Sales of luxury cars are increasing instead of falling. Is everyone’s wallet really getting richer?

Economical and durable family cars are still the mainstream consumption in the domestic market, but we can clearly feel that high-end models are gradually being accepted by more consumers.

The Passenger Car Association released the latest in-depth analysis report on the national passenger car market, which stated that in the first nine months of this year, a total of 15.233 million passenger cars were sold in the Chinese market, and high-end cars with more than 300,000 yuan were sold. Model sales have exceeded 2.1 million units, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%, accounting for 13.8% of total sales.

If we only look at the third quarter, the sales volume of high-end models above 300,000 yuan accounted for as high as 14.1%. A simple conversion shows that in the third quarter, 14 out of every 100 people bought cars worth more than 300,000 yuan. To be clear, it was less than 10% in 2020 and 2021, and it just exceeded 10% in 2022, which shows that the growth rate is rapid.

Correspondingly, the sales of models below 300,000 yuan fell by 1.3 percentage points, and cars and MPVs below 300,000 yuan appeared. Some degree of sales decline. Family cars priced at RMB 100,000 are still the main consumers, but at the same time more and more people are choosing high-end products priced at RMB 300,000 or more, and the demand in the domestic auto market is clearly stratified.

The end of buying a car is luxury car

"When I have money in the future, I will definitely Buy XX (a certain luxury brand)!"

Such ambitious and hesitant words have appeared in many movies, but in real life, many consumers tend to regard family cars as buying luxury cars. The "springboard" before the car, the desire to "upgrade the scooter" is particularly strong.

According to the "2023 China Automotive Consumer Insights" report released by McKinsey, 54% of car owners with current vehicle prices in the 100,000-150,000 yuan range said they would consider price changes next time they buy a car. Among them, 47% of the respondents whose current vehicle price is in the range of 150,000-200,000 yuan said they would upgrade to a high-end model when purchasing again.

Of course, a small number of respondents tended to be rational and said they would consider lower-priced models, but in general consumers are interested in high-end models. The pursuit of car models still belongs to the majority.

Economic and practical family cars are just a transition, the end of car buying is luxury cars! Of course, this is only the superficial reason for the growth of luxury cars. After an in-depth analysis, the growth of luxury car sales is more directly related to the auto market.

The more "involution" the car market becomes, the better will the sales of high-end cars ?

Putting aside the impact of the three-year epidemic on the domestic auto market, the domestic market has experienced multiple "price wars" since entering 2023.

In the first quarter, the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles officially withdrew from the stage of history. However, perhaps affected by Tesla’s price cuts, many car companies and local governments instead increased subsidies for car consumption, reaching the third In September, fuel-powered vehicles, mainly Dongfeng series, also joined the "price war".

The "price war" effect in the first quarter continued into the second and third quarters, which also caused luxury brands to make many concessions.

The guide price range of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class is 332,300 yuan to 375,600 yuan. It seems that the starting price has not dropped, but in fact The price of the mid-to-high-end version is 2,500 yuan cheaper than the old Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and the new model already has a discount of about 100,000 yuan in some areas; BMW's two pure electric cars, i3 and iX3, are even more generous. The Guangzhou area has launched a preferential policy of more than 100,000 yuan; FAW Audi announced that it has lowered the guide price of its Audi RS e-tron GT by 221,000 yuan...

Many consumers believe that, With a lower transaction price, it is really cost-effective to bite the bullet and buy a luxury brand model that you dare to think about or buy. This is one of the factors driving the growth of sales in the luxury car market.

Another factor is the vigorous deployment of new power brands, mainly Li Auto, in the luxury car market.

The luxury market pattern has changed

Looking at the market of more than 300,000 yuan, fuel vehicles of traditional luxury brands are still the main sales force, but with the rapid development of the new energy market With the development, high-end new energy brands have begun to seize the market share of the original luxury brands with traditional concepts.

According to the latest sales data, in the car market with more than 300,000 yuan, the top five best-selling models in a single month are Audi A6L, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A4L, BMW 3 Series, and BMW 5 series; in the SUV market with more than 300,000 yuan, the top five models with the highest monthly sales are Audi Q5L, Ideal L7, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Ideal L9, and Ideal L8.

Audi A6L, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A4L, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Audi Q5L and other relatively popular luxury models all have 100,000 yuan level in the terminal market However, the ideal "L family", which is relatively popular in the SUV market, does not have many terminal discounts, and some are only limited-time discounts of tens of thousands of yuan during the holidays.

Although Li Auto does not have many years of historical accumulation, and its brand power cannot compete with luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, but thanks to its clear positioning, many functions of the product accurately meet the actual pain points of family users in using cars. Moreover, the configuration performance of each version will not differ much. The status of an extended-range electric vehicle not only reduces the cost of short-distance travel, but also avoids drivers’ range anxiety for long-distance travel.

This is not difficult to understand. Although there is enough budget to choose BBA models, they are ultimately willing to pay for the new car-making forces because some consumers begin to believe that the car experience is more important than the brand. Strength is more important.

What's more, in addition to Li Auto, brands such as Weilai, Jikrypton, and Denza have also begun to enter the market of more than 300,000 yuan. . In recent years, Weilai ET5T, Jikrypton 001, Denza D9 and other models have been launched one after another, and the current monthly sales have gradually stabilized. The guide prices of facelifted models such as Xpeng G9 and Wenjie M7 are also beautiful enough, and they have announced "explosion" one".

The launch of these new cars not only attracts consumers to buy them, but also invisibly increases the competitive pressure on traditional luxury brands, affects the market position of second-tier luxury brands, and even affects the promotion of luxury brands. The discounts on cars play an indirect role.

Of course, traditional luxury brands have also increased their presence in the pure electric market. Data shows that BMW sold a total of 69,603 pure electric models in the first nine months, a year-on-year increase of 232%, of which i3 and iX3 sales were 35,000 and nearly 30,000 respectively.

Mercedes-Benz has accelerated the product layout of new energy vehicles. This year, it has successively launched the EQS pure electric SUV, the new EQE pure electric SUV, and the new AMG pure electric vehicle. Data shows that the cumulative sales of pure electric models in the third quarter increased by more than 70% year-on-year.

The poor economic environment has the greatest impact on low-income people. They prefer to "downgrade consumption", but it does not have much impact on the rich. They still have the confidence to consume high-end products. Even though it is true that more and more people are buying high-end cars, the entire car market shows an obvious "hourglass shape", with consumption upgrades and consumption downgrades coexisting.

Although we can't afford high-end cars, we might as well open up the situation. More and more people buying high-end cars can promote economic growth, and maybe it can promote further involution of the car market. We generally Ordinary people may benefit from it.

This article comes from the WeChat public account: Dianchetong (ID: dianchetong233), author: Xiaoying classmate

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