SMM5, May 14: may 1, Tesla announced that Model 3 after the standard version of the "official guidance price" adjusted to 291800 yuan, after deducting the current new energy vehicle subsidy amount of 20250 yuan, the average consumer actually pays about 271550 yuan. The price cut to less than 300000 is undoubtedly Tesla's blow to the domestic market for new energy vehicles.

In recent years, Tesla has performed fiercely in the Chinese market, conquering the territory, especially after the successful localization, production and sales have increased significantly. As of the first quarter, Tesla's sales accounted for 1/3 of the country's total electric car sales, and the Model 3, which accounts for the vast majority of Tesla's sales, was the main force in the battle.

The car market began to recover in April and new energy vehicles have not yet come out of the trough.

Affected by the epidemic in the first quarter, the domestic car market fell sharply, but with the continuous improvement of the domestic anti-epidemic situation, car production and sales continued to maintain a warming trend in April.

According to the monthly automobile production and sales data released by the China Automobile Association, in April this year, China's automobile production and sales reached 2.102 million and 2.07 million respectively, an increase of 46.6 percent and 43.5 percent over the previous month, 2.3 percent and 4.4 percent higher than the same period last year. This is the first positive growth in car sales in China since July 2018.

But for the new energy vehicle market, the trough has not yet come out.

In April, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 80000 and 72000 respectively, down 22.1 per cent and 26.5 per cent respectively from the same period last year. From January to April, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were all 205000, down 44.8 per cent and 43.4 per cent respectively from the same period last year.

However, although under the impact of multiple factors, the first quarter of the new energy market is worse than the car market, but with the recent extension of subsidy support policy, new infrastructure power new energy vehicle charging pile and other good news, new energy vehicles are also increasingly back to the track of high-quality development.

Tesla attacked the city and made three Model songs as the vanguard.

Tesla reported its quarterly results for 2020 on April 29 and performed very strongly. Especially in the context of the global spread of the epidemic and the severe impact on the supply and demand side of the automobile industry, Tesla's eye-catching earnings report is even more commendable.

Tesla's total revenue for the first quarter was $5.985 billion, up 32 per cent from a year earlier and down 19 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the data. Gross profit for the first quarter was $1.234 billion, up 118 per cent from a year earlier. Tesla delivered about 88000 new cars worldwide in the first quarter, up 40 per cent from a year earlier. Its total sales in China reached 18586 vehicles, accounting for 21 per cent of the total global sales.

As its main bestselling model, the Model 3, Tesla is currently available only in Shanghai and California factories for mass production, and the Shanghai Super Factory, as an important part of Tesla's main global territory, has a very important strategic position.

As production at the Fremont plant in California has closed since March 23, the Shanghai superplant is Tesla's only plant still in normal operation. Tesla said in the financial report that the production capacity of the Shanghai superplant is increasing as planned, and because it is better than expected, they believe that the weekly production of Model 3 will rise to 4000 vehicles by the middle of the year, which will bring the annual production capacity to 200000 vehicles.

In addition, Tesla Vice President of Foreign Affairs Tao Lin said in an interview with the media that domestic Model Y is expected to go public next year. At present, the Shanghai factory has introduced the Model Y production line, the production workshop has completed the frame construction, the battery module assembly workshop has been completed.

Growing production ensures the sustainability of sales. In terms of sales, wholesale sales of pure electric vehicles in China reached 47000 in March, according to the China passenger car Association (CPCA). Of these, Tesla sold 10160 vehicles in China in March, the highest monthly sales in China.

Tesla, which currently produces only one electric car, the Model 3, plans to import its latest electric SUV Model Y into China soon, and Tesla hopes its Chinese plant will meet its annual production target of 150000 vehicles.

"the competition between the new car-building forces and Tesla is the three-England battle against Lu Bu."

In the face of the strong pressure of Tesla, many new car-building forces have begun to launch a variety of new products, at the same time, also began to gradually group to meet the competition from Tesla.

