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Several Chinese automakers have announced car price reduction since the start of August, offering price cuts, discounts and profit sharing for more than 20 vehicle models.
SAIC Volkswagen, a joint venture between SAIC Motor and VW Group, has said that it will cut price of nine SUV models for purchases during the period of August 1 – 31, with some models’ prices lowered by up to 60,000 yuan.
New energy vehicle maker Leapmotor has announced that it will cut the prices of some models in the C series by up to 20,000 yuan, and Chery Automobile announced discount as much as 10,000 yuan for its three new energy models.
Great Wall Motor’s Ora brand have announced limited-time discounts of up to 30,000 yuan for several models, while new energy vehicle maker Hozon Auto will cut prices of some models of Neta S series by up to 49,000 yuan.
Notably, China’s auto market experienced a price war in the first half of the year and in June, 16 automakers including Dongfeng, SAIC Motor and Tesla signed a commitment letter promising to safeguard the market order in the auto market.
However, the sector is still facing great pressure. According to the China Automobile Dealers Association, the index for auto dealers’ inventory rebounded in July after falling for three consecutive months and as many failed to meet first-half sales target, some 32.7% of Chinese auto dealers have ramped up the sales targets for the second half of 2023.
China’s retail sales of passenger cars reached 1.78 million units in July, a drop of 2.3% from a year earlier and falling by 6.3% from the previous month, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.Â
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the CPCA, had said earlier that there is a big chance for a price war in the car market in the second half of the year and in particular, market competition in the plug-in hybrid segment will be more fierce.