A few days ago, the Association announced the ranking of car sales in November. It is worth noting that Buick Yinglang's November sales fell by 35.6% year-on-year, ranking out of the top five again, retreating to seventh place, and the cumulative sales of 259746 vehicles in January-November, down 3.8% year-on-year. According to this trend, Yinglang's total sales this year will once again miss the 300,000 mark.
In the case of a year-on-year decline, Yinglang's main competitor Xuanyi has reached 462715 cumulative sales this year, and the annual sales probability exceeded 500,000 vehicles. Yinglang, who was once inseparable from Xuanyi, has long been unable to see Xuanyi's taillights.
When it comes to the reasons for the decline in Yinglang's sales, it is inevitable that the three-cylinder machine will not be bypassed.
In October 2017, Buick installed a new generation of GM 1.0T/1.3T three-cylinder engines for Yinglang, GL6, Yuelang and other models, and gradually promoted it in other GM models. At the same time, SAIC-GM has also vigorously "lobbied" through various communication channels to dispel consumers' "concerns" about the three-cylinder engine. By September 2019, SAIC-GM's market share of three-cylinder engines reached 42%.
After the three-cylinder engine ownership increased, the market feedback was extremely poor, and Yinglang also planted a big start. Yinglang sold only 262,000 units in 2018, down 37.2% year-on-year. By 2019, Buick Yinglang had sold only 279,000 units, and Buick had sold only 837,300 units for the whole year, down 19% year-on-year.
Faced with a sharp drop in sales, Buick had to switch back to a 1.5L four-cylinder engine in early 2020 and remove the problematic dual-clutch transmission.
But now it seems that Yinglang, which has returned to the four-cylinder engine, has not ushered in the expected sales pick-up. Obviously, the decline in Yinglang's sales is not only because of the three-cylinder engine.
Since 2018, the domestic auto market has begun to shrink, and the compact car market, which has been hot for a long time, has borne the brunt of it. It is not difficult to see from this year's car sales list that the sales of large-area compact cars have declined year-on-year. Although the industry is still affected by the lack of cores this year, the epidemic situation and core shortage last year may not be more optimistic than this year.
But why is it that in the context of the decline of the automobile market, the most serious decline is Yinglang? Why has Xuan Yi been able to stay on the top spot for a long time? Obviously, the root of the problem is still with Buick.
As a mainstream joint venture car company, Buick's long-term accumulated brand influence is beyond doubt. However, with the awakening of domestic consumers' consumption awareness and more and more people who understand cars, brand influence is no longer a reason for consumers to rush to it without thinking. And beyond the brand, it seems that we have a hard time finding points in Buick that can attract consumers.
North-South Volkswagen, which is also a mainstream joint venture car company, has a long-standing "texture" of The German family, while north-south Toyota, which is now not as hot as Volkswagen, has the attributes of high retention rate and low fuel consumption. But when it comes to Volkswagen's old rival Buick, it is difficult to recall the distinctive selling points of exclusive Buick.
In the absence of a selling point that effectively attracts consumers, Yinglang can still sell more than 20,000 sales results, and what cannibalizes is naturally the brand appeal accumulated in the past. However, the key to the benign development of the brand is not just to sell the car, and the lack of hard power of the product will eventually be fed back to the brand itself. Under this vicious closed loop, the decline in sales of Yinglang and even the entire Buick is also reasonable.
The market encounter of many new cars in Buick illustrates this point.
Since 2019, Buick has successively launched the Oncora GX compact SUV, the Medium and Large SUV Onco flag and medium-sized SUV OncoveY S, and the medium-sized seven-seat SUV Oncovey PLUS. But among these new cars, the best-selling Encore S average monthly sales are only about 2,000 units. Fresh blood has not achieved the expected effect, and now Buick in addition to Yinglang, can still support sales is still aimed at the SUV market outlet of the Uncovi, and MPV overlord GL8, and Opel Insignia's sister model Regal, these three quite emotional models.
But neither Encore, who has a low sense of presence in front of Tiguan L, nor Regal, who cannot compete with Maiten, Passat, camry and Accord, can save Buick from fire and water.
Looking at the entire Buick product line, in addition to yinglang, whose sales have fallen sharply, Buick's real hard currency is also left with a GL8. In the high-end MPV market where GL8 is located, the average monthly sales of Trumpchi M8 are getting closer and closer to GL8, and Kia Jawa and Toyota Xena are also eyeing the tiger.
Yinglang's lack of staying power and the increased competitive pressure in the MPV field all highlight Buick's current predicament. In the short term, Yinglang's average monthly sales can still hover at the top of the sales list. While the "top beam" has not yet fallen, Buick has to step up his efforts.