In the overall passenger car market from January to August 2026, models under 200,000 are still the absolute mainstay of the market, with a sales share of 60.1%, but a decline of 2.9 percentage points compared with the same period in 2025. Nowadays, in the cognition of the majority of users, under the fierce market competition, cars should be getting cheaper and cheaper, but why are the actual prices of consumers buying cars getting higher and higher? The economic market share has shrunk, and the consumption of new energy vehicles has driven the growth of the middle and high-end markets. In terms of energy types, in more than 200,000 segments, the share of fuel and new energy sales has increased year-on-year. Among them, the fuel vehicle share base is higher, increasing by 0.4 percentage points to 41.2% from January to August 2026; the growth rate of the new energy sector is more prominent, rising by 2.2 percentage points from 33.6% in the same period in 2025 to 38.8%, and the share gap between fuel vehicles continues to narrow. Consumption in the high-end market of new energy vehicles directly drives the overall market growth. The specific sales volume was used to further analyze the new energy market. The sales volume of price segments below 200,000 experienced a sharp decline of nearly 20% year-on-year, while all segments above 200,000 achieved positive growth year-on-year. Among them, the high-end market of more than 500,000 had the highest year-on-year growth rate, reaching 3.9%. However, this is also directly related to the low base of this market in the same period last year. But the undeniable fact is that this year's new energy consumers are more willing to spend more money on car purchases than last year. Splitting the observation of different energy types, in the price band of 200,000 to 300,000, pure electricity is still the main force in the market, and the share of sales contribution increased by 6.2 percentage points to 71.9%; the original insertion and mixing leading pattern in the range of 300,000 to 500,000 has been rewritten, and pure electricity has surpassed, and the share has risen by 12.8 percentage points to 42.0%. Although the insertion and mixing has lost some ground in the 300,000-500,000 market, it has achieved breakthroughs and seized the share of extended-range models in the high-end market of more than 500,000, an increase of 26.5 percentage points year-on-year, accounting for 36.7%. This change was mainly due to the explosion of new cars. Only one model, the Krypton 9X, contributed to 91.1% of the sales of the price segment. The sales volume of the mid-to-high-end market has risen against the trend, and the market share has continued to expand. Is there a bias in the inherent cognition of the past? The car market did not continue to reduce prices, but instead showed a trend of selling more and more expensive? Guided by the high-speed growth of more than 300,000 prices, more and more high-end new cars have proved that the new energy vehicle market is really getting more and more expensive, because there are more high-end new cars. According to the big data of the Automobile House, compared with the same period in 2025, the number of new energy new vehicles listed in January-August 2026, the number of models with a guided price of less than 200,000 shrank sharply year-on-year; the number of new vehicles in the 200,000-300,000 range fluctuated slightly, down 2.1% year-on-year. In sharp contrast, the number of new cars in the 300,000-500,000 guided price range increased by 52.8% year-on-year, and the growth rate of high-end models above 500,000 was even more prominent, reaching 63.3%. In terms of refined energy types, in terms of the number of new models on the market, the growth of the 200,000-300,000 price band was mainly contributed by pure electricity and extended-range new vehicles, with the proportion of the two increased by 2.6 and 1.4 percentage points respectively. The increase in the 300,000-plus market all came from extended-range new vehicles, of which the performance of the 500,000-plus segment was the most prominent, with the proportion of extended-range new vehicles reaching 31.3%, a sharp increase of 17.0 percentage points compared with the same period in 2025. In summary, it is not difficult to see from the data that compared to the same period in 2025, the number of mid-to-high-end new cars above 300,000 was indeed greater, and the average guidance price also rose, but why is everyone's intuitive feeling that cars are still getting cheaper? Although consumers spend more money, they feel that it is more affordable. Although the focus of new car launch continues to shift to the mid-to-high-end market, for consumers, the car buying experience has a "cheaper" feeling. The core reason is that under the same budget, the tier of optional products has been greatly improved. With the release of more new energy flagship models and the continuous exploration of prices, large-size flagship products that were once out of reach can now be included in the range of choices for ordinary consumers, which also forms an intuitive feeling of low car prices. The big data of the Automobile House confirms this: among the new cars listed at the medium-sized, large and above levels, except for the small fluctuations in the number of large vehicles affected by the small number of products, the average guided prices of new cars at other levels have shown a downward trend. Looking at the sales crown models in various segments, the ideal i6 for medium-sized and large-sized SUVs, and the Wei brand Alpine New Energy for medium-sized and large-sized MPVs, all have an entry price of less than 300,000 yuan. The price of the medium-sized and large-sized sedan Xiaomi SU7 219900, put in the past, this budget often can only buy medium-sized cars, but now you can directly win a higher level of products. High-end new cars are not only constantly exploring the price, but also the body size is constantly upgrading. Compared with the same period in 2025, the average length of medium-sized, large-sized and above-class new cars listed in January-August 2026 has increased to varying degrees. Among them, the growth of large vehicles and large SUVs was the most prominent, with an increase of 1.3% and 1.0%, respectively. Although it seems that the growth rate is not high, after all, the original length is more than 5 meters high base. Looking at the current consumption scenario, consumers nominally buy a medium-sized and large car, but the essence is to use the budget of the medium-sized car and enjoy the space close to the large car. In addition, the price reduction, increase in allocation, and increase in size of high-level models have also squeezed the economy market, forcing the price of economic models below 200,000 to be reduced simultaneously. Even if consumers do not buy mid-to-high-end models, they can buy richer-configured products within the original budget. The budget remains unchanged, and consumers get a higher value of the product, which naturally creates a more affordable feeling of buying a car. Fierce market competition has spawned a deep inner roll in the automotive industry. Although, the average price of new cars continues to rise, the price war seems to be fading? But in fact, it's just a form of competition. Instead of simply rolling up lower prices, automakers are putting more effort into greater transcendental space, more advanced technology, and more diverse preferential policies. Against the background of continuous increase in model size, continuous enrichment of configuration, and continuous downward exploration of flagship model pricing, the original price system of China's automobile market is also facing restructuring. With a budget of 200,000, what kind of car can you buy, and how big is the optional space? Reality constantly refreshes the inherent cognition of the public in the past. It is not yet known when this change in the price system will end, at least for now. (Monogatari).