[Pacific Auto Network Industry Channel] Speaking of Acura, netizens have been jokingly called "Foshan brand", and also joked that "Foshan is acura's second largest market in addition to North America", "It is said that as long as the people of Foshan do not buy acura, acura national sales will be cut off" - of course, these are everyone's jokes, for the sales of acura models that have not been high, the visibility in Foshan, Guangdong is surprisingly high, and it is no wonder that people invented these jokes.
However, the fragility of a car brand can be ridiculed in this way, which more or less reveals the phenomenon that Acura is always marginalized. After all, in 2021, Acura's cumulative sales in China are only 6554 vehicles, and the annual sales of the entire brand are even inferior to the achievements of others in a month. A few days ago, Honda, which is busy accelerating the electrification process, announced that it will no longer produce and sell GAC Acura models in 2023, which is really lamentable. Why has this brand, which can break into the top five in the US luxury car market, repeatedly failed in China?
On April 8, GAC Acura posted a news article on its official website entitled "Striving hard, GAC Honda integrates resources to accelerate electrification", although most of them are describing how their own brands accelerate electrification, but the most eye-catching thing is the third paragraph: "From 2023 onwards, GAC Honda will no longer produce and sell the existing products of the GAC Acura brand, and the relevant channels of GAC Honda will continue to provide honorable services for GAC Acura car owners, always protecting the rights and interests of car owners." "It also means that Honda stone hammered the rumors of high-end brand Acura withdrawing from China."
In fact, acura brand since the introduction of GAC domestic production, it is not without a highlight moment, but now it is going to the fate of suspension of production, why acura always can not please the Chinese people?
Acura Birth History / Entering the Chinese Market
Although this article mainly discusses the ACUra, the editor still wants to first nag a few words about the origin of acura acura. Usually, when we mention Japanese luxury brands, we may first think of Lexus, which has the most successful sales, but in fact, when it comes to the Japanese brands that first reclaimed the North American luxury car market, Acura is the pioneer (although Lexus was founded in 1983, it did not officially land until 1989, the same year as Infiniti).
In the 1970s, the world has two oil crises, bulky and fuel-consuming American cars are no longer brilliant, so the fuel-efficient And inexpensive Japanese cars began to be loved by American consumers, the U.S. government believes that the impact of Japanese cars on the local automobile industry has posed a huge threat, and therefore, in 1981, Japan and the United States signed a voluntary export restriction, Japan can only sell 1.68 million cars to the United States every year. Although the agreement was only signed for three years, the U.S. government extended the agreement for another year as Japan's trade deficit with the United States continued to widen. Therefore, Honda began to consider how to increase the profitability of bicycles within the limited export volume, so in 1986, Acura (Acura) came
The first models to take the lead are the heavyweight medium and large sedan Legend (mileage) and the compact sports car Integra (type), on the one hand, it is to build its own luxury brand positioning with flagship products, and on the other hand, it is to attract more consumers to love with the introductory products, which is even reminiscent of Tesla.
Although these two classic car series have not lived up to Acura's high expectations, in less than a year, Acura's cumulative sales have reached 52,869 vehicles, and in 1987, it has reached 109,470 vehicles, surpassing many European luxury car competitors, and becoming the national champion in the sales of imported luxury cars for two consecutive years. And Legend has won the "Car and Driver" Top Ten Award for three consecutive years, which can be said to be a double harvest of sales and word-of-mouth.
(Acura product line in 2000)
From the 90s to the millennium, Acura successively launched the "Toei Ferrari" NSX, the replacement Ofgend, the replacement of the model, and a large number of North American exclusive models that are relatively unfamiliar to the Chinese people. In the domestic market at that time, Acura was also known as "Akula" or "Honda Acura", and at best it was imported through various informal channels. In 2006, the 20th anniversary of the brand's birth, Honda finally officially introduced it to the domestic market and gave "Acura" a simple Chinese name - Acura. Subsequently, three Sedans of ILX, TLX and RLX and three SUVs of RDX, MDX and ZDX were introduced through imports, which are basically mainstream models in the North American market.
In 2009, under the difficult circumstances of global economic recovery, in 2009, the mainland automobile industry achieved a spurt of development, with the cumulative production and sales exceeding 13.6 million vehicles, the highest year-on-year growth in the calendar year, and the production and sales of passenger cars exceeded 10 million for the first time, making the mainland the world's first automobile production and sales country. Therefore, acura in 2006 into China in the time node is actually quite good, if acura seized this valuable opportunity at that time, during this period to achieve brand image building, channel laying and product strategy construction, or can create a more able to meet the needs of the Chinese market Acura brand.
