In order to highlight this value, on September 12, GAC Acura chose Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, the world's high-end wing-mounted pilot, and released a brand-new brand proposition of "luxury through performance" and launched RDX at the same time. A-size sports car, the price range of new car is 386 thousand yuan ~ 460 thousand yuan.
A-Spec is "Acura?" "Special" refers to the special series of Acura, which is derived to meet the needs of users to improve their sports performance experience.
Compared with ordinary models, RDX? The A-Spec sports version not only retains the leading fourth-generation SH-AWD super four-wheel drive free control system, 2.0L direct-injection VTEC turbocharged engine, 10AT planetary gearbox and other performance kernel configurations, but also is equipped with a blackened sports kit in appearance, and two exclusive color schemes of hot flame red and matte gray are added. In terms of interior, the new car has introduced a new color scheme, the navigation configuration has been fully upgraded, and the A-Spec exclusive logo has been adopted in the details of the car body.
Use RDX? The launch of A-class sports models, plus CDX? First-rate sports model, CDX? Exercise? Half-breed? A-size sports car, Guangzhou Automobile Acura? A-Spec series has been assembled in China market. Obviously, GAC Acura wants to attract more consumers' attention through a series of A-Spec models.
However, as far as Guangzhou Automobile Acura is concerned, it can't be solved by adding special models or completing family assembly.
Luxury car market rises, while Acura falls.
Recently, the performance of luxury car market in China is amazing.
According to the data of the Federation, the retail volume of luxury cars in August increased by 365,438+0.6% year-on-year to 243,687 vehicles, an increase of 3% compared with July, and the market share has remained above 65,438+04% since May this year. From 1 to August, the total retail sales of luxury cars reached 1, 532,975 vehicles, with a year-on-year growth rate of 8.3%.
At present, the growth rate of the whole automobile market is-15.2% year-on-year, and the decline of independent brands and mainstream joint ventures is still above double digits. It is conceivable that the luxury car market is so strong that it cannot but be envied by colleagues at home and abroad.
Although the epidemic broke out at the beginning of the year, in the first quarter of this year, the market share of luxury cars was still two percentage points higher than that of 20 19/2.9%. With the epidemic under proper control, the market share of luxury cars in the second quarter of this year exceeded 14% from 14.2%. The shares in July and August were 14.7% and 14.3% respectively. Not surprisingly, the share of luxury cars will exceed 15% for the first time this year.
Luxury cars go against the trend. Facing the decline of 65,438+09.8% to 6,655 vehicles in the first eight months of Guangzhou Automobile Acura, what reasons should we find to deal with it?
Looking back four years, the sales volume of Acura brand in China in 2065,438+06 was 9062, and the sales volume of Acura brand in China in the next three years was16348,9071and 14786 respectively. According to Acura's monthly sales of more than 800 vehicles, the annual sales volume of Guangzhou Automobile Acura this year will be around 65,438+0,000 vehicles, down about 32.4% year-on-year. Compared with myself, this achievement seems not too bad, but compared with Lexus, a luxury brand from Japan, the gap is far away.
In the first eight months of this year, Lexus sold nearly 14. 1 10,000 vehicles, of which the sales volume in August was 2 1.78 1, a year-on-year increase of 27.6%. Last year, Cadillac, the second-tier luxury brand leader, accumulated sales of124,000 vehicles, and the gap has expanded to170,000 vehicles. It is worth noting that all Lexus models not only rely on imports, but also increase the price when picking up the car at the terminal. For Acura and other second-tier luxury brands, there is only envy and jealousy.
Even compared with Britain and finidi, which came from Japan not long ago and are now Nissan -plus, the sales of Guangzhou Automobile Acura are much less. From June to August, the sales volume in Britain and finidi was 65,438+03,265 vehicles, which was 33% lower than that in Guangzhou Automobile Acura.
As a high-end brand of Honda, Acura has been imported into China since 2006. Ten years later, Acura was officially made in China on 20 16 and became the second division of Guangqi Honda. However, the performance of officially localized Acura in China market is in sharp contrast with that in North America.
In the American market, Acura sold 65,438+059,000 vehicles in 2065,438+09, ranking second only to ABB and Lexus, which also shows that Acura's products have been recognized by some markets. From the existing models of Acura, such as CDX, RDX, MDX and MDX,
However, in the China market, Guangzhou Automobile Acura didn't just start grid-connected sales with Guangqi Honda. Although this may expand the current sales of Acura in China, it is only a short-term expedient measure, especially for the brand image, which is undoubtedly fatal. Why should consumers spend more money to enjoy ordinary services like Honda?
Why did Acura come to China? Presumably this is the confusion of many people.
Flat, rootless and nameless.
The most classic in philosophy is the ultimate three questions: "Who am I? Where is the land I come from? Where am I going? " These three questions also apply to any created object, including Acura.
For the birthplace of Acura, many people know that it is the United States. Acura is also called "Japanese American car". As for the reasons for its birth, Japanese cars have firmly occupied the American market since the 1970s. In order to expand their profits in the United States, Honda, Toyota and Nissan all realized the necessity of manufacturing high-end cars.
In this context, in March, 1986, the first batch of 60 Acura stores opened in the United States, and the sales performance was very good. But compared with Lexus and finidi, it was born about three years later than Acura.
However, these three Japanese luxury brands were all developed for the North American market, and now only Lexus maintains a balanced development in the global market.
In 20 19, Lexus sold 765,300 vehicles worldwide, an increase of 10% compared with 20 18, setting an annual record for the highest sales volume. Among them, the cumulative sales volume in China was 202,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 25%; The European market sold 87,000 vehicles, up 65,438+04% year-on-year; The Japanese market sold 62,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 65,438+03%; The sales volume in North America is about 325,000 vehicles, which is basically the same as that in 20 18.
It must be said that Lexus is already a global luxury brand, and Acura currently has luxury brands in North America. Their differences now have a lot to do with their future plans.
The biggest difference between Lexus and Acura is that the former, guided by the concept of "originating from Japan and going global", sorts out the Lexus that was first produced and sold in North America, aiming at rooting in Japanese culture and building a world-class high-end brand. To this end, Toyota reshaped the brand of Lexus for nearly 10 years, and finally put Lexus brand cars on the Japanese market in August 2005.
On the other hand, since 1999, about two-thirds of its vehicles have been produced in North America. Only a small amount of this product is developed in the United States, produced in North America, sold in North America, and sold outside North America, including Japan, the base of Honda. The demand is imported and the sales volume is not high.
A luxury brand that doesn't have a high sales volume in the base camp and doesn't rely on its own culture, in the long run, it has absolutely no charm to restrain the brand's global expansion. Of course, it is not that we are unwilling to eulogize, but that the sports performance culture of the United States is incompatible with the environment of small and medium-sized cars in Japan.
Jin Lida, executive director of Toyota, once said: "In the world, there are few high-end brands limited to a certain region. For example, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and so on. Eventually grow into a world-class brand. " Therefore, "Japanese American cars" can't lead Acura to become a luxury brand with stories and depth.
In addition to the low awareness caused by the lack of brand charm, the similarity between Acura and Honda is also a big problem. Acura is not only a high-end route but also a luxury brand. Acura should be different from Honda.
If Acura develops step by step in other countries and regions except North America, its prospect will undoubtedly be put in a big question mark.
However, if Acura wants to stand higher and fly farther, it must have the courage to reshape the brand with a leap. After all, for Acura, it is either to maintain the status quo or to get a new life.
Text/Gan Fangli
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.