Xena, the best-selling MPV in North America, has attracted countless attention as soon as it enters the Chinese market and has become the "top stream" of the automotive industry.
Some people even call toyota's first domestic MPV "GL8 nightmare", until the end of October this year, most people are optimistic about Xena's sales prospects, thinking that it can change the current pattern of China's MPV market.
However, the lack of production capacity and the crazy price increase of dealers seem to pour cold water on this expected hot new car.
#"The Chinese people are rational now? ”
As an MPV priced at 30.98-40.58 million yuan, the increase in price of 60,000-80,000 yuan before and after the listing of Xena has been complained about by many netizens as "cutting leeks". What makes consumers even more disappointed is the tacit attitude of GAC Toyota. For example, the toyota Mini Program's guidance price will display "The transaction price is subject to the agreement between you and the dealer".
These experiences have deterred many consumers who have the desire to buy a car, and have also buried hidden worries for Xena.
Recently, the sales staff of the suspected GAC Toyota 4S store posted that when Xena was just ready to go public in October, it was expected that the order volume in the store would exceed 100 units by the end of this year, so it formulated a decoration with a price increase of 45,000 yuan. However, the reality is that only 8 units were booked in the store in October, and even if the decoration price of the vehicles was reduced to 28,000 yuan in November, only 11 units were sold. In December, they again cut the markup to 14,000, but by the time he posted, only three units had been sold.
The GAC Toyota salesman lamented, "The Chinese people are rational now."
Indeed, looking at the comments of Sai Na riders (potential car owners) on the Internet, everyone has a lot of criticism of the price increase sales, indicating that the refusal to raise the car at a higher price, the cost performance after the price increase is too low, and other related remarks are not in the minority.
November is the first full delivery month after Xena's listing, but the official is secretive about its terminal sales data, but only publicly released a promotional poster of Xena's "pre-sale is orders over 10,000".
According to the data released by GAC Toyota, in November, GAC Toyota sold 85,000 vehicles in all series, including 25,341 Camry, 22,911 Leiling, 18,043 Willanda, 10,385 Highlander, and a total of 8,320 remaining models.
According to the data of the Association, of the 8320 vehicles, including 4624 Zhixuan, 2454 C-HR, and 731 Zhixiang, that is to say, Xena should only "really" deliver 511 vehicles in November, and it may also include a lot of test drives from 4S stores.
#加价金额下调
So, in the past two months, what is the current status of Xena's markup? Oxcart Network conducted a new round of car market surveys, comparing with the market before and after the listing of Xena.
"After that heat, the price increase will not be as strong as before, but it should be increased all year round, after all, this car quota is not much." A GAC Toyota dealer in Beijing revealed to Oxcart.com that Xena's latest price increase policy: increase 40,000, pick up the car in January; add 30,000, pick up the car in March; add 20,000, and pick up the car in September and October, "which is much lower than the price increase of Xena before the listing (plus 60,000, lifting the car in January). ”
Compared with the 60,000-80,000 price increase before and after the listing, the amount of the price increase of Xena is normalizing. According to industry analysts, the sales price of the car is determined by the supply and demand relationship of the market, and the specific pricing depends on the market environment at that time.
The oxcart network also inquired about the GAC Toyota dealerships in Chengdu, Hefei, Chongqing and other places, and the answer was similar: it needed to add 40,000 to the car in January, and it was possible to add 20,000 to the car in March and April, and the order for the cheap car was scheduled until August.
However, there is also a clear correlation between the amount of the markup and the region, and several dealers in Shanghai and Guangzhou have made it clear that they need to add 60,000 yuan to pick up the car in January, of which a dealer in Guangzhou said, "The order without markup has been scheduled until 2023." In addition, two dealers in Guangzhou revealed that the manufacturer stipulates that the car will be picked up at a fair price starting from August next year.
It can be seen that in the early stage of the introduction of new cars, production capacity is in the stage of gradually rising, in the face of consumer demand for cars, there may be a shortage of supply, coupled with the crisis of chip shortage, price increases are indeed difficult to avoid, especially as a star model introduced abroad.
According to a recent report by CCTV Finance, affected by the epidemic and global supply chain problems, many domestic models will be in short supply and will increase prices significantly in 2021. Among them, the average sales price of traditional fuel vehicles and vehicles this year reached more than 156,000 yuan, an increase of about 10,000 yuan over the same period last year.
For Xena, the influence of the big market coupled with its own aura makes the amount of markup far beyond its own value, and after the adjustment of the market and consumers become mature and rational, it is gradually returning to normal.
Write at the end
In terms of product strength, Xena has great advantages in space flexibility, fuel economy and retention rate, but compared with the same level of Buick GL8 Luzun, Volkswagen Weiran and other models, the overall interior materials and design parts are still in the inferior position, and they are not cross-grade products.
At present, whether it is a Chinese brand or a joint venture brand, there are very few high-end MPV that can be selected, either brand, or function, or size, there is still a gap in the competition, which is the reason why many consumers get together to buy Xena, and it is also the root of the "no fear" of Xena's price increase.
Market competition is not sufficient, the inevitable buyers are in a weak position, hoping that car companies can provide more comprehensive products, through the choice of consumers to continuously optimize the competition in the automobile market and resource allocation, so as to promote the healthy development of the automobile market.