The Spring Festival is approaching, and the year-end inventory has become the norm. But compared with sales and year-on-year data, the special 2023 gives everyone a more important task: in the midst of all kinds of anxiety and uncertainty, find the direction of the future, a direction that can stand even if it is more involuted and more competitive.
Therefore, compared with performance, the progress and intensity of brand change is the theme of 2023. Just like the luxury car market, from the V6 and V8 in the past to the current high-end intelligent/intelligent driving, the tuyere of the times and people's interests are elusive. After peeling off the cocoon, you can find that what everyone wants is the satisfaction of "this car, this brand is really good". It is based on this insight into emotional appeal and emotional value that Volvo has found a new anchor point that can be needed by users for a long time, compared to the new forces that are desperate but still need price compromises, or other traditional luxuries that are undecided between change and perseverance.
Compared with innovation, a sense of security is a universal need that goes deep into the bone marrow
As mentioned at the beginning, the luxury car market, to put it bluntly, is to use emotional value and scarcity to achieve a premium. However, the involution of 2023 is not in line with the premium eight characters. Just as under the high performance equality, large displacement can only be helplessly involved in the price war provoked by dual motors, and it is also like a high-end intelligent driving that is already a lidar and occupies the network, but it has not been able to become a rigid demand and emotional identity. Unable to find new high-value support is the biggest confusion in 2023.
But there are some needs that have never changed in importance, universality, and irreplaceability. Just like in 2023, it is not only high-end intelligent driving and 800V high voltage that the gods are fighting, but also the strength of submarine-grade steel, the interior material of mother and child, and more and more meticulous safety protection, which has also become a high-frequency word at various press conferences. After all kinds of attempts, the new forces and traditional luxury have realized that projects such as intelligence and electric power can be compromised and there can be backup plans;
And in the field of security, almost everyone will naturally think of Volvo. As one of the parties, Yuan Xiaolin, Senior Vice President of Volvo Car Group and President and CEO of Volvo Car Asia Pacific, also gave his deep understanding of user needs, long-termism and brand value: "In the face of the uncertainty brought about by the general environment, it is difficult for the 'single tree' that was quick, willful, and trying to win in the last high-speed growth cycle to continue to work; 'Born into a forest' is the answer we need to give in the face of this new cycle. The specific answer given by Volvo is that in the new energy era, it not only insists on taking safety as a label, but also expands it into a "sense of security".
So when the mechanical advantages of other traditional luxury brands are gradually invalidating in the electric era, when the intelligent driving and three electric vehicles of the new forces can only become selling points rather than emotional value for the time being. Volvo has once again chosen to keep safety in mind, a universal need that is deeply rooted in its soul, and has also chosen to keep safety up to date. This means that Volvo's safety is no longer just a physical attribute and product selling point, but also a kind of emotional satisfaction in the user's heart and a brand value that can resonate at all times.
And if you can really upgrade the brand/product label of safety to the emotional value of "sense of security". Then Volvo has not only found its new direction, once in the position of "second-tier luxury", but also may have the possibility of breakthrough and upward.
But the problem is that just as a product selling point, security is difficult to present to users intuitively. When it is upgraded to a "sense of security", how can Volvo specifically make users feel emotionally resonant?
This is not a difficult problem for Volvo, which is almost a century-old store (since 1927) and even wears a seat belt for its logo. Within Volvo and in the Volvo car circle, this has naturally become a kind of culture and heritage, and what Volvo needs more is to bring its "sense of security" to the whole society.
For example, listening to the story of the "Volvo Miracle of Life Club" is enough to shake the heart. Here, all members are consumers who have survived a major safety accident thanks to the protection of Volvo Cars. And when you feel the story of every car owner who is full of dangers, this "sense of security" can make people jump out of the anxiety of the times such as money, career, status, etc., and re-examine the weight and meaning of life.
Volvo's protection of life is also constantly expanding. Recently, Volvo Cars launched the AED Road Messenger Alliance. AED, or automated external defibrillator, is known as a first-aid artifact to save cardiac arrest and race against death. Volvo joins hands with all caring car owners to master more first-aid knowledge and equip the vehicles with AED equipment to convey this "sense of security" to every corner of society.
In addition to this solemnity and touching. In daily life, when people argue about safety with thin wagons and whether there are anti-collision beams, Volvo's ultimate safety has become a social consensus. The unanimous recognition of "Volvo has to look at Volvo to save your life" is the greatest satisfaction of Volvo owners.
