Volkswagen's popularity and appeal in China can be said to be a ride, whether it is a small car or a large car, a sedan or an SUV, you can see its figure, and the depth of Volkswagen's product line in China can be said to penetrate into every corner. It is the excellent brand reputation and rich product lineup that allow Volkswagen to earn a fairly high profit in the domestic market every year.
However, the situation in 2021 seems to be different from the past, and Volkswagen's performance in the domestic market has been severely hit. According to official announcement data, domestic sales in 2021 were 3.3 million vehicles, down 14.1% year-on-year, plus 2020 has been declining for two consecutive years.
Split point of view, SAIC Volkswagen annual sales of 1.242 million vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 17.5%, you know, three years ago SAIC Volkswagen sales exceeded 2 million vehicles, now sales have fallen by a third, it is true that some can not be said. Faw-Volkswagen's performance is the same, but the situation is not as severe as SAIC Volkswagen, and the annual sales volume is still 1.857 million units. In terms of luxury brands, Audi delivered 701,300 vehicles in the whole year, a slight decline of 3.4% year-on-year, still sitting firmly in the first-line luxury camp. Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley in the domestic performance is acceptable, all hit a record high, but these three ultra-luxury brands are only the icing on the cake after all, the real money to support the family or depends on the public and Audi.
For the decline in sales, many people speculate that it is because the entire market was limited by the supply of chips last year, and the vehicle could not be delivered to consumers in time, resulting in a sharp decline in sales of the entire brand. The analysis here doesn't seem to be a problem, but once you browse the sales of friends, it is easy to reveal the stuffing. Compared with Toyota, Volkswagen's first competitor in China, the annual sales volume was 1.944 million units, an increase of 8.2% year-on-year, and has continued to grow for 9 years. The same is a joint venture brand, the same lack of core, why do others achieve positive year-on-year growth?
To find out why, we have to start with the first year of the decline. In 2019, Volkswagen's full-year sales reached 4.23 million, the best result since entering China, but it fell to 3.85 million units in the following year. Logically, the normal update iteration of the product, there will rarely be such a big fluctuation, only the negative news will cause a major blow to the entire brand.
In the last month of 2019, the well-known domestic crash testing institution Zhongbao Research Institute announced the test results of the Passat, with the help of A-pillar fracture. The famous scene of the dummy "headshot" successfully won the last place in the list, and the penultimate is also the same brand of Tiguan L, these two models directly destroyed the safety and quality reputation established by Volkswagen in the hearts of consumers. Coupled with the fact that Toyota and other Japanese cars have repeatedly achieved good results in collisions, and continue to dance on the side of Volkswagen's "grave", the excess market share has also flowed into other joint venture car companies.
In addition to the decline in word-of-mouth, Volkswagen's products have come to the time point of mid-term modification or replacement in the past two years, such as Tiguan L, Passat, Tuon, Golf and a series of new products. Usually, the sales of the old and new will decline to a certain extent, after all, the discount has contracted to a certain extent, and many consumers who originally wanted to start with the public will choose to postpone it.
Volkswagen brand in the appeal in the country has declined is already an indisputable fact, in the past with the last century accumulated in the 1980s and 1990s the word of mouth has gradually bottomed out, the product premium ability is also declining, before Volkswagen not to mention the discount, and even some models also increased the price of sales, the models placed in the showroom are basically the existence of various market segments. However, the decline in the field of fuel vehicles is becoming more and more obvious.
summary
On the whole, while the joint venture brand has obtained huge dividends in China, it is also necessary to consider how to maintain this golden signboard and not exhaust itself. Volkswagen's performance in China in the past two years is a very clear example, no progress is equivalent to regression, only to let peers catch up.