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our reporters xia zhibin, yang rangchen and shi yingjing reported from shanghai

"now many bba (mercedes-benz, bmw, audi) models are gradually increasing in price, and our models will also adjust their prices in the future." a sales consultant at an audi store in minhang district, shanghai, told a reporter from china business news that the store is currently offering sales promotions, and the audi a7l luxury version has a one-month limited discount, which is about 100,000 yuan off the original price of 418,700 yuan. "but next month, the price is expected to increase, and the car price and loan will be adjusted back."

when the price war in the domestic auto market was still fierce, bmw became the first to "take the plunge". in mid-july, bmw among the bba chose to withdraw from the price war, and then there were reports that mercedes-benz and audi followed suit.

nearly two months have passed. how has the market reacted to the luxury brands’ withdrawal from the price war? recently, the reporter communicated with many front-line sales consultants of luxury car brands through field visits and online communication.

in addition to traditional luxury brands, discounts for new energy luxury brands are also declining. a sales consultant at a lantu auto store in changning district, shanghai, told reporters that the current price of its lantu dreamer model is only 30,000 yuan for a limited time. "it is not clear whether the price will increase or decrease in the future, and the price policy is different every month."

luxury brands are experiencing a sales pain period, and the development status of super luxury brands in china has also attracted attention. not long ago, cui dongshu, secretary general of the china passenger car association, wrote that the import of super luxury cars has continued to grow in the past few years, but has fallen by 12% since 2023, and accelerated from january to june 2024. "the overall weakening of super luxury reflects the temporary slowdown in the purchasing power of the ultra-high-end consumer group."

luxury car brands buck the trend and raise prices

"now all brands can no longer afford to lose money and are preparing to raise prices." li hui (pseudonym), a sales consultant at a jaguar land rover 4s store in pudong new district, shanghai, told reporters that the prices of cars in the store will gradually increase in the future. "the increase will be about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan." however, li hui did not tell reporters clearly when the price increase will take place. "it's hard to say when the price will increase. it may be announced at any time."

li hui further stated that the discounts in the store have shrunk. for example, the defender x has a larger loan discount, with a financial loan discount of 180,000 yuan. however, the discount for full payment is only 90,000 yuan, and there are no other price discounts.

"the prices of each car series have been adjusted. compared with last month, the prices have increased a little bit this month." a sales consultant at a mercedes-benz store in shanghai also said frankly, "car prices cannot be adjusted downward all the time. the market must always maintain a good order."

zhang nan (pseudonym), a sales consultant at a maserati store in minhang district, shanghai, told reporters that maserati's ghibli model currently has a discount of 200,000 yuan on the basis of 869,800 yuan. "because the group has contracted a batch of cars, the price is relatively low. ghibli has not yet notified the subsequent model change. this discount will be available before october. it is not clear whether it will be available later." zhang nan said.

however, not all maserati products will see price cuts. zhang nan further told reporters that the maserati grecale will have a pure electric model, and because the pure electric model is 250,000 yuan more expensive than the fuel-powered grecale, the fuel-powered grecale will see a price adjustment after the facelift.

similar to lantu auto, the monthly discounts offered by new car maker nio are also different. a sales consultant at a nio store in minhang district, shanghai, told reporters that the current discount for et7 is about 18,000 yuan, but this is a preferential price after combining the old-for-new replacement subsidy and the optional equipment fund.

"this discount will last until the end of the month, but it will be different every month." the sales consultant said that before august 12, nio's preferential price was a replacement subsidy of 10,000 yuan and 20 battery swap coupons; after august 12, the replacement subsidy was 8,000 yuan, and the battery swap coupons increased to 36.

regarding the luxury car brands' adjustment of the "price-for-volume" strategy, zhang xiang, a visiting professor at the yellow river science and technology college, said: "their starting point is very good, which is to maintain the high-end image of the brand. but in the long run, china's luxury car market share is limited after all, and now there are already many "competitors" in the entire market, and chinese independent brands have made significant progress on their way to higher heights. chinese brands have already reached a 22% market share in luxury cars, and they have already impacted the market position of bba. therefore, in this environment of strong enemies and full market competition, coupled with the previous "price-for-volume" initiative, it will be a bit difficult for bba to do a good job in business without relying on price cuts."

consumers hold on to their money

in the opinion of industry insiders, the current price increase of luxury cars is difficult for consumers to accept and will aggravate the wait-and-see sentiment.

