In the first month after stopping the simple and crude price war, the performance of the leading automakers generally exceeded expectations.

The expressions of most sales consultants in 4S stores have gradually changed from sullen faces to some smiles. Of course, the involution of car companies will not stop.BYDWaiting for all cars to be replaced with the fifth-generation DM,BMWAfter the discounts are recovered at the terminal, new price adjustments are brewing.AudiKeep up with BMW and increase by 5,000 to 10,000 yuan.VolvoWith the slight adjustment of installment interest rates, all car companies' sales teams and bosses are waiting to see how the industry's sales performance will be after the price war in July was initially suspended and BMW led the "price increase".

Sales figures seem to have returned to 2018 overnight. The sales figures of high-profile car companies have all risen beyond expectations, with year-on-year growth of more than 200%, and they can even only rank third.

The companies with year-on-year growth of over 100% include:Zhiji, delivered 6,017 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 249%,Polar Fox, delivered 8,017 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 329%,CheryThe group sold 195,759 vehicles, up 30.1% year-on-year; new energy vehicle sales were 45,370 vehicles, up 254.5% year-on-year;Avita3,625 vehicles were delivered, a year-on-year increase of 103%.

Among them, BYD sold 342,400 vehicles, including 340,800 passenger cars, a year-on-year increase of 30.5%; Ideal delivered 51,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 49.4%;Zeekr, delivered 15,655 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 30%;Geely Automobile, sales in July were 150,782 units, up 13% year-on-year, and new energy vehicles were 59,051 units, up 65% year-on-year;Leapmotor, 22,093 vehicles were delivered in July, a year-on-year increase of 54.1%.

Hongmeng Intelligent Driving, sales in July were 44,000 units, and in July 2023,QJM7Before the model was redesigned, people were discussing whether Huawei had failed.

Even if it's not prettyXiaopeng, also delivered more than 10,000 vehicles, totaling 11,145 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 1%.NIO20,498 vehicles were delivered. Although the year-on-year growth was only 0.17%, the monthly sales exceeded 20,000 for three consecutive months, completing the climb from the second echelon to the first echelon.

Are fuel vehicles in July worse off than before?

BMW has initiated a "price increase", but it has also strengthened the perception of many consumers to buy new energy vehicles.

In the past, both fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles were reduced in price, and most consumers waited and watched, trying to make a final decision in the comparison, whether to buy new energy vehicles or fuel vehicles. However, as BMW gradually recovered the terminal discounts for fuel vehicles, and the discounts for new energy vehicles gradually stabilized, as long as fuel vehicles no longer offer particularly large incentives, the number of people who choose them will obviously decrease.

"I was originally thinking about changing my car in July or August, but now that the price of fuel cars has recovered, I think electric cars are more suitable," Zhao Chenguang originally said.Ideal L6I hesitate between the Audi Q5 and theAudi Q5LThe price suddenly increased by 5,000 yuan, and during the same period, Ideal's installment discount became larger, so as soon as the current price war was suspended, it made a decision quickly.

However, unlike Audi, BMW andBenzThis kind of brand has the ability to bring consumers back.

"In fact, there are fewer discounts, but many cars will have new models in September, and then adjust the suggested prices and discounts." Zhang Lin's BMW 4S store has seen this trend recently. The order volume has declined to a certain extent, but dealer confidence is gradually returning, and consumer perception is also warming up.

The sales figures of most companies have to wait for the release of the China Passenger Car Association data in mid-month. However, the anti-involution weekly list, which counts the weekly insurance volume, can basically show BMW's trajectory in July.

In the first week of July, BMW sold 11,900 vehicles, ranking second after Mercedes-Benz, with a gap of 1,200 vehicles to the first place; in the second week of July, BMW sold 12,000 vehicles, ranking first, 500 vehicles ahead of second-place Mercedes-Benz; in the third week of July, BMW sold 13,400 vehicles, ranking second, 200 vehicles behind Mercedes-Benz; in the fourth week of July, BMW sold 13,800 vehicles, ranking third, 100 vehicles behind second-place Audi, and the gap with Mercedes-Benz widened to 3,200 vehicles.

