How can the car market, which is bound by the ongoing epidemic and the lack of core in the world, achieve self-redemption?

Written by | Chu Yunwen

Image source | Internet

The epidemic has been going on for more than two years, and it has had a huge impact on production and life. For the automotive industry, "people are panicked, the core is panicked", these eight words can be described as an accurate summary of the current situation.

Among them, the supply chain tension caused by the shortage of automotive chips has also become the most headache for major OEMs. The price increase in chips, the suspension of car companies to reduce production, the rise in the cost of buying cars, the lack of core "pain" has become "continuous pain"; coupled with the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, resulting in a shortage of raw materials for semiconductor manufacturing, the chip supply problem has once again become worse.

Even the Chinese market with a complete industrial chain cannot escape the impact of the lack of core. The domestic auto market in February this year fell by 39.9% month-on-month, and the cumulative sales volume in the two months of the year fell by 1.6% year-on-year; the sales of the top ten car companies in the retail rankings of manufacturers declined compared with the same period last year, with the highest decline reaching 37.6%.

Data and image source: Multiplying Association

In such a harsh environment, just look at the sales figures of car companies has been slightly pale, may wish to explore the data analysis behind the sales, perhaps there is a higher gold content. In addition to the sales volume itself, the sales structure and average transaction price can better reflect whether the development of a brand is healthy, and also reflect the "crisis", who is drinking and quenching thirst, pursuing short-term interests, and who is going against the current and insisting on doing difficult but correct things.

SAIC-GM is a positive example of many car companies seizing this opportunity. At present, the overall market sales of SUVs fell by 39.9% month-on-month, but Buick's flagship SUV products increased by 47%, and the proportion of high-end models under the overall brand increased; and then there were the top brands in the rankings to accumulate sales by introductory products, and the Cadillac brand ushered in an increase in the average price of all models, reaching a maximum of 16%, and the proportion of high-end models continued to rise.

It can be seen that in the current bad external environment, it is precisely the time for a brand to "improve itself".

The proportion of sales of high-end models increased

Build a healthier sales system

For a mature brand, it must have a huge product matrix. For different consumer groups, the sales ratio of various types of models is also different, and the usual amount of products will be concentrated on entry products, because its price is close to the people and is more easily accepted by consumers.

However, in contrast, luxury brands and high-end brands, entry-level models are only a means to attract consumers, and the main sales models are concentrated on high-end products. For brands, in order to achieve brand upwards, the focus is still on making changes in sales structure.

Let's look at this set of figures, in the last year, the buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands sold a total of 1,331,567 vehicles for the whole year. Among them, the sales of high-end models accounted for more than 5 percentage points higher than in 2020, and the average transaction price of each brand increased by 6% to 16%.

The proportion of high-end models of the Buick brand reached 60%, the sales of the flagship SUV product Encore Banner increased by 47%, and the Oncovey S doubled sales; looking at Chevrolet, aside from the entry-level products, the sales share of the "big car combination" composed of pioneers, explorers and Maribal increased to 48%, close to half of the brand.

It should be noted that the time node of the increase in sales of high-end SUV products of SAIC-GM coincides with the replacement and renewal of Toyota Highlander; and the three models of the Chevrolet brand are high-end products in their respective fields, and from the perspective of sales structure, it can be said that they have got rid of the inherent impression of "hitting the market with entry cars" in the minds of consumers before. The growth driven by the brand's high-end products not only reflects the improvement of the competitiveness of the product in the market, but also reflects the consumer's recognition of the brand.

It is worth mentioning the performance of CADILLAC, a high-end brand under SAIC-GM. Take the proportion of high-end models in the sales of Cadillac's entire series of products in February this year as an example: CT4:75%, CT5: 95%, CT6: 89%: XT4:54%, XT5:98%, XT6:82%. CT5 and XT5 can be regarded as the mainstay products in sedans and SUVs, of which high-end models account for more than 90%.

It is conceivable that for brand development, the blind pursuit of a single sales volume is not a long-term solution, especially after we have seen too many phenomenal products in the market, sustained and stable sales and the inherent brand image in the minds of consumers are the top priority.

In terms of cadillac's popular model CT5, despite the repeated epidemic and chip shortages and other factors, CT5 sales can still break 6000, when the chip supply problem eases, CT5 will be expected to compete with BBA, and SAIC-GM's other high-end product sales will also be on a higher level.

