The price cuts cannot escape the service reduction. How can “Teslas” stabilize consumers?

 Tesla's self-confidence does not seem to be so full anymore.

On October 17, 2020, the question answering page of Tesla’s official website showed that the company’s confidence assurance plan was terminated and offline on October 16, 2020. Car purchase orders after that will no longer enjoy the protection of the plan.

The gist of the confidence assurance plan is: "We believe that you will feel good about your new car, so we give you time to experience and enjoy your new Tesla. Subject to the terms and conditions of this policy, if you are If the vehicle is not satisfied, the vehicle can be returned to us within seven (7) calendar days."

It is generally believed that the termination of the plan is related to Tesla's continuous price reduction strategy.

In the eyes of lawyers, what kind of return responsibility should Tesla bear in the future? How did other car companies overcome the psychological gap induced by price cuts?

Cancel the confidence guarantee plan, Tesla owners are anxious again

In fact, the Confidence Protection Plan is neither completely free nor unlimited.

First, there is a time limit, which is only applicable to orders that take effect on or after July 22, 2020; second, there is a refund requirement, and the price of 1,000 yuan is non-refundable; third, there are regulations for mileage, and the vehicle odometer reading cannot exceed 1,600 kilometers ; Fourth is the status requirement, the vehicle is in a brand new state, undamaged and no abnormal wear and tear; Fifth, there is a holding requirement, and it has not been resold or transferred to any individual or entity, that is, the vehicle will not be recognized if it is changed hands.

Attorney Zhou Yujie, a partner of Chongqing Jingyou Law Firm, told Zinc Scale: “Tesla did not violate Article 24 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law after terminating the seven-day unreasonable return of goods. However, it is still subject to the The Regulations on Responsibilities for Returning Goods stipulate that if the goods provided do not meet the quality requirements, consumers can return the goods in accordance with national regulations and the parties’ agreement, or require operators to perform replacement, repair and other obligations.”

Attorney Zhou Yujie further stated that in accordance with the "Regulations on Responsibilities for Repair, Replacement and Return of Household Car Products", consumers who meet the following conditions can request a car replacement: within 60 days from the issuance of the purchase invoice or within 3,000 kilometers of driving distance, there is a steering system failure or braking system Failure, car body cracking, fuel leakage; within the validity period of the three packs (2 years or 50,000 kilometers, whichever comes first), after the engine and transmission have been replaced 2 times, or their same main parts have been replaced 2 times due to quality problems If it still cannot be used normally after the second time, or has been repaired 2 times due to serious safety performance failure.

From this point of view, Tesla returns are not "nowhere".

In fact, consumers have mixed opinions on the termination of the confidence protection plan: a voice believes that this is Tesla’s traditional art, and the cancellation of benefits means that subsequent price cuts will continue. Consumers have no means to hedge against it, or they may make them wait and see. The atmosphere is stronger, and another voice thinks that the cancellation is harmless. After all, all consumers are paying for the few people who enjoy the service.

The two views are not right or wrong, but the starting point is different. The former believes that the confidence guarantee plan is a supporting measure for Tesla's price reduction, while the latter considers the value of the service and the audience.

Yi Montrose Sila owner told zinc scale: "1000 yuan is equivalent to the original plan to rent seven days, which can be much cheaper than car rental company, may loophole does exist, it canceled canceled, but behind the Tesla price guide You have to keep up. As long as the critical point of price cuts is clear, no one will lose out if you buy early and enjoy discounts later."

In addition, a related person revealed: "Many people want to know where the cars recycled by Tesla's confidence guarantee program have gone. The problem is simple, of course they are sold. But this kind of car is no longer a pure new car, and it is not Like cars ordered in stores or online, you can choose your favorite colors, interiors, wheels, etc. Of course, Tesla does not have other sales channels like level two, so these cars are generally notified directly by sales. Users who intend to purchase a guarantee plan car."

From this perspective, Tesla canceled the confidence guarantee plan or a combination of multiple factors.

With little service, car companies racked their brains to stabilize consumers

In other words, after the termination of the confidence guarantee program, consumers think they should enjoy fewer services and feel more anxious about Tesla's future price cuts. How does Tesla need to reassure consumers?

In fact, in order to appease consumers, price insurance has become a reassurance for some car companies or some 4S shops to deal with the psychological gap induced by price cuts.

Some market participants said that the end of the year is often a critical moment for car companies to impulse, and the bargaining space is relatively large, while most OEMs are unwilling to reduce prices in an "official" manner, acquiescing to 4S store promotions, and some 4S stores in order to stabilize consumers. A price-insurance agreement will be signed, that is, if there is an actual change in the price of the car from the time the car is ordered to the time the car is picked up, the best price will be paid or the difference will be doubled.

