in March last year, the price competition in the automotive market is more intense this year. BYD was the first to launch the "Honor Edition" model after the Spring Festival, opening a price war on models priced at 100000 yuan. Subsequently, multiple brands followed suit to lower prices.
Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, previously stated in a letter that the overall pace of price reductions last year was relatively balanced. The degree of price reductions in February and March this year has far exceeded previous levels, and the current scale of price reductions has reached half of that of the entire year last year.
In April, several brands such as Jike and NIO Wenjie launched promotional measures to lower prices and attract consumers to purchase. Wenjie has lowered the starting price of the new M7 by 20000 yuan, and the Geely Krypton has launched the Geely Krypton 001 rear wheel drive enhanced version, which comes standard with the optional configuration of the previous 20000 yuan. NIO has introduced subsidies for gasoline vehicle replacement and recently lowered the cost of battery rental services.
At the same time, in March, the country issued the "Action Plan for Promoting Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Exchange for New", and many local governments also simultaneously launched policies to promote consumption by exchanging old cars for new. The high-pressure first quarter has ended, and terminal sales will gradually recover from the second quarter onwards.
At the same time, the sales data for the first quarter also reflects that the gap between different new car making brands continues to widen, which also means that this year's price war will continue. Top companies will continue to compete in market size, while some weak brands face survival challenges.