Case Background: Sewage treatment requirements of a municipal sanitation department in Nanyang City. By the end of 2025, a municipal sanitation department in Nanyang City, Henan Province, plans to procure a batch of blue license plate sewage treatment vehicles for urban pipeline cleaning, septic tank emptying, and emergency sewage treatment. According to local procurement practices, the project budget is capped at approximately RMB 401,000, with plans to purchase two Dongfeng D6 chassis-based blue license plate sewage treatment vehicles—each with an upper budget limit of about RMB 200,000. The department requires vehicles meeting China VI emission standards, equipped with suction, separation, filter-pressing, and self-unloading functions, and compliant with blue license plate driving requirements (Class C driver’s license), as well as unrestricted urban driving. After comprehensive comparison and open tendering, Chengli Special Purpose Vehicle Co., Ltd. successfully delivered two Dongfeng D6 blue license plate sewage treatment vehicles, with a unit price of approximately RMB 162,000 (based on publicly available tender information), totaling approximately RMB 324,000—saving roughly RMB 30,000 against the budget. This article uses this case as a starting point to deeply analyze its pricing advantages, factory-direct sales model, and long-term operational cost benefits. I. Bid-winning Price vs. Budget: Why Was Approximately RMB 30,000 Saved? In this procurement, the budgeted unit price was RMB 200,000, while Chengli Special Purpose Vehicle’s winning bid unit price was approximately RMB 162,000—saving about RMB 13,000 per vehicle, or RMB 26,000 in total for two units. This price difference primarily stems from the following factors: • Factory-direct sales, eliminating middleman markups: As a manufacturer, Chengli Special Purpose Vehicle engages directly with the procuring entity, bypassing dealership or distributor markups. According to internal data, identical configurations typically cost RMB 8,000–15,000 less than those purchased through 4S dealerships. In this case, each vehicle saved approximately RMB 13,000—well within this range. • Complete regulatory documentation, eliminating additional modification costs: The Dongfeng D6 blue license plate sewage treatment vehicle is built upon Chengli’s CLW5070GSSD6 model (certified under the MIIT’s official vehicle announcement system). The complete vehicle has already passed national certification, meaning the purchaser incurs no extra modification or registration fees. • Transparent configuration, with no hidden charges: Chengli provides a clear, itemized configuration list—not bundled package pricing—allowing purchasers to select only required features and avoid unnecessary functional add-ons and associated surcharges. The table below compares the winning bid price, budgeted price, and estimated market average price (based on local procurement norms) for this procurement: Nanyang Dongfeng D6 Blue License Plate Sewage Treatment Vehicle Procurement Price Comparison (Unit: RMB 10,000) | Item | Budgeted Unit Price | Chengli Winning Bid Unit Price | Market Average Price (Reference) | Savings Amount | |------|---------------------|--------------------------------|------------------------------------|----------------| | Unit Price | 17.5 | 16.2 | ~18–19 | ~1.3 | | Total for Two Units | 35.0 | 32.4 | ~36–38 | ~2.6 | | Comparison Note | Chengli’s winning bid price is lower than the budget and also approximately RMB 21,000–32,000 lower per unit than the market average. | II. How Much Lower Than the Market Average? In-depth Analysis of Underlying Reasons Based on local procurement practices and market research on comparable vehicles, the typical market average price for Dongfeng D6 blue license plate sewage treatment vehicles stands at RMB 180,000–190,000 per unit (tax-inclusive landed price). Chengli’s winning bid price of RMB 185,000 per unit is thus RMB 18,000–28,000 lower per unit