The SUV sales data since the beginning of 2024 may be a laughable report card for Land Rover. The two domestic models, Discovery Sport/Range Rover Evoque, although the in-store discount has reached the point of 6% off or even 5.5%, but the sales are still only 730 units and 901 units. This is a Land Rover! Is it a car? Or can a car but can't shout? In this article, let's talk about whether today's Land Rover is a tiger or a mouse?
If a line of teacher Zhang Jiayi in "Wo Ju" made Chinese understand that there is a Land Rover above Audi and that Land Rover is a sign of a successful man, then the situation of Land Rover can be said to be compared with that year, and only a sentence "good men do not mention the courage of the year" can be used to simply cover up the current unbearable situation.
1. Land Rover, which young people can afford, but is not attractive to young people
If the Land Rover when there was no transverse engine platform was shown with longitudinal engines, super large displacement, huge size and a price starting at 1 million yuan, it can be said that the Land Rover brand only exists in the fantasy of young people. However, with the in-depth cooperation with Ford, Land Rover launched a light off-road four-wheel drive SUV with a transverse platform around 2010 - Range Rover Evoque, the pricing of Land Rover car series has directly dropped to a big step to the 500,000 yuan level, which is a chance for some young people who are quite wealthy and willing to reach out to get close to Range Rover.
In fact, looking back at Land Rover and BBA of the same level and price, Land Rover's full range of four-wheel drive and many other off-road-related functions and even comfort functions are far more generous than BBA, and the quality and reliability of the two cars produced by Chery have been greatly improved. Now the discount of the transaction price has been so low that it is almost the same table as Cadillac, is it the car difference? Is the price expensive? I don't think it is either, the problem lies in the brand communication.
In the Chinese market, with the launch and localization of Land Rover's transverse platform models, Land Rover's two transverse platform SUVs Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport (as well as Freelander 2) have come to a very affordable price range - however, these two cars have rarely been promoted, and even the large discount has not become a label for Land Rover to leave a place in the hearts of young people, which can be said to be too much of a failure. This is an important manifestation of Land Rover's inaction at the publicity level, and the problem of performance now is not only not publicity, but also that Land Rover's public relations staff do not understand cars.
The communication caliber of a car brand knows little about cars or even does not understand cars at all, which is even more outrageous. Land Rover has always been a British gentleman and a man of off-road ability, but now it seems that these two have not been done anyway. Young people are sensitive to the promotion of products to be cool and exciting, whether it is the previous camel cup off-road or Range Rover sport climbing the 999 ladder, it is an action that can arouse sensory stimulation and provide a "cool" feeling. Today, Land Rover's tonality seems to have returned to the countryside, and there is no longer the youthful passion of the past.
(This is the former Land Rover publicity, and even a trace of camel cup can be seen, but I can't find the current publicity)
In 2023, the Range Rover Evoque will sell more than 12,000 units, and the Range Rover will sell more than 17,000 units. A 30-year-old car can't sell a million car, and such an upside-down is actually a red flag.
Let's take a look at other outstanding players in the industry, such as tanks, all of which have their own groups that can attract young people, and the sense of belonging and identity that has bought a car is more recognized by the product and brand because of the existence of such an official group, and those who have not bought a car will also look at the brand more because of the existence of such a group. Land Rover now seems to be a piece of chicken feathers, leaving only the impression that the Range Rover Evoque L and the Discovery Sport are massively promoted. Exchanging price for volume will make young people who still have a certain amount of "vanity" feel lower, and the farther away from the brand - who wants to mention that the Land Rover they bought is a car of more than 200,000 yuan?
Second, the Land Rover, which is not easy for young people to afford, is not the case
After talking about the two slightly cheaper Land Rover products, let's talk about those that really need to be enough to buy. Let's not mention foolish products like Range Rover Velar, but just mention the Discovery, Defender and Range Rover series. To be honest, these three products also have their own very big problems.
The fifth generation found that the bad thing was in the appearance, and it was replaced with a load-bearing body without independent beams, which was far from the fourth generation of discovery, and the curry-flavored discovery 5 made people have a lot of doubts about Land Rover's aesthetics and its own positioning. The Guardian has been selling well for a short time because it has preserved the appearance of a tough guy style square box. These two cars are not a terrible product for Land Rover, but the positioning is relatively special, there are no competing products, but the real Range Rover series, namely Range Rover Sport and Range Rover, has made itself extremely embarrassed.
Range Rover is Land Rover's flagship product, and it has always been a super-luxurious hardcore off-roader. However, some changes in the current fifth-generation Range Rover can be said to instantly smash the luxurious Range Rover temperament inside and outside. In this way, the taste of Range Rover has completely changed, so why not choose the Maybach GLS, so in this case, Range Rover is now sold at a flat price or even at a discount, which is a great spectacle since the birth of the Range Rover series.
