Das Rätsel der 3.000 - Yuan - Subvention von Hongmeng Zhixing: Untersuchung zur Wahrheit der „Unterstützung“ durch die lokale Regierung

For a moment, the view that "local governments strongly support Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing" spread rapidly. However, dealers of Hongmeng Zhixing in cities that did not offer the 3,000-yuan subsidy and dealers of other automobile brands expressed their dissatisfaction, believing that the selective subsidy was "unfair."

After entering July, the price war in the automobile market gradually subsided, and it has become a major industry trend for automobile manufacturers to reduce promotional subsidies. However, the subsidy of one automobile enterprise still attracted particular attention.

On June 30, the Henan Automobile Industry Association and the Engineering Society issued a "Notice on Carrying out Relevant Work to Promote Consumption of New Energy Vehicles." For natural - person consumers who newly purchase new energy vehicles priced at 200,000 yuan or more, equipped with the Hongmeng in - vehicle system and the Huawei Tuling platform in Henan Province in July and register the vehicles with the "Yu" license plate in Henan Province, a cash subsidy of 3,000 yuan per vehicle will be given.

Immediately afterwards, many places followed up with similar subsidy policies. On July 1, the Changsha Commerce Bureau announced that for the purchase of some models of Hongmeng Zhixing in the Hunan region, a 3,000 - yuan subsidy for purchasing new energy vehicles will be given per vehicle. On July 4, July 8, and July 11, the Changchun Commerce Bureau, the Anhui Automobile Dealers Chamber of Commerce, and the Yunnan Department of Commerce respectively announced that consumers who purchase Hongmeng Zhixing models locally in July can get a 3,000 - yuan subsidy.

For a moment, the view that "local governments strongly support Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing" spread rapidly. However, dealers of Hongmeng Zhixing in cities that did not offer the 3,000 - yuan subsidy and dealers of other automobile brands expressed their dissatisfaction, believing that the selective subsidy was "unfair."

"I've inquired. Definitely, no local governments were involved. This is Huawei's own promotional activity," Xing Haitao, the Party branch secretary of the All - China Federation of Industry and Commerce Automobile Dealers Chamber of Commerce, told a reporter from Economic Observer. "Leaders of relevant ministries and commissions have noticed this matter, and the Hongmeng Zhixing subsidy activity in Henan was stopped yesterday."

The reporter from Economic Observer found through investigation that the 3,000 - yuan subsidy was indeed paid by Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing itself, but the payment method at the terminal level was inconsistent with the method announced by the Henan Automobile Industry Association and the Engineering Society. However, the subsidy announcements for Hongmeng Zhixing in the above - mentioned provinces and cities were all issued through the platforms of local governments and industry associations, leading many uninformed consumers to think that these were local government subsidies.

"More importantly, the nature of this matter is not good. This can be regarded as a new type of industry disorder," Wang Dong, the person - in - charge of a Geely Automobile dealer in Henan, told a reporter from Economic Observer. "Because it issued notices through relevant government departments and industry associations and used the authority of these institutions for marketing and promotion, which is an unfair competition for the industry."

The Promotional "Subsidy" is Stopped

The notice from the Henan Automobile Industry Association and the Engineering Society mentioned that the total amount of the activity was 6 million yuan (for 2,000 vehicles), on a first - come - first - served basis until the funds were used up. However, there was still a week left before the subsidy deadline. After being noticed by relevant departments, the 3,000 - yuan subsidy policy for Hongmeng Zhixing in Henan was stopped.

The reporter from Economic Observer noticed that the notices of the time - limited subsidy activities for Hongmeng Zhixing issued by the WeChat official accounts of the Henan Automobile Industry Association and the Engineering Society, the WeChat official account "Changsha Commerce" of the Changsha Commerce Bureau, and the Yueyang Commerce Bureau have all been deleted.

On July 23, sales staff at Hongmeng Zhixing stores in Luoyang, Nanyang and other places told the reporter from Economic Observer that they had received notices from the manufacturer that the subsidy quota had been used up and the policy had stopped. However, some sales staff at Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing stores said that the 3,000 - yuan subsidy was still available.

In addition, currently, only the subsidies at Hongmeng Zhixing stores in Henan Province have been stopped, while stores in Anhui, Hunan and other provinces can still enjoy the subsidies.

It is worth noting that the Henan Automobile Industry Association and the Engineering Society mentioned in their document that the subsidy target was models equipped with the Hongmeng in - vehicle system and the Huawei Tuling platform. In this regard, Shenlan Automobile said to Economic Observer: "Here, 'and' does not mean 'and' in the ordinary sense, but 'and' in the sense of 'both'. That is, the models must be equipped with both the in - vehicle system and the Tuling platform. Feedback from the sales terminals shows that models of brands such as Shenlan, Avita, and Jianghuai are all equipped with the Huawei Hongmeng in - vehicle system, but they cannot enjoy this subsidy policy."

"The money for this subsidy is paid by Huawei itself. In fact, this is just a price cut," a salesperson at a Hongmeng Zhixing store in Zhengzhou told the reporter. "If it were a government subsidy, there would be a reimbursement process. You would need to use your debit card for real - name authentication to make the payment, but we didn't go through any reimbursement process. You don't need to get any vouchers for this 3,000 yuan. It is directly deducted from the car price."

In addition, the terminal sales methods and situation of Hongmeng Zhixing also differed greatly from the content of the notice from the Henan Automobile Industry Association and the Engineering Society. The notice from this institution mentioned that "in cooperation with the Henan Branch of China UnionPay Co., Ltd., relying on the 'Yunshangfu' platform, the activity to promote the consumption of new energy vehicles in Henan Province will be carried out. Both the deposit and the final payment need to be made through Yunshangfu, and the reduction of the final payment after placing an order will be realized."

