On the last day of the National Day holiday, Zero Run's sales volume once again reached a new high, with over 17,000 firm orders placed during the 7-day holiday. On the evening of October 7th, Zhu Jiangming, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Zero Run Automobile, shared the National Day report card on his WeChat Moments.

The reporter noticed that in addition to Zero Run Automobile, many car companies set new records for orders during the National Day Golden Week, such as Hongmeng Zhixing breaking through 28,600 firm orders in 7 days, Lynk & Co.'s entire vehicle series breaking through 13,000 orders during the National Day, and Ji Krypton's orders exceeding 10,000 during the National Day period.

Advertisement

The reporter observed that against the backdrop of the continuous implementation of the "trade-in" policy and the gradual introduction of local subsidies, the car market has maintained a high level of enthusiasm since September. Data from relevant institutions show that the wholesale sales volume of new energy passenger cars nationwide in September is expected to be 1.228 million units, a year-on-year increase of 48%, and a month-on-month increase of 17%.

"During this 'Eleven' holiday, the orders for each car company or new model have maintained rapid growth, with some models receiving more than 1,000 firm orders in a single day. Under the stimulation of policy and the catalysis of new cars, we expect the car market to have a significant upward momentum in the fourth quarter of 2024," said Ping An Securities in a research report.

Over 300,000 orders in 7 days

"During the 7 days of the National Day, I personally delivered 3 cars, and the rest of the time I was always accompanying customers for test drives," said Song Wen (a pseudonym), a sales manager at a store in Luyang District, Hefei, Anhui, to the reporter.

Public information shows that the new Langtu Dream House model under Langtu Automobile broke through 5,000 firm orders in 7 days during the National Day. On October 9th, Langtu Automobile announced that the new Langtu Dream House broke through 18,000 firm orders in 20 days after its launch.

It's not just Langtu Automobile, but Zero Run Automobile also set a new record for orders during the National Day.

Recently, Zhu Jiangming shared information on his WeChat Moments that during this year's National Day Golden Week, Zero Run Automobile locked a total of 17,397 orders. Among them, 3,576 orders were locked on a single day on October 7th, with the Central South Region, Central China Region, and East China Region locking 763, 726, and 702 orders respectively.

In terms of Zhiji Automobile, on October 9th, Zhiji Automobile announced that the new Zhiji LS6 has broken through 20,000 firm orders in just 13 days since its launch, with more than 8,000 firm orders in 7 days during the National Day, and a single-day record of more than 1,600 orders on October 7th alone. A sales manager at a Zhiji Automobile store in Shanghai also told the reporter, "Our store sold very well during this year's National Day holiday."Further analysis by reporters reveals that in addition to Lan Tu Motors, Zero Run Motors, and Zhi Ji Motors, many other new energy vehicle manufacturers have also set new records for order volumes. Public information indicates that Ideal Automobile's new orders exceeded 20,000 units during the National Day holiday, while Xiaomi Motors' locked orders surpassed 6,000 units.

Lynk & Co. has stated that from October 1st to 7th, the order volume for all Lynk & Co. models broke through 13,000 units. The company also mentioned that the aforementioned order volume "achieved the best weekly record in history." Public information shows that the Lynk & Co. 07 EM-P and Lynk & Co. 08 EM-P models alone had more than 8,000 units booked during the National Day holiday.

It is noteworthy that during this year's National Day holiday, in addition to new force brands, many traditional automakers also achieved breakthroughs in order volumes. For instance, Buick, a brand under SAIC General Motors, recently announced that during this year's National Day holiday, the all-new Buick Encore Plus model launched a "limited time fixed price starting from 169,900 yuan" promotion, with orders exceeding 7,000 units within 7 days, representing a year-on-year increase of over 300%.

Based on a rough estimate from publicly available market information, the total order volume for automakers during this year's National Day holiday exceeded 300,000 units. Among them, BYD's order volume reached 160,000 units, maintaining a leading position, while Ideal Automobile and Hongmeng Smart Driving both exceeded 20,000 units.

The trade-in policy drives the car market

"The National Day holiday provides ample time for consumers to consider purchasing a car and to visit dealerships in person," said Zhang Hong, an expert committee member of the China Automobile Dealers Association, in an interview with reporters. In September of this year, many automakers launched new models that attracted consumer attention, and the numerous promotional activities and preferential policies introduced by automakers during the National Day holiday "directly stimulated consumers' desire to purchase."

"The Lynk & Co. Z10 is a model that was just launched in September. In addition to the original discounts, there are additional promotional activities during the National Day holiday, and test drives can deduct 1,000 yuan," Wu Xi (a pseudonym), a sales manager at a Lynk & Co. showroom in Jianye District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, introduced to reporters. Orders placed during the National Day holiday can also receive a 500 yuan JD.com card.

A sales manager at a NIO store in Jianye District introduced to reporters that during this year's National Day holiday, NIO models have a cash promotion of 20,000 yuan. "Taking the NIO ET5 model as an example, the lease version is 228,000 yuan, and you can choose to directly deduct 20,000 yuan from the car price. For custom models, there is a 20,000 yuan selection fund, and any configuration within 20,000 yuan can be chosen freely."

The reporter noticed that in addition to the various promotional activities launched by automakers, the continuous efforts of the trade-in policy have also attracted many consumers to place orders during the National Day holiday. A sales manager at a NIO store in Minhang District, Shanghai, told reporters that during the National Day holiday, when purchasing a NIO model, in addition to enjoying a cash discount of 20,000 yuan, if you participate in the trade-in activity, "you can enjoy additional discounts simultaneously."Wu Xi also introduced to the reporter: "If consumers have an old car under their name, they can participate in the replacement activity, which is more cost-effective when purchasing a car." He further stated that in addition to the national replacement subsidy, "if the consumer's original car is a Geely series old car, they can enjoy a subsidy of 6,000 yuan, while non-Geely series models are 4,000 yuan."

