Speaking of Mazda, in addition to the well-known rotor engine technology, there is also a saying that is widely circulated in the folk.
And he is from the Words of Brother Chow played by Leung Ka Fai in the Hong Kong movie "Black Gold". "We're all in Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, you're riding on Mazda, no wonder you're stuck in traffic!" You're sitting in Mazda, and you're not qualified to have this meeting at all."
Although Leung Ka Fai was a hit in this movie, his words still shattered many Mazda owners, and even more Mazda owners said bluntly: "Why do you blacken me Mazda?" Although it is only a civilian brand, I am not slow at all"!
Indeed, Mazda's handling performance is quite outstanding, in the folk has been circulating the title of "Dongying BMW", but compared to "two fields and one production", Mazda's popularity is relatively niche, in recent years, in the domestic sales are high and low, its brand niche label is more and more obvious, and the real "BMW" there is still a lot of distance.
In order to change this downturn, Mazda recently revealed in an interview with European media that Mazda plans to build a mature luxury car manufacturer in the future. Notably, Mazda adds here: "We are not going to compete with traditional German luxury brands, but to offer something new to attract high-end car consumers who are looking for change."
Adjusting your own positioning will not be "stuck in traffic"?
Of course, this time Mazda wants to transform into a luxury brand is not a very sudden thing. In fact, as early as the early 90s, Mazda also founded an independent luxury brand - Amati, but due to late-stage funding and performance problems, Mazda had terminated this plan before the official release of the Amati brand.
In recent years, it can be seen that in Mazda's product planning, all new cars will be built based on a new longitudinal engine platform, which means that Mazda will be upgraded to a longitudinal rear-drive model, and will also be equipped with the latest inline six-cylinder engine, this series of operations are intended to enter the high-end car market, and the change will indeed make consumers have a different view of Mazda.
In other words, Mazda's upgrade is not just a luxury in the exterior and interior, but more on the technical and power level. Medium- and large SUVs such as the CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90 will be equipped with technologies such as rotors, in-line six-cylinder engines and hybrids, pushing the brand to new heights.
It is undeniable that Mazda is indeed a brand with a lot of personality. Although it is active in the world, but the share is very small, and in the face of more and more fierce competition in the market, knowing that sales decline is still going their own way, when everyone plays the small turbine to the extreme, it develops Chuangchi Blue Sky, when everyone thinks that it can only develop plainly, it wants to say that to become a luxury car brand, there are still many possibilities to appear on Mazda.
If Mazda really wants to transform into a luxury brand, how many people will pay for it?
When it comes to the division of luxury brands, in fact, the positioning between you and me is very confusing, the definition of the second and third lines is different, and there is no clear boundary. If divided by recognized brands, then BBA they are first-line brands, if the average price is divided, the average price of Lexus is higher than Audi, so how to define it as a luxury brand?
However, it should be noted here that, as mentioned above in the article, Mazda does not want to become a traditional luxury brand like BBA, but wants to become a luxury brand with an independent personality. In other words, Mazda actually does not want to create a route of how noble and luxurious, it is more through differentiated competition to improve its own advantages, to maximize the attraction of users.
Then the problem comes, in the field of Dongying automobile, it is more difficult to build a luxury brand. For example, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti their product lines are also relatively complete, Mazda wants to transform into a real luxury brand, how many people are willing to turn their eyes to Mazda and give up on them? How many people will be willing to pay for it later?
Will the upgraded Mazda be loved in China?
Looking back at Mazda's development history in China, Mazda has had three joint ventures in China, namely Hainan Mazda from 1992 to 2004, FAW Mazda established from 2005 to 2021 and Changan Mazda established since 2006. With the merger of "North and South Mazda", the Mazda brand has finally achieved "unification" in the Chinese market, and after the reorganization and merger, the new Changan Mazda continues to undertake the related business of Mazda brand cars.
Although "North and South Mazda" has been merged, but at present, Mazda in China still has no plans to launch a new model, and in the face of the industry trend of electrification, Mazda's action is also quite slow, although the competition for new energy vehicles is fierce, until 2020 Mazda's first pure electric vehicle MX-30 is listed in Europe, and in the face of this huge domestic new energy vehicle market, Mazda only has a pure electric vehicle for sale in CX-30 EV. There is still no clear progress in the domestic market.
At present, although Mazda has now determined to rush to a higher positioning, most of the Mazda groups in China are middle-income users. At the same time, Mao Longshenghong also said that it is expected that Mazda will take at least ten years to change the positioning of customers on the Mazda brand, and it is more difficult to improve the positioning of domestic consumers.
However, what needs to be explained here is that Mazda's brand adjustment is not to become the same as the current traditional luxury brands, independent, personality, and different labels are what Mazda pursues. According to the news, Mazda's new SUV CX-60 will be launched on March 8, which is also the first model of Mazda's new "longitudinal rear-drive platform", whether Mazda can enter the high-end market in China and become a luxury brand, the performance of CX-60 is the key to success or failure, and it seems to be an "admission ticket".
summary
Although Mazda can not be regarded as a boom in the domestic market, in recent years, many car companies have gone to the margins, but no matter what, the cylinder brother for Mazda this car company is still very admirable, after all, it still adheres to its own concept so that many consumers remember, now the brand positioning adjustment, I believe that Mazda will have more new products to bring to domestic consumers in the future. So, do you think Mazda will be able to succeed in the end this time?