During this period, the technology and performance of aero-engines were crucial to the outcome of a war, as they directly affected the speed, altitude and combat effectiveness of military aircraft.
At that time, aircraft engine technology was mainly mastered by Rolls-Royce of the United Kingdom and Pratt Whitney of the United States.
The competition soon became brutal and fierce, and the two companies began to compete on price to win more orders. The result of the competition was a sharp drop in the price of aero engines, which also led to a sharp drop in the profits of the two companies.
Ultimately, the price war led to the bankruptcy of Rolls-Royce and severe financial losses for Pratt & Whitney. Rolls-Royce later expanded its automotive business, known as Rolls-Royce.
Lighthouse Kingdom has won. Later, the most competitive airplanes and automobiles in the world appeared in North America, and the industries of the empire on which the sun never sets could no longer compete with the United States.
80 years later, a car price war involving a wider area, more companies participating, and more related to the country's fortunes has begun in the eastern power.
Because the world's most important auto brands have invested in the Chinese market, this price war has almost swept across the world's major auto industry countries and affected all car companies in the world.
However, the main opponents are still only two countries: the United States and China. New energy car companies represented by Tesla and BYD are fully engaged in fire, and the new energy car camp is fighting internally, and traditional fuel vehicles are struggling to cope.
Tesla's ruthless price butcher's knife has left many car companies in the dark. The competition for new energy vehicles has become a national industry competition: China has invested in the new energy vehicle industry for more than ten years with the power of the country, and has entered a decisive period.
4 and May, the car price war was so dark that many car people had no time to appreciate the warm spring sun. An old man who is quite important in the auto industry said in a closed-door forum:
Tesla is playing a big game.
In the first half of this year, several car companies that originally planned to launch new cars on the market delayed their time to market.
Car prices are erratic and the market is chaotic. It is too difficult to make a decision at this time. Waves of price wars have completely disrupted the plans of car companies. The sales price previously set had to be changed again and again.
The Chinese side of some joint venture car companies wants to revise the price of the new car. The foreign party responsible for the development of the model cannot accept it at all. The difficulty lies in this: hundreds of suppliers have already set the price, and if they want to lower the price, they have to renegotiate.
It really can't be delayed any longer. One car company bit the bullet and launched a blockbuster model at the original price. The senior executives in charge of sales also had no idea, so they asked the media privately on the first day of listing:
Do you think the price is competitive?
Prior to this, BYD has already adopted a series of price cuts on a variety of models.
html On December 10, BYD Qin PLUS DM-i 2023 Champion Edition was officially launched, with a price range of 99,800 to 145,800 yuan. The starting price of the Qin PLUS DM-i Champion Edition is set at less than 100,000 yuan, which has already entered the price range of compact fuel vehicles.
Two months later, BYD Han DM-i Champion Edition lowered the price to less than 200,000 yuan, with a price range of 189,800 to 249,800 yuan.
When it comes to pricing, if it comes to the situation of asking the media for help, it means that car companies are already extremely unconfident. Sure enough, the executive's premonition was correct. After the launch of the new car, the sales volume was very low, and the market was so violently attacked that he had no power to fight back.
However, BYD is still a follower, and it is Tesla that really started the price war.
In January of this year, Tesla began to cut prices significantly. Later, in April, May, and June, Tesla's prices changed every month, with more drops and fewer rises. Tesla conducted a half-year price war.
In July, Tesla launched a price war in a disguised form. Referrals can get up to 7,000 yuan in rewards for car purchases. If Tesla’s price cuts in each round are added together, the price cuts are so large that it can be said to be an unprecedented and bloody duel.
This is a round of general attack on traditional fuel vehicles initiated by new energy vehicle companies. Almost all brands have been involved in this price war, and many car companies that are still in the transition period cannot play a strong card and can only helplessly surrender the market to others.
A car company launched a new energy car in the first half of the year, but it was judged to be too expensive to sell. Chinese and foreign executives convened a meeting, quarreled for two months, and lowered the price, but not long after, others lowered it again.
follow or not? This is not a topic worth discussing, but a proposition. The executive of this car company, at a barbecue stall late at night, while drinking Dawusu, complained:
The market has never been so sad. You thought it was over, they were still halfway up the mountain.
In the first half of this year, domestic automobile production and sales completed 13.248 million and 13.239 million vehicles respectively, a year-on-year increase of 9.3% and 9.8% respectively. Amid the tragedy of real estate, foreign trade, etc., automobiles have maintained a rare growth, which seems to be doing well.
However, most car companies cannot experience the warmth of growth, because this is the growth that car companies have sacrificed a lot of profits in exchange for. From January to April this year, the average profit margin of the auto industry was only 3.9%, while the profit margin of the entire industry was 4.9%. Automobiles have lowered the average value of industrial profits, to the ranks of "people hate dogs".
The competition in China's auto industry is already full of competition. It is almost impossible to drive down suppliers' prices and greatly reduce costs in the industrial chain.
In order to reduce costs, some car companies have to lay off employees, and they first target sales companies. Carefully calculate "three people's work, two people do it", so that 30% of labor costs can be saved. Behind
there are people chasing with guns, and all car companies are running desperately. There is only one belief: can kill the opponent if you can't kill yourself.
Every time there is a rumor of a price cut by a leading car company in the market, half of the people in the auto industry will lose sleep at night. Later, many fake news can make people surprised: it can't be true.
Many people are asking the same question in their hearts: Will Tesla and BYD lower their prices?
Although the association has drawn 16 car companies to make a promise at the conference, everyone knows that if there is a price cut, no one can stop it. After all, the country has antitrust laws.
So, to answer that question, ask them if there is room for price reduction. Let's look at a table first:
In the first quarter of this year, BYD's net profit per bicycle was 7,481 yuan, and Tesla's net profit per bicycle was 42,000 yuan. Judging from the average profit per vehicle in the auto industry, there is not much room for BYD to cut prices, while Tesla still has a lot of room.
However, BYD adopts the profit-for-scale strategy, sacrificing bicycle profits to gain sales volume. In the first half of this year, BYD's overall profit is about 10.5-11.7 billion yuan, an increase of 192.05%-225.43% over the same period last year. BYD's overall earning power has far surpassed that of its peers.
Tesla is more profitable than BYD. In the first quarter of this year, it received 2.513 billion U.S. dollars (about 18 billion yuan), and it may have a profit of about 35 billion to 40 billion yuan in half a year.
From the perspective of the cost of new energy vehicles, the biggest variable is the power battery. At present, the power battery market is structurally surplus, and the raw material lithium carbonate has been maintained at a low level of 200,000-300,000 yuan/ton for several consecutive months. There is a high probability that it will not soar like last year, which means that the cost of new energy vehicles is unlikely to soar.
Therefore, BYD and Tesla still have huge room for price reduction. is nothing more than "will they take the initiative to fight, and when will they fight?" These two questions.
At present, the new energy vehicle market is in the early stage of the Warring States period, and it is about to enter the stage of annexation and unification. The huge global market share will enter the top five car companies. Whoever can gain market position at this time will dominate the world.
Both Chuanfu and Musk have been on the battlefield for more than ten years. Tesla and BYD are unlikely to give up this opportunity to give traditional car giants time to transform-this is the big game.
Therefore, as long as they have a certain profit, the price war will definitely continue.