Previously, on February 19th, BYD announced through Weibo that it would launch the Qin PLUS Honor Edition, which includes 5 DM-i models with an official guide price of 79800 to 125800 yuan; There are 5 models in the EV version, with an official guide price of 109800 yuan to 139800 yuan.

According to a report by the Daily Economic News on the 21st, "There are no Qin PLUS DM-i series models in the store. You can take a look at this destroyer 05 first. The two models are similar." When a reporter from the Daily Economic News asked about the Qin PLUS DM-i Honor Edition and the destroyer 05 Honor Edition that were launched on the same day, a salesperson at this BYD supermarket walked over and said that the prices of the two Honor Edition models have decreased by 20000 yuan compared to the championship version.

Qin PLUS DM-i Glorious Edition and destroyer 05 Glorious Edition were launched at a lower price than the pure electric version, which was considered as the "first shot" of the price war in the car market after the Spring Festival of the the Year of the Loong. As of now, a group of automotive brands have announced to follow up on BYD's price reduction this round. On February 19th, Zhou Xian, Deputy General Manager of SAIC-GM Wuling Brand Business Unit, even said on social media, "One word, follow!" The Wuling Xingguang 150km advanced version of the ultra long pure electric range plug-in hybrid Honor costs 99800 yuan. Compared to the original price of 105800 yuan for this model, it has been reduced by 6000 yuan.

During the journalist's visit, sales personnel from multiple car brands in Beijing all stated, "There is a lot of market pressure and we can only lower prices accordingly." "We have noticed BYD's price reduction information, and it is estimated that some car models will also adjust their discount rates in the future." A salesperson from a Toyota 4S store in Beijing told reporters.

On February 18th, He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, and Gan Jiayue, CEO of Geely Automobile Group, both mentioned in their commencement letters to all employees that there will be more intense competition in the automotive market this year. He Xiaopeng stated that this year is the first year for Chinese automotive brands to enter the "sea of blood" competition and also the first year for the knockout stage. Geely Automobile Group CEO Gan Jiayue believes that 2024 will be the "most competitive" year in terms of pricing, products, services, and traffic.

Setting aside BYD, many car brands dare to quickly follow up behind the scenes, and it is also inseparable from the decrease in various car manufacturing costs. For example, the source material that once sparked the wave of "high electricity prices" - battery grade lithium carbonate, its price has been adjusted from its peak of 600000 yuan per ton to below 100000 yuan per ton. Shanghai Steel Union released data showing that on February 20th, the average price of battery grade lithium carbonate was 97000 yuan/ton.

Zeng Qinghong, Chairman of GAC Group, publicly stated in July 2022 that "the cost of power batteries accounts for 40%, 50%, and 60% of the total cost of automobiles, and is constantly increasing." At that time, the price of battery grade lithium carbonate had already approached 500000 yuan/ton.

Nowadays, with the decrease in prices of key raw materials such as battery grade lithium carbonate, the cost of power batteries is also rapidly decreasing. Previously, it was reported that CATL is promoting 173Ah VDA specification lithium iron phosphate battery cells to automotive companies, equipped with 2.2C rate fast charging as standard, with a price not exceeding 0.4 yuan/Wh. This means that the cost of a 60 degree battery pack can save 24000 yuan compared to the same period last year, while a 100 degree battery pack can save 40000 yuan.

Founder Securities also used the BYD Seal Standard Edition as an example to calculate that when the price of lithium carbonate drops from 500000 yuan/ton to 100000 yuan/ton, a single car will release 9300 yuan of cost space.

In this round, BYD's two plug-in hybrid models have launched the slogan "electricity is lower than fuel", once again pushing the recent drama of "new energy entering, fuel vehicles retreating" in the A-class car market to a climax. In 2023, the cumulative sales of Qin PLUS reached 455800 units, surpassing the "Shuangyi" by about 100000 units, winning the annual sales championship in the A-class car market for the first time, completely breaking the monopoly pattern of joint venture brands occupying the A-class car market for a long time.

In the opinion of Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the Passenger Car Association, "BYD took the lead in reducing prices after the Spring Festival of the the Year of the Loong, and also has the intention to promote the expansion of this market."

Cui Dongshu further pointed out that the fundamental reason for the recent price war in the passenger car market is the process of new technologies replacing old technologies and new energy vehicles replacing gasoline vehicles. He expects that in the process of establishing a new market order, competition between new and old car manufacturers will be fierce, and this process is expected to last for several years until a new pattern is formed.