The automotive industry in 2025 will be quite lively, but behind the excitement is actually a different kind of "calmness". I was on a business trip in Chengdu in the past few months. When I got out of the subway exit, I saw posters of BYD Qin PLUS DM-i plastered on the street. The price tag simply said "from more than 60,000 yuan." To be honest, I was stunned for a few seconds. A hybrid car worth more than 60,000 yuan? This price was unthinkable a few years ago. Later, when I went home and checked the data, I found that it was not an illusion. The average price of pure electric cars dropped by more than 40,000, and the price of plug-in hybrid cars also dropped by about 10%. But this round of price cuts is not like the "price wars" of earlier years. It feels more like car companies are tightening their belts to settle accounts. After all, profits are too thin and there is no point in burning money. Only by stabilizing operations can they really win.
During those few days, I happened to go to the 4S store to look at the car. The sales staff in the store were so busy that they were making calls and printing out contracts. There is still the smell of leather and coffee in the air. I got close and touched the steering wheel of Qin PLUS. The foreskin is delicate but a little bit irritati
The automotive industry in 2025 will be quite lively, but behind the excitement is actually a different kind of "calmness". I was on a business trip in Chengdu in the past few months. When I got out of the subway exit, I saw posters of BYD Qin PLUS DM-i plastered on the street. The price tag simply said "from more than 60,000 yuan." To be honest, I was stunned for a few seconds. A hybrid car worth more than 60,000 yuan? This price was unthinkable a few years ago. Later, when I went home and checked the data, I found that it was not an illusion. The average price of pure electric cars dropped by more than 40,000, and the price of plug-in hybrid cars also dropped by about 10%. But this round of price cuts is not like the "price wars" of earlier years. It feels more like car companies are tightening their belts to settle accounts. After all, profits are too thin and there is no point in burning money. Only by stabilizing operations can they really win.
During those few days, I happened to go to the 4S store to look at the car. The sales staff in the store were so busy that they were making calls and printing out contracts. There is still the smell of leather and coffee in the air. I got close and touched the steering wheel of Qin PLUS. The foreskin is delicate but a little bit irritating. The UI of the dashboard is much more pleasing to the eye than that of earlier models. The salesman said with a smile: "It's cheaper now, but it has stabilized sales." I didn't respond much, I just muttered in my heart, if the car price has dropped so much, there should be a lot of pressure on profitability.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Leap Car, whose "half-price ideal" drive is truly unwarranted. In December, more than 60,000 units were sold, an increase of more than 40% for the whole year. I once met several C11 owners at a highway rest area. They said that the interior workmanship was better than expected, the seats were moderately soft and hard, and they were not tired after long distances. I even sat in and tried it out. There was a faint plastic new car smell floating from the air-conditioning outlet, and the wind noise control was also good. C10 and C11 have ranked first among new brands in terms of sales for eight consecutive months. They really have the momentum to rewrite the game. In the past, some people always said that new energy vehicles must be high-end and high-priced to be considered "real cars". Now it seems that people think more about "really easy to use". It can run, charge, doesn't get stuck, and the price is right.
Unfortunately, joint venture brands are not so easy. In the past two years, a friend of mine has been working as a salesperson for a joint venture car company, and he often complains about the overwhelming inventory. He said that the warehouses are full of fuel vehicles, and the penetration rate of luxury pure electric vehicles has not even reached 15%, making it difficult to keep up with the price pace. The old system of fuel vehicles is too heavy and slow to turn around. If it is delayed again and again, the market will not wait for you. I had tea with him that day, and when I heard him mention the word "inventory", I popped the bubbles in the tea cup, thinking that this industry is indeed not easy.
The direction of the capital market has also changed. Now money only goes to companies that can make their own batteries, motors, and electronic control systems. Brands such as BYD, Weilai, and Leapao all have self-developed proportions of more than 65%, which has become a new threshold. What impressed me most was Li Bin’s words of “We will achieve profitability by 2026”. It didn’t sound like a slogan, but more like trying to save ourselves. After all, Weilai’s current market share in China is only 1%, and the pressure is huge.
Accounts are also calculated carefully at the national level. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on imported oil every year. The more fuel-powered vehicles run, it means sending money out of the country. Looking at new energy, the cost of photovoltaics is only 60 cents per square meter. When coupled with wind power and energy storage, it can stably replace traditional energy. All the money spent on subsidies has now been earned back. The EU's original policy of banning combustion in 2025 was later changed to "flexible emission reduction", which proves that China is on the right development path.
I have a friend who is engaged in auto parts in Hefei. He said that local policies are very flexible and new energy factories are opening in batches. In comparison, the old industrial cities of Changchun and Guangzhou are slower, with opportunities slipping away one step at a time. Great Wall has developed a "Guiyuan Platform" to support full coverage of gasoline-electric hybrids. Chery is also not idle, shouting the slogan to sell 3.2 million vehicles in 2026, running multiple routes in parallel, which can be regarded as making steady progress.
However, state subsidies will be withdrawn in 2025 and the purchase tax halving policy will be tightened. Consumers are obviously hesitant this year. I went to look at cars two months ago. Several prospective car owners gathered around the show car and asked, "Will there be subsidies at the end of the year?" The salesperson smiled bitterly and said he was not sure yet. Some people estimate that the quota will be slightly increased in 2026, with home appliance subsidies reduced to 15%, and automobile subsidies becoming more attractive. The five-year plan has also changed. It no longer strives for production, but goes abroad to export battery standards and build overseas charging networks. This sounds quite ambitious.
Tesla’s high-end + software ecosystem model may not necessarily work in China. Our route here is more down-to-earth: many brands, more power, and complete links. Last year, 12.86 million new energy vehicles were sold nationwide, with a penetration rate of more than half. This sounds impressive, but the problem is also obvious that the number of charging piles is far from keeping up with the pace. The ratio of vehicles to piles is about 1:2.5. The last time I was queuing up to charge in the service area at night, the man next to me was so sleepy that he yawned. At that moment, I really felt the bottleneck of the industry. Fortunately, battery manufacturers such as CATL and Sunwoda account for more than 40% of their overseas revenue. While earning foreign exchange, it also allows people to see the confidence of this industry chain.
After all, this is no longer a story of "selling cars", but a contest of "who can survive". Only companies that can master their own core components and truly keep costs down are qualified to play the second half. Ordinary car owners like us are watching the situation change, and we are wondering in our hearts: If we wait a little longer, we can buy more mature new energy vehicles at a lower price.
A few days ago, I met a car friend in the underground garage. He was cleaning his car and said, "My mood when buying a car this year is that I want to save money but I am afraid of buying it too early." I smiled and nodded, understanding. Because these days, who wouldn’t be itching to look at cars, policies, and prices? If car owners are also choosing new energy vehicles recently, are you also hesitating whether it is more cost-effective to buy now or wait?
