With the upcoming 50% subsidy for electric vehicle purchase tax, who would dare not join this battle to ensure market stability?

As is well known, according to the joint announcement issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Taxation Administration, the purchase tax for new energy vehicles from 2026 to 2027 will be adjusted from full exemption to half exemption. This means that starting from January 1, 2026, the cost for consumers to purchase new energy vehicles will be 15,000 yuan more per vehicle than before.

Recently, a fierce "guarantee battle" has broken out in the Chinese auto market.

Taking Xiaomi as an example, considering that some car owners are worried that the purchase tax incentives they can enjoy may be reduced due to cross - year vehicle delivery, it has officially announced a cross - year purchase tax subsidy plan.

Specifically, for car owners who complete the order confirmation before November 30, 2025, if the vehicle is delivered in 2026 due to official reasons, they can enjoy the purchase tax subsidy to ensure that car owners do not incur additional expenses due to changes in the purchase tax policy.

In contrast, Deepal has also made a similar commitment.

That is, for all models with orders confirmed before 24:00 on November 30, if the vehicle with the confirmed configuration is invoiced and delivered in 2026 due to non - customer reasons, the owner can enjoy the cross - year purchase tax difference subsidy.

As for Zeekr, it has also launched relevant benefits for the recently launched 9X.

For orders confirmed before October 31, 2025 (inclusive), if the vehicle is invoiced and delivered in 2026 due to official reasons, users can enjoy the purchase tax difference subsidy, and the subsidy amount will be directly deducted from the final payment of the vehicle price.

The subsidy amount is based on the difference between the purchase tax that the user's order needs to pay in 2026 and 2025, with a maximum of 15,000 yuan.

Li Auto has targeted its official promotion at the i6.

For those who complete the order confirmation before October 31, 2025, if the vehicle needs to be invoiced and delivered in 2026 due to official reasons, they can enjoy the cross - year purchase tax subsidy plan. The subsidy will be provided in the form of a cash reduction in the final payment, offsetting the corresponding purchase tax difference according to the vehicle configuration to ensure that users do not have to bear additional purchase tax expenses.

In contrast, as the real initiator of this "guarantee battle", at the launch event of NIO's new ES8 on September 20, it gave everyone a "reassurance pill".

For orders confirmed before December 31, 2025 (inclusive), each order can get a purchase tax difference subsidy coupon. If an order confirmed in 2025 needs to be invoiced and delivered in 2026 due to official reasons, consumers can use the purchase tax difference subsidy coupon to offset the vehicle price, with a maximum deduction of 15,000 yuan.

In addition to the above - mentioned brands, currently, other participants in this battle include Qiyuan, Wenjie, Zhijie, Chery, Tank and other brands. This week, the newly launched Denza N8L and all Smart models have also joined the "guarantee battle".

Consequently, a new question arises: why is this battle being fought? In my opinion, there are mainly two reasons. First of all, it is to stabilize the customer base.

It is obvious that the purchase tax "guarantee" mainly targets some popular models, and their delivery cycles are generally very long.

Taking the new ES8 as an example, according to the NIO APP, if you confirm an order now, you have to wait until April 2026 to pick up the car. Such a long waiting time will surely lead to a large - scale loss of potential customers. You know, in the large three - row SUV market alone, there are more than a dozen similar competing models in the current Chinese auto market.

Similarly, the estimated delivery time for the entry - level version of Xiaomi YU7 is currently 42 - 45 weeks. After confirming an order for the Li Auto i6, the estimated delivery time is 16 - 19 weeks. The mid - size SUV market where they are located has also become extremely competitive.

Faced with a dazzling array of choices and the imminent reduction of national subsidies, most consumers will inevitably adjust their car - buying plans, and ultimately, there will be cases of order cancellations.

With the official guarantee, it can indeed relieve the anxiety of order - confirmed users to a certain extent and reduce the probability of being "intercepted" by competitors. After all, for popular new cars, maintaining a continuous stream of orders is very important.

Of course, the price to pay is definitely "sacrificing profits". Especially for new - energy vehicle startups with insufficient cash reserves, it is undoubtedly a "bold gamble".

Secondly, the fundamental purpose of automakers launching the guarantee battle is to boost sales at the end of the year.

In the past, we always said "Golden September and Silver October". In this year's Chinese auto market, October is obviously more valuable. According to the data released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, in the first half of October, the number of potential customers increased by 35.4% compared with the first half of September and 12.3% compared with the second half of September. The number of orders increased by 13% compared with the first half of September.

The "catalyst" behind this is that in addition to the upcoming half - reduction of the new energy vehicle purchase tax exemption, the imminent reduction of old - car scrapping subsidies and replacement subsidies has also made many long - term on - the - fence users with rigid demand start to take action.

In other words, with the continuous promotion of policies and the efforts of automakers, in the fourth quarter, the entire market has entered a very excited sprint state, and each segment is accelerating the release of sales volume.

The automakers' decision to pay out of their own pockets can be regarded as a move in line with the trend.

Moreover, in 2026, with the reduction of various subsidies, no one dares to give an accurate prediction of how much impact it will have on new energy vehicles that have just "won the battle".

Before that, everyone can only seize the remaining "policy window" in 2025 to the maximum extent to accumulate and reserve orders to cope with many subsequent unknown challenges.

Based on this background, it is completely foreseeable that more and more automakers will actively participate in the "guarantee battle" in the future. You can even regard it as a new form of "price war".

A few days ago, I wrote an article titled "Who on earth is still buying fuel - powered cars? Finally, I understand". The intense discussion in the comment section really surprised me.

To sum up, the central idea is that "in the eyes of many readers, new energy vehicles are still products driven by policies, not by the market and products."

From another perspective, the reason why automakers are willing to pay out of their own pockets to subsidize the new energy vehicle purchase tax is essentially a compromise and a helpless move.

Although the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles has steadily exceeded the 50% mark, when the "crutches" that have assisted this group in moving forward are gradually removed, there are still many uncertainties as to whether they can maintain the previous remarkable growth rate.

As for the answer to this question, we will find out soon in 2026.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Automobile Community" (ID: iAUTO2010). Author: Cui Liwen, Editor: He Zengrong. Republished by 36Kr with permission.