For industrial products such as automobiles, no one can do "you have to".
"I see you as an idol, but you see me as traffic." This is the embarrassment of the star chasers.
In the era of mobile Internet, the basic logic of business is also undergoing subtle changes, from product centers to user centers, which is often referred to as the "fan economy".
The same is true of the automotive industry, and building a user-oriented enterprise has become the consensus of the industry. Among them, some brands have been very successful, with strong fan circle ability and high fan loyalty.
However, just like some stars and big V fans on the Internet, some companies will become arrogant after having a large number of highly loyal users, such as GAC Toyota.
From Hanland to Xena, how can it be so peaceful to fool consumers with the means of mark-up and hunger marketing, and to cut leeks in the name of the so-called "market supply and demand"?
Are the Chinese market and Chinese consumers so ignorant and humble in your eyes?
Is a smaller markup a discount?
Under normal circumstances, if a new car is sought-after, coupled with the fact that the production capacity did not come up when it was just listed, then according to the supply and demand relationship, the 4S store may increase the price to sell the car at the beginning, but the price will gradually become normal with the production capacity.
However, Guangfeng's "price increase" is a variety of models in parallel, such as Highlander has been sold for so many years, and there have been different degrees of price increases. There is also the local luxury car Alpha, the original guidance price of up to 839,000-92.00 million yuan, relative to foreign countries is already a sky-high price, the result of the terminal also has to increase the price, even up to 150,000-200,000 yuan or so (different regions will have differences). Moreover, the sales of the terminal are also very arrogant, if you question him will tell you, "only 100,000 when the price is quickly bought, it is already a promotion"!
For a long time, consumers also accepted. Because in the same period, the product strength does have certain advantages, especially the manufacturer's carefully packaged publicity points, such as Highlander's "pure imported engine, Lexus same model", "high retention rate, open a year to make money, wealth management products", etc., attracting a large part of the loyal fans.
This point reached its peak in the newly introduced MPV model Sai Na, which has a guided price of 309,800-405,800 yuan, which is much more expensive than the Buick GL8, and the price of the car is increased by tens of thousands of yuan.
On the whole, the price increase in GAC Toyota is no longer due to short-term supply and demand imbalance, but a deliberate market strategy.
The markup is in the overdraft of Toyota's word of mouth
First of all, it must be admitted that the premise of being able to sell at a higher price is that the product is strong, and behind it is not only the product itself, but also the brand value. The Toyota brand sells all over the world with QDR (intrinsic durability and reliability), and the word-of-mouth accumulation of products is indeed very strong. In particular, the early imported cars cultivated a large number of fans in China, and these people were the first high-net-worth people in China, and their experience weight was large enough, which is an intangible asset for Toyota.
The Pearl River Delta region is the starting point of reform and opening up, which is more affected by toyota imports of that year, while GAC Toyota is located in Guangzhou, which has the most loyal user base. So from camry to Highlander, the sales are very hot, even if the price increase is basically digested by the users themselves.
There is no way, when other people's fans have to pay with real money and silver, and the fan base is large to ensure the number of receivers, and second-hand cars are also easy to sell. In addition, manufacturers can ensure that the supply is in short supply through order-based production and control of production capacity, so they can maintain the state of price increase for a long time and maximize profits.
However, perhaps the connivance of consumers has given Guangfeng greater confidence, so while increasing the price, the product strength has not become better, and even has a downward trend, such as the new fourth-generation Highlander and Xena, the pricing is obviously high, and there are different degrees of reduction after domestic production, so the price increase has caused many fans to be dissatisfied.
In the final analysis, the terminal markup is a secondary premium on the basis of the brand premium, nakedly treating fans as leeks, which is not only disrespectful to consumers, but also an overdraft of Toyota's reputation accumulated over the years.
Consumers are becoming more rational
At present, a series of riotous operations in Guangfeng have gradually caused dissatisfaction among consumers and affected word of mouth. For example, the cold in Xena is an important turning point. Taking the sales volume in the first month of the market (December 2021) as an example, the wholesale volume was 2791 units, while the actual delivery volume was only 932 units. In January, GAC Toyota announced a wholesale volume figure of 5,399 units, and emphasized that the top-of-the-line 405,800 platinum version sales accounted for 40%, while the retail sales data released by the Association of Automobiles was 4,329 units.
Overall, the sales data in January is still good, but there is still a big gap with the "order over 10,000" announced by the manufacturer when it was listed, and some cars are still used for 4S shop exhibition cars and test driving, of which the high proportion of top models is also related to this. Also, because consumers do not buy it, the price of the terminal has also begun to fall.
In addition to dissatisfaction with the price increase, consumers are different from the inside and outside of the product, and there are also many criticisms of the allocation reduction in China. In fact, Toyota's hot sales in foreign countries rely on good quality and low price, but in the country to reduce the allocation and shrinkage, the price is very expensive, but also to increase the price, which really makes it difficult for users to accept, feel that they are cut leeks.
In addition, in recent years, Toyota's quality problems have often appeared, such as the previous Camry's engine oil emulsification problem, and now a large number of Leiling owners complain on the car quality network that there are many abnormal noises including engines, gearboxes, sunroofs, etc., as well as frequent failures of the vehicle connection system and body rust, etc., which have greatly affected the reputation, so that everyone has a certain degree of cooling of the Toyota brand.
At present, GAC Toyota also recognizes the seriousness of the problem and has stated that "the terminal will no longer increase the price", but it has not been realized so far, and it remains to be seen how it will be implemented in the end.
summary
For the automobile such industrial products, no one can do "must you", especially now the conversion of oil and electricity energy, new brands, new models continue to emerge, consumer choice is also getting bigger and bigger, so auto companies should have a sense of awe to consumers, give full respect, do a real user-oriented enterprise, in order to stand in an invincible position.