Sales continue to decline, market share is gradually eroded, the three major Japanese car companies finally can't sit still, around the Qingming Festival have "entered the war", trade-in and financial subsidies have become the main trump card.
At the beginning of April, various car companies successively released their sales in March, which was really a few happy and a few worried, especially the Japanese car companies felt a little weak.
According to data released by Honda China on April 3, the cumulative terminal sales from January to March this year were 206,907 units, a year-on-year decrease of 6.11%. Honda China sold 60,449 vehicles in March, down 26.32% year-on-year, including Dongfeng Honda, which sold 30,331 vehicles in March, down 24.6% year-on-year, and Guangqi Honda sold 30,118 vehicles, down 27.97% year-on-year. The sales of the two joint venture brands fell together.
GAC Toyota sold 55,300 units in March, down 32% year-on-year, while Dongfeng Nissan sold 62,000 units in March, up 39% year-on-year. FAW Toyota did not disclose sales, but GAC Toyota has been outperforming its performance, and the situation is not expected to be optimistic. In the face of the price war of BYD and other car companies, as well as the sharp decline in sales, Japanese car companies cannot be immune.
As early as April 2, Dongfeng Nissan released a super replacement season promotion plan, with 0 down payment and 0 depreciation for new cars, with a maximum of 60,000 yuan for the old and a new Teana, and a replacement subsidy of 20,000 yuan for Qashqai.
On April 5, FAW Toyota and Guangqi Honda officially announced their "participation in the war" at the same time. FAW Toyota announced that from now until April 30, it will launch multiple financial policies such as up to 8 years with zero down payment, 36 installments with zero interest rate, and 505 flexible financial plan.
On the same day, Dongfeng Honda also released a promotional policy, involving CR-V, Civic, Inshipai, HR-V, XR-V, Ailishen, UR-V and other models, including financial plans and replacement plans, with a maximum subsidy of 4,000-20,000 yuan for car purchases.
Guangqi Honda has been sluggish, but it is not absent. On April 6, Guangqi Honda released the "Fuel and Electric All-round, Value Preservation and "Excellent" promotion plan, and Accord, Haoying, Odyssey and Guandao can enjoy a replacement subsidy of up to 43,000 yuan.
In other words, in addition to GAC Toyota, the main Japanese car brands have officially announced their "participation in the war". It is worth mentioning that the participation of Japanese cars in the war is not a real price to the end, but a combination of financial programs and replacement subsidies, mainly involving a "loosening" policy for car loans.
In order to implement the trade-in policy and stimulate new demand in the automobile market, the "Notice on Adjusting the Relevant Policies on Auto Loans" was issued, and in the future, the loan amount can be disbursed in full according to the purchase price of the car, and the loan ratio can reach up to 100%. Not only has the threshold for buying a car been lowered, but the liquidated damages policy for car buyers to repay their car loans in advance has also been optimized.
Therefore, the 0 down payment strategy launched by Japanese car companies can be said to keep pace with the times, which can further stimulate consumer demand, will further promote automobile consumption, and at the same time increase the proportion of trade-in. At the same time, the intensity and scope of the price war will be further increased.
Not only Japanese car companies, but also Tesla, FAW Besturn and other brands have successively released trade-in and financial car purchase plans, and have taken advantage of the policy to accelerate the promotion of their own products. In addition, many car companies have car purchase plans such as 0 down payment and 0 interest rate before, so they have not made a separate statement.