On October 13th, Dongfeng Lantu's new pure electric SUV Zhiyin was launched. This is another model that benchmarks against Tesla Model Y, following the Ledao L60, Jike 7X, Zhijie R7, Avita 07, and the all-new Zhiji LS6. The "Golden September and Silver October" is a season of intensive new product launches for car companies in autumn, as well as a traditional peak season for car consumption. Data shows that in September this year, although China's automobile production and sales decreased year-on-year, they achieved double-digit growth month on month. Especially after five months of continuous decline in the production and sales of passenger cars, it has become a new highlight of the "Golden September and Silver October". The production and sales of passenger cars are gradually recovering. "On the last day of the National Day holiday, the sales of Zero Run reached a new high again, with over 17000 units ordered in 7 days." On the evening of October 7th, Zhu Jiangming, founder, chairman, and CEO of Zero Run Automobile, posted the results of the National Day promotion on his WeChat Moments. In addition to Leapmotor, many car companies have set new records for orders during the National Day Golden Week. Hongmeng Zhixing's orders have exceeded 28600 units, Xiaopeng Motors' 16000 units, Shenlan Motors' 14000 units, and Jike's new orders have exceeded 10000 units. General Manager Fan Junyi of Geely Automobile Sales Company told reporters: "During the National Day Golden Week, the sales of the entire Geely brand increased significantly, with fuel vehicles growing by 29% compared to last year, and new energy vehicles growing even more under the drive of Galaxy E5 and Star Wish." Data shows that in September, China's automobile production and sales reached 2.796 million and 2.809 million respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9% and 1.7%, but a month on month increase of 12.2% and 14.5%, respectively. Among them, the production and sales of passenger cars mainly for personal use were 2.502 million and 2.525 million respectively, with a month on month increase of 12.6% and 15.8%, and a year-on-year increase of 0.2% and 1.5%, ending a five month continuous downward trend. With the strengthening of subsidies for scrapping and updating automobiles at the national level, the implementation of local replacement and updating policies, and the launch of new autumn products by car companies, the passenger car market is gradually recovering, especially the terminal retail market continues to strengthen, and the 'Golden Nine' effect continues to emerge Chen Shihua, Deputy Secretary General of CAAC, said. In order to expand automobile consumption, the Ministry of Commerce and 14 other departments jointly issued the "Action Plan for Promoting the Trade in of Consumer Goods" in March this year, followed by the "Implementation Rules for Automobile Trade in Subsidies". In August, the "Notice on Further Improving the Work of Replacing Old Cars with New Ones" was issued, which increased the subsidy standards for individual consumers who scrap and update their vehicles from 10000 yuan for purchasing new energy passenger cars and 7000 yuan for purchasing fuel passenger cars to 20000 yuan and 15000 yuan respectively. On this basis, various regions will accelerate the introduction of relevant policies according to local conditions and increase efforts to promote the exchange of old cars for new ones. As of 24:00 on October 7th, the Ministry of Commerce's automobile trade in platform has received over 1.27 million subsidy applications, driving national new car sales to over 160 billion yuan. To seize the window period of the trade in policy, car companies are accelerating the launch of new cars to meet the diverse and personalized needs of different consumers. In September, more than 50 new or updated models such as Passat Pro, Deep Blue L07, Aion RT, and Dongfeng Honda Lingxi L were launched. On the other hand, continue to expand discounts and incentives to attract consumers. For example, currently purchasing NIO not only entitles you to a 20000 yuan optional subsidy, but also provides you with a power subsidy voucher. As the car market enters the 'Silver Ten' cycle, car companies and dealers are also entering the sprint stage for the whole year, and increasing discount rates is undoubtedly the most direct way to drive momentum Yan Jinghui, a member of the Expert Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said. As passenger car production and sales gradually recover, the differentiation between new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles is also intensifying. From the perspective of new forces in car manufacturing, in September, Ideal Automobile ranked first in sales with 53700 units, a year-on-year increase of 48.9%; The monthly delivery volume of Huawei HarmonyOS's entire lineup reached 39900 vehicles, with the WENJIE series models becoming the main sales force of the brand; Zero Run delivered 33700 vehicles, setting a new monthly delivery record; Xiaopeng Motors achieved its best performance in nearly two years with MONA M03, selling over 20000 vehicles per month; Xiaomi delivered over 10000 vehicles in September. From the perspective of traditional car companies, the faster and more resolute the transition to new energy, the more significant the increase in product sales. In September, BYD's car sales exceeded 400000 units, reaching 419000 units, setting a new record for single brand monthly sales in the Chinese automotive market; Geely Holding also achieved