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after the retail sales of new energy vehicles in the chinese market exceeded those of fuel vehicles for two consecutive months, fuel vehicles, which have gradually become a niche choice, have once again started a price war.

on september 24, buick motors announced the launch of a new generation of buick envision plus, with the starting price further reduced to 169,900 yuan. this price is reduced by 60,000 yuan from its guide price of 229,900 to 259,900 yuan.

this move is not an isolated case. many models such as passat, teana, and mondeo have recently adopted similar pricing strategies, further confirming the pragmatic pricing trend in the fuel vehicle market.

some consumers said that the promotion of popular joint venture models such as passat and camry down to less than 150,000 yuan was "unthinkable before."

from a trend perspective, the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle market has intensified the competitive pressure on fuel vehicles. during the traditional sales off-season of july and august, new energy vehicles have delivered some of the best sales data in history, further eroding the market share of fuel vehicles.

behind this trend is consumers' increasing concern for environmental protection and economy. according to statistical data, the monthly sales penetration rate of the new energy passenger vehicle market in july and august has exceeded 50% continuously, making fuel vehicles face unprecedented challenges.

in order to seize the traditional "golden nine and silver ten" sales peak season, major automobile companies have made price adjustments to new cars on sale and soon to be launched at the chengdu auto show from the end of august to the beginning of september, further promoting the escalation of the price war.

a notable feature of this round of fuel vehicle price war is the “direct reduction in the official fixed price”. this method of price adjustment is different from previous limited-time offers or price cuts by individual dealers. it is generally believed that straightforward price adjustments can help guide consumers to place orders and reduce wait-and-see sentiment.

since the beginning of 2023, car companies have often adopted limited-time offers or made price adjustments through dealers. on the contrary, this leads to consumers' waiting behavior and store comparison, making it difficult to convert profits into actual sales.

it should be noted that a recent report submitted by the automobile dealers association shows that currently car dealers are generally facing losses in new car sales, and the risks of cash flow deficit operations and capital chain breaks have intensified.

the intensification of the price war has led to an increase in the overall discount rate. in the first eight months, the cumulative retail losses in the market reached 138 billion yuan. this has forced many automobile companies to reduce prices and sell at a loss to generate cash flow and complete inventory clearance as much as possible.

on the other hand, price reduction strategies may increase sales in the short term, but in the long run, price wars will undoubtedly test the profitability of the industry.

after independent brands replace joint venture brands and become the protagonists of the market, they generally face the dilemma of "increasing revenue without increasing profits". data show that in the first half of the year, the combined net profits of 30 major domestic automobile listed companies were only 1/3 of toyota motor and about 2/3 of volkswagen group.