Observation chamber
Written by | Chen Hui
At the beginning of the year, GAC Toyota could not wait to release the sales data for January 2022, the overall data is very good, but the "Sai Na" body is very elaborate - the official special emphasis on two data, one is the first month of sales of 5399 units, the other is the top version (guide price 405,800) sales accounted for 40%.
Looking at the data alone, Xena seems to stand up, and also explains from the side that GAC Toyota previously claimed that XENA is in the stage of capacity climbing and the market demand is very strong.
Is this really the case? In December last year, GAC Toyota announced that it had sold 2,791 Xena units, but according to the data of the Association, it sold 935 units of Xena that month. Why is it so bad? Originally, gagac Toyota announced sales for wholesale, and the data of the multiplying association was the amount of insurance, so the number of consumers who actually bought Xena was much less than the official sales data.
Leaving aside the actual sales of Sai Na. Let's talk about another problem that many netizens are very concerned about - the price increase. A few days ago, some netizens asked the state, are Toyota, why Highlander has been increasing the price of people to buy, and the Xena price increase is soon cool?
First of all, the author wants to correct a misunderstanding of many people, that is, today's Highlander has no price increase, and the time is about the third quarter of last year.
But in the previous ten years, Highlander is indeed a mark-up god car, especially the previous generation of models, in the period of about to usher in the replacement of models, is still a car is difficult to find, in most dealers need to directly increase the price or disguised price increase (high price to buy decoration) to pick up the car, and wait for the car cycle is longer than other models of the same level.
With Highlander's "pearl jade in front", Sai Na, also from GAC Toyota, shouted out the title of "new generation of mark-up god car" in the debut stage, not only the manufacturer's pricing is very confident, but the price increase of dealers at all levels is a race and a bold. So in the North American market, the starting price of about 220,000 yuan of Sai Na, the domestic landing price of 400,000 yuan, high-end models are running 500,000. However, since then, dealers have quickly found that there are very few people who buy, and the gap with the established production capacity of Xena is very large. Subsequently, even if many dealers say that they only need to add a little, or can pick up the car without a price increase, consumers still do not have too strong desire to buy. As a result, in recent months, Xena's sales figures have not been very good.
The market pattern is different, and Xena is not a scarce commodity
Capital tells us that it is not the value that determines the price of a product, but the demand.
With this theoretical basis, the situation of Highlander and Xena in the domestic market is well understood. In 2007, Highlander entered the Chinese market by way of imports, and in 2009, Highlander entered the domestic market of GAC Toyota. Prior to this, there was no subdivision type of medium-sized urban SUVs in China. For a longer period of time, if you need a midsize urban SUV, the Highlander is the only option. During the same period, China's auto market entered a rapid growth stage of consumption upgrading, and the market demand for medium-sized urban SUVs increased significantly. And GAC Toyota has been strictly controlling Highlander's production. When the supply is insufficient and the demand is too large, the high price has to become a natural thing, so the price increase situation begins.
Although after smelling the business opportunities, other car companies also quickly followed up, have launched similar models to compete with highlanders for the market, including many highly competitive models, such as Ford's sharp edge; but in contrast, Highlander's advantage in product strength is indeed greater, the most typical is the space, in the similar body size, Highlander's interior space is larger than most of the competitors subsequently launched; in addition, such as fuel consumption, reliability, etc., Highlander's performance is also top-notch in the competition, And with the blessing of long-term high-quality word of mouth, Highlander's second-hand car residual value rate is also very high, which further strengthens consumers' confidence in buying cars at a higher price.
As mentioned earlier, today's Highlander no longer needs to increase the price, which is also caused by supply and demand. After years of development, the consumer demand in the domestic market has also begun to shift in the direction of diversification. Consumers who originally chose about 300,000 medium-sized urban SUVs were differentiated by various types of products, such as new energy vehicles; so the market demand began to decrease. At the same time, the competitiveness of Highlander's competitors has increased. Not to mention other brands, Toyota has a crown land release such a model and Highlander to grab the market. Under this pattern, the aura of the Highlander's mark-up god car faded.