Who pays for the flagship "mileage" of 1 million and the "Civic" of 300,000?
In fact, looking back at Acura's journey into China, it can be said that it was slightly blunt at first, because the first batch of models introduced into China had two models - flagship sedan RL and mid-size car TL, but strangely, both cars only offer one configuration, and the guidance price is 680,000 yuan and 430,000 yuan respectively. In April 2007, Acura's medium and large luxury SUV MDX was launched in the Chinese market, which is also only one configuration, with a guidance price of 670,000 yuan.
In 2009, Acura invited Andy Lau to endorse it, and it was only at this time that its brand officially entered the public eye. In addition to inviting Liu Tianwang, who spoke for the first time, Acura also had the goddess of literature and art Gui Lunmeng to co-starred in a new generation of Acura TL micro-film advertisements, and also invited Liu Weiqiang as a director, and the entire commercial film was filmed in San Francisco, creating a foreign atmosphere of exotic love, and the whole idea was rare in China that year. In 2008, Acura's sales in the Chinese market increased by 106.7% year-on-year, and the total sales of its three models RL, MDX and TL reached 2898 units – much higher than the previous expectation of 2500 vehicles. In 2009, with the help of Andy Lau, Acura's sales in the Chinese market once climbed to 3400 vehicles, and the number of dealers nationwide also expanded to 25.
(The first domestic TL price was 580,000 yuan, the whole series was equipped with a 3.5-liter V6 engine, as well as advanced intelligent technology and safety configuration at that time, and the level of technology was not bad in that era.) In terms of appearance, there is some controversy, perhaps because the styling of Honda cars in the same period is very avant-garde, and Acura is no exception, which is quite radical for many consumers who have just begun to recognize the brand of Acura. ）
In the face of new policies, Acura has been slow to respond further, while Infiniti and Lexus, as rivals, are actively engaged in the process of localization.
(If you're a little familiar with the quirky shape of the ZDX, don't be surprised, because it's more or less designed with a bit of a contemporary gene, but the song is based on yatsushiro Accord, while the ZDX is based on the Honda Pilot/Acura MDX.) Unfortunately, although the price is as high as 888,000 yuan, the interior still does not bring any sense of luxury, compared with the ordinary Honda car interior, the material improvement is completely insufficient to make up for the expensive price. The ZDX sold only 7,191 units in the U.S., and even two in 2015. ）
(On December 9, 2014, Acura RLXSH-AWD models were officially launched, and their price exceeded the level of one million yuan, reaching 1.098 million yuan!) To know that the minimum mercedes-Benz S-class of the W223 in the same period is only 938,000 yuan)
(Seeing the interior of the RLX, please give me a reason to buy it for 1 million...)
However, compared with the interior of the ILX and the Nine Generation Civic, it is like the door brothers and sisters, obviously one or two times the price, but the sense of luxury can not be completely separated from the car hanging honda logo. This also reflects a major problem of Acura, as a Honda luxury sub-brand, Acura, whether from the entry model or the top flagship, can not be as obvious as the gap between Lexus and Toyota, but later Honda car more and more luxurious, such as Haoying, Guandao, etc., and even the Acura model to PK down.
The localization process/branding and pricing are still old issues
In 2016, GUANGQI Honda established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Guangqi Honda Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., and set up a new Beijing branch, established the business headquarters of the Acura brand, with the Beijing branch as the core, responsible for the sales of Acura domestic models and imported models, officially opening the curtain of localization. In the same year, GAC Acura CDX has been officially listed, priced at 229,800-30.98 million yuan.
Different from the hard copy of North American models in those years, Acura finally "learned" this time, providing "special models" for the Chinese mainland market. Therefore, GAC Acura also had a honeymoon period in the initial stage. In 2017, GAC Acura sold 15,251 units, an increase of 198% year-on-year, and in less than two years of its establishment, the cumulative sales of GAC Acura exceeded 20,000 units. After all, before the TLX-L was listed, GAC Acura only had one MODEL, CDX, in individual combat, so it was very good to achieve such results.
However, success is also Xiao He, and defeat is also Xiao He. Acura seems to be repeating the same mistakes, although the initial stage of the product to get a good market response, but at this time GAC Acura's brand image is not stable, Acura did not take advantage of the victory in time to bring the right model, CDX began to maintain the level of more than a thousand vehicles sold per month, because the domestic SUV trend is strong,
Not to mention the slightly high price, CDX is still a model based on Binzhi, so how can not avoid the connection between the two, over time it has affected the high-end brand image, so the next is an inevitable market downturn.
