From 2021 onwards, Toyota has launched several SUV models to the Chinese market to seize the market, and it is not difficult to see that Toyota has been impatient for the big cake of the domestic SUV market. Honestly speaking, since entering the TNGA architecture, with the improvement of product strength, Toyota's sales in the domestic market are getting better and better, in the context of the decline in sales of many brands, Toyota can also achieve 1700415 in 2021, up 8.65% against the trend, which is enough to see the consumer's pursuit of Toyota.
However, perhaps due to too much self-confidence, many Toyota models have also been unfairly treated by consumers in the domestic market. Among them, it was mainly based on GAC Toyota Xena, which staged a price increase farce, and finally ended hastily. Similarly, the situation is similar to that of Xena, and FAW Toyota Lingfang.
I remember that last year, at the beginning of the listing of Lingfang, the whole network media almost unanimously applauded, what this car is Lexus flat replacement, is a boutique SUV headline emerges in an endless stream. Just when people thought that Lingfang could really fill the gap in the 250,000-level SUV market between Rongfang and Crown Landfang, Lingfang only handed over 3547 sales answers in January 2022. Such sales are not bad, and it is not good to say good, but the gap between the annual production capacity of the Lingfang design is not small. So what exactly caused Ling Fang to be cold on the market?
From the perspective of external factors, due to the Spring Festival in January this year, the working day time is not much, so it will affect the domestic new car sales data to a certain extent; and for the lack of cores, I personally believe that since you can design the annual production capacity to that position, there is no chip problem to explain the sales. Therefore, Lingfang's sales volume is weak, and a large degree of problem still appears in product strength.
Why? First of all, as a medium-sized SUV, the significance of its existence is to fill the gap between 200,000 and 300,000 five SUVs. But for a product that sells more expensive than Rongfang, lingfang in addition to the exterior design is more like Lexus, the interior quality materials are more delicate, the rest will not make people feel that it is a more advanced car. Indeed, if you have gone to the 4S store to see the Lingfang real car, it is not difficult to find that in the interior performance, the appearance of the Lingfang real car is not as exquisite as the official Renderings of Toyota, basically continuing the design idea of Rongfang, but more bold in the line.
In addition, in the power part, Lingfang and Rongfang are also exactly the same, both are the same 2.0L +CVT and 2.5L THS hybrid system. However, the higher price of Lingdi on the 2.0L model is not equipped with a four-wheel drive system, in contrast, Rongfang retains this configuration, which is really confusing. And in the hybrid version, the starting price of the dual engine version of Lingfang will sell to 259,800 yuan, and the price of the top model is as high as 297,800 yuan, in this price range, not to mention those luxury brand opponents with huge discounts, even Highlander can also be directly bought, so spend the same money, why don't consumers choose the latter with larger size, more seats, and more practical? Or is FAW Toyota really treating Lingfang as a luxury car?
Write at the end
There is the cheaper Rongfang, there is the highlander with better product power, and the left and right are also besieged by those luxury compact SUVs, but Lingfang defines itself as a "light luxury urban SUV" and continues to sell at a price that does not match the product power. From this embarrassing positioning, it is not difficult to see that the reason why some models can succeed is because the product force is good at the same time, holding the market that consumers just need; and some models if only rely on storytelling, then in this era, it is already difficult for consumers to "sell orders".