The difference between losing 10,000 yuan on selling a car and selling 5 cars a month and making 10,000 yuan on selling a car and selling 3 cars a month is 80,000 yuan.

For BMW and its 4S store sales system, this is the most realistic portrayal of the business game. In early July, the discount range was withdrawn, and some stores even required a temporary increase in price to pick up the car. In the subsequent month, orders fell by 20%, and some stores fell by 30%. Then Audi 4S stores followed the increase of 5,000-10,000 yuan, and orders from Weilai, Hongmeng Zhixing and other similarly priced brands continued to increase by 10%-20%.

However, the change is limited to this. The monthly order increase of 10-20% is equivalent to about 2,000-4,000 vehicles. BMW's next sales strategy is also clear. It plans to regain the lost sales starting from September. Moreover, this is not just a small plan, but almost all its models will be adjusted. Other traditional car companies, except Mercedes-Benz, have not yet seen the possibility of keeping up.

BMW's series of new car changes in July are mainly niche and imported products, including 8 series, iX, M2, M3,X3 M、X5 M, XM, etc., the changes are not big, except that the previous digital key is cancelled and only physical keys are provided, and the ramp assist ALC for assisted driving is added;

In August, BMW will release mid-term or above facelifts of niche cars at the Chengdu Auto Show every year. This year, it is the mid-term facelift version of the 4 Series four-door coupe (G26 LCI), which has adjusted the color, seats, and configuration. The price is expected to drop by 50,000 yuan compared to the old model.

September is the big month, and BMW's strategy is to reduce prices, increase configurations, and adjust the layout of its models.BMW 3 SeriesThe second mid-term facelift of the 320, 325 replaces 320 as the entry-level version, and the price may be all-inclusive. The 330 has significantly increased standard features, including smart connected cockpit, adaptive LED headlights, dark gray roof, automatic parking assist Pro and Harman Kardon audio, all of which have become standard features of the Yaoye.

BMW 5 SeriesLike the i5, the ramp assist function (Auto Lane Guidance) is added. After turning on the intelligent driving function, the BMW can enter and exit the ramp.BMW X1The iX1 will use optional features to reduce prices, such as adjusting some of the car's configurations to optional features, thereby driving down prices, such as automatic parking Pro, HUD+ cockpit, and wireless charging for mobile phones.

The strategy is actually very clear. They sort out the advantages of each of their own cars, either directly lower the price in one step, or make more configurations that users like standard. This is exactly the same as the configuration ideas of domestic cars today. However, in comparison, BMW's performance is difficult for other car companies to replicate. First, BMW is the only foreign-controlled joint venture, and other companies need to negotiate between the Chinese and foreign parties before making changes, which is inefficient; second, from a single brand perspective, BMW's own R&D efficiency and R&D investment are only catching up with Mercedes-Benz.

Therefore, after the prices gradually stabilized, fuel vehicles were actually in a worse situation. The bad situation of fuel vehicles in July was just the beginning, because the subsequent changes in car prices will further exceed the traditional rhythm.

Weekly price adjustments are the new normal in the second half of the season

The overall trend is that the price of the car market has begun to stabilize, and traditional car companies have begun to keep up with the price release rhythm of new forces, such as announcing their own vehicle prices on a monthly basis. For example, the latest case is,Dongfeng HondaOn August 2, the August purchaseCR-VThe lowest price is less than 140,000 yuan. CR-V has a limited-time comprehensive discount of 50,000 yuan, with the bare car price starting at 135,900 yuan, and INSPIRE starting at 132,800 yuan.CivicThe minimum is 101,900 yuan.

Consumers are beginning to be more reassured about prices and are less likely to wait and see.