A 4S salesperson confessed to Zinc Scale that this phenomenon does exist in the current industry, but it is not mainstream. The main reason is that the insured agreement is poorly enforceable: "What is the reference standard, the official guide price, or the actual landing price? Official guidance The price is generally constant, and the actual landing price fluctuates greatly. In addition, the official seal is also very knowledgeable."

Therefore, car companies are more secure to come forward.

For example, Xiaopeng Motors has released the price insured policy of Xiaopeng P7. The current price remains unchanged. If it is forced to reduce the price, it will compensate customers in different ways, that is, the points have been delivered and the difference has not been delivered.

Obviously, Xiaopeng Motors is still quite cautious and only chooses models with high expectations for quotation: it is not inferior to the domestic Tesla Model 3 in terms of body size, wheelbase, and battery life, but there is a certain price gap. Therefore, the safety mat is relatively thick.

In fact, Xiaopeng Motors has suffered from the psychological gap of consumers.

Weilai's subsidy standard

The G3 2019 version was delivered on a large scale in March 2019, but the G3 2020 version was launched in July. While keeping the price unchanged, on the one hand, the battery life has been increased, and on the other hand, technologies such as support for L2.5 level assisted autonomous driving capabilities have been added. Attributes.

Under rapid iteration, the failure to properly handle the positioning relationship and price relationship of the new and old products caused strong consumer dissatisfaction, leading to the outbreak of a crisis of trust, and finally quelling consumer anger through compensation.

In fact, the price-insurance policy can be used not only to deal with price cuts, but also to deal with price increases.

New energy subsidies will further decline in 2020. In order not to affect consumers, during the transition period, auto companies such as Weilai, Ideal, and BYD have adopted an insured strategy and assumed additional subsidies, such as the purchase of ES6 by individuals, according to the 2019 subsidy. The standard is 20,000 yuan (70 kWh battery) / 25,000 yuan (84 kWh battery), and according to the 2020 subsidy standard, it is 14,400 yuan / 18,000 yuan.

Concessions are in place in one step, simple and rude can solve users' troubles?

In addition to price protection, one-step discount is another strategy, so that psychological expectations can be reduced to a low point, and consumer anxiety can also be reduced.

In fact, the growth of the auto market in the past two years has been sluggish, and the competition for stock has become more intense. In the minds of some auto companies, it is no longer a problem whether to drop or not, but how to drop is the problem. Therefore, second-tier luxury brands such as Volvo and Cadillac have adopted preferential treatment. The style of play has also been jokingly called fractured by the outside world. For example, the landing price of Cadillac CT 6 is nearly 100,000 yuan lower than the official guide price.

The advantage of this play is that it is simple and rude. It forms a dislocation competition with first-line luxury brands through cost-effective distribution. More importantly, it reduces consumers’ psychological expectations of future prices and offsets part of the "slowly falling" price. Negative impact; the disadvantage is that the brand premium is impacted and the second-hand value preservation rate is low.

For Tesla, it may be difficult to consider in a short period of time whether it is price insuring or preferential treatment.

The localization rate of the domestic Tesla Model 3 has moved from 30% to 100%. According to recent research reports from Ping An Securities , the current localization rate is estimated to be around 70%. This is a gradual process driven by cost reduction and efficiency enhancement. , It is destined that the cost will continue to fall, which will promote the sales price to be in a downward channel for a long time.

Tesla Model 3

In this context, the option of insuring price is contrary to Tesla's desire to expand the market pie and expand market share, and it is not realistic to choose preferential treatment in one step.

Industrial Securities had predicted that after 100% localization of the domestically-made Tesla Model 3, the minimum price may drop to 197,000 yuan, which means that there may still be a lot of room for price reduction.

An industry insider told Zinc Scale: “Volvo, Cadillac, etc. are facing the problem of breaking through the sales ceiling, and Tesla is not worried about sales, but is more urgent to scale up, and lacks the sense of urgency and necessity for preferential treatment in one step. Sex."

The industry insider further pointed out that Tesla is a direct sales agent and does not have an intermediary role as a dealer. Therefore, it cannot design the price difference game of the traditional car company, which is the official guide price and landing price, and naturally it cannot apply the anchoring effect.

From this perspective, Tesla still needs to make greater efforts and use more wisdom in the process of balancing price reduction strategies and protecting consumer rights.