Acura is going to exit the Chinese market? Yes, you read that right, there are already multiple media outlets covering it. Gaqi Acura's factory has stopped production, and two of the four exhibition halls have already demolished acura displays in the store, and the other two also said that when the inventory is digested, the acura exhibition hall will also be demolished. The maintenance of Acura vehicles will not be affected and will be undertaken by the Guangqi Honda 4S store. The only 4S store in Beijing, "GAC Acura Beijing Jingang Store", has officially stopped selling.
It is said that China is the world's largest auto market, and sales of luxury brand cars have also been rising in recent years. In addition to the BBA, Lexus, Cadillac, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover, Lincoln, are also very moist, but why can't Acura continue to develop?
[1] Luxury brands are two-level differentiation, no characteristics of acura, Alexander!
China's luxury brand car market is showing a clear polarization. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi's market position is very strong and unbreakable. Other luxury car brands are collectively referred to as second-tier luxury brands. Among the many second-tier luxury brands, they want to survive in the Chinese market, such as having "characteristics". Lexus, for example, has a sharp design, ultra-high retention rate, and hybrid. Cadillac, Lincoln has American luxury, as well as great value for money. Volvo has the best security and the price is advantageous. But when it comes to Acura, it seems that we are not very impressed with it. In addition to knowing that it is a high-end brand under honda, in addition to luxury, it seems that there is no particularly obvious label on it.
In fact, similar examples in addition to acura, there are Infiniti. I think it's hard to find particularly obvious brand labels on both brands.
[2] Acura's withdrawal from the Chinese market is caused by its own arrogance?
Acura has not developed in the Chinese market, and I think it has a lot to do with its own arrogance. The arrogance I mean by this is the selling price. Acura's main market is the United States, and annual sales in the United States are about 150,000 units in 2021. There are more than 10,000 vehicles per month. Acura in the United States mainly relies on cost performance, such as Acura MDX, positioning medium and large SUVs, starting at $4.69 in the U.S. market, about 300,000 yuan. However, MDX's offer in the Chinese market is 698,000 to 940,000, which is double the price of the United States.
In addition, the RDX positioning medium-sized SUV, the price is also close to the Audi Q5L these models, it can be said that Acura's model pricing is high, and did not find their own positioning. Later, Lincoln learned to be obedient, directly listed at a low price, and did not even leave room for price reduction, so Lincoln is currently performing well in the Chinese market.
What's even more ridiculous is that the body size of the Acura RDX is also positioned as a mid-size SUV, and the body size of the Acura RDX is not as large as that of Honda Guandao. For Chinese users who prefer large-size cars, acura RDX is obviously unsatisfactory.
Therefore, Acura's withdrawal from the Chinese market is caused by its own price arrogance and unclear product positioning. In fact, there is another reason for Acura's failure, that is, Acura has not made any changes in the model for the Chinese market. In fact, the difference between Chinese users and American users is still very large. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and even Cadillac will lengthen the wheelbase for the Chinese market, make changes in configuration, and powertrain, but Acura has directly brought the models of the US market to China.
[3] Acura withdrew from the Chinese market, declaring the failure of Guangben's high-end brand strategy!
Now many joint venture brands are actively introducing their own luxury brands, for example, FAW-Volkswagen's high-end brand is Audi, and SAIC Volkswagen has also introduced SAIC Audi. Dongfeng Nissan's high-end brand is Infiniti. SAIC-GM's high-end brand is Cadillac. Changan Ford's high-end brand is Lincoln. It can be said that any good development of joint venture brands will introduce luxury brands. Regardless of whether the sales volume can be successful or not, the improvement of brand influence is obvious anyway.
Acura is a luxury brand introduced by Guangqi Honda, and previously announced the "2020 Plan" to achieve the goal of annual sales of 100,000 vehicles. However, now it seems that instead of achieving the sales target, the brand is going to withdraw from the Chinese market. The withdrawal of Acura also announced the failure of Guangben's high-end brand strategy.
Without the blessing of high-end brands, Honda in the Chinese market, can only rely on the high-end models of Accord and Guandao of these Honda brands. This is also detrimental to the future brand image of the Honda brand.