BYD launches price war and several car companies will follow up

BYD G3 hatchback spy photos.

Weibo has become the preferred channel for many companies to release heavy news.

At 2:32 pm on February 16, Xia Zhibing, general manager of BYD Auto (microblogging) sales company named "Normal Ice", issued the information of "preparing for a price war" in Weibo, and soon, the company Li Yunfei, the assistant to general manager, followed up on this information and said in his microblog that "it has been fully prepared and will win."

Car analyst Jia Xinguang (microblogging) believes that: BYD launched a price war, not a very sudden thing, but the entire market is under a huge pressure under the inevitable behavior, it will also trigger a lot of car prices follow-up.

G3 drops by 15,000 yuan

Due to the pressure of market downturn, the prospects of the Chinese auto market are still confusing.

According to BYD’s move, the price cut is part of BYD’s marketing strategy for the entire year.

Voices have not yet come and the industry is still commenting on BYD's round of price promotions. BYD's promotional policies have been communicated to terminal distributors. Yesterday, the reporter learned from a number of BYD dealers in Changsha that most dealers have received advance notice from manufacturers. BYD will launch a nationwide "price-concession activity" for a month, in addition to BYD new energy vehicles F3DM, and new models such as M6, L3 will not participate in price cuts, BYD's F3, F6, F3R, G3 and other models from From February 18, the price cuts across the board. The price cut ranged from 5000 to 15,000 yuan, of which the highest official of F0 dropped 5,000 yuan, the highest F3 dropped 10,000 yuan, the highest F3R dropped 6,000 yuan, and the highest G3 dropped 15,000 yuan.

From mini-vehicles to mid-to-high-class cars, BYD launched an unprecedented number of full-fledged models in the spring of 2011, sparking strong attention from the automotive industry in 2011. “But whether BYD can use this opportunity to grab more mid- to high-end market share, but also rely on the overall consumption of the automotive market, especially the second and third-tier cities of consumption growth.” Car analyst Jia Xinguang said.

Industry faces price system adjustment

After BYD, who will be the next follow-up opponent? According to reports, BYD's price cuts have touched the nerves of Geely, Chery, Brilliance and other independent brands, and these independent brands are also BYD's biggest competitors. Industry insiders do not expect that independent brands will follow up.

One predictable fact is that, as joint ventures have turned "downwards" in the model strategy, independent brands will face more challenges this year. Statistics show that Geely's sales in January this year were 46,000 units, an increase of only 8% year-on-year. Brilliance Automotive sold only 15,600 units, a year-on-year decrease of 28.6%.

The reporter learned from a number of auto companies such as FAW-Volkswagen, Dongfeng Nissan and Changan Ford that the current market trend is very unclear. In January, it was a good start, and it was the aftermath of the rush to buy at the end of last year. It does not make much sense to judge the trend of the auto market this year. . However, it seems that it is still unclear whether Beijing’s draconian policy of restricting purchases will cause follow-up in other cities.

"It should be understood that the market changes behind the current price war is initiated." Jia Xinguang said that in the past two years, due to the implementation of preferential policies, car companies have lived well and there is no pressure to lower prices. At the end of last year, like the policy of expiring purchases, the buying trend in Beijing was even more frantic. The distributors not only did not need to cut prices, but also had to increase their sales. "But now policy preferences have been canceled, car prices will inevitably increase the intensity of the offer." Jia Xinguang believes that BYD launched a price war, not a very sudden thing, but the entire market is under a huge pressure under the inevitable behavior, it will also lead to many Car prices follow-up.

"Accurately speaking, this can't be called a price war. A pure price war has little meaning. This is an adjustment that the entire industry will start under pressure from the market." Jia Xinguang said.