Going100 Media under the flag of Chuxing BaiRenHui focuses on the evolution of the automotive industry chain of travel.

Shanghai, the current largest market of new energy vehicles, may permanently reject micro-cars like Wuling Hongguang MINI EV from entering.

Following the further restriction on foreign brand vehicles, the news that “Shanghai will no longer give out license plates for new energy vehicles under 100,000 yuan or shorter than 4.6 meters in length after May Day” has caused heated discussion once again, hitting a wide range of popular models, including Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, Ora Black Cat, Leapmotor T03, Changan Benni EV, Chery eQ, NETA V, Baojun E100, Baojun E200, and more than 30 other models.

In order to verify its authenticity, Going100 Media visited several 4S stores in Shanghai related to the news.

At the intersection of Liuming Road and Liuyuan Road in Putuo District of Shanghai, a joint showroom of Ora and WEY stands tall. There are two Ora cars, one Good Cat and one Black Cat, placed closest to the entrance on the right-hand side. Two groups of customers are looking at the cars.

When Going100 Media expressed concerns about license plates to the sales manager, another customer who was looking at the cars on site also expressed worry. The sales manager’s response was that the Good Cat is indeed dealing with the problem of suspended license plates, and the customers have been inquiring about the authenticity of relevant policies and subsequent impacts on WeChat.

However, the only response he could give was to wait for the implementation of relevant policies.

“Our manufacturer has been actively communicating with the Shanghai government. The current situation is passive. Many customers who have paid a deposit and were waiting for license plates can only wait for the policy to be finalized,” the sales manager explained.

“If new energy vehicles under 100,000 yuan or shorter than 4.6 meters in length in Shanghai are no longer given license plates, then customers can only either cancel the deposit or buy the more expensive Good Cat above 100,000 yuan.”

“At that time, the Good Cat can only stop selling in Shanghai and consider shifting to markets like Hangzhou and Jiangsu,” he continued, with an obviously dissatisfied tone. “We have been cheated by vehicles like Wuling Hongguang MINI EV. The vehicle has low safety and is sold at such a low price, while occupying license plate resources. Once sold in large quantities, the government would certainly step in to stop it. With policies like this, our cars cannot be sold.”

However, the concern of those who have already picked up their cars is slightly different, as they are now worried about returning their cars. “There is no guarantee. Let’s wait a little longer.” It is said that the specific policy will be announced on May 10th.

To avoid not being able to get license plates, large-scale car returns are inevitable. The whirlwind naturally swept towards the Wuling Baojun 4S store on Xiangjiang Road, 755, seven kilometers away, where the salesperson gave the same response. However, when “Hundred People’s Travel Council” asked for more detailed policy details, the question was quickly interrupted, “The current problem is that even if customers want to pay a deposit, there are no cars in stock in the store.” The sales manager is not willing to invest too much in explaining about this model, and it seems that he has strategically given up sales of this model. At the Zero Run showroom located at 1160 Wanrong Road in Jing’an District, the sales consultant stated that this matter has been brewing for a long time. Even customers who paid deposits at the Shanghai Auto Show have not been able to get their cars with license plates yet, and the license plates processing has been suspended. Because many customers have not received their cars for a long time, the news was exposed by the media after a long period of brewing. “We received relevant notices in mid-April.” However, his advice is still to pay a deposit first. After the policy is implemented, there should still be a certain buffer period for transactions, and delivery will be based on the order in which the orders were placed. Of course, if the policy is very strict, then the deposit will be refunded in the end. “As of now, the general policy direction trend is definitely like this and will not change.” It is worth pointing out that some of the messages circulating on the internet may have some errors. Sales managers from multiple stores visited and gave consistent feedback that as long as one of the two conditions of “100,000 yuan” and “less than 4.6 meters in length” is not met, it will not be restricted by the policy. This was confirmed at the FAW-Volkswagen Huaxing Hongjie store. The online information that the length of the FAW-Volkswagen ID.4 CROZZ is exactly 4.59 meters, just outside the scope of the policy protection for the SAIC Volkswagen ID.4 X which is 20 mm longer, is the first target. The myth of the Hongguang MINI EV was born in 2020. Statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that for four consecutive months, its sales exceeded Tesla Model 3 and topped the new energy vehicle sales list. The myth has continued this year. In the first quarter, a total of 72,000 cars were sold, nearly 20,000 more than the second-placed Model 3.As for the overall impact of the Hongguang MINI EV in Shanghai, Cui Dongshu, the secretary of the China Passenger Car Association, believes that it is not significant. As for other brands of micro-cars, their sales are more restricted in first-tier cities like Shanghai, making their impact on sales even smaller.

For the Hongguang MINI EV, the sales are mainly concentrated in second and third-tier cities, accounting for more than 30% of the total, followed by fourth and fifth-tier cities, while the proportion in first-tier cities is only 3.8%. Last year, the number of Hongguang MINI EVs insured in Shanghai was only 2,664, while in the first quarter of this year, it was 1,509. The number of Ora Cat, Leapmotor T03, and Changan Benni EV insured in March were 361, 101, and 59, respectively.

Li, who has been driving for Didi in Shanghai for three years, said that he hasn’t seen many micro-cars on the road, except for a few Ora and Hongguang MINI EVs, which is quite remarkable. “I also drove for a year in Beijing, where there were more elderly people driving micro-cars.”

Even though the proportion of micro-cars is small, the potential market increment still raises concerns for the Shanghai government. “Think about it, more than a thousand micro-cars are added every month, and the sales will continue to grow in the future, which will increase the traffic pressure significantly,” said the sales manager of Ora, revealing a hidden worry.

Originally, Shanghai’s traffic pressure was already very high, and the competition for road rights has always been fiercely contested, which has led to tighter restrictions on foreign license plates by Shanghai policies. According to data from the Ministry of Public Security, the number of cars in Shanghai has exceeded 4 million, and how to balance the control of the total amount and the healthy development of the new energy vehicle market has become an important issue.

On the other hand, Shanghai is a barometer for the new energy market in China, and it is necessary to have forward-looking and relatively farsighted policy-making. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, in 2020, Shanghai’s sales of new energy vehicles accounted for 11% of the national total, reaching 125,000 vehicles. The penetration rate of new energy vehicles has also increased from 6% in 2016 to 31% in 2021.

At the same time, the country has also pressed the accelerator for “carbon reduction.” The country’s top leader pointed out at the 75th United Nations General Assembly that actions should be taken to ensure carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.The current new energy vehicle market presents a “dumbbell” pattern with strong sales at both ends but weak sales in the middle. Under the constraint of limited transportation resources, micro-cars have taken the lead, and the development of mainstream models is relatively restricted. Perhaps considering the overall situation, Shanghai intends to use policies to break the current imbalance and promote the further healthy development of new energy vehicles.

Regarding this issue, there are different opinions among netizens.

Some believe that this policy standard is a sickle raised against inexpensive new energy vehicles, and is another suppression of the economically disadvantaged people; some believe that it has a certain promoting effect on the overall upward development of new energy vehicles; and some believe that whether it is a setting of 100,000 yuan or 4.6 meters, neither is a scientifically justifiable standard.

So, what do you think? Please leave a comment.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.