From this point of view, there is always a turnaround after the crisis, and the transition from the main sales model to high value is obviously one of the ideal states of the brand. Single sales volume does not guarantee the brand upwards, only by optimizing the product structure and building a healthier sales system can we boost the brand upwards and thus achieve higher quality development.

How to achieve self-improvement in the face of adversity?

Heading against the tide in the face of difficulties

From the analysis of the results of the upward shift in the sales structure, which effectively boosted the brand to complete the sales structure adjustment and the high-quality transformation of the brand, SAIC-GM did two things correctly:

First, adhere to the "two-legged walk" at a time when new energy is popular.

Last year, according to the characteristics of consumer car purchases, SAIC-GM introduced the eighth-generation Ecotec's new 1.5T four-cylinder direct injection turbocharged engine, and popularized the 48V light mixing technology on a large scale on its models, realizing a comprehensive upgrade of the intelligent and electrification of the internal combustion engine system, while taking into account the dual needs of consumers for driving pleasure and energy conservation and environmental protection.

At the same time, as the main track of the future development of the industry, new energy needs to lay out heavy products in advance to establish a position in the hearts of consumers. SAIC-GM last year in the field of new energy to exceed the industry average of high growth, ranked among the top three joint venture brand new energy vehicle sales, of which the Buick micro blue family increased by 48.9% year-on-year, Chevrolet Chang tour family even increased by 91%.

In April last year, SAIC-GM announced its leading technology and strategic layout in the field of "electrification, intelligence and networking", and promised to invest more than 50 billion yuan in the field of electrification and intelligent networking new technologies by 2025. In addition, the Ultium Aoteneng electric vehicle platform, which brings together the industry's cutting-edge technology, will also be introduced to China.

In October last year, the Aoteneng Super Factory was completed and put into operation at the Jinqiao Base in Shanghai, and the Pan Asia New Energy Test Building and the Guangde Battery Safety Laboratory were also opened. SAIC-GM already has the ability to complete the new energy system from technology research and development, test verification, local procurement to production and manufacturing of the whole link.

Cadillac's luxury pure electric medium and large SUV product LYRIQ, which is based on the platform, won 2,000 orders within 1 hour of pre-sale. The effectiveness of its new energy brand image construction can be seen.

Second, the construction of intelligent networking.

In the domestic market, consumers' demand for intelligent network connection has formed a unique regional characteristic. The new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture and intelligent driving assist technology has been widely applied to SAIC-GM's products, and the vehicle has the function of OTA upgrade of the whole vehicle, which is not only limited to the software level of the vehicle, but also includes the upgrade of vehicle system functions and power.

The new generation of VCS intelligent cockpit system will also enter the market this year, not only integrating the world's top hardware configuration and industry-leading interaction technology, combined with 5G and V2X vehicle-to-road collaboration technology, but also bringing intelligent, efficient and seamless multi-dimensional experience and rich functions.

At the driver assistance level, it has become one of the factors measuring whether a product has high-end attributes, and SAIC-GM will accelerate the introduction of more powerful intelligent driver assistance systems this year and continuously expand its application scenarios.

At the beginning of this year, some models of the Buick GL8 will add ILC driver command lane change function, which is the first time that SAIC-GM has upgraded the vehicle's driver assistance system through OTA. At the same time, we will also see a new generation of Super Cruise super assisted driving system this year. The parking assistance system will also be upgraded in 2022, and the smart key or mobile phone APP remote parking function will be added, and in the next 5 years, the Super Cruise super assisted driving system will gradually cover the three major brand models of Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet.

Although the Chinese market is not the most mature automobile market in the world, with the blessing of the Internet, the threshold for entering The country is getting higher and higher. Judging from the advance layout of product hardware, SAIC-GM has already carried out a deep deconstruction of the needs of domestic consumers, not only to solve the current pain points of car use, but also to make a good layout in advance for the future.

The brand enters a benign upward channel

Thick and thin

The increase in the proportion of SAIC-GM's high-end models has allowed the brand to enter a more benign upward channel, not only to get rid of the low-end field of stranglehold competition, but also to carry out a deep transformation and improvement of itself during the dormant period of the auto market.

Despite the impact of the epidemic, chips and other parties, the domestic automotive market is still undoubtedly one of the most promising markets in the world. Even if the external environment is harsh, as long as the product quality and brand are recognized by consumers, no matter when, the brand can have the motivation to re-emerge. 【iDailycar】