How "involution" is Chinese automobiles: BYD 200 people grab orders at the auto show, and Wuling gives the sales team a chicken blood
Tencent News "High Beam" Author: Guo Yifei
"Remember, you're not here to see star performances, you're not here to compare miserable, you're here to get orders!" Just after 9 o'clock in the morning on November 18, at the Wuling Automobile booth at the Guangzhou Auto Show, a sales person in charge was playing "chicken blood" for the sales team of 18 people.
He reminded that at 10 o'clock in the morning, the first batch of customers should be found to introduce the product, and at 12 o'clock to enter the negotiation room, "3:30 to 5 o'clock in the afternoon is the most tired time for customers, at this time, everyone should seize the opportunity to place an order to sell the car as soon as possible."
(At the Wuling Motors booth, a sales person in charge is fighting for the team)
On November 17, the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show officially kicked off. The first day was the media day, and Yu Chengdong, He Xiaopeng, Zhang Chaoyang and other bigwigs inside and outside the automotive industry rushed to help the fun, introducing brands and products to the media, and more filled with a relaxed publicity atmosphere. But on the second day, as ordinary spectators flocked to the war, the "involution" war of automobiles rekindled, and car companies sent sales armies to compete for orders.
BYD's 200-person sales team started an order war
At the booth of this year's auto show, Wuling's booth was deliberately selected opposite BYD. The first family sedan Wuling Starlight, which opened pre-sale yesterday, has a plug-in hybrid version with a price range of 93,800 yuan to 109,800 yuan. Obviously, from the point of view of price and configuration, the direct competitor of this car is the BYD Qin Plus opposite, and the competition situation is tense.
In fact, at the same time as Wuling was fighting chicken blood, a sales team of about 200 people was gathering at the BYD booth, waiting for customers to come to see the car, leaving them with 9 days to sell the car.
A BYD salesperson told Tencent News "High Beam" that he arrived early in the morning from a store in Huadu District, with a team of more than 10 people, and a total sales target of at least 100 units, which means that seven or eight cars are sold per person, which is "very stressful".
(BYD, the domestic passenger car sales champion, is assembling a sales team of 200 people to sell cars)
In the first three quarters of 2023, BYD sold 2,070,200 vehicles, while their target is 3 million. In the last three months, this new energy "volume king" will sell 920,000 vehicles, an average of nearly 310,000 vehicles per month. In the face of such a heavy task, BYD is naturally difficult to give up at the Guangzhou Auto Show at the doorstep.
"In previous years, the atmosphere of selling cars was not so strong, but this year it did 'roll' earlier. A person in charge of sales of an independent brand told Tencent News "High Beam" that as a brand that has an upward impact on the high-end, he has relatively diluted sales this time, and has not assigned a specific amount of car sales tasks.
However, under the aggressive offensive posture of Tesla, BYD, Geely and other new energy products, it is difficult for joint ventures and luxury car brands to continue to be in the Buddhist system, sell more cars, and leave enough space for the transformation of new and old kinetic energy has become the top priority.
A salesperson from a second-tier luxury car brand told Tencent News "High Beam" that they require each person to sell at least one car per day, otherwise they will be fined, at least four or five hundred yuan.
Another joint venture salesperson is also under a lot of pressure, he revealed that although there is no order task, but each person has at least 5 customers upstairs for price negotiation, their own new energy products are not competitive enough, so the whole booth is not popular, only 2 cars were sold in the morning.
The new force of Buddhism, a cold luxury car
Comparatively, there is less pressure on the sales team of the new EV manufacturers.
A NIO sales person said that we will not be like BYD who goes through the dealer channel, and ask if they can make up their minds and how much the auto show offers for a limited time. According to him, their sales team of 80 people, each of whom has to have 15 customers to leave information, today's flow of people is not as good as expected, and only 2 tasks were completed in the morning.
(Ideal new MPV products, due to styling controversy, attracted onlookers, but the booth was not open to see the interior)
At the ideal booth across the hall, with the blessing of MEGA, which is nicknamed "highway high-speed rail", the popularity is even stronger. An ideal employee also said that they do not have specific order tasks, more product promotion, but also have capital retention tasks, but he did not disclose specific indicators.
Overall, the second day of the opening of the exhibition coincided with a Saturday, and the overall passenger flow of the Guangzhou Auto Show was considerable, but the differentiation was still obvious.
(Looking up at the booth, the audience lined up to see the car)
Take luxury cars as an example, BYD, which hit the million-yuan level, looked up at the booth and lined up in a long line, waiting to enter the booth to experience, although its current is limited, but it does not require additional cumbersome processes such as scanning the code to register information.
At the same time, traditional luxury car brands continue to maintain their own style. There are also many customers who watch Lamborghini at the scene, but only sporadic spectators can experience it up close, and finalists generally need to make an appointment in advance or on-site, and the visit is limited.
(Cold booth, few customers)
Bentley, diagonally across from the booth, was even more "cold", with almost no customers. AT THE GUANGZHOU AUTO SHOW, THEY BROUGHT A FULL RANGE OF MODELS, INCLUDING THE BENTAYGA LONG-WHEELBASE MULLINER VERSION AND MADE ITS DEBUT IN CHINA, BUT MOST CUSTOMERS DID NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET ON THE CAR.
A Bentley salesperson told Tencent News "High Beam" that if you don't make an appointment in store or online, you can't enter the booth to visit, and you can't make an appointment on site.