By 2022, acura CDX sales in January and February are only 95 and 29 vehicles, and recently some netizens broke out that CDX only needs 169,800 yuan to "clear the warehouse", and there are many preferential policies for buyers, this position seems to really be said goodbye.
At the end of 2017, GAC Acura brought its first intermediate sedan TLX-L, and at the same time, the price of the new car was also announced, a total of 5 models, priced at 279,800-37.98 million yuan, in order to meet the preferences of the Chinese people compared with the overseas version of the wheelbase length increased by 125mm. However, the TLX-L still does not bring color to Acura.
Although the TLX-L has also been lengthened according to the principle of conformity, the same powertrain as Spiral and the still high price have left many consumers with no choice but to retreat. After all, the pricing of Acura TLX-L has been similar to the price of BMW 3 Series and Audi A4L, plus these two cars have great discounts in the terminal, so in comparison, the price of Acura TLX-L is much higher, but Acura's brand power and BBA are not in the same dimension.
In 2019, TLX-L only sold 1053 vehicles throughout the year, or Acura naturally saw the clues, and even had no intention of fighting, so it did not upgrade the national six emissions of TLX-L for a long time, and the sales in some months were even only single digits, and then it has gradually stopped production.
Market sensitivity is slow to beat the technical launch sincerity is insufficient
After the defeat of Acura CDX, Acura launched its second SUV model Acura RDX in 2018, which is significantly more high-end positioning, and it is also a well-known model in the North American market, and sales are also good. However, Acura's action this time is slower, missing the best period for the rapid rise of the luxury SUV market, coupled with Acura CDX has left a bad impact on Chinese consumers, so the sales of RDX after domestic production are still not good.
In addition, Acura's technical investment is also insufficient, the proud SH-AWD four-wheel drive system until the third model of GAC Acura RDX to be equipped, this squeeze toothpaste product update, coupled with the previous lack of brand power, the price is too expensive and other old problems, the difficulty of cultivating the market can be imagined.
Looking back at Acura's sales data, Acura sold 16,348 vehicles in China in 2017, an increase of 80.4% year-on-year; in 2018, it fell 42% year-on-year to 9,424 units; in 2019, sales rebounded to 14,786 units; in 2020, sales of 11,193 vehicles, down 31.7% year-on-year. By 2021, Acura's cumulative sales in China were only 6554 vehicles, down 45.05% year-on-year, of which CDX sales were 3264 vehicles and RDX sales were 3290 vehicles. By the beginning of 2022, Acura RDX sales in January and February were only recorded 106 and 47 units, and the entire market has been very completely marginalized.
Status quo of the North American market New products are under planning
Of course, although Acura lost the Chinese market, in the birthplace of the United States market, Acura's performance is quite excellent (compared to the domestic market), in 2021 Acura sold 157,000 new cars in the United States, an increase of 14.9% year-on-year, ranking fifth in the luxury brand sales list, second only to Audi, of which the flagship SUV MDX sold 117,070 units, a record high.
(Also looking forward to is the INTEGRA type, which and our domestic Broad-based model are actually based on the eleventh generation Of civic, but the use of the front face of the TLC and a more dashing sneak-back coupe body, the interior texture is also a higher level, it has not been officially listed in the United States, so the actual performance and market response are very curious.) ）
(At present, Acura mainly sells six car series in the US market, of which the aforementioned ILX, TLX and the highest-grossing MDX are the latest generation, and the altar-like NSX is expected to be removed soon))
Write at the end
Acura's dilemma is not unique in the second- and third-tier luxury brand markets, such as Infiniti, which is also a Japanese brand, which is also not optimistic. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, pointed out, "Acura is not a brand tailored for Chinese consumers, but for the American market. After localization production, Acura's technical characteristics are not prominent, and the brand accumulation is not enough, so it is naturally difficult to gain the favor of Chinese consumers. ”
For the future, what other plans does Acura have? At the end of 2021, Acura announced that it will fully enter the research and development stage of electric vehicles, and plans to launch its first electric products in 2024, and its electric models will account for more than half of the total production by 2030. Emile Korkor, Vice President of Sales for Acura North America, said: "For the Acura brand, we will be moving to pure electric vehicles much faster than the Honda brand. Even we will completely skip the plug-in hybrid model and launch pure electric products directly. "Of course, this is only the planning of the US market, and whether Acura will return to the domestic market and take the electrification route in the future is still undone." If the pure electric vehicle of acura will be introduced in the future, I wonder if Honda will make the mistakes of the past? (Photo/Text/Photo: Yang Jiazhen, Pacific Auto Network)