🔌⚡️ Electric Car Price War Explodes in China: Save Now, Brah! 🚗💰🇨🇳
Da intense competition among da plenny start-up carmakahz in China stay making tings all kapakahi fo’ wat used to be one solid part of da economy in da last few years. Get one mean kine price war going on in da world’s largest automobile market. 🌏🚘💸
Within one week in March, Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture wen cut prices on da ID.3 electric cars by 18%. Changan Automobile, one of China’s state-owned car manufacturahz, wen offah $3,000 cash rebates, free charging credits, an’ oddah kine stuffs fo’ da electric vehicles. BYD, da country’s biggest E.V. maker, wen show one second round of price cuts fo’ some oldah models in just one month. ⚡️🚗💥💲
Car sales stay all buss up, so da car brands gotta do wat dey can fo’ stay ahead, li’dat giveawayz an’ big discounts. Ovah 40 carmakahz wen discount electric an’ gas-powered vehicles in China dis year. Da discounts stay all kine, from small kine fo’ da cheap ones to big kine fo’ da fancy ones. 💲📉🚘🔥
Tu Le, one managing director at da Beijing consultancy Sino Auto Insights, wen say da price cuts stay mo’ crazy dan he evah seen, an’ he been in da automotive industry in China an’ da United States fo’ 25 years. 😲📉🚗
Da price competition stay making da car sales go all hamajang, even wen da pandemic stay all ova China’s economy an’ da Chinese Communist Party like make everybody feel good again. China’s car sales wen drop 13% in da first three months of 2023. Sales of traditional cars wen go down big time, an’ da growth in electric vehicles stay slow, according to da China Passenger Car Association. 🚘📉🇨🇳
China’s E.V. market wen grow super fast since 2020, double da sales last year, an’ part of dat stay ’cause of government money. But wen dat program wen pau in December aftah 13 years, da competition wen get all kine serious fo’ try pull in customahz in da already jam-packed part of da market. 🚗⚡️📈🇨🇳
Da same time, da old-school carmakahz stay tryin’ fo’ sell off da old kine cars befo’ da new national emissions rules start in July, making it hard fo’ sell diesel- an’ gas-powered vehicles. 🚘⛽️🚫
Tings wen go from bad to worse wen Tesla, da American company dat makes electric cars in Shanghai, wen cut prices in China fo’ da second time in three months. Da oddah car manufacturahz felt da heat an’ had fo’ do da same. 🚗⚡️🔥💲
Wang Chuanfu, da chairman an’ chief executive of BYD, wen ask da government fo’ extend tax breaks, which make electric vehicles cheaper, to 2025 instead of letting dem pau dis year. An’ China’s Auto Dealers Chamber of Commerce wen say last month fo’ wait six months fo’ da new emissions rules. 🚗⚡️💰🇨🇳 Da price cuts no stay only in China. Tesla wen cut prices in da United States an’ Europe too, an’ da oddah guys wen follow. But da crazy competition show dat China stay not only da biggest market fo’ electric vehicles, but also da most competitive one. 🌍🚘⚡️💸
Da local carmakahz an’ da new start-ups, all get choke support from Beijing’s policies fo’ grow da so-called new energy vehicles. Da market stay all full, ’cause everyboddy like jump on da one-time chance fo’ change da car industry. Get ’round 300 local E.V. manufacturahz all ova China. 🇨🇳🏭🔋🚗
Didi, China’s main ride-hailing service, wen make one electric car wit BYD jus’ fo’ da drivers. Xiaomi, one smartphone maker, wen say dey plan fo’ bring out one electric car next year. Even Evergrande, da one propahdy developah stay tryin’ fo’ make electric vehicles, but maybe no can ’cause of all da money kine problems. 🚗⚡️📱🏢
China stay da numbah one market fo’ electric cars, an’ mo’ stay sold dea last year dan da rest of da world. Da foreign carmakahz feel like dey gotta get inside China fast, fo’ learn an’ make da kine electric vehicles fo’ compete all ova da world. 🇨🇳🌏🚗⚡️
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of da China Passenger Car Association, wen say da price war “goin’ fo’ sure stay,” ’cause gotta make choke E.V.s. 🚗⚡️🔥💰
“In da end, da companies wit small sales or no can kine technology going get wipe out,” Mr. Cui wen say. 😵💥🚗
Now da car companies an’ dealerships stay doing watevah fo’ get da customahs. Some dealers stay giving away free vacations or perfume bottles jus’ fo’ test drive, while oddahs stay hanging ’round charging stations fo’ steal customahs from da competition. 🚗⚡️🏖🎁
Last month, one Toyota dealer in da south of Shenzhen wen make one ad fo’ one free gas-powered sedan wen you buy one bZ4X, da company’s electric SUV. But one wahine who wen answer da phone at da dealership say no mo’ dat kine deal now. 🚘🔋🆓📰
Kevin Yang, 29, wen go Volkswagen dealer in Chengdu last month fo’ check out da electric vehicles. He wen trip out on how desperate da salespeeps stay. 🚗⚡️🤑🇨🇳
So, da electric car price war in China stay all kine wild, an’ da competition stay fierce. Oni time goin’ tell who goin’ make it an’ who goin’ pau. Fo’ now, da customahs get da chance fo’ score da best deals! 🚗⚡️💥💰🤙
NOW IN ENGLISH
⚡️💥 Electric Car Price War Erupts in China: Fierce Competition Among Startups 🚗
The intense competition among China’s numerous start-up carmakers has disrupted what had been a pillar of the economy in recent years. A ruthless price war has broken out in the world’s largest automobile market 🌏.
