On January 2nd, Caixin News Agency reported that after bidding farewell to the end of 2023 sprint, the domestic car market has not yet "stopped fighting", and a wave of centralized promotional fee policies has emerged since the beginning of the year. Under such internal competition, the strong growth momentum at the end of last year is expected to continue before the Spring Festival in February.
On January 2nd, Dongfeng Nissan launched a New Year limited time car purchase bonus of 2000 yuan, a maximum exchange subsidy of 14000 yuan, and a 10000 point recommendation reward; On the same day, SAIC-GM Wuling Baojun launched a New Year's "oil to electricity" replacement subsidy activity, with a subsidy fund of 10000 yuan for all new energy models of the Baojun series, including models such as Yunduo, Yueye, and KiWi EV.
While continuing the December 2023 promotion, FAW Toyota also regards replacement subsidies as the core promotional fee direction before the Spring Festival. From January 1st to January 31st, 2024, FAW Toyota will offer a limited time direct subsidy for all models, including a discount of up to 7000 yuan for replacement and a purchase tax of up to 5999 yuan for all models.
Tesla, which experienced multiple price increases at the end of 2023, launched the "New Year Gift" on New Year's Day from the beginning of 2024. "It's very suitable to buy a car now. The Model 3/Y series is available for low interest loans, and there is also a limited time and quantity subsidy of 6000 yuan for the Model 3, as well as referral rewards and limited edition JD shopping cards," a Tesla store salesperson told Caixin News.
Chery's "New Year" policy for new energy had already been launched before the arrival of 2024, with a more "simple and rough" official direct reduction. Chery New Energy announced that starting from midnight on December 29, 2023, the official guide price of Chery New Energy's models has been lowered to as high as 8000 yuan. Taking QQ Ice Cream as an example, the guide price of the entry-level model "120km Milk Shake" has dropped to less than 30000 yuan.
In addition to terminal activities for car companies, various regions also release promotional fee policies at the beginning of the New Year. On December 31, the General Office of the People's Government of Henan Province issued a notice on several policy measures to promote the "opening up" of the economy in the first quarter of 2024. It is mentioned that the implementation of the national policy of exempting vehicle purchase tax on new energy vehicles, encouraging automobile production enterprises to offer discounts and promotions, and supporting local governments to provide subsidies of 5% of the purchase price (up to 10000 yuan/unit) to consumers who purchase new cars in the province. Provincial and municipal finance departments will each provide half of the subsidy, and the specific subsidy standards and methods will be formulated by local governments based on their actual situation.
Opening the book at the beginning of the year is based on the inertia of sprinting towards the end of 2023; On the other hand, the upcoming pre Spring Festival auto market cycle is also the main incentive. In the view of Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the later the Spring Festival, the longer the market boom period before the Spring Festival, and the stronger the pre holiday consumption growth in the automobile market. "The growth rate in 2024 will be high before and low after, and both the new energy vehicle market and the mainstream fuel vehicle market will achieve strong year-on-year growth in 2024," said Cui Dongshu.
Cui Dongshu predicts that the overall retail sales of passenger cars will reach 22.2 million units in 2024, an increase of 3% compared to 2023. The market growth of new energy vehicles in 2024 is expected to be relatively optimistic, with wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles expected to reach 11 million units, a net increase of 2.3 million units, a year-on-year increase of 22%, and a penetration rate of 40%. New energy passenger vehicles are expected to maintain a strong growth momentum.
"From the perspective of competitive environment, the development environment of the automotive industry, especially the new energy vehicle industry in 2024 and 2025, has shown a more introverted characteristic." In the view of Zhang Yongwei, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the China Electric Vehicle Hundred People Association, the new energy vehicle industry can only run faster and faster, comparing who runs faster and who can withstand more pressure, "We refer to it as' involution 2.0 ', which is not about not rolling up, but entering a new mode of rolling up."