Wen\Wei WuXian
In the author's opinion, the level of sales of car companies, on the one hand, is related to marketing, on the other hand, it is related to products, of course, it is fundamentally related to products.
The reason why some second- and third-tier brands have their products marginalized, in addition to the lack of marketing, is more homogeneous or even low-quality in products. Take Dongfeng Fengxing, the cumulative sales in 2021 is only more than 130,000 vehicles, of which nearly half of the sales are still composed of Lingzhi series MPV, which is not much in the most popular car and SUV segments, and the current main sales models are only very limited products such as Fengxing Jingyi S50 and Fengxing T5 EVO.
This also makes Zeng Qinglin, general manager of Dongfeng Fengxing Passenger Car Sales Company, in an embarrassing position of "difficult to cook without rice".
It is not denied that the post-80s general manager has excellent marketing awareness and management art, but in the face of an increasingly mature market, marketing alone is "not playable".
Taking the newly listed T5 EVO heatwave version as an example, whether it is from the naming or from the creation of promotional labels, it can be seen that it is determined to move closer to young people and get close to the market trend, so that marketing that young consumers like to hear is actually rare in the new car listing.
But when you return to the product itself, you will find that the first "National Comics Meta-Universe Conference", the scare naming of EVO, and even the version names of platinum, diamonds, and Stars are just "gorgeous cheongsam" packaged on the "not outstanding" product force. Pulling aside the fog to return to the product itself, the product performance of the T5 EVO heatwave version of the wind is actually not outstanding.
First of all, in terms of core power, the Fengxing T5 EVO heatwave version is still equipped with the Mitsubishi 4A95TD 1.5T engine, with a maximum power of 145kW and a peak torque of 285Nm, and the same engine has long been equipped in the 2020 Southeast DX7. As for the dual-clutch transmission, it also makes many old drivers "smell discolored", that is to say, the core transmission system of the T5 EVO heatwave version of the fengxing T5 is not outstanding.
As for the appearance, the biggest difference between the new car and the 2021 popular T5EVO is the addition of some sports kits, and the length and width of the body have been adjusted, and the overall change is not large. It is worth noting that although the official called it the "second best-looking SUV", it is actually quite controversial, such as narrow day lights and mediocre interiors are not much "good-looking". Of course, some people say that it hit the face of Maserati, Porsche and other brand models, which also caused some controversy.
In addition, in terms of configuration, the heatwave version and the ordinary version have basically not changed in the configuration, but there is a 5,000 yuan increase in price, if you take into account the current 2021 fengxing T5 EVO in the terminal has a discount of 5,000 yuan or so, then the cost performance of the heatwave version will obviously be further reduced.
It can be said that purely from the perspective of product performance, the Fengxing T5 EVO heatwave version has indeed added some sports kits, but the corresponding price has also increased significantly, which is actually not much attractive to increasingly mature consumers.
From the current sales performance, the T5 EVO has accumulated sales of 13019 vehicles in January and February this year, with an average monthly sales of 6500 units, and the gap between such achievements and first-line independent SUVs such as Haval H6 and Changan CS75 is very obvious, which can be described as tepid. As for the lackluster sales of the popular T5 EVO, it is limited by the cost performance and quality factors of the product, and it is also related to the brand reputation and market recognition. Although the arrival of the popular T5 EVO heatwave version can provide consumers with one more choice, it will not improve much of the status quo, and the sales significance it brings is not expected to be large.
To be fair, in the view of "Car Industry", the current problem of popularity is that the product matrix is not perfect, the explosive products are not and the product coverage is too narrow, the slow pace of product launch seriously restricts the further upward movement of the wind, which may be limited by the strength of research and development or may be a mistake in strategic planning, in short, it can be clearly felt that the Dongfeng wind that has improved in marketing has dragged its feet in the product, and even let Zeng Qinglin fall into the embarrassment of being difficult to "cook without rice".
Write at the end:
As a second-tier brand, Dongfeng Fengxing has a significant gap with Haval, Changan, Geely, etc., whether it is sales reputation or technical accumulation, but this does not mean that Fengxing does not have the possibility of sudden rise and overtaking in curves. It's just that it's easy to rub hot spots, it's too difficult to get results, and in the face of the current situation, how will Zeng Qinglin answer the questionnaire? We will continue to pay attention.
(This article is originally produced by the editorial department of [Auto Industry] New Media, the author of this article is Wei Wuxian, and the reprint should indicate the source)