Can Energy Saving Vehicle Subsidy Save the Auto Market?

At the beginning of the month, the 2011 China International Automobile Industry Development Forum, with the theme of “Car Society and Industry Future” as its annual theme, was opened in Tianjin Binhai New Area. At the forum, the relevant departments announced a new energy-saving car subsidy policy: The implementation of the new subsidy policy will be implemented until September 30th, 2011, and implementation of a new energy-saving vehicle subsidy policy starting from October 1, 2011 will raise the threshold. Requires that the average fuel consumption per 100 kilometers is reduced from the current 6.9 liters to 6.3 liters, and the standard for subsidizing bicycles of 3,000 yuan does not change. Since June 30 last year, the first batch of “energy-saving products Huimin Project” energy-saving vehicles (1.6 liters and below After the introduction of the car promotion catalogue, on August 17, the three ministries announced again the second batch of energy conservation vehicle promotion catalogues. A total of 61 models from 30 brands of 12 automakers were short-listed, while some of the first batch of beneficiary automakers continued to supplement the model, with the first batch of special funds reaching 12 billion yuan. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Finance, the current consumption of cars with energy-saving vehicles below 1.6 liters has reached more than 50%.

Cars have been hailed as "machines that change the world," and they have brought us a series of problems such as energy security, environmental pollution, and global warming, while bringing us fast transportation. At present, energy conservation and emission reduction have become the primary task of the global automotive industry. The development of new energy automobile industry has become the strategic direction of China's auto industry. Energy-saving vehicle subsidies came into being. It is estimated that 2.51 million energy-saving vehicles are currently promoted, directly consuming 210 billion yuan of consumption, and achieving 710,000 tons of fuel annually. This policy has also effectively promoted the scale-up and industrialization of energy-saving vehicles, driving production and sales prices. decline.

There are advantages and disadvantages. Energy-saving subsidies have brought a number of problems. First, new energy-saving vehicle subsidies require lower fuel consumption. Most joint venture brands do not worry about this, and most of them can rely on advanced technology reserves to easily enter a more stringent fuel consumption threshold. However, this has brought great pressure to domestic auto makers. The new subsidy policy can indeed force the automakers of their own brand to upgrade their technology, but it is very difficult to achieve a 10% reduction in fuel consumption by relying on naturally aspirated engines.

In addition, the energy-saving subsidies do not have a big pull on the auto market. At the scene of car sales in various places, the green logo on the window marked with "energy-saving products for people" reminds car buyers to purchase small-displacement cars and can enjoy government subsidies, but many car buyers do not use this as a determinant for their own car purchase. It is the practicality of the car that affects the wishes of consumers. In the second half of the year when the environment of the auto market has changed, the main objective of the government's subsidy policy for energy-saving vehicles is to adjust the auto market structure of 1.6L and below. For the auto market, which has become cooler, there has been no significant change in its sales. First of all, from the consumer's point of view, the fundamental factors that can influence the consumer's buying behavior are economy and actual demand. Therefore, what the consumer can choose is not necessarily the vehicle that enters the national subsidy list. Second, the boundary between factory incentives and government subsidies is unknown. Although consumers can reduce the related expenses when purchasing a car, it is not clear which of the preferential fees and government subsidies are. Third, the state subsidies are intended to encourage car companies to upgrade the technology of small-displacement vehicles. However, there are currently differences in implementation methods, and a one-size-fits-all approach is adopted. That is, all short-listed cars can enjoy the same subsidies, so the incentive for enterprises may be limited. If step-wise differential subsidies are adopted, it may be a more irritating factor for companies to conduct research and development of small-displacement vehicle technology more actively.

Therefore, whether the car is hot or not depends on whether its quality is high or low, and who is most favored by consumers.