Category: Mini EV

Wuling cuts prices on its mini EVs by up to $1,850

Wuling said the move is in response to China's call to boost consumption of NEVs in rural areas.

(Image credit: SAIC-GM-Wuling)

SAIC-GM-Wuling is cutting the prices of several of its mini electric vehicles (EVs), after taking a page out of 's (NYSE: NIO) book 10 days ago to make these budget EVs more affordable.

The company today announced a price cut of up to 13,000 yuan ($1,850) for models in its Hongguang Mini EV family, saying the move is in response to China's call to boost consumption of NEVs in rural areas.

Last week, China released a policy to support NEV consumption in rural areas, which mentioned that automakers are encouraged to develop more economical models that target the characteristics of consumers in rural areas.

A table released by SAIC-GM-Wuling shows that an Air EV, originally priced at RMB 82,800, saw a price drop of RMB 13,000, or 15.70 percent, to RMB 69,800, the largest price cut for its Mini EV family.

The other three Air EVs have all seen their prices cut by RMB 10,000, with the latest prices at RMB 66,800, 65,800 and 57,800 respectively.

SAIC-GM-Wuling's better-known Mini EV series has four models all reduced in price by RMB 6,000, with the latest prices at RMB 63,800, RMB 61,800, RMB 51,800, and RMB 49,800 respectively.

SAIC-GM-Wuling is a joint venture between SAIC Group, General Motors and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile, headquartered in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwestern China.

It sells vehicles based on the GSEV (Global Small Electric Vehicle) architecture in China, including the Mini EV, KiWi EV, Nano EV and Air EV. In addition to these pure electric models, SAIC-GM-Wuling also sells fuel-powered SUVs, MPVs and vans.

The Air EV will be officially launched in China on December 12, 2022, with a price range of RMB 67,800-82,800.

The model is SAIC-GM-Wuling's first global model, which was first launched in Indonesia in August last year.

Prior to the price cut, SAIC-GM-Wuling took a page from NIO's book and allowed consumers to purchase the Hongguang Mini EV with a body only and lease the battery, although the model does not support simple battery replacement like NIO models.

The automaker offers this purchase option for five versions of the Hongguang Mini EV, with the lowest-priced version costing consumers an initial payment of just RMB 19,800 and a monthly battery lease of RMB 198 for the next five years.

Under the regular purchase option, this version of the Hongguang Mini EV is priced at RMB 32,800.

($1 = RMB 7.0218)

SAIC-GM-Wuling takes page from NIO's book to make its Mini EV even more affordable

The post Wuling cuts prices on its mini EVs by up to $1,850 appeared first on CnEVPost.

For more articles, please visit CnEVPost.

SAIC-GM-Wuling takes page from NIO’s book to make its Mini EV even more affordable

SAIC-GM-Wuling is allowing consumers to pay only for the vehicle body and rent the battery when they buy the Mini EV, lowering the purchase threshold to RMB 19,800 ($2,860).

SAIC-GM-Wuling takes page from NIO's book to make its Mini EV even more affordable-CnEVPost

(Image credit: SAIC-GM-Wuling)

SAIC-GM-Wuling is taking a page from NIO's book by allowing consumers to buy only the vehicle body and rent the battery when they buy its hot-selling Hongguang Mini EV, even though the model doesn't support a simple battery swap like NIO models.

The automaker offers this purchase option for five versions of the Hongguang Mini EV, with the lowest-priced version costing consumers an initial payment of just RMB 19,800 ($2,860) and a monthly battery rental of RMB 198 for five years thereafter.

Under the regular purchase option, this version of the Hongguang Mini EV is priced at RMB 32,800.

Of the other four higher-priced versions, two of them have a vehicle body price of RMB 29,800 and the other two are RMB 33,800, with battery leasing prices ranging from RMB 198 to RMB 558.

Hongguang Mini EV price under battery rental

ModelHongguang Mini EV QingsongHongguang Mini EV Macaron ShishangHongguang Mini EV Macaron ZhenxiangGameboy WanleGameboy Wanle
Range120 km120 km170 km200 km300 km
Retail Price (RMB)32,80043,80049,80055,80067,800
Vehicle Body Price (RMB)19,80029,80029,80033,80033,800
Battery Rental (RMB)198198298358558
Battery Rental Term5 years5 years5 years5 years5 years
Final Payment (RMB)1,9800000

This is similar to the battery rental service BaaS (battery as a service) offered by NIO, except that NIO owners who choose to purchase a car based on BaaS do not get ownership of the battery unless they pay a one-time fee to buy it out.

The cheapest NIO model is currently the ET5 sedan, which costs RMB 328,000. For consumers who choose to purchase based on the BaaS plan, the price will start at RMB 258,000 and the monthly battery rental fee will start at RMB 980.

NIO initially did not allow battery buyouts for BaaS-based car owners, but launched the service in April 2022.

Under NIO's plan announced at the time, vehicle owners will be allowed to terminate their BaaS lease agreement if they decide to back out.

These users will be able to get a brand new battery at the NIO service center, and in the case of a standard range battery pack, they will have to pay RMB 70,000 for the pack and a service fee of RMB 3,000.

If it is a long-range battery pack, then the cost includes RMB 128,000 for the battery and RMB 3,000 for the service fee.

SAIC-GM-Wuling is a joint venture between SAIC Group, General Motors and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile, headquartered in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southwest China.

It sells vehicles based on the GSEV (Global Small Electric Vehicle) architecture in China, including the Mini EV, KiWi EV, Nano EV and Air EV. In addition to these pure electric models, SAIC-GM-Wuling also sells fuel-powered SUVs, MPVs and vans.

It is one of the largest NEV makers in China, but sales in the first four months were down from a year ago.

From January to April, SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 111,604 NEVs, down 15.9 percent from 132,658 units in the same period last year, according to data released yesterday by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

That makes SAIC-GM-Wuling the only one of the top five manufacturers of NEV sales in China to see a decline in sales of such models.

($1 = RMB 6.9338)

Full CPCA rankings: Top-selling models and automakers in China in Apr

The post SAIC-GM-Wuling takes page from NIO's book to make its Mini EV even more affordable appeared first on CnEVPost.

For more articles, please visit CnEVPost.