In the joke that you don't have money to buy BBA, it's more than 300,000 yuan, and the fuel car can't work?
On the first day of 2024, the all-new Toyota Camry announced the pre-sale price (173,800-208,800 yuan). The operation of stepping directly within the threshold of 200,000 yuan is surprising. As a representative of the traditional joint venture flagship model, classic products such as the Volkswagen Passat and Honda Accord have long been the main models at the price of 20-250,000 yuan. Now, this wave of reverse operations, coupled with the recent price of ZEEKR 007 exceeding 200,000 yuan, is still widely affirmed by public opinion. Could it be that after "if you don't work hard, you can only buy BBA", in 2024, "you can't buy a joint venture car until you have no money"?
20-250,000 yuan, the old flagships have been lost
In fact, starting from 2023, the traditional joint venture flagship model will just enter the collective replacement cycle. The first to fire the first shot of the new generation was the Honda Accord. Without discussing the plug-in hybrid version, the fuel version of the Accord still steadily exceeded the 200,000 yuan threshold. However, in addition to the June just after the replacement, Guangqi Honda announced that the sales of the Accord series (including the old model) exceeded 11,000 units, to the "Golden Nine and Silver Ten", with the loosening of terminal prices, the monthly sales officially announced by Honda Accord exceeded 15,000 units in a row.
The market trend of Honda Accord for more than half a year may have given the old rival Toyota Camry a demonstration effect. What's more, the Accord and Camry are already joint venture mid-size cars, ranking in the top spot. In 2022, the annual sales of the Honda Accord exceeded 220,000 units. As it stands, Toyota Camry's sales in the first 11 months of 2023 still exceeded 200,000 units. If these two players choose to lower their posture, then the new Hyundai Sonata, which is expected to usher in a new generation in the first quarter of 2024, and the new Volkswagen Passat, which will be the first to be launched overseas in the first quarter, may have to weigh their own pricing strategies in the domestic auto market.
From the perspective of energy structure, in the first 11 months of 2023, in the domestic fuel vehicle segment, the sales decline of medium-sized vehicles (including sedans + SUVs) was second only to that of mini cars and small cars. Moreover, as the absolute sales value is second only to the compact, the sales stability of the fuel mid-size car is obviously not as stable as the former. Correspondingly, sales of new energy midsize vehicles increased by more than 50% in the first 11 months of last year. And in terms of the proportion of sales, the market share of new energy medium-sized vehicles has exceeded one-third. In terms of trend and proportion, the performance of gasoline mid-size vehicles is inferior to that of gasoline compact cars.
The data for the price range is clearer. In the first 11 months of 2023, the price range of 20-250,000 yuan for domestic fuel vehicles is the largest year-on-year decline among all price segments, and it is also the only existence with a decline of more than two percentage points, reaching 14.5%. On the contrary, at the price of 10-200,000 yuan, fuel vehicles can achieve positive sales growth. However, the price of 20-250,000 yuan for new energy vehicles next door has only increased slightly in the same period. This is a bit eye-catching in the good environment of domestic new energy vehicles. But it also happens to show that the price may be the most serious range of domestic involution at this stage. For example, the Extreme Krypton 007 mentioned at the beginning, as well as the Zhijie S7 endorsed by Huawei, as well as potential Xiaomi cars, etc., are almost all aimed here.
More than 300,000 yuan, the joint venture is busy
So with the decline of the old flagship models, the price positioning of the joint venture brand is really going to be reversed with the Chinese brand? In addition to the intensive new energy plan, even in the short-term fuel vehicle market, joint venture brands are also seeking to soar. In fact, this trend has been paved, that is, the product line of traditional non-luxury brands, which is trying to break through the 300,000 yuan threshold on a large scale. For example, Volkswagen's Tourang, Lanjing, Toyota Sena SIENNA, Crown Lufang, Ford Explorer, etc., are all more representative products.
Why there is such a move, the answer is actually very simple, because more than 300,000 yuan of fuel vehicles still have a strong market demand. Judging from the data of the first 11 months of 2023, fuel vehicles have shown a significant upward trend above the price of 350,000 yuan. Even if the price is 30-350,000 yuan, it can basically maintain the market demand. In addition, from the perspective of model level, medium and large (C-class) vehicles have become the segment with the largest growth in sales of fuel vehicles in 2023. If we exclude the very low-volume D-segment, the medium- and large-sized (C-segment) segment is the only segment to achieve positive growth, with a growth rate of 17.6% (data for the first 11 months of last year).
This also happens to illustrate one of the specific methods of the joint venture car rush, that is, the dislocation competition at the model level. After all, the price of more than 300,000 yuan is undoubtedly the private land of traditional luxury brands. Moreover, in the context of declining terminal prices of second-tier luxury brands such as Lexus and Cadillac, it is even more difficult to stand at a price of more than 300,000 yuan. However, from the several mainstream products introduced earlier, it can also be found that most of the joint venture brands based on this price point are medium and large SUV products. In terms of space, configuration, and even performance, it is better than luxury brand models in the same price range. From this point of view, it can also be found that domestic auto consumers have shown a trend of getting rid of blind brand worship and having a clearer understanding of their own needs.
In 2024, more joint venture brands are expected to join it. For example, the Nissan Tanlu, which will be launched in the first quarter of this year, and the Mazda CX-90, which has been in the pipeline for a long time (another theory is the introduction of the CX-80). In addition to product misalignment, joint venture brands are even seeking functional misalignment. Previously, Toyota Sena SIENNA cut into the MPV as an MPV, which can be regarded as a landmark case. And in 2024, Toyota's upcoming domestic production of the Prado is even more of a heavyweight. The Ford Bronco, which is also a hard-core off-road, has also made the market look forward to its final pricing after the launch of the Ranger, a pickup truck under the same brand. It is expected that in 2024, there will be more traditional joint venture brands, bringing products that break through the price threshold of 300,000 yuan.
Write at the end
After the Chinese brand broke through the 100,000 yuan price ceiling built by the joint venture brand with SUV, the rise of new energy has made the traditional joint venture flagship products gradually lower their profile. There is no doubt that the threshold of 200,000 yuan is no longer the so-called ceiling of Chinese brands. It's just that it is not so much that Chinese brands and traditional joint venture brands have exchanged positions, but that after the loss of the traditional advantageous position of 20-250,000 yuan, the joint venture brand is not only continuing to consolidate the stock market within 200,000 yuan, but also seeking to attack the high-end market of more than 300,000 yuan. Perhaps in 2024, even if it is a fuel car, in addition to being able to buy a cheaper joint venture car, you don't have to choose BBA if you have money.