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Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus Upgraded with a Price Reduction of ¥15,000 Starting at ¥235,900, Striking the Joint Venture B-Class Car Market
On July 30th, Tesla lowered the price of the Model 3 on its Chinese official website, and the starting price of the Standard Range Plus version was reduced to ¥235,900, saving ¥15,000 compared to before. Tesla responded to this price adjustment by saying that “this price adjustment reflects the actual situation of cost fluctuations”.
Quick Comment:
Currently, only Standard Range and Performance versions of the Model 3 are available for sale in China. After the Standard Range Plus version was reduced in price, the price difference between the two models directly reached ¥104,000. We speculate that besides the reason of cost reduction, this price reduction is likely to clear the way for the long-range version of the Model 3. According to Tesla’s pricing strategy, the selling price could fall to below ¥300,000, enjoying new energy vehicle subsidies, and the final transaction price is likely to be settled around ¥270,000.
Tesla once again shocked the new energy vehicle industry with this price reduction, and the reduction in price is a “heavy bomb” for the entire B-class car market. New energy vehicle startups and joint venture manufacturers will face significant competitive pressure.
Huawei Responds to Su Qing’s “Dismissal”, Calls It a Normal Personnel ChangeOn July 27th, Huawei officially responded that Su Jing, the former head of Huawei’s Intelligent Driving Product Department, was “removed” from her position due to inappropriate comments made towards Tesla during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference on July 8th. Su Jing had stated that “Tesla’s accident rate is still quite high over the past few years, and from the first person killed to the most recent, its accident types are very similar” and “I am a firm believer in bicycle intelligence, I don’t believe in V2X.” Huawei arranged for Su Jing to enter the “preparation team for training and assignment.” It is understood that the appointment letter was personally signed by Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei.
Quick Comment:
We believe that Su Jing’s original intention in expressing her opinions at the conference was to emphasize that any machine has the possibility of failure, and that in the development of the industry towards full autonomous driving, users should not have too high expectations and blindly trust the system. However, from the perspective of Huawei’s corporate image, overly sharp comments can indeed bring misunderstandings to the general public and can also be easily taken out of context by the media, thereby adversely affecting the company’s image.
New forces’ July sales figures are out, with a strong growth trend?
On August 1st, the July sales figures for new electric vehicle makers were announced:
- Xpeng: delivered 8,040 vehicles, marking the first time single-month deliveries exceeded 8,000, with a YoY growth of 228% and MoM growth of 22%. The total number of deliveries since the beginning of the year has reached 38,778, a YoY increase of 388%.
- NIO: the delivery volume was 7,931 vehicles, with a YoY increase of 124.5%, including 1,702 ES8s, 3,669 ES6s, and 2,560 EC6s. The cumulative delivery volume for NIO since the beginning of the year has reached 49,887.
- Li Auto: delivered 8,589 vehicles, also marking the first time single-month deliveries exceeded 8,000, with a YoY growth of 251.3% and MoM growth of 11.4%. The total number of deliveries since the beginning of the year has reached 38,743.
- WM Motor: delivered 4,404 vehicles, with a YoY growth of 666% and MoM growth of 12%, of which T03 accounted for 4,283 vehicles. The number of new orders increased to 6,540, with MoM growth of 59%, and T03 orders accounted for 6,125 of them. The total sales volume since the beginning of the year has reached 26,148.
Quick Comment:From a general perspective, the entire new energy market is on the rise, with the top-selling cars achieving a monthly sales volume of around 8,000 units. It can be seen that the development momentum of the new force electric vehicle companies is quite rapid, with year-on-year growth rates reaching double digits. What exactly is causing the rapid development of the new energy market?
The entire electric vehicle market has matured, and consumer recognition of electric vehicles has increased. In addition to local policy support, wider public charging networks, better charging experiences, cheaper energy costs, and deeper understanding of new energy vehicles are all changing consumers’ perception and bias towards electric vehicles. More people are starting to accept the lifestyle of using electric vehicles for transportation, and naturally there are more and more people buying new energy vehicles.
Former WeWork executive, Tiecheng Ai, joins NIO as Vice President of Strategic New Businesses
On July 30th, it was announced that Tiecheng Ai, former Greater China general manager of WeWork, has joined NIO. As a good friend of William Li, it is believed that Tiecheng Ai will be responsible for exploring the long-rumored NIO sub-brand as the Vice President of Strategic New Businesses, reporting directly to William Li. We speculate that the new NIO sub-brand’s car models will cover a consumer market with prices ranging from 150,000 to 250,000 yuan, and will continue to use NIO’s battery swapping technology, but will operate through a separate independent system, such as distribution channels, communities, and independent apps.
The lower terminal price of the new brand can cover more user groups, which will help further scale NIO’s battery swapping system, service system, and manufacturing system, expanding its competitiveness.
Polestar will double its global retail market and stores this year
Recently, Polestar announced that it will accelerate the expansion of its retail market and network.
- By the end of 2021, Polestar’s global market will expand from 9 to 18;
- By the end of 2021, Polestar’s global retail network will reach 100;
- Under the expansion of the retail market and network, the market is expected to continue to grow in 2022.
Polestar will also introduce a brand-new retail concept, Polestar Destination, on its existing Polestar Spaces. In addition to test drives, it can also handle vehicle deliveries. At the same time, it is expected that by the end of this year, 25 Polestar Spaces will be put into operation in China.
Quick Take:
Polestar currently has only two models on sale, the Polestar 1 and Polestar 2. As the main model, Polestar 2 sold only 494 vehicles last month, which is a relatively niche presence compared to its competitors. This expansion speed is already very good for Polestar, which only has one main product, considering that SAIC Volkswagen’s ID. Store plans to open only about 40 stores in a year and a half.
Polestar is about to launch the pure electric SUV Polestar 3, which is more in line with the market consumption environment. Can the release of Polestar 3 save Polestar’s niche positioning and increase its sales through this expansion plan?
XPeng Motors Wuhan Project Launched
On July 31st, the XPeng Motors Wuhan Project was officially launched in Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone. The project covers an area of about 1,100 mu, with a planned capacity of 100,000 vehicles, and can achieve an annual output value of more than 30 billion yuan after reaching production. This is XPeng’s third factory after Guangzhou and Zhaoqing.
Quick Take:
The capacity demand of new EV companies is becoming larger, and they are all planning to improve their output. With an annual capacity of 100,000 units and an annual output value of more than 30 billion yuan, the single-vehicle output value of the Wuhan project can be estimated to be about 300,000 yuan. XPeng’s new factory is also preparing for future capacity planning.
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.