Compared with when Highlander first entered the domestic market, when Xena was domestically produced, the situation of short supply did not exist. It is true that with the opening of policies such as the second and third tires and the opening of consumers' thinking on automobile consumption, the market demand for domestic medium-sized MPV is indeed on the rise; but in the hearts of most Chinese people, the business attributes of MPV are heavier than household use, and the advantages of large MPV space are also available in SUVs; therefore, the potential for MPV market demand to rise is far less than that of SUVs.
Under the already weak market demand, Xena has to face a number of highly competitive opponents. Whether it is the Buick GL8, the overlord of the commercial MPV market, kia-Kahua, which entered at about the same time as Xena, and the two brothers of Honda Odyssey and Alexon, each model has a strong competitiveness. In the comparison with these models, Xena does not take advantage of anything in terms of product strength, so when it comes to hearing the need for a price increase, consumers naturally go out and turn left and go to other homes.
Consumer psychology is mature, and consumers are more rational
In addition to the market structure, another problem that has to be mentioned is that consumer psychology is becoming more and more mature.
Highlander can maintain a state of mark-up for a long time, in addition to the shortage of supply, as well as its own product strength; immature consumer psychology is also a powerful booster.
In the years when Highlander was benchmarking medium-sized urban SUVs, a large number of people thought that only buying Highlander was a smart and correct choice. Sometimes, even some consumers are not satisfied with Highlander's product strength, such as its weak power and loose chassis; and there are obviously more suitable options in the market, but they still firmly choose Highlander, because in the eyes of others, Highlander scores much higher on this answer.
And the consumer group that Xena is facing is obviously past the age of naivety.
In the eyes of manufacturers and dealers, the price increase of Xena and the pursuit of the market are almost inevitable. Because another MPV owned by Toyota gave them great confidence. That is Elfa, as a model priced at about 400,000 in overseas markets, Alpha's pricing in China has reached the 800,000 grade; on this basis, dealers can also increase the price by 200,000-500,000. Even so, consumers do not want to buy can buy, in many cases, consumers also need to find a relationship to be able to pick up the car. What's more, there have also been Alpha's damaged vehicles, which are still sold at a price of more than 100,000 yuan on the basis of the official guidance price without repair.
But they apparently overlook the fact that Alpha embodies not the utility attributes of a car, but the social attributes of a circle. Due to the very small supply, in the circle of the rich, Alpha has become a scarce item that can represent identity, just like a limited number of watches, these consumers with strong spending power and price insensitivity began to chase Alpha, and eventually formed such a pattern.
Although the size of the Xena is not much smaller than that of Alpha, which is also a Toyota MPV, the positioning of the Xena itself is only a domestic or commercial MPV, in other words, it is just a car. Xena's consumer group only needs a car, and the social attributes in Alpha do not exist in Xena.
With the rise of the term "cutting leeks", consumers who buy products at high prices that are clearly inconsistent with the value will not show envy, but more disdainful eyes. As a result, consumers who are willing to buy Xena at a higher price have become an outlier in the entire market.
『 Final Remarks 』
Finally, I have to admit that Toyota is still a good marketer. For a long time, consumers were toyed with by Toyota.
Not only Highlander and Alpha, toyota's mark-up god car has many more, such as the hardcore off-road vehicles Lander Kuroze and Prado, which are very familiar to everyone, and the sports car SUPRA. In the domestic market, they are all difficult to find a car, and there will be a complete shortage of supply for a period of time, resulting in a soaring price of used cars. Undoubtedly, this is all directed by Toyota, which is to create an impression on consumers, that is, to miss and wait for a few years, and it is right to buy at a higher price.
However, Xena's eating appearance was too ugly, which led to the final play.
Of course, the author also knows that there are still many people who like Xena and want to buy it, so when is the most suitable to buy it? Personally, I think that the most reasonable purchase price of Xena should be basically the same as its price in North America. That's when there are at least 50,000 discounts. What do you think about this? Feel free to interact with us in the comments section.
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