At the time of its imminent exit from the Chinese market, Acura ushered in a highlight moment in its brand career.
Acura 4S stores, which have always been unpopular, suddenly became very popular, and single stores received 3 orders in a single day. Such a "grand situation" was unexpected even by the sales staff. Consumers who heard the news were attracted by the sharp discount of 50,000-60,000 yuan in 4S stores, and frantically bottomed out. The cause of all this is because of the rumors of "Acura delisting".
Recently, according to Sina Finance, Honda's luxury brand Acura is about to withdraw from the Chinese market and is currently waiting for the manufacturer's final notice. In response to the above news, Li Ran, the head of production of the assembly workshop of GAC Honda Zengcheng Factory, told Future Auto Daily that the suspension of production of GAC Acura is true, and the current GAC Acura production line is still in the operational stage, and the Acura models will be produced in small batches every month.
"The production line is still running mainly to consume the remaining Acura parts, and when the parts are used up, the GAC Acura production line will officially stop running." At the factory end, acura is ready to stop production, and on the sales side, gac acura's sales showroom has also had a new way out. Future Auto Daily visited the GAC Acura showroom in Beijing and found that at present, GAC Acura is in the stage of cleaning up inventory, and when the inventory vehicles are cleaned up, the GAC Acura showroom will be transformed into a sales showroom for Honda's new pure electric vehicle brand e:N.
Judging from the market feedback, everyone is not surprised by such news. Some netizens commented on social networks, "Judging from the current sales, it is difficult to improve without leaving", and some netizens joked that "I haven't heard that it is coming, I am leaving?" In fact, GAC Acura has not had a good time in the Chinese market in recent years. According to the data of the Association, GAC Acura will sell a total of 0.66 million new cars in the Chinese market in 2021, down 45.05% year-on-year, of which CDX and RDX sales are 0.33 million units.
Future Auto Daily asked the person in charge of GAC Acura to verify the "suspension of production" news, and the relevant person in charge said: "The official has not issued any statement, combined with the development trend of the Chinese market and the changing trend of consumer demand, GAC Honda is exploring the integration of brand resources." From the perspective of various indications, GAC Acura may have entered the countdown to production suspension in the Chinese market.
The man who praises the wool
Future Auto Daily visited Acura 4S store and found that GAC Acura had begun to clean up inventory cars as early as the Spring Festival, but few consumers paid attention to this matter at that time, so GAC Acura did not usher in a peak in sales during the Spring Festival. Recently, a number of media have reported that "Acura is about to withdraw from the Chinese market", which has pushed GAC Acura into the spotlight.
Gaqi Acura Jingang 4S store in the transformation stage Source: Future Auto Daily
At present, GAC Acura Jingang 4S store is in the stage of renovation and transformation, and will mainly sell Honda pure electric brand e:N models after the renovation is completed. Gaqi Acura's sales business has been transferred to the Dongfeng Honda showroom next door, but this has not affected the enthusiasm of consumers to come to the bottom.
According to Li Jian, sales director of GAC Acura Jingang 4S store, since March 5, the number of consumers who came to the store to consult Acura has suddenly increased, and Acura CDX, which was once unattended for a week, received 3 orders on Sunday alone.
Li Jian called these consumers "people who shave wool", "they all heard the news that Acura was about to stop production, and everyone wanted to clean up the inventory to pick up the bottom." This is because, during the special period of cleaning up inventory, GAC Acura's terminal preferential margin is greater than ever. Li Jian said that at present, GAC Acura has two SUV models on sale, Acura CDX and Acura RDX, and the highest preferential margin of the previous two models is 20,000-30,000 yuan, and now, the preferential margin of these two cars has risen to 50,000-60,000 yuan.
Take Acura CDX as an example, its official guidance price is 229,800-349,800 yuan, after the terminal market discount of 50,000 yuan, the entry price of this luxury compact SUV has dropped to 180,000 yuan, even lower than the price of Honda CR-V (honda CR-V official guidance price is 179,800-249,800 yuan, according to different configurations, the preferential margin is 5,000-8,000 yuan).
Such a tempting concession makes consumers smell the wind, after all, spending the price of a joint venture SUV can buy a luxury brand SUV, which is undoubtedly a big bargain. "Except for the logo like Changan, there is nothing wrong with this car." In the GAC Acura Beijing NIS 4S store, Zhao Xi signed a car purchase contract with the store while telling future auto daily.
Zhao Xi's car purchase budget is 150,000 yuan, at this price, buying a compact SUV of its own brand is more than enough. When he heard that Acura was cleaning up the inventory car, he found that "the lowest model is sold at a discount of less than 180,000 yuan, counting a series of handling fees, the landing price is 200,000." And GAC Acura also provides consumers with a 3-year installment interest-free service, which can alleviate the pressure of car purchase in Zhaoxi.
Therefore, despite exceeding the budget, Zhao Xi still did not hesitate to take a shot. "Take advantage of the abundance of inventory cars to quickly determine, and the preferential margin may be tightened after the number of people who read the bottom in the back." Another reason for everyone to rest assured that the after-sales maintenance service after Acura's delisting has been arranged. "In the future, after the GAC Acura store is converted to the Honda electric vehicle e:N store, it will still be responsible for the maintenance and repair service of Acura models, and ensure that Acura parts will continue to supply for more than 15 years." Li Jian said.
It is domestic, and it seems that there is no domestic production
From entering the Chinese market as an imported car in 2006 to being on the verge of delisting in 2022, in these 16 years, this luxury brand tailored for the US market has never won the favor of Chinese consumers.
