At the 2020 Guangzhou Auto Show, Wang Yongqing, general manager of SAIC-GM, said that SAIC-GM's sales target for 2021 is to outperform the market. Buick, SAIC-GM's number one right-runner, sold 926328 vehicles in 2020, contributing 63% of SAIC-GM's sales, up 6.3% year-on-year.
In 2020, the cumulative sales of domestic passenger cars in 2020 were 19.288 million units, down 6.8% year-on-year. In 2020, when the epidemic was raging, Buick not only outperformed the market, but also achieved growth. Therefore, for Wang Yongqing, it is even a bit conservative to outperform the sales market in 2021.
As a result, buick's cumulative sales in 2021 828627 units, down 10.54% year-on-year; SAIC-GM's cumulative sales of 1277261 units, down 9.2% year-on-year. The cumulative sales volume of 2021 was 20.1465 million vehicles, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year; neither outperformed the market nor achieved the 6% growth forecast of Deputy General Manager Jiang Jiong.
In 2021, when the auto market is improving, Buick has declined against the trend.
This has to be tempting to explore the reason behind it, which is actually very simple, that is, the product force has regressed. As the pillar of Buick's sales model - Yinglang, Oncover, Regal, there are frequent problems in core components, making consumers miserable.
In the complaints of the car quality network, the complaints about the Yinglang engine account for a large part, and the failures such as jitter, abnormal noise, and flameout appear in an endless stream. Even in the 2021 model, engine failures were not spared.
The owner purchased the 2021 model 1.5L automatic elite type, in the process of the owner of the car, the engine jitter, the accelerator acceleration is ineffective, the flameout, the engine failure lights are on, these different degrees of failure appeared four times. Including the 1.3T version, there are also many car owners who reflect such problems, picking up the car for more than a month, driving less than 3,000 kilometers, and the phenomenon that it cannot be started after the engine is turned off.
It is more typical that a car owner has experienced two automatic shutdowns, and it is also during the driving, and it cannot be started after the automatic extinguishing, and a car accident is almost occurred. After 4S shop testing, it was determined that the engine variable intake manifold performance failure, the manufacturer upgraded the system, let the owner try to open.
For car owners, the new car just bought has a serious quality problem of automatic stalling and inability to start, and the safety hazard is extremely large. The attitude and handling methods of manufacturers and 4S shops are also difficult to ensure the safety of the owner's car.
Yinglang's automatic shutdown during driving is not an isolated case, another owner bought a car in August 2021, and after picking up the car, he found that the engine fault light and the charging system fault light were on and off. After maintenance, the two fault lights are still on, and they suddenly turn off during the drive, can not start, can only be dragged to the 4S shop for inspection.
The 2021 Yinglang model was listed in September last year, and it has not been half a year. As a new car, although the terminal discount is large, but the quality problems are frequent, and it is the core component - the engine. Although it is a low-end family model, it does not mean that the engine does not have quality and safety assurance.
Compared with Yinglang, the quality problems of Uncovi's engine are equally worrying. The owner purchased a 2021 523T version, picked up the car on September 26, 2021, and found that the engine failure light was always on the way to work the next day, and the after-sales said that the system upgrade was needed. After that, it was found that it was impossible to reverse, and it was still not possible to follow the instructions of customer service, and the owner had no choice but to hang up the neutral gear and push into the garage. After 4S shop testing, it was determined that it was a transmission problem that needed to be repaired.
Two days after lifting the car, the engine and gearbox failed, which is unacceptable for anyone. The owner's offer for a change of car or refund was also rejected.
Another owner purchased the 2021 Oncovey Plus 652T five-seat luxury model, picked up the car on October 19 last year, and found that the dashboard display was chaotic during the use of the car on January 19 this year, and multiple fault signals appeared, which displayed the brake fault signal and reminded to repair and maintain quickly. The owner immediately stepped on the brakes and found that he could not move.
The next day, after the 4S shop tested, it was determined that there was a problem with the electronic module, which could only be repaired, and the brake failure was returned twice. The owner picks up the car to the failure, the driving kilometer is less than a thousand kilometers, the fault light is chaotic, and the single brake failure is unacceptable, especially the new car.
Among the many complaint cases, there are not only new cars that have just been listed, but also 2020 models, 2019 models, 2018 models, and quality defects cover engines, transmission car systems, etc. For many car owners, the defects of Oncovi are fatal, which not only affects daily use, but also has major personal safety hazards.
Another best-selling model of Buick, Regal, also faces the same problem, especially the 2019 and 2020 models, with delayed engine start and abnormal sound. Some car owners complained that only half a year after lifting the car, there was a delay in starting, especially the first fire, although the high-pressure oil pump was replaced, but the symptoms were not cured.
Regal start delays, fire effort, in the circle of car friends has been a common phenomenon, most of the owners said that 4S shops and manufacturers have not found the root cause of the problem at all. Some car owners said that the delay in starting also prompted a decrease in engine power.
In addition, some car owners reported that the Regal gearbox could not be hung up and frustrated, and purchased the 2021 552T elite type. After 4S shop inspection, it was determined that the transmission control valve was stuck. On the way back, the above problems appeared again, and they were more serious, the reverse gear could not be hung up, the start was weak, the stuttering was obvious during the driving process, and the yellow light was always on.
Many car owners complain that the 2019 and 2020 Regal gearboxes can not shift gears, setbacks, from the complaint cases of the car quality network, it is obvious that Regal whether it is the current model, or the model in recent years, the engine, the gearbox have serious quality defects.
Yinglang, Encore and Regal, as the main best-selling models of Buick, should have had a strong level of quality, but the reality is that quality problems are frequent, making the majority of car owners miserable.
Yinglang had a hard time switching back to a four-cylinder engine, sales returned to normal, but encountered fatal quality problems, in the long run, in the low-end market, Yinglang will have no foothold.
As a high-end model, Encore and Regal have a place in the high-end model for many years with huge terminal discounts, and should cherish this hard-won sales, strictly control the engine and gearbox, and ensure the rights and interests of consumers.
I hope that manufacturers can face up to these problems, after all, the engine and gearbox are core components.
Conclusion: In 2021, when sales should have increased, Buick did not increase but declined.
Such an abnormal performance should arouse the attention of SAIC-GM, respect for the market, respect for consumers, only by completely solving the problem of engine and gearbox, can we ensure product quality.
The quality of the product is guaranteed, outperforming the market, and even achieving growth is a matter of course. Otherwise, outperforming the market can only be an empty phrase.