Wu Xi told the reporter that recently, there have been more consumers participating in the replacement activity, especially fuel car users. "Because fuel car users are currently entering the peak period of car replacement, and most of these users choose new energy models for replacement."

"Since the second round of car replacement policy details were officially introduced in August, the policies of various provinces and cities on car replacement and renewal subsidies have gradually been implemented. As of September 29, 31 regions have introduced specific policies." Xinda Securities Research Report believes that "most regions divide subsidies into grades based on price bands, and there is no limit on the price cap for newly purchased models. For consumers who purchase new energy passenger cars, the subsidy amount is generally higher."

With multiple measures, the replacement policy has further driven the car market. Public information shows that as of 24:00 on October 7, the Ministry of Commerce's car replacement platform has received more than 1.27 million subsidy applications, driving new car sales of more than 160 billion yuan, of which the proportion of new energy car subsidy applications exceeded 60%.

The reporter noticed that in addition to car company discounts and replacement policies, car exhibitions held in many places during this year's National Day also helped car companies' sales continue to increase. Some industry insiders told the reporter that unlike well-known car exhibitions such as the Shanghai Auto Show and the Beijing Auto Show, local car exhibitions focus more on selling cars. Public information shows that since the end of September, more than 20 places across the country have successively held various types of car exhibitions, and the sales performance has also been quite eye-catching.

Taking the 2024 Hefei International New Energy Auto Show as an example, public information shows that the car exhibition ended on October 5. According to statistics, the car exhibition attracted about 550,000 visitors, issued 50 million yuan in municipal car consumption coupons, drove sales of more than 20,000 vehicles, and the sales amount was about 3.79 billion yuan.

Car companies are accelerating their annual targets

The reporter noticed that in September this year, many car companies' sales continued to climb. Taking SAIC Group as an example, according to preliminary statistics, SAIC Group sold more than 129,000 new energy vehicles in September, a year-on-year increase of about 38%; from January to September, a total of 748,000 new energy vehicles were sold, a year-on-year increase of about 15%.

On October 1, Geely Auto released data, with passenger car sales of 201,949 units in September, a year-on-year increase of about 21%, and a sequential increase of more than 11%; from January to September, its cumulative sales reached 1,489,690 units, a year-on-year increase of more than 32%.

In addition, in terms of new car manufacturing forces, the increase in sales is more obvious. Public information shows that in September this year, Ideal Auto delivered 53,709 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 48.9%; NIO delivered 21,181 new cars in the same period, and a total of 149,281 new cars were delivered in the first 9 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 35.7%. Among them, the NIO brand delivered 20,349 new cars in September, a year-on-year increase of 30.1%, and sales exceeded 20,000 units for five consecutive months.In addition to Ideal Automobile and NIO Automobile, Zero Run Automobile's sales are also rapidly increasing. Public information shows that in September, Zero Run Automobile delivered 33,767 units, firmly standing in the monthly sales club of 30,000 units, with a year-on-year increase of 94.6%, continuing to set a new monthly delivery record.

Data from relevant institutions shows that the wholesale sales of new energy passenger cars nationwide in September are expected to be 1.228 million units, a year-on-year increase of 48%, and a month-on-month increase of 17%. It also believes that due to the retail sales of new energy vehicles in August far exceeding the domestic wholesale volume of manufacturers, it shows the effective digestion of channel inventory. It is expected that with the increase in the restocking demand for new energy vehicles in September, the wholesale volume will see a significant increase, further promoting the new energy penetration rate for the month to exceed the milestone of 50%.

It is worth noting that the "Golden September" in the car market is very promising. In addition to promoting the sales increase of car companies, the prosperity of the automotive circulation industry has also been improved.

On September 30, the latest "China Automobile Dealers Inventory Warning Index Survey" (Vehicle Inventory Alert Index) released by the China Automobile Dealers Association showed that the inventory warning index for China's automobile dealers in September was 54%, a year-on-year decrease of 3.8 percentage points, and a month-on-month decrease of 2.2 percentage points. The China Automobile Dealers Association believes: "The inventory warning index is above the prosperity line, and the prosperity of the automotive circulation industry continues to improve."

"We believe that with the gradual implementation of replacement policies in various regions, coupled with abundant new car supply, potential replacement demand is expected to be further explored. Moreover, most regions require the new car purchase time to be from the release date of the replacement subsidy to the end of the year, which is expected to further enhance the prosperity of the traditional peak season in the 'Golden September and Silver October' car market," the research report from Cinda Securities believes.

In the view of industry insiders, October, as the beginning of the fourth quarter each year, has always been highly valued by major car companies. After the National Day Golden Week, car companies may further increase terminal promotion efforts and strive to achieve annual sales targets.

Zhang Hong told reporters that in addition to continuing to increase promotional efforts, car companies may introduce more preferential activities and replacement subsidy plans to stimulate consumer purchasing desire. At the same time, major car companies will continue to release new products to seize market share in the automotive industry.

"With the strengthening of the national and local replacement subsidy efforts, the car market has gradually recovered. After entering autumn, the price reduction trend has become stable, so the pressure of the price war at the end of the year will be relatively reduced. In the remaining few months, the car market may show a relatively stable price and a continuous stable sales situation," Zhang Hong said.