If you don't tell you, it may be difficult for you to think that the top three car companies in the world in the first three quarters of this year will add the names of modern cars in addition to Toyota and Volkswagen. From January to September this year, Toyota motor sold 7.37 million units, ranking first, followed by Volkswagen with 6.29 million units, while Hyundai Motor's sales performance of 5.03 million units ranked third.
Hyundai's sales far exceed GM, Ford, Honda, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and other car companies, and with the strong global sales, it is the decline of Korean cars in the Chinese market, Beijing Hyundai's cumulative sales in September 2021 are only 260,000 units, and from January to November this year, Dongfeng Yueda Kia's sales are only 137,900 cars, and the sales of Korean cars have fallen into the bottom in China.
It's not surprising that modern cars sell well around the world.
In fact, Korean cars do not lack technology, it can even be said that the technical strength of Korean cars is not weak even if they look at the world, Hyundai Motors can independently manufacture 6AT, 8AT, 9AT, DCT, CVT gearbox, which is one of the few in the global car companies. Hyundai's small displacement turbocharging, hybrid system, and hydrogen fuel cell system have all been listed in the Ward top ten. Hyundai Motor's pure electric vehicles have also won the first place in the list of energy consumption in the North American market. The technical strength itself is not weak, coupled with excellent quality stability, low product price, and perfect after-sales service policy, are the secret of Hyundai Motor to open up the global market, and it is not surprising that it can rush into the top three in the world. But why do these secrets fail in the Chinese market?
Some people say that it is because of the THAAD incident, but in fact, the THAAD incident does not have such a big staying power, which can be seen from the sales of Japanese cars, and the defeat of Korean cars today is actually doomed from the moment of discrimination against Chinese consumers from the beginning. The difference in the domestic market of Korean cars is mainly these points:
1. Differentiated treatment on the model. Korean cars in the country, in addition to the sonata and K5 such core models, basically are cheap entry models, Elantra, Yuena, Rena, Ruiyi, Lingxiang, Ya gente, K2, Maxima, Freddy, Huanchi, etc., almost all are priced at less than 100,000 yuan models, and then look at the U.S. market, hybrid IONIQ, small steel cannon VELOSTER N, medium and large SUVPALISADE, until recently, Korean cars have suddenly woken up, the introduction of high-end models into the country, But the label of cheap Korean cars is difficult to remove.
2. Differentiated treatment of new technologies. In addition to the introduction of high-end models of differential treatment, in terms of new technologies, Korean cars are also quite stingy, the new technologies of Korean cars are often put in North America and South Korea first, obviously the technical strength of the pure electric platform is good, but the pure electric models of the new platform are not put in the Chinese market, only Fiesta, Onsino, Mingtu three pure electric vehicles, but also all are oil to electric models. There are even four generations of Elantra sales records in China, just like this sewing and patching for another three years, And Korean cars never seem to take the Chinese market seriously.
3. Differentiate treatment in security. In addition to the above two points, the difference in the safety of Chinese and foreign models is the most infuriating to the Chinese people, the global model Sonata, in the 2020 American NCAP crash test, it won a five-star score, in the IIHS (American Highway Safety Insurance Association) test, entered the TOP SAFETY PICK+ (Best Safety Choice +) list. However, in the 2019 C-IASI frontal 25% bias crash test, the front of the Beijing Hyundai Festa was seriously damaged, and the A-pillar was completely deformed, almost folding into 90 degrees.
In addition, the pricing of Korean cars in China is between domestic cars and German and Japanese systems, with the rise of domestic cars, the price of German and Japanese models continues to decline, and Korean cars gradually lose their living space.
It is precisely for these reasons that Korean cars are gradually declining in China, and a car company that once sold millions of dollars a year has fallen to this day, who will carry this pot? In any case, it should not be attributed to the fact that the Chinese people do not understand cars, this pot, I am afraid that the top management of Beijing Hyundai and Yueda Kia to carry, a good hand of cards to play thin, is not said to be a Korean car?