In the automotive market this September, the excitement was quite extraordinary. When you look at the new car calendar for September, it seems that major automakers have agreed to bet their most important products on this month. Scroll through your WeChat Moments, and every now and then there’s a new car launch event for a certain brand. Check the push notifications from automotive media, and there are almost “blockbuster launches” headlines every week.
It’s not really new for there to be many new cars in September, but this year it’s truly gone a bit crazy: Fangchengbao Ti 7 was launched in the first ten days of the month, and over a thousand units were delivered within five days of its launch; Jihu T1, in the pure – electric small car market, received over 26,000 large – scale orders within an hour of its launch; Xiangjie S9T was launched as the first station wagon under Hongmeng Zhixing, followed by the new Wenjie M7 and the highly anticipated Shangjie H5; Audi E5 Sportback, Lynk & Co 10 EM – P, Denza N9, and Zeekr 9X also launched one after another.

According to incomplete statistics, in total, more than 30 new cars, including both fuel – powered and new – energy vehicles, were launched in September. Even the media said, “There aren’t enough automotive media reporters.”
Before the arrival of Q4, major automakers seem to have heard the same starting gun and placed all their chips on this starting line. There are multiple reasons behind this. On one hand, there’s the approaching expiration of policy windows, and on the other hand, the constant urging of annual KPIs can’t be ignored. All automakers are involved in a high – stakes race against time, and the prosperity and pressure in the Chinese automotive market are clearly visible.

What makes this September different is, first of all, a clear deadline: The policy of exempting new – energy vehicles from purchase tax will expire at the end of this year. Starting from January 1st next year, it will be changed to “half – tax collection”, with a maximum tax reduction of 15,000 yuan per vehicle, and the preferential strength will decline. For a new – energy vehicle worth 300,000 yuan, the purchase tax exemption means a real discount of nearly 30,000 yuan. This figure is enough to make many hesitant consumers make up their minds immediately.
History often repeats itself. When the purchase tax exemption policy faced its first expiration at the end of 2022, there was a surge in deliveries across the industry. That experience taught all automakers that the policy window period is the period of explosive sales. Now, the same window has opened again, and there are only 100 days left.
For automakers, it usually takes 1 – 2 months for market cultivation and production capacity ramping up from the launch of a new car to large – scale delivery. This means that if a new car is launched in September, deliveries will start in October, and full – force efforts will be made in November and December. Consumers can just pick up their cars before the end of the year and enjoy the last purchase tax exemption. So, why is the density of new cars in September this year much higher than in previous years? It may not be that automakers have become more diligent. It’s just that the policy countdown has compressed all the new cars that might have been gradually launched in Q4 into this last starting line in September. One day’s delay means one day less of the sales window, and a week’s delay might mean selling thousands of units less.

It should be noted that the purchase tax exemption policy is based on the invoice issuance date, not the date of signing the car purchase contract. This means that to enjoy the purchase tax exemption, the issuance date of the invoice or relevant valid vouchers when buying a car must be within the tax – free period stipulated by the policy.
So, just placing an order before the end of the year is definitely not enough. Sufficient time also needs to be set aside to complete the process, get the invoice, and enter the production schedule (usually when a clear vehicle frame number is obtained). That’s why Li Auto and NIO have successively promised that if users are unable to enjoy the purchase tax exemption according to the existing policy due to production scheduling reasons, they will bear the difference.

In addition to these reasons, the traditional concept of “Golden September and Silver October” still plays a role in promoting the automotive market this year, which also indirectly speeds up the pace of automakers launching new models during this period. It should be said that the traditional concepts of “Golden March and Silver April” and “Golden September and Silver October” in the Chinese consumer market have long been deeply ingrained in the DNA of various industries, including the automotive industry. Whether it’s buying a house or a car, or even job – hunting and recruitment, people like to seize these time points.

