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The Honda CR-V used to be a benchmark in the SUV market, but now, that benchmark no longer seems to be pointing in the right direction.
17 years ago, Dongfeng Honda CR-V, with its unique product positioning, brought the segment of China's urban SUVs into the fast lane, and the SUV market has become the fastest growing and fastest growing market in the entire car market.
In 17 years, the Dongfeng Honda CRV has harvested more than 2.4 million Chinese owners, so much so that an interesting phenomenon has emerged: buying a compact SUV, it is impossible to bypass the Honda CR-V.
However, with the passage of time, the "evergreen tree" of the SUV market finally showed its fatigue last year, and sales suffered 7 consecutive declines.
In the first four months of last year, Honda's CR-V sales were still in a leading position in the SUV market, ranking third in January and March, and even winning the sales championship in April. Since May, however, the Honda CR-V has deteriorated.
Ranked fifth in May, sixth in June-July, fifteenth in August, ninth in September, eleventh in October, falling off the list in November, and in December, honda CR-V returned to the list, but sales fell 41.9% year-on-year, ranking 6th with sales in its early 20,000s.
The "record" of seven consecutive declines will consume all the advantages that Honda CR-V has worked hard to create in the first five months, and finally the annual sales are fixed at 222,300 units, down 8.5% year-on-year, ranking third in the SUV sales list of the association.
Declining sales and chip shortages may be one reason, but by no means the most important reason, as the Honda XR-V and Honda Haoying, which were also affected, saw sales rise by 17.8% and 6.8% year-on-year, respectively.
The ultimate reason should still be in the product itself and marketing. There are many similar products to the Honda CR-V on the market, and the competition is intensifying. After consumers had more choices, many potential customers of the Honda CR-V were dispersed. The fact that potential customers are robbed shows that the marketing methods and strategies are not innovative enough to impress and attract people.
For Dongben, honda CR-V has always been lying to earn, just by word of mouth of millions of car owners, it can also brush 6 figures of sales every year, but after lying for a long time, I forgot how to run forward.
It is more gratifying that this year's Honda CR-V will be renewed, and from the product planning chart exposed by Dongfeng Honda, the CR-V will be ALL NEW (brand new).
In the situation that sales have been declining year-on-year for 7 consecutive months, it is wise to quickly replace the new one, one can win more attention, and the other can arouse more interest from old car owners and potential car owners. But I hope that the new Honda CR-V is a surprise to everyone, not like last year's Nissan X-Trail, to give everyone a fright.
With the new product, is it time for Dongfeng Honda's marketing team and public relations team to get up and move?