In the automotive market, the phenomenon of inner rolling is becoming more and more "vivid".
Whether it is a Chinese brand, a joint venture brand, or a luxury brand, the competition situation has become increasingly "disorderly". In the past, Chinese brands were basically pressed in the market below 150,000 yuan, and the joint venture brand products were roughly concentrated in the market of 150,000-250,000 yuan, while luxury brands were in the market of 250,000 yuan or even more than 300,000 yuan.
With the maturity of the automobile market, the gradual breaking down of technical barriers and the increasing rationality of consumer consumption concepts, the "Chu river Han boundary" between Chinese brands and joint venture brands, luxury brands and joint venture brands is becoming blurred.
As a luxury brand medium-sized sedan, the terminal price of the Volvo S60 B4 Zhiyi Luxury Edition model has dropped to 240,000 yuan, which is comparable to the hybrid Camry, and even lower than the price of the top hybrid version of the Camry.
If the Camry hybrid fuel economy, then the Volvo S60 2.0T+8AT powertrain and better brand image can completely erase the shortcomings of fuel economy. The truth, though, is that the Camry is the sales champion of midsize sedans in a low-key fashion, and the higher-priced 2.5L+HEV models account for more than 52% of sales.
Or Xu has such a reference to the real market, at the Guangzhou Auto Show at the end of last year, the "third-line" luxury brand Lincoln set the pre-sale price of its car Lincoln Z at 255,000 yuan. Pre-sale prices were released, and opinions of liking and praising conscience poured in.
Recently, with the Lincoln Z listing time approaching and the spread of test drive information, the Internet once again set off a hot discussion on Lincoln Z, the view showed a clear situation, some believe that luxury brands close to 5 meters long, wheelbase more than 3 meters and 2.0T + 8AT power system of the car, pre-sale price of 255,000, the official listing may be lower, cost-effective.
Of course, there are also views that there are many versions of the second- and third-tier luxury brands that are now within 250,000 yuan, and the proportion of sales is relatively high, the price of Lincoln Z is no surprise, and the listing will be a high probability event in the short term.
Che Wenyi visited the terminal market and found that like the Audi A4L, the preferential margin is now about 60,000 yuan, and the price of the entry-level model is in the early 260,000 yuan. The terminal price of cadillac CT5, which is also a U.S. luxury brand, has entered the range of 240,000 yuan. Then, from the horizontal comparison, it is not difficult to see that the pre-sale price of Lincoln Z is not low, and even if the official listing price will be slightly reduced, it is also within a very reasonable range.
In fact, luxury brands are subtly "grabbing" the market from joint venture brands. In 2021, the brand with the highest growth rate among mainstream luxury brands is Lincoln: 91,000 units sold in 2021, an increase of 48% year-on-year. The year-on-year growth rate of other mainstream first-tier and second-tier luxury brands is in the single digits, and Audi has experienced a negative growth rate of 3.6% year-on-year.
Of course, since 2020, an important driving force for Lincoln's sales growth is the launch of the entry-level SUV model "Adventurer", and 230,000 yuan can buy a luxury brand compact SUV, which is undoubtedly a precise dimensionality reduction blow to the joint venture brand compact SUV. Of course, the effect is clear, with the Adventurers selling 30,000 in 2020 and 45,000 in 2021 — always accounting for nearly 50 percent of Lincoln brand sales.
There is no doubt that with the listing of Lincoln Z, there will be a good "year-on-year increase" in Lincoln brand sales in 2022, but the only concern is whether the product downward strategy will adversely affect the development of the brand. How will the new Mondeo, which shares the platform with Lincoln Z, stand in the market?
When the price of Lincoln brand products is getting closer and closer to the ford brand model on the same platform, it will be a "lose-lose" situation. The growth in sales is honey, but relying too much on entry-level products to support sales is the brand's arsenic – especially if the Lincoln brand is not stable in China's luxury car market.
However, from another point of view, Lincoln's approach is also understandable, which is also evidence of the increasing seriousness of the "inner volume" of luxury brands. When an Audi A4L is not much more expensive than the Lincoln Z, if you want to make consumption pay, only the weak side of the brand will give way to the price.
Compared with the gentle elegance of luxury brands that do not really compete with joint venture brands for "identity" considerations, Chinese brands and joint venture brands have become like a face-to-face drum.
Of course, the competition between Chinese brands and joint venture brands first began with the "positive" Korean and legal systems. And this kind of "just" from 2021, has begun to gradually rise from "cost-effective" to "technical level", and even the price of some flagship products of Chinese brands has been far higher than that of the same level of Korean cars and French cars.
For example, the new generation of GAC Trumpchi GS8, with the blessing of the THS hybrid system, has begun to get to the range of 250,000 yuan, and now the market heat and consumer acceptance are very good. The Korean and French systems do not have similar products in the field of medium-sized SUVs.
In addition, BYD DM-i and Great Wall Motor DHT Hybrid Power have also achieved large-scale "loading" in 2021, and the market response is very good. On the other hand, Korean, French and American brands have not been "involved" in the field of hybrid power (48V light mix system is not a real hybrid). Invisibly, Chinese brands have achieved transcendence in the field of technology.
In addition, in addition to the high-tech models such as Trumpchi GS8, Weipai Mocha, and Geely Xingyue L, which perform well in the conventional market, products such as the Tank 300 that open up niche market segments (hardcore off-road vehicles) for the mass consumer market have further made consumers realize that Chinese brands are indeed rising.
A change in consumer perception is more important than a specific "product". Nowadays, especially young consumers, they no longer think that driving a Chinese car has no face. This is related to their growing environment, some post-95 primary school years, the car has entered many families, in their cognition, the car is the representative of identity and status, but "transportation". Therefore, they value and function more on the choice of cars and are no longer brand-only.
The Kia Smart Run of the standard compact SUV has unconsciously remained in the same range as the Chinese brand SUV (the third generation Haval H6, Boyue Pro, Trumpchi GS4 Plus, etc.) in terms of price. Even so, in terms of market sales, Zhipao is still not brilliant enough. You know, the previous Kia Smart Run is a model that competes with the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and so on.
Changan Ford Ruiji is also a very interesting car, when listed in 2019, the tone is still relatively high, the three models are all four-wheel drive models, but due to the higher starting price of 189,800 yuan and Ford's brand power is not commensurate, resulting in market performance is not ideal. Four months later, a lower-priced two-wheel drive model was introduced, with little success.
Therefore, after half a year, three models with lower configurations were launched, and the starting price was directly pulled into the 160,000 yuan range (the terminal price entered the 150,000 yuan range). However, the performance in 2021 is not satisfactory, with sales of 32,000 units in 2021.
All indications show that for weak second-tier joint venture brands, the pressure from the "inner volume" of the joint venture camp and the upward breakthrough of Chinese brands is unprecedented. He said that in addition to Toyota Honda, the joint venture brand and the head independent brand have been in a "trench", they are "internal volumes" of each other, and the joint venture is stronger than the "myth" of independence.
In a way, the inner volume is the manifestation of the "disorder" of competition. In the long run, this disordered competition is advantageous, it seems to be fairer and more durable. In the eyes of some, "inner volume" is a barbaric force, but it does not prevent him from having a positive impact.
As Nietzsche said, the history of mankind is like this, the most barbaric forces have opened a path, mainly destructive, but its work is necessary, so that later more elegant civilizations can build edifices here.
In 2022, the "inner volume" of the automotive circle will be more intense, won't it?!
Note: Images are from the Web