Buying old rather than new car, why are new energy used cars so attractive?

"Now that new energy vehicles are being updated very quickly, I feel that pure electric vehicles are a huge electronic product," said Mr. Zhang, who just bought a second-hand JK 001. "It is more affordable to buy a new energy used car, and you can sell it after the early adopter experience so that you can also experience different new energy vehicle products."

In Mr. Zhang's opinion, the purchase of new energy-used cars is in line with current consumer demand, with cost-effective prices and the opportunity to experience different new energy vehicle products. More and more consumers like Mr. Zhang will consider new energy-used cars when purchasing a car.

The operators of new energy-used cars also intuitively feel the heat of new energy-used cars. Mr. Wei, the head of a new energy vehicle dealership in Shanghai, admitted that he started to do new energy used car retail very early, and it feels like a blowout from 2020. "At first, we only had one store, and then we cooperated with the melon seed platform to develop e-commerce channels, and the scale continued to expand. Now we have three stores in Shanghai, with a 6,000-7,000 square meters exhibition hall, with a normal inventory of 230-260 vehicles. The monthly retail sales of new energy-used cars can add up to about 200 units online and offline."

Market data confirms this. China Automobile Dealers Association data show that in March the national new energy used cars traded a total of 91,500 vehicles, an increase of 41.4% month-on-month, an increase of 63.5%; the first quarter of this year, the national new energy used cars traded a total of 245,600 vehicles, an increase of 75.4% over the same period in 2023, far exceeding the overall growth rate of the used car market and the performance of various market segments.

Why choose to buy a new energy used car?

Xiao Zhao has also been looking at cars recently, and he plans to buy another new energy-used car. "I have a lot of research on new energy vehicles, and I have bought new energy-used cars before." Xiao Zhao said frankly, "Now the price of a new car is reduced too fast, and it is easy to buy a large price reduction in the hands, and the psychological pressure is very high, but buying a new energy used car will not worry about price reduction."

In his opinion, the experience of new and used cars is the same, there is no difference, and if you change cars frequently, you will not lose a lot. Consumers like Xiao Zhao are very common in the new energy-used car market.

Why do consumers choose to buy new energy-used cars? Mr. Wei, the head of a new energy vehicle dealership in Shanghai, said that users choose new energy-used cars because of the cost of using the car and the driving experience. He explained: First, it is cheap. The purchase cost of new energy-used cars is much lower than that of new cars, and the price is very attractive. Second, the cost of electricity is low, and the maintenance cost is low, which further reduces the cost of using the car. In addition, new energy vehicles have heavy batteries and stable chassis, especially performance cars, which make the driving experience better.

Therefore, consumers who buy new energy used cars will first look at the battery life and price; secondly, they will screen the brand, because the brand risk of new cars is relatively large. "The market has made rapid progress, and the new energy vehicles with low battery life have withdrawn from the market." "The frequency of repurchase and replacement of new energy vehicles is higher than that of gasoline vehicles," he said.

Mr. Tao, the head of another new energy vehicle dealership, echoed the same view. He said that many customers who come to the store to see the car are mostly with goals and clear brand intentions. They will compare the price of new energy-used cars and new cars on the spot. If the price of used cars does not have obvious advantages, some consumers will wait and see. "Price is one of the main factors that affect consumers' car purchases," Mr. Tao said. "At present, pure electric vehicles are the main type of new energy-used car sales. Consumers are mainly between 25 and 45 years old, and they are mainly domestic."

The price advantage of new energy-used cars comes from the low-value retention rate of new energy vehicles. According to the big data of the Guazi used car platform, the value retention rate of different energy types of vehicles over the years in April 2024 is calculated. Compared with the higher and relatively stable value retention rate of fuel-used cars, the first-year loss of new energy-used cars is 10% more than that of fuel vehicles; from January to April, the average value retention rate of new energy-used cars on the Guazi used car platform for 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years is 60%, 51%, and 43% respectively, which is equivalent to a two-year discount of half. Add factors such as new car price reductions and regional price differences, and the price of new energy-used cars will often fluctuate downward.

Therefore, many businesses adopt a fast-in and fast-out strategy to maintain the rapid turnover of new energy-used cars to cope with the risk of price fluctuations. For example, the circulation cycle of Mr. Tao's car dealership is basically about half a month, and Mr. Wei's car dealership can basically change a batch of inventory in a month.

Can I buy a new energy used car with confidence?

For new energy used cars, many consumers may have concerns: Can they buy new energy-used cars with confidence?

Even without mentioning the "used car routine", just one battery problem will make many consumers worry about new energy-used cars. In a user survey by First Electric, a new energy vertical website, 41% of users believe that the battery life of new energy-used cars is too low to buy, and 29% of users are worried that the battery has a serious decline.

In addition, new energy-used cars are still an emerging market, whether it is pricing, testing, or quality assurance, there are no mature rules in many aspects, which will indeed make many consumers stop and watch.

In the eyes of the operators of physical car dealerships such as Mr. Tao, if you want to dispel the concerns of customers, you must let users know the real situation of the vehicle, how much the battery attenuation is, and let consumers know that new and used cars have the same quality assurance rights and interests, and carefully serve every consumer to achieve "treat each other with sincerity and heart to heart".

Some used car platform companies try to solve the root cause of consumer concerns by building a complete and complete service system. For example, for the problem of battery attenuation, although some third-party platforms can provide power battery test reports, the accuracy of these test reports has yet to be tested, and the actual battery life needs to be verified by consumers while driving.

Not only the battery but also many problems with the condition of used cars cannot be fully discovered by testing alone. According to Guazi's Q2 vehicle condition data in 2023, professional appraisers can find about 83% of vehicle condition problems through static testing; within 7 days of picking up the car, users can find about 17% of vehicle condition problems through dynamic test driving. To promote users' 100% understanding of vehicle conditions, Guazi's solution is to launch a "7-day test drive" service. Compared with the traditional "short test drive", the service allows users to experience the vehicle in-depth for a longer period so that by combining the detection data of battery health with the actual long-term test drive experience, consumers can more accurately understand the actual working status of the battery and the comprehensive performance of the vehicle.

Summary

Consumers are also full of confidence in the future of new energy-used cars. Mr. You recently bought a second-hand Neta V. He believes that the price of about 50,000 is very suitable, and the cost of commuting in the urban area is also very low. "You don't have to worry about lowering the price when buying a new energy used car, and you won't lose too much if you don't want to open it and sell it, and the three-electric system of a new energy vehicle is not easy to break, so you don't have to worry about quality problems." In his opinion, a new energy car can fully meet your own car needs. The price is cost-effective and also has the driving experience, which is more cost-effective. "The new energy vehicle market and technology are constantly developing and maturing, and the new energy used car market will become more and more standardized. We consumers will buy with more confidence."

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