| Lei
If a car company has its own core technology and does not pull its crotch aesthetically, then I really can't think of a reason why it sells badly. But in fact, The Korean car did just that.
Some time ago, Dongfeng Motor was rumored to retire its shareholder Fengyueda Kia. Prior to this, another Korean brand, Beijing Hyundai, had sold its first plant to Ideal Automobile, the second plant was rumored to be for sale, and its Chongqing plant was suspected of being in a state of suspension.
From 2016 to 2020, the market share of Korean cars in China was 7.35%, 4.63%, 4.98%, 4.7% and 3.8%, respectively.
In stark contrast to sluggish sales in the Chinese market, Hyundai Ranked fourth in global automaker sales last year with 6.35 million units sold. In addition to the 20% of local sales, the remaining 80% is contributed by overseas markets.
It is not difficult to see that Korean cars, which are popular in the global market, have ushered in a "cold winter" in the Chinese market. And this cold winter may continue forever.
Before there was no choice, now there is a choice
It is not difficult to see from the time node that the market share of Korean cars in China fell sharply in 2017. At that time, The Korean car has always taken the cost-effective route of "price for volume". The risk of taking this route is that you are fighting a "price war". Once there is a brand with a configuration similar to yours, the price is almost the same or even lower, especially the emergence of independent brands, your market share is robbed of course.
The domestic car in 2017, on the one hand, seized the opportunity of consumption upgrading and quickly launched a number of new products in the SUV market; on the other hand, independent car companies such as Geely and Great Wall have launched their own high-end brands, and other car companies such as GAC are also launching high-end models.
In order to retain market share, Beijing Hyundai lowered The entry price of Rena from 73,900 yuan to 49,900 yuan. But in fact, in the face of the siege of Japanese-German cars and independent brands, it is difficult for Korean cars to gain the upper hand in terms of cost performance.
Overseas obsolete cars sold in China?
In terms of product innovation, such as the Beijing Hyundai ix35 was listed in 2010, and Dongfeng Yueda Kia Freddy was also listed in 2009, but these two models were not fully updated in the Chinese market until 2017.
In terms of overseas markets and Chinese markets, There are also different treatment of Korean cars. Korean cars in the United States have achieved excellent small-area collisions, while Korean-based cars in China can only take four-star large-area collisions. At transmission for Korean cars in the United States, dry double-clutch transmission for Korean cars in China.
However, if the pace of The korean car in the early stage is slow, in the later stage such as the "rejuvenation plan" of Hyundai Group, Beijing Hyundai has successively launched models such as Fiesta, Onhino, Xinshengda, the tenth generation sonata, etc., and reintroduced the Genisesais brand into the Chinese market, its pace is not too slow.
The reason is that under the impetus of consumption upgrading, a new generation of consumers pay more attention to personality and quality. And this happens to be the scarcity of Korean cars.
Product intelligence and digital innovation are insufficient
In the past ten years, the overall model design of Korean cars has been lackluster, and it has been standing still in place, and it is also insufficient in product intelligence and digital innovation.
Taking the electric vehicle market as an example, in the face of changing market consumption characteristics, Korean car companies have not quickly adjusted their strategies to adapt to market development and launch corresponding electric vehicles. If The Korean car company does not come up with measures such as accelerating diversified platforms and model introductions as soon as possible to adapt to the market demand of Chinese consumers, then its spring will never come.
Write at the end
It is often ridiculed that "the high-end Koreans do not enter China, and China's low-end joint ventures pit the money of the Chinese people." "Regardless of how true or false this ridicule is, sales and market share have said it all." I believe that China's domestic cars will be on an equal footing with Korean cars in the next 3-5 years.