a historic high with monthly sales of 308000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 17.8%. Among them, the sales of new energy vehicles reached 152500 units, a year-on-year increase of 59.6%, and the penetration rate of new energy reached 49.5%. On the other hand, joint venture car companies that have relatively slow transformation and still focus on fuel vehicles as their main products continue to show varying degrees of decline in sales. Data shows that in September, FAW Volkswagen sold 148000 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 18.2%; The sales of GAC Toyota and SAIC General Motors are even more pessimistic, with the former selling 72000 vehicles, a decrease of 21.8%, and the latter selling only 22000 vehicles. Data shows that in September, China's new energy vehicle production and sales reached 1.307 million and 1.287 million units respectively, an increase of 48.8% and 42.3% year-on-year. New energy vehicle sales accounted for 45.8% of the total new vehicle sales, and monthly production and sales reached a historic high; Domestic sales of traditional fuel passenger vehicles reached 940000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 30%. This indicates that under the wave of electrification and intelligence, the Chinese automotive market is undergoing a profound structural transformation, with the differentiation between new energy and fuel vehicles intensifying. It can be said that new energy vehicles have become the main driving force for the growth of domestic automobile sales. The strong growth in sales of new energy vehicles is partly due to the increasingly abundant supply of products. Taking September as an example, new energy vehicles accounted for over 80% of newly launched cars, providing consumers with more choices; On the other hand, it lies in the effective improvement of product strength, especially the plug-in hybrid "oil" and "electric" including range extender hybrid, which form a strong substitute for traditional fuel vehicles. "Plug in hybrid has surpassed traditional fuel vehicles in terms of energy consumption, power, reliability, intelligence, use cost and price," said Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the CAS Member and professor of Tsinghua University. Currently, the consumption policy environment for new energy vehicles is still much better than that for traditional fuel vehicles. In terms of trade in, subsidies for new energy vehicles are much higher than those for traditional fuel vehicles, which is also an important factor in promoting the sustained growth of new energy vehicle production and sales Chen Shihua predicts that the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China is expected to reach 12 million units this year, far higher than the expectation at the beginning of the year. The intensification of competition is forcing high-quality development. The limited discount price of the "Long Range Intelligent Enjoyment Edition" model is 179900 yuan. On October 13th, when Shao Mingfeng, the general manager of Lantu Automotive Sales and Service Co., Ltd., announced the price of Lantu Zhiyin, the audience exclaimed, "Finally, some companies have raised the selling price of medium-sized pure electric SUVs to less than 200000 yuan!" Although passenger car production and sales are stabilizing and recovering, there is still no sign of easing since the price war that broke out in the car market at the beginning of last year. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in September, the prices of new energy and fuel vehicles in China decreased by 6.9% and 6.1% respectively. Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the Passenger Car Federation Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, stated that in the first nine months of this year, 195 car models in China's passenger car market have experienced price reductions, surpassing the 150 models in 2023 and significantly surpassing the 95 models in 2022. Price competition is the most commonly used means of competition between enterprises in a market economy. According to changes in market demand, enterprises can expand their market share by lowering prices, forcing weak brands and inefficient production capacity to exit, and achieving the survival of the fittest in the industry. However, price war is a double-edged sword. Once it forms a vicious competition of "involution", it will not only affect the reasonable profits of enterprises, but also squeeze upstream and downstream suppliers and damage the industrial ecology. The ongoing price war this year has further intensified market turbulence, and car dealers are facing unprecedented difficulties. In the profit structure of dealers, new car sales suffer severe losses, with negative gross profit contribution from new cars and the losses continue to expand. Shen Jinjun, President of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that car companies should determine production based on sales and not blindly produce and engage in price wars in pursuit of market share. Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group, called on car companies to accelerate the formation of new quality productivity, provide high-quality products and services, and create new value for customers through innovation driven approaches, as the market lacks effective demand and competition intensifies. Only in this way can we overcome the trap of price wars, avoid vicious competition like "involution", and truly promote high-quality development of the industry. (New Society)