The luxury car brand represented by BBA, on the surface, seems to be a clear stream in the automobile industry, and it is a big profit behind it. When a new wave of price reduction strikes, the already ups and downs of the auto market are facing a bigger storm.
China's automobile industry experienced the most difficult first half of the year. After the epidemic situation and other factors were forced to press the pause button, the uncertainty of the economic situation led to a decline in consumer demand and confidence. Although local governments have successively introduced incentive policies, it is difficult to change the downward trend of the automobile industry.
In the first six months of this year, the passenger car market in China dropped by 22.5% year-on-year. In sharp contrast, the retail sales of luxury cars in June increased by 27% year-on-year, not only by 9% month-on-month, but also by 65,438+04.9% market share.
Models in China at the beginning of the year? At the delivery ceremony, Tesla CEO elon musk danced excitedly and shouted: "In China, I saw an exciting future." At that time, Musk was convinced that the last straw in the global automobile market was not in the United States or Europe, but in China.
Unlike Musk's jubilation, quiet luxury brands know better that China is the ballast stone of the future. Facts have proved that the black swan incident can only slow down the pace of luxury cars and can't be stopped at all.
Among luxury car brands, Mercedes-Benz delivered 346,067 new cars to customers in China in the first six months, with a year-on-year increase of 265,438+0.6% in the second quarter. BMW Group delivered 329,069 vehicles in China, up 65,438+07.1%in the second quarter. FAW-Volkswagen Audi sold 30 18 17 vehicles in the first six months, only less than last year. Writing here, the author can't help but sigh that luxury cars are really not for sale.
According to Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Association, there are two reasons for the increase in luxury car sales: 1, the demand for high-end exchange, and the discount on luxury car promotion led to the price drop.
Different from the large-scale communication in previous years, there were few marketing actions of luxury car brands in the first half of the year, and offline activities costing tens of millions of yuan were forced to stop, and there were only a handful of large-scale online activities. Luxury car brands rarely participate in the hot live broadcast of goods, mainly because they do not conform to the brand tonality. The live broadcast attempts of second-tier brands such as Jaguar Land Rover and Cadillac all ended in unsatisfactory results.
Brand communication activities have decreased, but terminal price wars have intensified. Not long ago, Didi visited an authorized dealer represented by BBA. A 30% discount on some models has become the norm, and even some second-tier luxury brands have shouted the slogan of 50% discount. The preferential price of a luxury car is as high as 300,000 yuan, which is comparable to last year's national five to six, which is amazing.
For dealers, the price war is very miserable. For brands, what is more serious is the loss of value.
Most luxury car brands are getting farther and farther away from high value and status symbols. In the first-tier cities represented by the North, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, luxury cars can be seen everywhere on the streets. In residential areas and office parking lots, luxury cars account for nearly 50%. Even in some high-end residential areas, it is difficult to find a non-luxury brand.
The author believes that behind this phenomenon, on the one hand, the release of user consumption upgrade demand, on the other hand, luxury cars are really cheap. In the post-epidemic era, consumers are more cautious in buying, and the brand and quality are superior to individuality and early adopters. A luxury car with good quality and low price has become the first choice for consumption. Many newly graduated office workers, the first car positioning in BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other brands.
Behind the "grounding gas", the domino effect caused by the price reduction tide continues to appear. In consumer cognition, independent brands, joint venture brands and luxury brands form a pyramid structure. The price of luxury brands at the top of the price band fell to the hinterland of joint venture brands, forcing joint venture brands to suppress their own brands.
Dominoes fell one after another, and the living space of independent brands at the bottom of the pyramid was continuously compressed, which directly led to the chaos of the price system and the ecological imbalance of the automobile industry.
A senior auto media person who has worked for many years thinks that from the perspective of the long-term development of China's auto industry, relevant departments should consider using regulatory means to limit the price of luxury cars, and even carry out anti-dumping investigations to promote the orderly development of the market and avoid all brands falling into the "whirlpool" of price reduction, which will only be a chicken feather. While the market share of luxury cars is increasing, they should assume more important responsibilities in China.
Today, the annual sales threshold of first-line luxury cars has been raised to 700,000, and the annual sales threshold of second-line luxury cars has been raised to more than 200,000. Assuming that the number of users in 3-5 tier cities is further expanded, the market share of luxury cars is expected to rise to 25%. For all joint ventures and independent brands, they are facing the crisis that their cakes will be eaten by others.
There was a self-owned brand executive who lamented helplessly that the same technology research and development team, infrastructure and procurement system could only sell half the price of a joint venture car because of a LOGO. This principle also applies to joint venture brands. The price difference between models built on the same platform and luxury brands is close to 50%.
When the major luxury car brands earn a lot of money in China, the author thinks that it is more important to develop rationally and identify the positioning of luxury car brands at this stage. Imagine that one day, when the luxurious coat is stripped off, even the best brand will no longer shine.
Text/Yu Ning
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.