During the 2012 National Day holiday, I was just a high school student. Overnight, all the Japanese cars erected small red flags and put up signs that read, "The car is a Japanese car, and the heart is the heart of China."
Toyota's sales did fall as expected that year, but by just 4.8 percent, the only year since 2008.
What is more exaggerated is that in the past 14 years, Toyota has not only not "exchanged price for volume", but even increased prices. Camry, Highlander, Prado, Alpha, ten price-added "god cars", Toyota can account for eight.
The price and sales volume fly together, and the profit is a total of one color.
"Hunger marketing" can stimulate the consumption desire of some users, but it is also a "double-edged sword".
In October 2021, GAC Toyota introduced Xena, which should bring lower prices at lower costs and larger production capacity. But with Toyota's courage as always, it is impossible to simply reduce the price, and the terminal price has become the core of the problem.
"A price increase of 70,000 is the norm", the dealer gave the final solution.
Contrary to Toyota's wishes, GAC Toyota Syna actually had only 935 units in December 2021. Finally, the Toyota car after the mark-up could not be sold.
Although many media have attacked the drawbacks of car purchase at a higher price, is Sai na's "fan rebellion" coming too quickly?
Mark-ups are not incomprehensible, and supply and demand determine prices. In 2021, the original chip of a few dollars was speculated to thousands of yuan, and the car company had no choice but to tighten the preferential margin and extend the time to pick up the car.
However, the automobile market has a special monopoly tendency, and the dominant position of car companies in pricing cannot be shaken. At present, most consumers will still buy a car through a 4S store. At this time, what is the market of a car is basically decided by the dealer.
Faced with a similar situation, some OEMs will choose to acquiesce. After all, the price increase is the intuitive embodiment of "short supply", and the extra profits can also reduce the sales cost of manufacturers in disguise.
For car companies, only need to moderately control production capacity and dealer inventory, we can form a "micro-tight balance" between supply and demand in the market, creating a price increase environment.
Products are tight, the inventory cost of the main engine factory is low, the dealer profit is high, and the "mark-up play" that is more than one fell swoop, Toyota knows it well?
Although gac toyota syna in December 2021 had only 935 vehicles on risk, the official wholesale data was 2791.
This time, Toyota's "supply is less than demand" in the air pavilion is too high, and the fans cannot support it, resulting in cracks.
In Shanghai, in the warehouse of a GAC Toyota 4S store, a total of 4 Xena cars were parked.
The change in the relationship between supply and demand has made the sales staff also become more talkative: "Special good news, special good news, Sai Na parity can pick up the car, the current car is sent in seconds, the current car is sent in seconds, as long as the loan can be issued, at least 300,000 loans." ”
Finally, Xena also embarked on the "Buddha Slope" of "exchanging price for quantity"?
Compared with the initial price increase of 70,000 yuan, the loan fee is negligible, and even some areas have a certain range of concessions. And all of this happened in just 3 months.
In January 2022, the official sales of GAC Toyota Syna were 5399 vehicles, and the sales of the association were 4329 vehicles, and the price increase storm came to an end.
At the beginning of the sale of Xena, I was also invited to experience this car. According to the guide price, the product strength is acceptable, but it is not worth the increase in price.
Later, I called the official customer service of GAC Toyota to inquire, and got a reply, "This is market behavior, we are not good at interfering, I suggest that you take the dealer sales policy as the standard." Such a statement is bound to be unconvincing to the public.
Previously, in order to limit the Highlander price increase, GAC Toyota had stipulated that it must go through the official APP Fengyun line to place an order, and delivered according to the order time, as for the landing situation, we do not know.
For Xena, although it is also an APP booking, a small line has been added to the booking page - the transaction price is subject to the agreement between you and the dealer.
We hate dealer markups, but we hate official acquiescence, connivance, and even behind-the-scenes operations. Although we do not have direct evidence that Toyota dominates the markup, there are many ways for Toyota to control the markup.
For example, in the previous disguised price increase incident of Lynk & Co, the car company reacted quickly, suspending the selected function of the store in the Lynk & Co mall and stopping the commercial car.
The recent tank 500 order markup resale incident, the tank brand is also quick to release measures, upgrade process, basically to ensure the rights and interests of normal car buyers.
The BYD DM-i series, although the waiting time is several months, there is no dealer to sell at a higher price. BYD officials are silently increasing production capacity to meet consumer demand as much as possible.
Why doesn't Xena raise the price? In addition to market reasons, the lack of competitiveness of models and the decline in brand influence are also important factors. In a diversified market, there is no one who cannot be replaced.
Nowadays, the cognitive gap is gradually filled in, consumers are more confident, no longer only brand theory, the so-called "Toyota faith" is gradually fading away. The iterative upgrade of buick GL8, Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Honda Odyssey and even Trumpchi M8 makes it difficult for Toyota to have a "self-reserved land" in the MPV market.
It is true that Toyota is not the only brand that increases the price, and the relationship between OEMs and dealers will continue to be complicated, but "old car companies" need to have a revolutionary heart.
Enjoying the fruits of the revolution will bear the pain of the revolution, and the decline in profits and the resistance of dealers are only temporary pains. Living up to the enthusiasm of consumers is the foundation of safety.