In March, Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture reduced prices on its ID.3 electric cars by 18 percent 💸. Changan Automobile, one of China’s state-owned car manufacturers, offered $3,000 cash rebates 💰, free charging credits 🔌, and other incentives for its electric vehicles. BYD, the country’s largest EV maker, announced a second round of markdowns within a month for some of its older models 📉.
Facing slumping auto sales, car brands are resorting to extreme measures to stay competitive, including dealership giveaways 🎁 and deep discounts. Over 40 carmakers have discounted electric and gas-powered vehicles in China this year. The discounts range from several hundred dollars for cheaper models to tens of thousands of dollars for higher-end offerings 💵.
“The severity of this cycle of price cuts is something that I’ve never seen,” said Tu Le, a managing director at the Beijing consultancy Sino Auto Insights, who has worked in the automotive industry in China and the United States for 25 years 🕰️.
The price competition has unsettled what was a pillar of strength in the last few years, even as strict pandemic measures 😷 shook China’s economy and undermined efforts by the ruling Chinese Communist Party to instill confidence.
China’s car sales fell 13 percent in the first three months of 2023 📉. Sales of traditional automobiles plunged, while growth in electric vehicles slowed, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
China’s EV market has grown rapidly since 2020, doubling in sales last year 🚀, propped up partly by government subsidies. When that program expired in December after 13 years, competition intensified to attract buyers in an already crowded segment of the market 🛍️.
At the same time, traditional automakers are scrambling to unload inventory of older cars before tougher national emissions standards starting in July make it difficult to sell diesel- and gas-powered vehicles 🚚.
The market began spiraling in January when Tesla, the American company that makes electric vehicles in Shanghai, lowered prices in China for the second time in three months ⏳. Other manufacturers felt pressure to do the same.
This month, Wang Chuanfu, chairman and chief executive of BYD, proposed that the government extend tax exemptions 🏛️, which reduce the cost of buying electric vehicles, to 2025 instead of allowing them to expire this year. China’s Auto Dealers Chamber of Commerce published an article last month calling for a six-month delay in the new emissions standards 📝.
The price cuts are not limited to China. Tesla has also lowered prices in the United States and Europe, and its competitors have followed suit 🌍. The intensity of competition reflects the reality that China is not only the biggest market for electric vehicles but also the most competitive.
Established domestic carmakers and local start-ups, supported by Beijing’s policies encouraging growth of so-called new energy vehicles, flooded the sector, enticed by a once-in-a-generation opportunity to upend the balance of power in the car industry 🔋. By one measure, there are around 300 domestic EV manufacturers across China 🏭.
Didi, China’s leading ride-hailing service, has developed an electric car with BYD exclusively for its drivers 🚕. Xiaomi, a maker of smartphones, has said it plans to debut an electric car next year 📱. Even Evergrande, the beleaguered property developer, was building electric vehicles, although those plans may be in jeopardy because of its debt woes 🏢.
China is the leading market for electric cars, and more were sold there last year than in the rest of the world 🌐. Foreign automakers see an urgent need to gain a foothold in China to develop the know-how and manufacturing scale necessary to compete globally 🌏.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said the price war “will definitely continue” because of the importance of producing EVs in large quantities 📊.
“In the end, companies with small sales or poor technology will be easily eliminated,” Mr. Cui said.
Car companies and dealerships are now pulling out all the stops for customers. Some dealers are offering free vacations 🏖️ or bottles of perfume in exchange for test drives, while some eager sales teams are stalking charging stations in hopes of luring drivers away from the competition ⚡.
Last month, a promotional poster from a Toyota dealer in the southern city of Shenzhen generated buzz online. It advertised a free gas-powered sedan with the purchase of a bZ4X, the company’s electric sport utility vehicle 🚘. A woman who answered the phone at the dealership said there was currently no such deal.
Kevin Yang, 29, said he visited a Volkswagen dealer in Chengdu last month to look at its electric vehicles. He was struck by a sense of desperation among the salespeople 😟.