At the same time, Volvo's "sense of security" is no longer limited to active and passive safety. Just like the Volvo EM90, it is made of precious woods from the arctic regions such as natural birch and natural ash, Nordico vegetable, RWS-certified wool blends, and lead-free Orichi crystal levers to create a tranquil and luxurious space. Volvo is also a great way to hide yourself in this complex and anxious modern society.
The secret behind solid growth
After locking in the future with a "sense of security", looking back at Volvo's performance in 2023, it can be found that in 2023, Volvo's global sales will reach 708,716 units, and the sales volume in Greater China will reach 180,234 units, both breaking historical records. At the same time, the share of Volvo's pure electric models will reach 16% in 2023, and the sales of new energy in Chinese mainland will increase by 25% year-on-year. This data can only be said to be stable rather than amazing.
At the same time, from the establishment of the new leadership team, and then to the "sense of security" into brand value, Volvo has focused on adjusting the organizational structure in the past few years in the not amazing but stable performance, in order to build a system that can truly play a long-term role and achieve sustainable growth, as Yu Kexin, president of Volvo Greater China Sales Company, said: "Only by maintaining a good brand, channels, The stability of the price and other aspects of the system can ensure the sustainable development of an enterprise and provide users with better services." Finally, in the second half of 2023, Volvo set itself in a new direction, a true innovation that will have a long-term effect in 2024 and beyond.
In addition, it can also be seen that the continuous hot sales of several key models such as Volvo XC60, S90 and XC90 ensure its market share in the fuel market. As for the price, "buy BBA when you don't have money" has become a hot joke in 2023, which shows that traditional luxury brands have been involved in a tragic price war. Although Volvo has not been able to stand alone, and those main sales models are no longer new faces, Volvo's 3.9% price reduction is lower than the industry average of 4.3%. This strong vitality not only proves that safety is a long-term value that is not afraid of the changes of the times, but also verifies the new system strength after Volvo's transformation.
When it comes to the new system power, the most intuitive thing at present is the channel change that the whole industry is taking action. Compared with the one-way idea of choosing one of the two models of direct sales and dealers, the integration model of "direct sales + dealers" has become more and more mainstream in the situation of competing for customers and traffic. Because in the face of users who go to the suburban automobile city audition, users who go shopping and watch cars by the way, and users who have the heart to place orders directly online, they must be on call through multiple channels without dead ends in order to maximize passenger flow. Volvo took the lead in finding this channel model that is most suitable for the diversified needs of Huaxia Wanli.
However, the transformation of the model lies not only in the two forms of direct sales and distributors, but also in whether the main engine factory can really change from the supply side to the service provider facing "God". Volvo, which has a huge dealer network and spends a lot of time on expanding supermarkets and directly operated stores, and truly changes its processes and mentality through the most direct feedback from customers, is paying attention to it to ensure that its electrification transformation can be more "right".
100% electrified, pure electric Volvo officially settled in the Greater Bay Area
For 2024 and beyond, the electrification revolution will be even more volatile. Volvo has now officially entered the Hong Kong market and brought the EM90, a flagship MPV.
The reason for choosing Hong Kong is that it is already ahead of the mainland (31.6%) and the world with a 50% penetration rate of electric vehicles, and at the same time, Hong Kong is also a must for luxury MPVs.
As the only pure electric MPV in the luxury brand market, the EM90 will bring the new technology and atmosphere of the entire brand to the Greater Bay Area at the same time. From the aforementioned unique luxury atmosphere of tranquility and luxury, to the dual-chamber air suspension, 7.4 square meters of large space, airline seats, 21-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio, and the "smart safe house" composed of ultra-high body rigidity and the latest intelligent driving system. The EM90 has launched an assault on rivals such as the Toyota Alpha and Lexus LM in a professional market that is more keen on MPVs.
In Hong Kong, a well-recognized bridgehead for new energy and luxury MPVs, the tycoons in the Greater Bay Area will also verify the product strength of the EM90 to radiate to the mainland and even the world. For 2024, Volvo will pilot the Greater Bay Area with 100% electrified purity, and also focus on showing its "sense of security" to the flagship market.
Summary:
Looking back at 2023, which is confusing in the midst of great changes, the new plans and new attitudes that car companies have come up with are more interesting than the report card. The new leadership team and organizational structure have brought Volvo a new system and brand value, and Volvo has been quietly transforming. For the farther future, Volvo, which has a deeper integration of Nordic heritage and Chinese intelligence, will inevitably reshape its voice in the new energy era with a stronger "sense of security".