"Weilai, Weimar and Xiaopeng are not a competitive relationship, but a relationship of common development," Shen Hui, founder, chairman and CEO of Weimar Motor, said at a recent press conference in the face of "how to look at the competition between new car forces." For example, it is called "three England versus Lu Bu." Lu Bu is very good, just like Tesla. How Weimar, Weimar and Xiaopeng compete with Tesla is more crucial. "

It is reported that as early as last year, Weilai cars and Xiaopeng cars have established cooperation on sharing overcharging stations, and Weilai Nio Power super-filling piles will be officially connected to Xiaopeng car App, Xiaopeng car owners can start Weilai Nio Power super-charging pile charging through Xiaopeng car APP scanning code. In addition, Weilai Nio Power will also join the Xiaopeng car home charging business supplier system to provide home filling installation services for some Xiaopeng car owners.

But under the influence of the epidemic, China's local electric vehicle start-ups have a more difficult way forward. Chinese electric carmakers received only $200m in new financing in the first quarter of this year, according to data.

Gu Hongdi, president of Xiaopeng, said, "the difficulties encountered by electric vehicle start-ups, such as falling car sales, poor financing environment and reduced subsidies, have all started last year, and the outbreak has only exacerbated these problems. Only a few new car-building forces at the top can get financing in this grim environment. "

This year alone, a series of news about new car-building forces have been coming out, such as the acquisition of Gucci by Henan Guodou, the shortage of funds in Boxian, and the prospect of falling into a storm of unpaid wages, and so on. All parties have returned to calm about the investment enthusiasm of the new forces of building cars in China, and have also pushed the once barbaric new forces of building cars to the level of the knockout stage.

In 2020, the vast majority of new car-building forces are almost certain to leave the market, perhaps as Wang Xing predicted, only three of the new car-building forces will eventually remain.

The second half knockout stage opens a new strategic location for car companies to find their own strategy.

In the new forces continue to shuffle and eliminate at the same time, the traditional car enterprises are also bearing unprecedented pressure. In the first quarter, BYD's overall sales were 61000, down 47.9% from a year earlier, of which 22000 were new energy vehicles, down 69.67% from 73000 last year. Geely sold 206000 vehicles in the first quarter, down 44 per cent from 367000 in 2019. In terms of new energy and electrification, 8924 vehicles were sold in the first quarter.

However, in an environment where almost all brands have experienced a substantial decline, GAC New Energy has shown a trend of continuous growth in the first three months, in sharp contrast to the market, with cumulative sales of nearly 8000 units, an increase of 83% over the same period last year, and year-on-year increases of 53%, 100% and 121% respectively in the first three months.

In the face of the "knockout stage" of new energy vehicles in the second half, traditional car companies have also "dug trenches to build walls" to enhance the advantages of their own products.

Relying on GAC New Energy, which is a top student in the field of domestic new energy, GAC New Energy, which is owned by GAC Group, said on May 13 that by the end of this year, graphene battery mass production research and development work has finally moved from the laboratory to the real car, and GAC New Energy Ean models will carry relevant technical achievements. Graphene material is considered to be an important technology to improve battery charging speed and promote the progress of power battery technology because of its ultra-light, ultra-high strength, super conductivity and so on.

Prior to this, BYD also released a complete test video of the "blade battery" successfully passing the "acupuncture test". In addition to being safer, the blade battery also has the advantages of long life and high battery life compared with traditional lithium iron phosphate batteries.

"catfish" or "shark"?

After announcing price cuts on May 1, Tesla also plans to increase the proportion of domesticated factories in Shanghai to 50 per cent in July from the current 30 per cent and 100 per cent by the end of the year. This means that the guidance price of the domestic Tesla Model 3 actually has room to reduce the price.

At the beginning, as the existence of "catfish", Tesla gradually showed the glaze of "shark", which is still in the process of growing in China's new energy vehicle market, whether it is "shark" or "catfish". The existence of Tesla will undoubtedly greatly enhance the power of domestic car-building forces, and will also effectively promote China's new energy vehicle market.

Perhaps, as Li Bin, the founder of Weilai, said: "Tesla's price reduction is a bit cruel, but the competition is fun."

2020 China Nickel Chromium stainless Steel Industry Market and Application Development Forum

Scan QR codes, apply to attend the meeting or join the SMM Metal AC Group