AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/27 Report--

Recently, the Tramway report learned from Volvo that the prices of its Volvo XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge have been adjusted. The official price range of XC40 Recharge is 27.99-319000 yuan, which is 1.00-13900 yuan higher than before, and the official price range of C40 Recharge is 27.99-339000 yuan, up 1.1-23000 yuan.

Volvo CEO said today that "the rise in car prices lags behind the rise in costs", so it is not difficult to speculate that the price increase is due to higher prices of raw materials. According to data released by Shanghai Iron and Steel Federation, battery-grade lithium carbonate rose 2000 yuan / ton to an average price of 554500 yuan / ton, while industrial-grade lithium carbonate rose 2000 yuan / ton to 541000 yuan / ton, a record high.

It is worth mentioning that just a few days ago, Tesla China resolutely announced a price reduction. In Chinese mainland area, Tesla was selling Model 3 by 1.4-18000 yuan, and Model Y by 2.0-37000 yuan. This led to the short-term collapse of Tesla's official website and booming sales in terminal stores.

It is understood that the Volvo C40 Recharge officially launched on July 5, the car is based on the Volvo XC40 RECHARGE, the use of official direct import sales in China, positioning compact pure electric SUV. In terms of appearance, the Volvo C40 as a whole continues the Volvo XC40 RECHARGE design style, with a closed grille on the front face, a Raytheon hammer design style on both sides of the headlights and a matrix LED light source. In addition, the heat dissipation opening surrounded by the front of the new car adopts a three-part design, and a horizontal fog lamp group is embedded in the triangular style on both sides. At the same time, we can also see the obvious slip-back style, the rear of the roof has two raised spoiler decoration, with a small spoiler in the trunk, very sporty. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new car are 4440/1873/1591mm and the wheelbase is 2702mm.

In the interior part, the new car is basically the same as the XC40 RECHARGE, still using the usual Nordic minimalist style, which is equipped with a 12.3inch full liquid crystal meter, a 9-inch touch display and a three-spoke multi-function steering wheel. The center console turns slightly to the driver's side, and the internal design is very simple.

On the power side, the Volvo C40 offers single-motor models (long-lasting version, long-lasting version of PRO) and dual-motor models (four-wheel drive high-performance PRO). Among them, the maximum power of single motor is 170kw, the maximum torque is 330 N ·m, and the battery capacity is 69 km. the estimated mileage of CLTC is 550km. The maximum power of the dual motor is 300kw, the maximum torque is 660N ·m, and the battery capacity is 78kWhPowerCLTC. The estimated mileage is 530km. In terms of suspension, the car uses the front McPherson rear multi-link independent suspension system.

It is understood that Volvo currently achieves four domestic models in China, including S90, S60, XC60 and XC40, of which S90, S60 and XC60 launch plug-in hybrid models on the basis of fuel vehicles, and XC40 launches pure electric models on the basis of fuel vehicles, but the price is much higher. For example, the XC40 fuel version sells for 26.48-354800 yuan, while the Volvo XC40 RECHARGE sells for 27.99-319000 yuan. In the era of rapid development of new energy, as a fuel-to-electric model based on the fuel version, such a high price also means that its market performance is not very optimistic. Take September sales as an example, the highest sales volume is XC60 RECHARGE, with 340 vehicles, followed by S90 RECHARGE with 252 vehicles, followed by C40 RECHARGE with 151vehicles, and other models with less than 100 vehicles.

Compared with other car companies, Volvo is relatively aggressive in electrification, even though it is not optimistic about the new energy vehicle market. In March 2021, Volvo announced that it would be fully electrified in 2025, when the proportion of pure electric models will reach 50%, and the rest will be hybrid models. By 2030, Volvo will become an all-electric luxury car company, when it will only sell pure electric vehicles. All cars with internal combustion engines, including hybrid cars, will be phased out globally. By 2040, Volvo will strive to become a climate zero-load benchmark, and all pure electric models will be sold online only.

In fact, in addition to Volvo, a number of traditional automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, have begun to speed up the transformation of new energy vehicles. In June this year, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi respectively invested 11.9 billion yuan, 15 billion yuan and 18.1 billion yuan to build pure electric vehicle production bases in China, but from the feedback of the market, the new energy models of traditional automakers are still "unsatisfied" in the Chinese market. For the time being, it can not be recognized by more consumer groups.

According to the latest figures, Volvo sold a total of 428987 vehicles in the first three quarters of 2022, down 19.2% from a year earlier, including 128575 new energy vehicles, including 32369 pure electric vehicles and 96206 plug-in hybrid system vehicles. In the domestic market, Volvo sold 117744 vehicles in the first three quarters, down 11.2% from a year earlier, of which 8251 new energy models were sold, including 6306 pure electric vehicles and 1545 plug-in hybrid system vehicles.

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