Every September, along with the upcoming Mid – Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, consumers’ willingness to buy cars will be released in a concentrated manner. New cars attract the most attention and generate the most topics when they are first launched. Launching at this time can take advantage of the traffic and atmosphere of the holidays to quickly build market awareness. Consumers can also visit dealerships, test – drive cars, and place orders during the holidays. Automakers may have planned this set of operations before the new car launch. This year, the Mid – Autumn Festival and National Day holidays overlap, creating a super – long 8 – day holiday, making automakers even more reluctant to miss such a golden time.
Judging from the information disclosed by various automakers during the National Day holiday, the National Day Golden Week has indeed helped increase the footfall in shopping mall stores and 4S stores. Some automakers also showed good sales data and order – placing performance in the first week of October, indicating that the automakers’ strategies have achieved certain results.
September also plays an important role as the last month of the third quarter and the starting line for the fourth quarter. For all automakers, this is a crucial time node. Whether the annual sales target can be achieved depends on this final quarter.
Hongmeng Zhixing hopes to ramp up production capacity before the end of the year through the Xiangjie S9T and a combination of new products; Fangchengbao under BYD launched the Ti 7, entering the family SUV market with a starting price of 179,800 yuan. Even BYD, which has firmly held the sales championship, needs to consolidate its leading position before the end of the year. These goals carry the expectations of the capital market, the cost sharing of the supply chain, and the annual assessment of the dealer rebate policy.

Launching new cars in September can provide a three – month sales window for Q4, and this rhythm is just right. In the current highly competitive stock market, it’s difficult to make a breakthrough with old models. Only new products can open up new growth space. The concentrated manifestation of automakers’ annual strategies this time is to boost Q4 with new products and end the whole year with good Q4 results. What’s different this year is that when combined with the strong stimulus of the purchase tax countdown, multiple influencing factors have overlapped, making this September an absolute window period that automakers can’t afford to miss.
When the policy node becomes the guiding stick for the collective actions of the industry, the volatility and uncertainty of the market are also increasing. In the past, a model could be popular for three years, but now it needs to be updated every six months. In the past, new car launches could be planned calmly, but now they must be timed precisely. The biggest challenge for automakers in this wave of new car launches is the soaring marketing costs. Brands are all launching new cars, holding press conferences, and running advertisements at this time, and consumers’ attention is severely diluted. Tens of millions may be invested in a press conference, but the buzz may soon be drowned in the flood of information.

At the same time, production capacity and the supply chain are also facing tests. Launching a new car in September means that inventory needs to be prepared in August and September, which places extremely high requirements on the response speed and production capacity planning of the supply chain. Fangchengbao Ti 7 was delivered as soon as it was launched, and Xiangjie S9T announced that deliveries would start on September 21st. This is a tough battle for the manufacturing system.
An even deeper issue in this wave of new car launches is differentiation. When there are too many new cars on the market at the same time, how can each brand tell a different story? Every brand is trying to find its own positioning because in this homogeneous competition, “I also have it” is no longer enough. It has to be “Only I have it”. For ordinary consumers, the choices have never been so abundant, but the decision – making pressure has also never been so great. With the overwhelming product promotions, it has become a difficult problem to find the truly suitable product under time pressure. The purchase tax countdown is like an invisible hourglass, and this sense of urgency may also make some people make less – rational choices in a rush.
When all automakers start at the same window period, this game is no longer about who runs fast but who won’t stumble during the sprint. The new car feast in September continues, and the intensive launch rhythm tests the real product strength and supply chain resilience. Time will eventually prove who are the real long – distance runners and who are just short – distance sprinters pushed by the policy.
This article is from the WeChat official account “Cheyun” (ID: cheyunwang), written by YZLX, edited by Lu Zhiyao, and published by 36Kr with authorization.
该文观点仅代表作者本人，36氪平台仅提供信息存储空间服务。
36kr Europe (eu.36kr.com) delivers global business and markets news, data, analysis, and video to the world, dedicated to building value and providing business service for companies’ global expansion.
© 2024 36kr.com. All rights reserved.

source