When you’re looking to buy an RV, price is often one of the most important factors in your decision. And is the price you end up paying really reasonable? We suddenly found that in this era when almost all prices are transparent, the price of RV is still as vague as a fog.
In RV exhibitions, we can often see two similar RV products fighting price wars for a customer, and the ruthlessness of the attack often makes customers secretly happy for this. As a bystander, I also enjoyed watching it. Afterwards, I can’t help thinking: Why can the sales price of the RV drop again and again for a single customer?
chaos
It has been more than ten years since the RV appeared and developed in China. From a hazy concept to now more than a hundred companies are involved in this field, and the origin of the price has always been kept as a “secret” of RVs by outsiders.
From the price of imported RVs to the pricing of domestic RVs, the specific origins are very vague, and the more high-end RVs, the worse. Due to the mature product design, stable quality and exotic products of imported RVs, the prices of RVs are often far ahead. However, in the actual transaction, it was found that the real transaction price dropped again and again. According to the author’s knowledge, a certain imported high-end RV brand was priced very high when it first entered the Chinese market, but the current transaction price has dropped by nearly 30%.
Looking at domestic RVs, for example, the C-type RVs that are also refitted from the Chase chassis, the prices of Yate, Zhongtian, Jinghang, and Fameirui range from 32.8 yuan to 578,800 yuan, a difference of more than 200,000 yuan. Such an incomprehensible price is worth thinking about.
composition
The composition of the price is nothing more than “cost + profit”. The cost of importing RVs is mainly composed of car prices, tariffs, transportation, and operations. For careful people, car prices, tariffs, transportation and other costs can often be calculated one by one based on foreign public data and domestic actual conditions. As for operating costs and profits, it has become the fundamental factor for the ambiguity of the price of imported RVs.
The cost of a domestic RV consists of research and development, accessories, assembly, and operation. Research and development is a weak link in my country’s RV manufacturing industry. Although there are many RV companies in my country, the homogeneity of products is serious, and there are a lot of mutual reference and even plagiarism. Therefore, there can only be a “question mark” about the cost of real R&D.
Accessories account for a considerable proportion of the cost. As the carrier of the RV, the chassis can also be regarded as the largest “accessory” of the RV, and its price often accounts for 30% to 60% of the RV price. The vast majority of domestic RV manufacturers are non-chassis manufacturers. As for some parts of the upper body, it is heavily dependent on imports. From cabinet door locks and water pumps to large awnings and water heaters, imported products are the absolute mainstream, while domestic accessories are mostly water basins and wood that are easier to process. The impact of such a big environment on the final price of the RV is obvious.
Assembly and operating costs are mainly labor and site, so I won’t go into details here.
Breaking
After understanding the composition of the cost, you will find that the price of the accessories directly determines the final cost price of the RV. The profit needs to be calculated by companies measuring their own brand value and services. Of course, whether the end users buy it or not requires the RV companies to show their talents.
The solution to be recognized by users at this stage is nothing more than lowering prices while ensuring quality and service. It is obvious at this time how to break the situation-reduce profits and reduce costs. Leaving aside the issue of reducing profits, we can make a big fuss about reducing costs. As far as domestic RVs are concerned, if the purchase price of accessories can be reduced, the cost price can be reduced rapidly.
Of course, at this stage, various RV companies still have many deficiencies in cost control, and a large number of technical patents are held by European and American companies. There are also very few chassis choices that are the most important part of RV production. The improvement of these deficiencies can only be accumulated with time and energy, and the road to “reducing the burden” of RVs has a long way to go.
break up
Regarding the price of RVs, especially RVs, we look forward to one or a few disruptors who can drive unattainable RVs to the homes of ordinary people on the premise of ensuring the quality of RVs. Pulling the prices of RVs, especially high-end RVs, back to the ground is an extremely painful process for the entire RV industry, because it means that some companies with less viability will face painful transformation or even “death” .
All industries will face market reintegration and rebirth after going through the initial stage of contention. The RV industry is no exception, and rational prices are the first to bear the brunt of the performance, and now there are signs that this reshuffle is about to begin. Old RV brands will continue to face challenges from RV rookies. Obviously, this battle is destined to be bloody, and no matter which side wins, a new market structure will be formed. As the saying goes, if you don’t break, you can’t stand, the era of high profits is gone forever, and reasonable prices and high-value services are the way to survive in the future of RVs.
expect
A rational and complete industrial chain is a complete industry, but now the RV market is chaotic, with all kinds of ghosts and snakes mixed in, the RV market needs a new pattern and new rules. As RV users and practitioners in the RV industry, we look forward to the formation of a complete market closed loop, of course, we also need to be prepared to pay the price.
