Chongqing Auto Industry to Launch Premium New Energy Products | Expert

Chongqing- "If you get an electric car, you won’t be so anxious about the fluctuation of gas prices," said Yun Fan, a Chongqing citizen who plans to buy an electric car these days.

"Several of my friends have turned to electric cars," he added. "The earlier to buy, the earlier to benefit."

The increasing oil prices

The domestic oil price adjustment window reopened at 24:00 on March 17. Affected by the recent sharp rise in international oil prices, the retail price of domestic gasoline and diesel have then climbed.

The rise in oil prices brings benefits for the promotion of new energy vehicles, according to Chen Xueqin, Executive Vice President of the Chongqing Automobile Business Association. He thinks the auto industry and local governments can seize the opportunity to improve relevant policies and infrastructure construction and promote the application of new energy vehicles.

Qu Yunchao, an auto industry observer, said that domestic sales of new energy vehicles reached the number of 765,000 in January and February, representing an increase of 1.5 times year on year.

In March, major car corporations' sales of new energy products remain high, which indicates a significant change in market price expectations compared to previous years.

This reflects both a stronger recognition of new energy vehicles from Chinese consumers and the recent changes in consumption brought about by rising oil prices.

Chang'an Automobile Smart Factory at Liangjiang New Area. (Photo/ Visual Chongqing)

Launch of premium products

The new energy vehicle industry is making a shift from policy-driven to market-driven.

Chen pointed out that many brands have seen price inversions influenced by cost pressure and capacity restrictions. It has become a defining issue whether a correspondence of price and cost can be established in line with the market.

That is to say, for consumers, the price of a new energy vehicle can be high, but most importantly, they should feel “worthy” to buy.

"It is urgent and necessary to launch premium products to avoid low price-based competition," said a source from Chang'an Automobile (Group) Co., Ltd., a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Chongqing.

He also mentioned that the first hybrid product by Chang'an, UNI-K iDD, was officially launched on March 10, and UNI-V iDD will be launched in the second half of the year.

In March, UNI-K iDD was released by Chang'an Automobile (Group) Co., Ltd., a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Chongqing. (Photo/ Chang'an Automobile)

The first model of Avatar, a high-end pure electric brand partnered by Huawei, CATL, and Chang'an, has completed its winter test and is scheduled to be launched in the second quarter of this year.

Furthermore, the first new model named AITO M5 of new energy brand SERES, under the Chongqing Sokon Industry Group Co., Ltd, has already started delivery simultaneously in several cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chongqing.

Chen said that, in addition to promoting the industry to the high-end, the auto industry in Chongqing has to cope with rising costs and capacity restrictions and ensure the supply of raw materials and key components, thus stabilizing the industrial and supply chain.

Chongqing has a total of 30 second-level nodes, accessing more than 1,386 enterprises and covering multiple industries, including automotive. (iChongqing/ Vivian Yan)

(Cao Kezhi, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)