In the first quarter of 2022, China's auto market declined, with passenger car sales down 4.5% year-on-year. The market is not good, which makes some car brands that are already in turmoil worse.
French DS, Japanese Infiniti and Acura, etc. have repeatedly rumored to withdraw from the Chinese market. And Jeep of the American department is actually one of them.
In March 2022, gac's Cumulative Sales of Jeep was actually only 925 vehicles, and even with the imported Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and other models, the sales of the entire Jeep brand in China could not bear to look at it directly.
Jeep entered the Chinese market earlier, the brand recognition is relatively high, and it has also created brilliance, but why has it come to this step in the Chinese market?
"Off-road" has become a cover
Many Chinese consumers remember that Jeep was synonymous with off-road vehicles in the Chinese market 20 years ago, when people saw a square box-shaped off-road vehicle and directly regarded it as a "jeep".
With such market influence, Jeep gained super popularity at the beginning of its entry into China. In 2015, GAC Jeep was established, and the localization of Jeep was even more overwhelming, with annual sales of more than 220,000 units in 2017, and the prospects are very good.
But then Jeep slipped from its peak, and by 2021 there were only 20,000 units left in annual sales. There are reasons for the overall decline of China's car market, but with the decline of the car market, and even if the car market recovers and The Jeep is still declining, then it has its own problems.
One of the important reasons is that people are running to the word "off-road", but Jeep's main model is some more ordinary home SUVs, which do not inherit the off-road genes of the Jeep brand, so that the attractiveness of the brand quickly declines.
At present, Jeep's domestic models only have a few models such as guides, big commanders, and free light, all of which use the most common carrier-type body on family cars.
Aside from The Classic Exterior shape of Jeep, it has almost nothing to do with the Jeep that people think of can climb mountains and mountains.
Even the imported version of the Grand Cherokee did not use the non-load-bearing body common to off-road vehicles, and only the lone Wranglers who could be called "off-road" were left. The loss of off-road genes became one of Jeep's biggest failures.
Product performance is defective
Objectively speaking, off-road vehicles are originally niche models in China, if Jeep can rely on the strong brand influence at the beginning of entering China, seriously make a few good cars out, then even if it is not an off-road vehicle, consumers are more receptive.
But it turns out that Jeep has not handled this issue well, and several of its main models do not have long-term market competitiveness.
Taking the Jeep guide as an example, the car is not pleasing in positioning at first, and the ultra-low price of 139,800 yuan has made many Jeep fans dissatisfied, believing that it has lowered the brand image of Jeep.
In addition, the guide's entire range of models are equipped with a 1.3T small displacement engine and a 7-speed dry-type dual-clutch transmission, which can be said to be a power combination that Chinese consumers dislike the most, even if it is low-cost, it is difficult to attract users.
Secondly, the pace of new car launches is too slow, which is also an important reason for the decline in Jeep sales. Of the several main models currently on sale, the guide is on the market in December 2020; the big commander is listed in August 2021, but it is only a small modification model, and there is no advantage in product performance.
The Free Light car has stayed in place since its launch in June 2020, and even the annual minor makeover has not been launched.
Competition in the Chinese market is fierce, and even luxury brands such as BBA are trying to speed up the pace of new car launches. Jeep's slow pace makes it difficult to keep up with changes in consumer demand.
Single product structure New energy models are weak
In addition to product and brand factors, Jeep's poor performance in China has another important reason, that is, the product structure is too single, all are SUVs.
Chinese consumers do prefer SUVs, but Jeep doesn't have much of a lead in SUV space. There are no cars, and there is no strong SUV model, which leads to Jeep's poor risk resistance.
The decline in China's auto market in 2018 has made the survival of a niche brand like Jeep, which is not very strong, difficult.
Just at this time, Jeep Free Light burst out of the driving suddenly turned off, the manufacturer's attitude was bad and refused to recall the incident, and it landed on the 315 party in 2018.
If there are sedan models or more convincing SUV segments that can be put to work, Jeep may be able to withstand the impact of negative news.
In addition, Jeep's single brand structure is also reflected in the lack of new energy models that can be recognized by consumers. So far, Jeep only has two new energy models on sale, the Grand Commander Plug Mix and the Wrangler Plug Mix.
Obviously, both cars are difficult to pick up the beams of the Jeep new energy camp. So far, Jeep has been very slow in the development of new energy models and is at a clear disadvantage in the market competition.
Judging from the performance of the first quarter, the prospects of the Chinese car market in 2022 are not optimistic, especially for fuel vehicles, which have a high probability of decline.
Jeep's performance in the field of fuel vehicles is not satisfactory, and it is not essential in the field of new energy, and the brand image is gradually losing. Without drastic reforms and transformations, Jeep will have a hard time turning around.