As we all know, but for a long time, the domestic auto market three-legged Korean, Japanese and German car companies, due to the long development time, in the technology and supply chain has many years of accumulation, so for a long time, these car brands rely on better cost performance, access to better market space, such as Elantra, Corolla, Langyi, Jetta, etc. have become well-known best-selling cars.
Among the consumer low-threshold models, these brands have occupied a place, so they hope to expand the high-end car market, so Korean brands have launched Genissy in China, Japanese have launched Infiniti, Acura and Lexus, and Ashkenazi Volkswagen has vigorously promoted the Audi brand in China.
However, under the rise of domestic independent brands in the past two years, the market's consumption concept has undergone great changes, especially after the outbreak of the epidemic, cost-effective domestic cars have become the first choice of many consumers, Lynk & Co, BYD, Weilai and Gaohe have made efforts to the luxury car market of more than 300,000 yuan, and have gradually achieved good results.
At the same time, the joint venture brand that originally occupied the high-end automobile market has also fallen into the inner volume, and the market has further moved closer to the BBA, and although the development speed of the Korean Genesis in the United States has maintained an annual growth rate of 100%, it is almost stillborn in the Chinese market, although there is almost no sound in China. The Japanese Lexus, Infiniti and Acura are different fates, Lexus because of the production and export in Japan to China, won the favor of the Chinese, so in the annual sales of more than 200,000 vehicles, to achieve a juxtaposition with the BBA.
But Infiniti and Acura are not so lucky, the annual sales of these two brands in China can be said to be basically unable to get their hands on, Infiniti relies on greater discounts to sell hard, Acura's sales are even more miserable. Recently, the news of Acura's withdrawal from the Chinese market has been reported, and Acura's dealer stores have almost all been closed.
By this year, Acura continued to spread the news of withdrawal from the domestic market, and more media reported that the relevant dealers have stopped selling the model, and Honda China has not responded to such news, in fact, Honda China, whether it responds or not, in the eyes of the outside world, Acura has become a fact in the Chinese market.
Once upon a time, acura, infiniti and Lexus were known as the three major Japanese brands, of which Acura was the first luxury car brand launched by Japanese car company Honda in 1986, before Lexus.
In 2006, Acura completed the goal of 200,000 annual sales in the U.S. market, and in the same year Acura officially entered the Chinese market, its models were priced at more than 300,000 yuan, and Honda Automobile was full of confidence at that time, and after the success of the US market, it shouted out the target of 100,000 units per year for the domestic market.
However, now it has been 15 years since Acura entered the domestic market, Acura not only failed to complete the sales target of 100,000 units, but also surpassed by Infiniti and Lexus, and last year Acura's annual sales were only 6,000 units. Looking back at Acura's sales performance in the domestic market in recent years, it can be described as dismal, from 2011 to 2013, Acura's annual sales in China have not exceeded the 5,000 mark, and the sales volume is less than one-tenth of that of first-line luxury car brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Under such circumstances, Acura had to emulate Audi, BMW, etc. to complete the localization transformation, so Acura chose to cooperate with GAC and embarked on the road of brand localization.
In 2016, Honda and GAC put into production of Acura models in domestic construction plants, and then Acura launched CDX, CDXAWD, AcuraNSX and other domestic models, of which CDX just launched for three consecutive months of sales growth, becoming Acura's star products in the Chinese market. To this end, the Acura brand has set a sales target of 50,000 vehicles within three years.
In 2017, Acura's sales in China soared by 80.4% year-on-year, selling 16,348 cars, but in 2018, the sales data took a sharp turn, this year Acura's sales in the domestic market were only 10,044 vehicles, and in 2019, although sales increased by 47.21% year-on-year, after this year, Acura's sales in the Chinese market continued to decline for two consecutive years.
At the beginning of last year, Acura has actually stopped the business of importing cars and cars, and the annual car sales in 2021 are only 6500, which can only be regarded as a fraction compared with Lexus, and the monthly sales of the main models are only two or three hundred, and what is more unacceptable is that the sales price in the United States is only about 300,000 yuan, and the sales volume of Acura in the Chinese market can reach more than 700,000 yuan.
Acura has been in the domestic market for 15 years since it entered the domestic market in 2006, why is it that the earliest Japanese luxury car brand has been defeated in the Chinese market?
First of all, around 2005, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz began to localize their operations in the Chinese market, tailoring cars specifically for the Chinese market and gaining the favor of a large number of consumers.
In contrast, acura at this time is in the peak of development in the U.S. market, because the United States was the world's largest automobile market at that time, but also Honda's most profitable overseas market, so Honda invested almost all resources in the American Acura brand. For the Chinese market, Ouge did not invest much energy, but only introduced the model to China for sale, as an embellishment of the high-end brand. There is no real hope for localization and large-scale operation of branding in China, which opens up the gap with the BBA.
Secondly, Acura's layout in the Chinese market is relatively less careful than that of the BBA. BBA has dozens of models on sale in China, from 200,000 yuan to millions of yuan abound, meeting the needs of consumers in multiple class countries.
In contrast, the Acura brand has only six models on sale. Less choice of models, high price, it is doomed to Acura in BBA and other luxury brands, without any competitive advantage, the same price, consumers can choose BMW x1, Audi A4 and other models, driving can show a sense of grade.
In addition, after entering the domestic market, Acura does not pay attention to brand image building and advertising marketing, on the contrary, the BBA has placed advertisements on a large scale, actively becoming a sponsor of major variety shows, brushing a large wave of passers-by fans, and when it comes to Acura, the only thing consumers can think of is that Andy Lau has endorsed it, and there is almost no publicity for daily Acura in addition to participating in major stations. As the saying goes, the wine aroma is also afraid of the deep alley, and the acura that does not pay attention to advertising and marketing is doomed to be abandoned by the market.