Recently, Lexus can be said to have a high degree of popularity, from a price reduction of 60,000 to a price increase of 50, all kinds of news are constantly spreading, especially the events in the Chengdu Auto Show, which has made many people begin to have different views on the brand. So, what is the situation in practice, whether it is true that the ES model has a large discount, and whether it will even become the next luxury brand to be delisted, today we will find out.
The highest discount is nearly 70,000
In the past, the ES series has always been a best-selling model of Lexus, not to mention the initial price increase of 2, 30,000 or even 50,000, which was a relatively rare thing in the past. However, according to our recent understanding, the current Lexus ES has a maximum discount of close to 70,000 yuan.
We came to a Lexus dealer in Guangzhou, and according to the sales to us, most of the Lexus models currently enjoy certain terminal discounts. Among them, taking the ES model as an example, it currently enjoys a cash discount of 26,000 yuan, a mortgage subsidy of 30,000 yuan, and a replacement subsidy of 10,000 yuan, which brings the discount to 66,000 yuan. Moreover, this is only a preliminary preferential price, and the sale means that there are further discounts for real bookings.
Based on the best-selling ES200 excellent version model, the guidance price of the car is 296,900 yuan, if calculated by mortgage, the naked car price after the discount is 230,900 yuan, after adding purchase tax and insurance, the landing price of the car is about 266,000 yuan; if it is a full purchase, the landing price is about 296,000 yuan.
In comparison, if calculated according to the parity sales, the guidance price of 296,900 yuan, plus the purchase tax of 29,000 yuan, and the insurance cost of 12,000 yuan, the landing price is about 338,000 yuan, which is a difference of 72,000 yuan from the current 266,000 yuan. Then, this is not to mention that when the price was raised before, it was basically 100,000 yuan worse than now.
At the same time, all Lexus models also enjoy 4 years and 100,000 kilometers of free warranty. In addition, Lexus currently provides fixed loans, specifically 200,000 yuan for 5 years, plus interest after a monthly payment of about 4,200 yuan, which can be repaid in advance after 2 years without charging liquidated damages. In terms of pick-up, the current ES conventional black/white/gray colors are available for some existing cars.
Sales and value preservation have both declined
Lexus, in the hearts of Cantonese people, seems to have a unique position, and they will be more willing to choose this brand when compared with brands such as BBA. However, now Lexus even in the Guangzhou area, has such a high discount, it can be seen that its own position is already in a "precarious" state, once the leader in imported luxury cars, need to protect its own sales through discounts.
In terms of sales, according to Lexus' official data, in 2022, Lexus' annual global sales will be 625,000 units, down 18% year-on-year; Sales in China were 176,000 units, a 22% decline. From January to July 2023, Lexus sales were only 86,500 units, down 19% year-on-year. According to domestic insurance data, in the first half of 2023, Lexus' domestic insurance volume was 70,545 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 20%, and the average monthly sales volume was about 10,000 vehicles, which can be called a waist cut state compared with the previous sales of nearly 20,000. It can be seen that Lexus is not only in China, but also in the global market, sales have shown a significant downward trend.
At the same time, due to the reduction of new car sales prices, it has further affected its retention rate, according to the previous industry retention rate report, Lexus's three-year retention rate has dropped from 77.3% to 74.8%. You know, the retention rate has always been linked to the price of new cars, in the past Lexus high retention rate, because new cars often need to increase the price, and then use the guidance price of the new car compared with the second-hand sales price, it will appear that its retention rate is high. Just like Porsche's retention rate has always been at a high level, that is because no Porsche can be taken away at the original price.
In fact, I personally think it is not surprising that Lexus has entered such an environment, and a large part of it is due to long-term "markup" sales in China, which has led to many consumer dissatisfaction. Nowadays, looking at the entire automobile market, there are more and more independent brand models joining, even in the 30-500,000 yuan market segment, there are also many brands and models that can compete with it, or even surpass Lexus, so that consumers who have been backlogged for a long time are naturally more willing to choose models with better product strength.
The price increase of 500,000 is just the beginning
If it is Lexus's helpless move to reduce the price and sell the guaranteed quantity, then in terms of price increase, I think it is its nature. The Lexus LM model, which previously had the title of "the world's most expensive four-cylinder car", once reached a price of 2 million yuan for its four-seater version, while its official guidance price was 1.466 million yuan.
In early August, the new Lexus LM was officially unveiled, with the LM 350h seven-seat version priced at 1.199 million yuan, while the LM 500h six-seat and four-seat versions were pre-priced at 1.38 million yuan and 1.58 million yuan. However, in the recent Chengdu Auto Show, the new LM model was made a fuss because of the price increase incident, and in the face of consumers, the brand's senior management clearly stated that the model is sold according to the market price, and it is temporarily impossible to buy a car at the guidance price, and the current market guidance price is about 1.7 million yuan.
At the same time, we also learned from Guangzhou dealers that the current seven-seat version of the model needs to be increased by 500,000 yuan for "optional", combined with its guidance price of 1.199 million yuan, that is, the price is also about 1.7 million yuan. In addition, if you choose a more "prestigious" four-seater model, then its price increase reaches 700,000 yuan, plus the pre-sale price of 1.58 million yuan, which properly reaches a price of 2.28 million yuan, which is still worthy of being the "world's most expensive four-cylinder car".
Is the electrification layout the last hope of the brand?
In addition to the reasons mentioned above, it is also partly because the brand's current electrification layout is too slow. Looking at the statistics of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, etc., these brands have made relevant layouts in the market as early as possible, and have also launched new platform technologies and a certain number of models.
On the other hand, although Lexus announced the vision of "electrification" as early as 2019, which will accelerate the all-round electrification of the brand, it is still "thunder loud, rain is small". Even so far, its electric vehicles are only RZ and UX300e two models, and as we all know, these are oil-to-electric models, and like the common "refrigerator, sofa, big TV", it can be said that they are not on the side, obviously can not be recognized by consumers.
Therefore, returning to the above problem, when fuel vehicles are constantly abandoned by the market, electrification is indeed Lexus' last hope to save itself, and it needs to bring more product models that meet their needs to users, otherwise, it will become the next luxury brand to exit the market like Acura.
The editor said: Falling from the "altar" is the undeniable status quo of Lexus at present, and the once arrogance now needs to be reduced in price. However, at present, it is no longer limited to the struggle between fuel vehicles, and there are many new energy vehicles entering the game, which is undoubtedly a further blow for Lexus, and the road ahead is still very difficult. In the follow-up, it is necessary to see what kind of changes Lexus will have, can it correct the existing shortcomings in time, or really enter the countdown stage and become the next delisted luxury brand? And do you think, will it retreat?