However, sales staff at many Hongmeng Zhixing and Wenjie brand dealers said that the deposit was paid through the Huawei Mall, and the final payment was directly paid to the store. "These were just a publicized process at that time, making it seem more like a government subsidy, because the trade - in subsidy vouchers were received in the Yunshangfu APP," said the salesperson at the Luoyang Hongmeng Zhixing store. "Many dealers have strong opinions on this, not only those of other brands but also those of Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing," Xing Haitao said. "Because different subsidies and subsidies in different regions have had a great impact on the market order. It may cause consumers in areas without local subsidies to wait and see, or even go to areas with subsidies to buy cars."

Wang Dong said: "For example, there is no 3,000 - yuan subsidy in Hubei, and the trade - in subsidy policy in Hubei has been suspended for a long time. So, consumers in Hubei who want to buy Hongmeng Zhixing cars would rather go to Henan, Hunan, or Anhui to buy them for the 3,000 - yuan discount."

Why Does Hongmeng Zhixing Do This?

Why does Hongmeng Zhixing implement a 3,000 - yuan car - purchase subsidy in places such as Henan, Anhui, Hunan, Yunnan, and Changchun, Jilin? And why does it issue promotional notices in the name of the government and the automobile industry association?

In the view of many interviewees, Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing may have issued the subsidy notice in the name of authoritative institutions to improve policy compliance and credibility and avoid public disputes over individual corporate subsidies. "Issuing through the official channels of the government or industry associations can not only enhance consumers' trust and the confidence of terminal channels but also package the promotion as a market activity under policy guidance," said Lin Feng, the relevant person - in - charge of an international consulting company.

In late May this year, a new round of large - scale "price war" swept the automobile market. On May 31, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers issued a public initiative against the "bottom - less price war"; on June 3, the All - China Federation of Industry and Commerce Automobile Dealers Chamber of Commerce called on the industry to resist "involution - style competition"; subsequently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also clearly responded that it would strengthen supervision and law enforcement and rectify the industry order.

Lin Feng believes that industry institutions such as the Henan Automobile Industry Association and the Engineering Society and the Anhui Automobile Dealers Chamber of Commerce "standing up" for a single enterprise will not only make consumers think that this is a local subsidy but also make the public think that local governments are showing preferential support to Huawei. However, doing so will also weaken the neutrality of these institutions in the industry.

In fact, the sales pressure faced by Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing itself is the internal reason for its launch of terminal subsidies. It is rumored in the industry that Hongmeng Zhixing's sales target for 2025 is 1 million vehicles. Compared with the sales volume of 445,000 vehicles in 2024, the growth rate is as high as 125%. However, the cumulative sales volume of Hongmeng Zhixing in the first half of the year was about 200,000 vehicles, and the completion rate of the annual target was about 20%.

To achieve the goal, in addition to accelerating the launch of new products in the "Five Realms" (WENJIE, XIANGJIE, ZHIJIE, ZUNJIE, SHANGJIE), Hongmeng Zhixing also accelerated the construction of channels. On June 27, Hongmeng Zhixing announced that its offline layout had reached a new high. In April and May, 32 new user centers were established. As of that day, there were more than 290 WENJIE user centers, more than 160 Hongmeng Zhixing user centers, and more than 710 experience centers.

"The 3,000 - yuan subsidy for Hongmeng Zhixing in provinces such as Henan and Anhui is also related to Henan's large population base and high penetration rate of new energy vehicles," Lin Feng said.

Currently, the penetration rate of the new energy vehicle market in Henan is much higher than the average level in the central and western regions. According to data from the Jiaozuo Automobile Association, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in major cities in Henan exceeded 50% in June, and the penetration rate in Luoyang was as high as 70.12%. Data from the Anhui Automobile Chamber of Commerce shows that the cumulative penetration rate of new energy vehicles in Anhui from January to May reached 49.06%. Public information shows that more than 9 new Hongmeng Zhixing user centers have been opened in Henan this year.

"Most importantly, the trade - in policies for cars in these places have been suspended, while they are still in effect in other provinces. This means that consumers have to spend an extra ten or twenty thousand yuan to buy a car," Wang Dong said.

A salesperson at a Hongmeng Zhixing store of the Henan Hezhong Group said: "Before the suspension of the trade - in subsidy, the trade - in subsidy for the ZHIJIE R7 was 20,000 yuan. But now, after the suspension, many users are waiting and seeing. We have no choice but to issue invoices in Zhejiang because the 15,000 - yuan trade - in subsidy in Zhejiang has not been suspended. If we add the 3,000 - yuan subsidy from Huawei for the Henan region, the gap with the previous subsidy is further narrowed."

It is worth noting that in May and June, Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing launched a subsidy policy of 3,000 - 5,000 yuan in prefecture - level cities such as Tianjin, Ordos, Yueyang, Hohhot, and Linfen, Shanxi, where there were early reports of the suspension of the trade - in subsidy.

"The subsidy amount and scope in Tianjin have been significantly reduced compared with last year, but it has been implemented continuously without any phased suspension. Many places are similar. Although the application for the trade - in subsidy has not been suspended, it has been gradually reduced for a long time," a sales manager in the northern region of BYD told Economic Observer.

(At the request of the interviewees, Wang Dong and Lin Feng are pseudonyms)

This article is from the WeChat official account "Economic Observer", author: Zhou Xin, published by 36Kr with authorization.