From 2006 to 2016, Acura only sold imported models in the Chinese market, and sales performance has always been poor. Public data released by The Future Auto Daily found that from 2011 to 2015, Acura's annual sales in the Chinese market always hovered below 5,000 vehicles, and in 2012, sales were as low as 2,300 vehicles. In this regard, Seiji Kurashi, executive director of Honda Giken Industrial Co., Ltd., believes that the Acura brand is seriously dissatisfied in the Chinese auto market.
"Acura is designed and developed in the United States, so it pays more attention to the preferences of American customers, and they are somewhat different from the preferences of Chinese customers." At the same time, Seiji Kurashi also admitted that Acura's price and sales channels do not have any advantage.
At present, gac acura models on sale only acura CDX and acura RDX two sources: Future Auto Daily
However, Acura was not willing to lose, and in 2016, it was bound to guangzhou automobile group to localize acura production. Although Acura moved its product line to China, it still went its own way in product development. Acura directly moved the North American manufacturing model and did not make significant changes in product and sales strategies.
Li Ran, head of production at the assembly workshop of Guangqi Honda's Zengcheng plant, told Future Auto Daily. Back in 2016, when Chinese consumers advocated business-style luxury, fashion, business and large space were the main demands of consumers for luxury brands. BBA, which has long been fully localized, is well versed in this way, and frequently caters to the car buying psychology of Chinese consumers by lengthening and increasing configurations. On the other hand, Acura still adheres to the sports luxury that is the main theme in the US market, "The main cost of Acura models is concentrated on mechanicality, and the configuration is not the focus of GAC Acura's manufacturing." ”
Li Ran said. The products are not recognized by Chinese consumers, and the brand influence of GAC Acura is also very limited. Seiji Kurashi once pointed out to the point that the lack of influence of Acura's brand in China and the vague positioning are the main crux of the problem. Ed Jim, a survey analyst in the U.S. automotive industry, said: "For a long time, Acura was not a very recognizable brand.
It has never conveyed a message that is different from other brands, and luxury car brands must have unique connotations and concepts. "In order to enhance brand recognition, GAC Acura has made a lot of efforts in marketing. Invited Andy Lau to serve as acura TL spokesperson, sponsored the Avengers, wolf totem, and even followed the example of DS to hire actor Feng Shaofeng to carry out the "brand partner" activity, but in the end it had little effect. "Although Feng Shaofeng became a partner of acura brand, he himself did not know the acura brand." An insider of the supplier who has provided promotional services for Acura China told Future Auto Daily.
"Luxury brands such as BBA, Cadillac and Lexus have entered the 'Who Are You' Marketing 2.0 stage in the Chinese market, while Acura has always stayed in the 'Who Am I' Marketing 1.0 stage." Based on the above reasons, even after localization, Acura's sales have not improved, and annual sales have long hovered around 10,000 vehicles. It is inevitable that he will become an outcast. According to official data from GAC Honda, as of December 2021, the total production capacity of GAC Honda's three plants in China is close to 770,000 units, while the annual sales of GAC Honda in 2021 have reached 780,000 units. "The production capacity is at full capacity, and GUANGC Honda does not have to waste its production line for GAC Acura." Li Ran said.
The luxury car market ushered in a new change
Acura's withdrawal may kick off the prelude to the "reshuffling and reshaping" of the luxury car market.
According to the data of the Association, the sales of luxury brand cars in the Chinese market reached 2.5621 million units in 2021, an increase of 4.9% year-on-year. Although the luxury car market is generally good, the internal pattern has shown signs of loosening.
Tesla, Weilai and even the second generation hatched by independent brands are tearing a hole in the traditional luxury brand camp with the help of more novel scientific and technological forces and user operation thinking. Looking back at 2021, the new car-making forces led by Tesla have been soaring, and Tesla has sold more than 320,000 new cars in the Chinese market. Nio's and Ideal's sales also exceeded 90,000 vehicles.
Even the HiPhi X, which focuses on the price range of more than 500,000 yuan, will hand over a report card of 4237 vehicles in 2021. The price range of the above-mentioned new forces coincides with the pricing range of mainstream products of luxury brands of 300,000-500,000 yuan, and the living space of luxury brands has been squeezed.
Ideal L9 Interior Source: Ideal Official
"The falling price of the Tesla Model 3 has lowered the threshold for entry-level models of luxury cars, which is also a trend in the future." Richard Shore, president of the joint marketing sales and service agency (IMSS) between Jaguar Land Rover and Chery Jaguar Land Rover, believes that Tesla and new car-making forces have formed a "catfish effect" in the luxury car market.
"Tesla's 'catfish effect' will continue to appear, which will have an impact on the current pattern of the luxury car market, and is likely to affect consumer cognition, which in turn will affect the future direction of the industry." Economist Song Qinghui said in an analysis of the Future Automotive Daily.
Luxury brands have also begun to actively transform to intelligent electrification and strive to launch a counterattack. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi have launched the EQ series, i series and e-tron series respectively, and second-tier luxury brands such as Cadillac, Lexus, Volvo, etc. have also released electrification transformation plans. "The next few years will be a competition for the transformation speed of luxury brands, if the transformation speed is too slow or new energy products are not recognized by the market, then there will be more traditional luxury brands pulled down by the 'Teslas'." Song Qinghui thinks. (At the request of the interviewees, except for Song Qinghui, the rest of the interviewees are pseudonyms)
The author | Su Peng
Edit the | Li Huanhuan