However, the sales rhythm of new energy vehicles is changing faster. They are no longer just seeking regular monthly discounts or policies. Starting in July, they have entered a period of weekly changes.

Among them, the top three companies are BYD, Hongmeng Zhixing,Ideal AutoA typical analysis sample.

"The second week after the internet reported that BMW was going to raise its prices, (Ideal) offered a low-interest policy of 1.99. After we made a phone call to make an invitation, the number of customers visiting its stores increased by about 10%. At the end of July, they added another policy, offering a limited-time gift package worth 12,300 yuan. However, this period of stimulus was not great, and the number of customers visiting its stores did not increase significantly," Ideal Auto is making sales adjustments on a weekly basis.

This strategy, andTeslaIt was similar to when it was first produced in China, analyzing its own sales data, analyzing the performance of competing products and the market, and then quickly making adjustments on a weekly basis. If it meets its sales expectations, it will remain unchanged for the time being. If it does not meet expectations, it will continue to increase its investment. Given that Ideal's policies at the end of July were not effective, its policies will continue to increase in August. However, it is highly likely that it will not fall into the traditional cycle of simple and crude price wars, but may find ways to develop intelligent driving, such as its recent end-to-end internal circulation.

According to the latest policy, Ideal Auto’s strategy in the first week of August was to increase the price for Chinese Valentine’s Day after the gift package did not provide much stimulus, from 12,300 yuan at the end of July to 15,000 yuan.

Unlike the case of Ideal Auto, the adjustment methods of BYD and Hongmeng Zhixing are relatively more complicated, including car purchase policies + continuous entry of new cars into the market + other peripheral stimuli, such as mobile phones, car insurance, etc.

According to BYD's new car plan, from August to the end of December, there will be a new car launched almost every two weeks.dolphinIt has been launched, and the subsequent Qin PLUS,seal05 will launch a version with the fifth-generation DM. In early August, Haibao 07 (a renamed version of Haibao and Haibao DM-i), Song Pro, Song PLUS's brother version Haibao 06, and the newBYD Tang, even Tang L,ChineseL, these are all known models. On the one hand, the price of new cars continues to drop compared to old models, and on the other hand, the promotion of BYD insurance has also led to more cars being given free insurance or the expectation of car insurance price reduction.

Huawei Hongmeng Intelligent Driving will launch at least three new models starting in August, including the Enjoy S9 in August, the Zhijie R7 in September, and theQJM9In addition, with the first MPV that it will launch in the fourth quarter in cooperation with the outside world, and the new car Zunjie that is expected to be released at the end of the year, Huawei will also stimulate the market at least once every two weeks starting from August.

Of course, there is also the most important mobile phone product pull. Huawei Mate 70 has been basically scheduled to be released in October this year. It is Huawei's first entry into AI mobile phones. In addition, ADS3.0 Qiankun will be launched in the market in the following half year, and Hongmeng NEXT will enter the smart cockpit. So from end to end, to AI, to big models, everything will be rolled up together.

Once the leading automakers start to rise, the first echelon will follow suit, and then the second echelon and more automakers will follow suit. This is a trend that can be seen with the naked eye.

In conclusion:

Therefore, it will not only be fuel vehicles that will suffer in the future. Except for car companies such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which have exclusive advantages and can stabilize the basic market of fuel vehicles, the trend of other luxury brands is the same. If they do not engage in new energy, they will have problems. In fact, many car companies have begun to speed up the implementation of plug-in hybrid technology. Pure electric vehicles are too difficult, so they will gradually replace their fuel vehicles first.

Of course, some car companies currently choose not to participate in price wars, or even to stay out of the battle for new energy. However, from a business perspective, this is only suitable for short-term survival. Once the entire market has completed the transition, the advantages of the first-mover car companies will enter the flywheel. Then these car companies will be completely unable to catch up and will only be left further and further behind.