At the end of 2021, the Japanese automaker Subaru released its first electric vehicle SOLARA, the naming logic of "SOLTERRA" is composed of the Latin "SOL" (sun) and "TERRA" (earth), implying that Subaru SOLTERRA is a completely environmentally friendly and pollution-free pure electric vehicle. In the 18 years since entering the Chinese market, from the highest to the trough, can Subaru rely on new models such as BRZ and SOLTERRA to reverse the decline in 2022, and will riders be looking forward to it?
Founded in 1953, Subaru is a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (FHI) specializing in automobile manufacturing. Originally focusing on the production of automobiles, it also ventured into heavy industry, manufacturing and producing aircraft and engines, and was a manufacturer of various types and multi-purpose transportation equipment. Relying on fuji heavy industry's technical background, the quality of Subaru automobiles can be described as well-known at home and abroad.
As a brand with its own distinctive characteristics, Subaru has always been "specialized in the art industry", focusing on opposing engines and widely applying left-right symmetrical full-time four-wheel drive technology, which has lowered the threshold of off-road sports SUVs and become a more popular car brand in the Chinese market for a period of time. However, in recent years, Subaru has suffered "Waterloo" continuously, and has "no such car" on the sales list of the Association.
Nowadays, in the Chinese auto market, saying that Subaru has become an unpopular brand, I believe that there is no objection, and even talking about "Subaru" with others, many people will feel confused. It is reported that in December 2021, the Sales of subaru brands in China was only more than 1,200 units, while the annual sales volume was only 16,886 units, down 22.82% year-on-year. If the car brands that sold less than 5,000 vehicles in the Chinese auto market last month belong to niche brands, Subaru is a niche brand, a veritable marginal brand.
As the world's largest automobile market, China's domestic brands and joint venture brands can find their own "way of survival". There are not only Volkswagen, Toyota, which are led by the Chinese market, deeply cultivating the local environment and highly localized; there are also domestic independent brands such as Great Wall Group and BAIC, which better understand the fundamental needs of Chinese car owners. At the same time, there are pure import brands such as Lexus, which can still occupy a place even if China is not the main market.
So, where exactly does Subaru's problem arise compared to Lexus with similar attributes? Why is the Chinese auto market completely marginalized?
Price & product mismatch
In fact, Subaru is not a luxury car brand, but like Lexus, Subaru is sold in the form of pure imports, which increases various costs to a certain extent, which not only does not bring a premium to Subaru, but will bring increased expenditure on subsequent maintenance. At the same time, Subaru's product layout has certain defects, at present, in China, Subaru's cheapest XV model starts at 191,800 yuan, such brand pricing, raising the entry threshold, even higher than the BBA entry-level model. At the same time, at a price of nearly 200,000 yuan, consumers have a better and more worthwhile choice.
Compared with the emphasis on automobile performance in the European and American markets, Chinese consumers seem to pay more attention to the appearance and quality of cars. However, Subaru has embarked on a diametrically opposed path, and in the 18 years of development in China, the texture of Subaru brand models has not been improved. Honda, which is also a Japanese company, has launched a model with such a luxurious sense and excellent sense of quality as Guandao, while Subaru, which is positioned more high-end, does not think so, even if subaru Aohu is a 300,000-yuan mid-to-high-end SUV, the interior is still textureless, and the design is similar to that of basic models such as XV.
Contrary to consumer demand
In addition to the subjective backwardness of products and pricing strategies, texture and design, Subaru's products and the objective current market environment and consumer demand for cars are also not small, which also causes Chinese consumers to rarely choose Subaru. First of all, one of the main demands of consumers to choose SUVs is large space, but the subaru model space is relatively cramped, even if the main sales SUV model Forester, the space in the car is relatively limited, compared with Toyota, Honda, Lexus and other Japanese SUVs can not take advantage of the cheap.
In addition, the above-mentioned Subaru, which relies on an industrial background, has a very strong engine performance, and at the same time, the problem is the complex engine structure. Such a special mechanical structure, corresponding to the daily maintenance costs will rise. Also taking the forester as an example, in the maintenance project of 60,000 kilometers, the forester needs to spend nearly 10,000 yuan, while the Nissan X-Trail, which belongs to the same Japanese compact SUV, is less than 6,000 yuan, and the Honda CR-V only needs 6-7,000 yuan.
The people evaluate the car
In the Chinese auto market, Subaru's experience can be said to have changed from arrogance to defeat. In 2011, Subaru was still able to win the 56,000-sold old rival Lexus with a sales volume of 57,200 vehicles, and since 2011, Subaru's sales have been down for 11 years, and it has been doubled by the Lexus sales level of 200,000 sales. The roof leaked during the overnight rain, and the boat was late and hit the headwind. In 2019, Subaru announced the launch of the largest recall in history, involving about 2.3 million vehicles worldwide, and according to Japanese media reports at the time, the recall generated nearly 10 billion yen in costs, about 600 million yuan, which attracted countless fans to complain and ridicule.
As a car-making experience with more than 70 years, the technology is quite developed and complete, and subaru, which was once a Sino-Japanese famous car in the automotive industry, does not seem to have completely given up hope for the Chinese market. In 2022, whether Subaru will be revived with the pure tram SOLTERRA and the new subaru BRZ, and whether it can start the prologue to recover the lost ground, needs to be verified by the market! Let's wait and see.