zhang xiang said: "price adjustments are not made arbitrarily by dealers, but are made based on a comprehensive judgment of the overall market situation. price increases and decreases are not straight-line increases or decreases, but a cyclical process that requires consumers to slowly accept them. consumers will definitely find it difficult to accept a straight-line price adjustment."

regarding the impact of price increases, zhang xiang said frankly: "the domestic auto market is now very competitive. although there are many voices against 'involution', these will take time to correct. consumers have been affected by the current market environment. if we adopt the strategy of 'volume for price' to participate in the competition now, that is, by reducing production capacity to reduce market supply, reaching a situation where supply exceeds demand, and thereby raising product prices, this method will not essentially increase the sales and market share of automakers."

"it's the dealers who are losing money, because our purchase price is fixed." regarding the impact of price increases on sales, zhang wen (pseudonym), a sales consultant at an audi store in shanghai, said, "people who should buy will still buy. when the price is low, consumers who are hesitant now will be more hesitant."

yan jinghui, a member of the expert committee of the china automobile dealers association, also told reporters that while price wars have promoted overall sales growth, they have also led to more and more consumers holding back on their money. "consumers' expectations for price cuts are getting higher and higher, and they hope that prices can be lower, so there is a certain gap between the market sales expected by dealers and the actual sales."

what is the impact of luxury brands withdrawing from price wars? jiang han, a senior researcher at pangu think tank, said that automakers that withdraw from price wars face a typical prisoner's dilemma. if they withdraw from price wars while other competitors continue to cut prices, they may lose their market advantage and sales decline. however, if all automakers continue to engage in price wars, they will eventually fall into the dilemma of meager profits or even losses. "in order to solve this problem, cost control ability has become a key factor."

ultra-luxury brand sales in china slow down

similar to luxury brands, the "business skills" of super luxury brands in the chinese market are becoming increasingly difficult. according to data released by cui dongshu, from january to june 2024, maserati's import sales were 214, 89, 129, 140, 109, and 96, respectively, totaling 777, with a cumulative growth rate of 70%; rolls-royce's import sales were 128, 46, 87, 57, 59, and 55, respectively, totaling 432, with a cumulative growth rate of 35%; mclaren's import sales were 3, 1, 2, 1, 2, and 1, respectively, totaling 10, with a cumulative growth rate of 92%; aston martin's import sales were 33, 17, 37, 18, 17, and 27, respectively, totaling 149, with a cumulative growth rate of 50%.

regarding the brand's performance in china in the first half of the year and how to boost sales in the second half of the year, the reporter contacted mclaren and maserati to conduct interviews on the above issues, but as of press time, no response has been received.

"as a pure luxury brand, rolls-royce has never been and will never be a sales-oriented, high-volume automaker," said a rolls-royce china official. "as one of the markets leading the global luxury fashion trend, china is of vital importance to rolls-royce. we closely follow the trends in the chinese market and are confident in the future development of this market."

recently, the news that "rolls-royce dealers cut prices by 1.11 million" was widely circulated online. the above-mentioned person in charge said: "according to our understanding, the recent unconfirmed rumors originally posted by some social media are not the behavior of the rolls-royce brand or authorized dealers."

regarding the changes in the competitive landscape of luxury car brands in the chinese market, the above-mentioned person in charge further told reporters: "as a luxury brand, rolls-royce is not highly comparable to other car brands, and we will not use this to measure our brand value."

super luxury brands are also continuing to increase their presence in china, such as rolls-royce. for example, in 2023, rolls-royce established its third exclusive customization center in the world in shanghai after goodwood and dubai. the above-mentioned rolls-royce official said: "as an important step in the global strategy, the establishment of the rolls-royce shanghai exclusive customization center is precisely to establish a closer connection and bond with the vital chinese customers, while helping the brand to more deeply understand the unique aesthetic trends and luxury concepts of chinese customers, and to bring chinese customers a highly personalized and more authentic rolls-royce bespoke advanced customization experience."

regarding the maintenance of relationships with customers, the person in charge said: "our dealer partners are an indispensable and important bridge between the rolls-royce brand and outstanding customers. we always maintain close communication with our dealer partners, and continue to promote a series of initiatives such as brand activities, new model experiences, training competitions, etc., aiming to work more closely with dealer partners, strive to jointly present the most authentic rolls-royce luxury experience to customers, and further deepen the connection between the brand and customers."