On April 1st, NIO announced the launch of a maximum subsidy of 1 billion yuan for gasoline vehicle replacement, in response to the call of the State Council's "Action Plan to Promote Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Exchange". Recently, new energy vehicle companies have been offering frequent discounts. Half a month ago, NIO also achieved a reduction in the rental prices of 75kWh and 100kWh batteries by adjusting the BaaS battery rental service price system.
According to the "1 billion yuan subsidy for gasoline vehicle replacement" policy, starting today, gasoline vehicle users who replace NIO's 2024 new car can also receive an additional 10000 yuan subsidy from the optional installation fund in addition to the existing policy. Overall, in combination with NIO's existing preferential policies, gasoline vehicle users who replace NIO can receive up to 15000 yuan in optional funds, a NIOPhone voucher worth 6498 yuan, a battery swapping voucher worth approximately 3600 yuan, and a one-year usage right worth 4560 yuan for Global Navigation Assistance (NOP+).
It is reported that the launch of this subsidy program is in response to the call of the State Council's "Action Plan to Promote Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Exchange". NIO stated that the implementation of subsidies will further benefit consumers, promote the elimination and renewal of old cars, increase the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles, help achieve the "dual carbon" goal, and also help realize NIO's vision of "Blue Sky Coming".
On March 13th, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Promoting Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Exchange", which pointed out that "promoting large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods exchange is an important measure to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern and promote high-quality development.". Among them, the "trade in" action of automobiles as a major consumer commodity has been emphasized and paid attention to. The Action Plan clearly states that it is necessary to "organize and carry out nationwide car trade in promotion activities, encourage automobile production and sales enterprises to carry out promotional activities, and guide orderly competition in the industry.".
According to a research report released by China Galaxy Securities, the "Action Plan" encourages car companies to promote the use of "old for new" and emphasizes the use of "energy-saving and emission reduction subsidy funds", which not only conforms to the current trend of accelerating the replacement of fuel vehicles with new energy vehicles, but also conforms to the industry development situation of accelerating the updating and iteration of car models by car companies. By combining performance upgraded new products with promotional activities, the demand for replacement can be released.
In the coming years, the demand for replacement purchases is expected to become an important driving factor for the growth of sales in the automotive market. According to data from China Automotive Center, the number of passenger cars in China reached 278 million in 2023, with 130 million vehicles aged 4-10 years. Traditional fuel vehicles generally have a replacement cycle of 6-8 years, and the time for large-scale replacement of automotive products is approaching.
In fact, in 2024, the transition from oil to electricity has been accelerating. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China reached 35.8% in February 2024, an increase of 2.9 percentage points from January. Taking NIO as an example, incomplete statistics show that more than 50% of NIO's existing users are new and replacement users, with old and new users accounting for as much as 30%. 48% of NIO's new purchase and exchange users come from "BBA", and the proportion of some second-generation technology platform model users who purchase and exchange from "BBA" is as high as 56%.
It is worth noting that this is the second time NIO has recently introduced car purchase discounts to consumers. On March 14th, at the Long Life Battery Strategy Communication Conference held at NIO, the official adjusted the pricing system for BaaS battery rental services, resulting in a 25% to 30% reduction in rental prices for 75kWh and 100kWh batteries.
Frequent discounts reflect the intense price competition for new energy vehicles in recent times. According to Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, as of mid March, a total of 51 car models have adjusted their prices this year, mainly pure electric and plug-in hybrid new energy models. Cui Dongshu analyzed that the fundamental reason for this phenomenon is the replacement of old technologies by new technologies. The process of replacing gasoline vehicles by new energy vehicles. In the process of establishing a new market order, competition between new and old manufacturers is fierce. It is expected that this process will continue for several years until a new pattern is formed.
In addition to "rolling prices", new energy vehicle companies such as NIO have also achieved an increase in market penetration of new energy vehicles by continuously investing in the construction of charging, swapping, and energy replenishment facilities. As of March 31st, NIO has built a total of 2397 battery swapping stations and 21800 charging stations. In 2024, NIO plans to further increase the layout of 1000 replacement power stations and 20000 charging piles.