Die Anhänger von Verbrennungsmotorenautos verdienen still und leise Geld auf der Chengdu Automobilausstellung.

The market for new energy vehicles at the Chengdu Auto Show is booming. Take the Zeekr 9X, which is priced at the 500,000 - yuan level. It received nearly 43,000 orders within an hour of its pre - sale. If all these orders can be converted into sales, Zeekr will earn over 20 billion yuan from this deal. Although these are currently refundable small - deposit orders, the figure is still astonishing.

In contrast, fuel - powered cars at the auto show are almost "invisible" online and don't even make it onto the must - see new car lists of a leading automotive platform. However, the lack of popularity doesn't mean they are unpopular. In fact, some fuel - powered cars are selling as well as new energy vehicles, quietly making good profits in the "corners" of the Chengdu Auto Show.

For example, regarding the Buick Envision Plus by SAIC - GM, on September 2nd, Yuan Auto learned from the automaker that the car received over 10,000 orders within 4 days after the opening of the Chengdu Auto Show. This is a very eye - catching result in the overall auto market, including new energy vehicles.

Why can fuel - powered cars still compete? Price is definitely the key. For instance, Buick has set a "fixed price" of 169,900 yuan for the Envision Plus. As a reference, this "Tiguan L killer" was a proper 300,000 - yuan - level car when it was first launched and had no trouble selling.

At the Chengdu Auto Show, there are still many fuel - powered cars with at least similar paper - based combat capabilities to the Envision Plus.

A Blessing for Fuel - Powered Car Enthusiasts

The Volkswagen Lamando L GTS is available at a limited - time price of 139,900 yuan;

The Cadillac XT5 starts at a surprise price of 229,900 yuan;

The pre - sale price of the imported Hyundai Palisade starts at 293,800 yuan...

There are many fuel - powered cars like the Buick Envision Plus that have set shocking prices at the Chengdu Auto Show, and many of them are quite attractive. Take the Volkswagen Lamando L GTS as an example. Its engine and transmission are the same as those of the Golf GTI, which is one of the brand totems that Volkswagen fans once went crazy for. In the early days, when it was introduced as an imported car, it was hard to get even though it was priced at hundreds of thousands of yuan. In recent years, after being localized, it is also a 200,000 - yuan - level car.

Although the "German flavor" of the Lamando L GTS may not be as pure as that of the Golf GTI, being able to experience the charm of Volkswagen's classic sports car at the price of a Lavida or a Corolla is a good enough reason for many fuel - powered car enthusiasts to buy. On September 2nd, Yuan Auto learned from a source close to SAIC Volkswagen that the orders for the Lamando GTS exceeded expectations.

From a macro perspective, due to the popularity of new energy vehicles, fuel - powered cars have generally lowered their price positioning by a "100,000 - yuan level" to remain competitive. The 139,900 - yuan Lamando L GTS is an example, as are the Cadillac XT5 and the imported Hyundai Palisade, which have dropped from the 300,000 - 400,000 - yuan market to the "200,000 - plus" range.

From a brand perspective, this is quite regrettable, but from a consumer perspective, especially for those who prefer fuel - powered cars, it's like a windfall. Additionally, although the usage cost of fuel - powered cars is generally higher than that of new energy vehicles, since fuel - powered cars are away from the center of competition, the possibility of a new car's value being sharply depreciated is lower than that of new energy vehicles, and their vehicle depreciation rates are also relatively stable.

Overall, the total cost of owning a fuel - powered car over its entire life cycle may not necessarily be higher than that of a new energy vehicle in the same class.

Of course, buying a fuel - powered car may seem out of step with the times to outsiders, especially when the intelligent features of new cars are becoming a key factor in car - buying decisions. However, we should also note that intelligence and fuel - powered cars are not mutually exclusive. Fuel - powered cars can also perform well in areas such as assisted driving and intelligent cockpits.

For example, the new - generation Audi A5L and Q5L, as well as Geely's Xingyue L and Xingrui, are fuel - powered cars. The two new Audi models are equipped with Huawei's Kunlun assisted driving system, and the two Geely models are equipped with the Flyme Auto intelligent cockpit system. Their intelligent experiences are comparable to those of new energy vehicles in the same class.

Fuel - Powered Cars Become the Foundation for Automakers' Business

Praising the new fuel - powered cars at the Chengdu Auto Show is not to belittle new energy vehicles. An objective fact is that from January to August this year, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the domestic passenger car retail market has been hovering around 50%. Instead of new energy vehicles completely replacing fuel - powered cars, a more reasonable trend is for the two to coexist equally.

For automakers, it will be more stable to develop both fuel - powered and new energy vehicles.

"The Geely China Star series, composed of fuel - powered cars such as the Xingrui, Xingyue L, Boyue series, Emgrand series, and Binyue series, has consistently ranked first in the sales of Chinese - brand fuel - powered cars, achieving a 21% growth against the market trend." At the Chengdu Auto Show, Wang Bo, the deputy general manager of Geely Auto Sales Company and the general manager of the China Star Division, presented an eye - catching report card.

According to official data, fuel - powered cars have been the key to Geely's record - high sales in the first half of this year. Among them, the Xingyue L is the only fuel - powered SUV among the top 10 best - selling vehicles in the overall passenger car market, including new energy vehicles.

Although Geely attributes more of its business achievements in the first half of the year to new energy vehicles, without the fuel - powered cars that account for 44.1% of the company's total sales, it would obviously not have achieved growth, let alone raised its 2025 sales target from 2.71 million to 3 million vehicles.

A similar situation can also be seen in SAIC Group. According to the latest production and sales report, SAIC Group's cumulative sales from January to August this year were approximately 2.753 million vehicles, including about 1.86 million fuel - powered cars. Although its year - on - year growth rate is not as high as that of new energy vehicles, fuel - powered cars are still a solid foundation for the group's double - digit growth in revenue and total profit in the first half of the year.

Geely and SAIC Group, with their stable fuel - powered car bases, are showing more confidence in the competition of new energy vehicles this year. Models such as the Geely Galaxy M9, SAIC Shangjie H5, and SAIC MG4 have become the focus at the Chengdu Auto Show due to their highly competitive prices. All three models have announced that their pre - sale orders have exceeded 40,000, and the MG4 received 10,000 large - deposit orders within 40 minutes after the official price was announced.

Using fuel - powered cars to support new energy vehicles is becoming an advantage for some automakers that are developing both types of vehicles.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Yuan Auto". Author: Yuan Media. Republished by 36Kr with permission.