Understanding the Market | Automotive Stocks Decline Across the Board as Smart Driving Equality and Financial Wars Among Automakers Emerge, Competition in the Automotive Market May Significantly Intensify

Automobile stocks fell across the board. As of the time of writing, Great Wall Motor dropped 4.4%, trading at HKD 11.74; Brilliance China fell 3.58%, trading at HKD 3.77; Li Auto-W decreased by 3.27%, trading at HKD 97.6; XPeng-W declined by 2.97%, trading at HKD 60.5. In terms of news, BYD recently announced its smart strategy, aiming to bring intelligent driving technology below RMB 100,000. Haitong International pointed out that BYD's "Smart Driving Equality" strategy for 2025 has been in the works for a long time. The smart driving equality initiative will spark fierce competition in the comprehensive cost-performance ratio of mainstream products in China's automotive market in 2025 and further lower the threshold for smart driving technology. Additionally, on February 12, Hongmeng Zhixing announced a limited-time financial policy for the new S7, offering 3 years of 0% interest and 5 years of low-interest financing. CITIC Securities noted that the financial policies of car manufacturers may further intensify the price war in the new energy vehicle market. Guotai Junan also pointed out that multiple automotive brands, including Tesla, XPeng, and IM Motors, have concentrated on releasing significant car purchase incentive policies, covering diverse strategies such as insurance subsidies and zero-interest financing plans. The "price war" in 2025 is increasingly shifting towards optimizing the purchasing threshold for consumers