To this day, I still "trance" that the price of Lingdu L of 149,900-18.99 million yuan is just a joke made by SAIC Volkswagen and everyone.
For a compact sedan with no updates to the power system (1.4T turbo engine and 7-speed dry dual-clutch transmission), the design of the alternative (benevolent people see wisdom, ugly beauty self-evaluation) sold for 100 pieces of 150,000 yuan, it is indeed breathtaking.
Let's not talk about the 7-speed dry double clutch of "risking the world", let's first talk about which models can be bought for 150,000 yuan.
If you are more tolerant of dry dual clutch, then you can buy a pure B-class car Kia K5, which is more powerful than the Lingdu L and has a higher configuration than the Lingdu.
If you are a family, the leather is durable and has a large space, and it is best to save fuel, then you can buy a very good Nissan Tianlai with a very good reputation by paying 5,000 yuan more on the price of buying the Menlingdu L model.
If you have a fondness for sports cars, you can buy the "Civic" combustion version for 149,900 yuan, which has more airbags than the Lingdu L; active braking, lane keeping, lane departure warning and full-speed adaptive cruise are all equipped, which are not on the 149,900 yuan Lingdu L.
However, perhaps in the view of SAIC Volkswagen, the starting price of Lingdu L 149,900 yuan is still very sincere, compared with the old model, the entry-level model is equipped with a high-power engine and the configuration is increased, but the price remains the same, and there is no price increase, not enough conscience?
Sales are the best touchstone of product strength and conscience. In 2021, Lingdu will sell 55,000 vehicles in the whole year, which is almost 1/3 of Honda Civic's sales; and Lingdu's discount is more than 25,000 yuan, and the average price of the actual transaction is about 124,000 yuan, which is also much lower than that of Civic.
The reason why the sharp price reduction has not brought about sales growth is very simple, Lingdu's product strength and cost performance are extremely "crotch". At the same price, you can buy a better configuration and a larger size volkswagen Sagittarius, who will buy the "Chinese special" Lingdu? The so-called sport of Lingdu is more of a marketing gimmick - the same power and the same suspension system as Sagittarius, how to get to SAIC Volkswagen to move?
As a "Chinese special car", Lingdu in product development, styling design are SAIC Volkswagen's own knife, in order to strengthen the sporty image of Lingdu L and leave people with a new generation of feelings, so there is Lingdu L "flying self" style model design.
Lingdu L beauty and ugliness are put aside, but the frameless doors, the hatchback rear tailgate like Octavia and the front face that looks quite like a pure electric vehicle style reflect SAIC Volkswagen's "stacking" strategy to cater to the market.
What is more interesting is that Lingdu L's "spicy" theme marketing broke the traditionally calm image of the Volkswagen brand in one fell swoop - according to the report that SAIC Volkswagen had mailed "Tao Huabi Pure Old Ganma" to the media a few days ago, and skillfully conveyed and strengthened Lingdu L as the terrier of "spicy steamed buns". The effect is not bad, and there are indeed media in the circle of friends to "dry" the creative gifts of SAIC Volkswagen.
This morning, a friend in the auto media circle sent a gift box with the SAIC Volkswagen logo printed on it, which "lay" a bottle of old dry mother. He said bluntly: This kind of operation is also too low, which is like a mainstream serious brand? I advise him not to be too surprised, and I advise him to play an association, saic and volkswagen Lingdu L's "spicy steamed buns + old dry mother" marketing is not similar to the previous two years of "MG chasing high-speed rail marketing" god?
Yes, now SAIC Volkswagen is responsible for sales boss is very advocating this kind of "dare to be afraid to do" idea, controversy is not important, whether it is on the hot search is important. I also advised my friend to keep pace with the times, and although he left the car circle, he could not deliberately ridicule it, which was very negative.
Finally, he said that he understands that SAIC Volkswagen's new products and new technologies are lackluster, and it needs to unlock more new tricks in marketing, and there is controversy to have popularity.
After talking about cost performance and marketing, we return to the Lingdu L product itself, and the 1.4T+7 fast dry dual-clutch power system is also the most complained about. On the automotive quality website, complaints about Lingdu are mainly focused on the dry double clutch, which is frustrated and unusual. Despite this, SAIC Volkswagen has no intention of making a change because of this – the reason is simple, the dry dual-clutch energy transmission efficiency is relatively high, enough to bring better fuel economy, and most importantly, "low cost".
Last month, one of the topics with relatively high popularity in the automotive circle was that BYD's sales exceeded that of SAIC Volkswagen. As the earliest joint venture car company established, SAIC Volkswagen once had the same scenery, but why did it let a Chinese private car company "explode"?
Since then, there have been views that SAIC Volkswagen's products and technologies have lagged far behind the entire automotive market, and the brand premium brought by the Volkswagen logo alone is not enough to attract consumers.
SAIC Volkswagen is no longer the SAIC Volkswagen. Even now many consumers believe that SAIC Volkswagen's products have been left behind by Chinese brands. Some netizens said: 100,000 yuan to buy a 1.5T turbocharged engine + 7-speed wet double clutch, 100 kilometers of acceleration of less than 7 seconds of Trumpchi Shadow Leopard, why spend 50,000 yuan more to buy 1.4T + 7-speed dry double clutch, acceleration of nearly 9 seconds of Lingdu L?
In the past two years, China's auto market has undergone rapid changes, especially under the wave of electrification, brands and technologies have been rapidly reconstructed, and consumers' consumption concepts have become more rational.
Today, SAIC Volkswagen is still taking a small-displacement turbocharged engine + 7-speed dry double clutch as a "baby"; but the reality is that less than 120,000 yuan can buy a Chinese brand plug-in hybrid car that is free of purchase tax, enjoys a green card, and can be pure electricity for tens of kilometers - on sports, acceleration faster than you, on cost performance, the configuration is higher than you, on the level, the size is comparable to your - on the brand, uh, the brand without technology is slowly talking about brand power.
To put it bluntly, the listing of Lingdu L has ripped off the last "fig leaf" of SAIC Volkswagen's brand, technology and marketing. Lingdu L's lack of sincerity of the price, vulgar marketing may be SAIC Volkswagen intentional - the increasingly mediocre SAIC Volkswagen needs visibility too much - and controversy is the driving force of popularity. If you look at it this way, SAIC Volkswagen is superior.
As a former owner of SAIC Volkswagen, I especially hope that Lingdu L is a joke of "April Fool's Day" made by SAIC Volkswagen in advance. After all, I still hope that SAIC Volkswagen will be good.
Note: Images are from the Web