Chinese Electric Vehicle Companies Cut Prices to Boost Sales

According to the China Daily report on February 20, 2024, Chinese electric vehicle companies have continued to compete to reduce prices since the beginning of the year. BYD launched two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), the Qin PLUS DM-i and Destroyer 05, on February 19, with a starting price of 79,800 yuan (about $11,088), 20,000 yuan (about $ 2,780) cheaper than the previous version. Thanks to economies of scale and the advantages of the global industrial chain, BYD argued that the prices of BYD’s PHEV models could be lower than that of fuel vehicles of the same level.

Subsequently, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile reduced the price of one version of the Wuling Starlight PHEV model from 105,800 yuan (about $ 14,700) to 99,800 yuan (about $ 13,860). Changan Automobile’s new brand for electric vehicles, Qiyuan, also reduced the price of Q05 (PHEV) and A05 (PHEV) to 73,900 yuan. Hozon Auto, an electric vehicle startup based in Zhejiang, China, lowered the Neta X (EV) price to 99,800 yuan (about $ 13,860).

This appears to be mainly due to the recent increase in demand for PHEVs in the Chinese electric vehicle market. Data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed that pure electric vehicles accounted for 59 % of new energy vehicle sales in January, and over the same period last year, this figure was as high as 70 %; PHEV accounted for 28 %, and extended-range models accounted for 13 %, compared with 24 % and 6 %, respectively, in the same period last year.

According to data from CPCA, the market share of PHEV in the 50,000 (about $ 6,950) to 100,000 yuan (about $ 13,890) price range was 0.6% in 2023, but it increased to 2.4% in January this year.