(This is the fifth-generation Range Rover, which makes the boss who is willing to spend a hundred or hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a car "at a loss", and the sales volume depends on the price)
(Same body color, the bosses want the fourth generation of Range Rover)
So now from the top end, Land Rover in the high-end and ultra-high-end product line in a large area of loss, the people who buy Range Rover get a sense of gain and the so-called "loading" needs can not be well satisfied, now Range Rover's hot sales and the loss of horizontal cars, there is no difference in nature. I think if the Range Rover continues to lie flat like this, I don't know what the customer wants, and soon a generation of products will not be produced, and it will become a victim of price for quantity. If you don't believe it, the current Range Rover Sport is already an excellent representative of losing the B grid and becoming a chicken rib, and the discount of more than 200,000 is not too simple, as if it has become the second Aurora.
(A website gives a Range Rover sports promotion information with a discount of nearly 200,000 yuan)
(The front face of the vehicle is obscene and restrained, and the ideal is more natural than it)
To put it mildly, the current Land Rover has forgotten its original intention in high-end products and personalized products, so that the blood and grace or the British spirit are gone. The previous British cars, including Jaguar Land Rover, were a kind of temperament and style, noble and desirable, and an important medium for the natural transition from the car to the abstract "spirit", so it had its own unique value. This value gives the older children who have just entered the society the motivation to pursue and look up, so it can be exciting. And now, Land Rover's retreat to the countryside and lying down to death, how can young people yearn to regard Land Rover as a sign of successful men?
(Such a British car gives people a motive to extend from the car to the spirit, and will reminisce about the so-called British style)
3. Will Land Rover be the next Jeep?
Once upon a time, Jeep was also in a situation of prosperity in China. Around 2013, the new Grand Cherokee was launched, and it was also difficult to find a car, and the price was increased. Land Rover's fourth-generation Range Rover was also the same when it was launched, looking at the car queuing and picking up the car at a higher price, the Grand Range Rover without competing products was simply riding on the face of the Mercedes-Benz GL to show off its might, and the Mercedes-Benz GL at that time was a replacement product for the Range Rover. But now, the plot is gradually developing towards the shape of a Jeep, and in this subsection we talk about why there is such an idea as whether a Land Rover will be the next Jeep, in a word, the paths are too similar to make it difficult not to think about the ending.
(This is the old GL mid-life facelift model renamed GLS)
From the perspective of volume products, before GAC FCA was delisted, Jeep's domestic models available for sale were Compass, Liberty Light, Liberty and Grand Commander, as well as Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Gladiator car series, but the main products at that time, Liberty Light and Grand Commander, also did not have any dissemination, it can be said that GAC FCA's actions are that they do not care about the Jeep brand at all, and do not care at all. The import channel is left with the Wrangler car series and the Grand Cherokee, the main focus of the free light at that time is a price for volume, and the high-performance version of the Trailhawk If you don't say it, no one will mention it to you at all, which is equivalent to completely lying flat and completely mediocre of a personality brand.
(Before Jeep's retirement, all models were based on the Compass, and it can also be said to be based on the second-generation Outlander)
Look at Land Rover, there are currently a total of Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque, Discovery, Discovery Luck Edition, Defender so many cars, at present, the store is still the main sales are Aurora L and Discovery Sport Edition, the discount range is comparable to half price promotion, as if it has become a six-fold tiger, and some configurations may not even be six-fold. By analogy, in terms of import channels, the Range Rover, Discovery, and Guardian product lines are completely uncontrollable, and the Guardian (90/ 130) Now the store discount of 70,000, here I have to focus on the guard, the guard is the least need for Land Rover to work hard brand communication, but also the best look of the Land Rover brand, all the car that borrows from it to look up to the U8 down to the Jet Traveler are more popular than it, there is only 110 price increase on the market at present, 90 is not practical, 130 is too long, the guard should not be selling an adventure dream, but you have forced consumers into a corner of pragmatism. In my opinion, the brand communication is still too poor, and the afterimage of the free light guide and the Grand Cherokee seems to come into view again.
(Jet Traveler)
(Looking up to U8)
Land Rover and Jeep personality products are similar, the Grand Cherokee has one sold and one is left with a Wrangler canoe without a competitor. I think if the Land Rover continues to lie flat like this, it may end up being the only defender left to hold on. But judging from the current state, Land Rover may die even worse, because the Defender no longer has no opponents, and many domestic square box SUVs that are better than the Guardian have been born, and Land Rover's situation will only be more dire.
(There is no shortage of square boxes that are better than the Guardian in China, such as the tank 700Hi4-T and the shortcut T-3 in the picture below)
(Upcoming T-3)
Fourth, write at the end
Land Rover's sales in March really can't be compared. In today's era, brand communication is so weak, no matter how good the product is, it will not achieve good results. Looking at Lei Jun's sincerity and passion when he introduced SU7 a few days ago, I can't help but have the urge to place an order. On the other hand, Land Rover, young people can afford but no longer cool, no longer have personality, no longer have a strong blood, the only sense of existence is also "full of face and fake money", high-end and ultra-high-end products suffer from the enemy makes people lose the motivation to buy million-level Land Rover, personalized products are facing a large number of other excellent products before and after, better than you and cheaper than you. Cold, flat-lying marketing makes people feel less impulsive to buy. In this way, the Land Rover of the future must be yesterday's Jeep. In the end, the impression left on people is the same as the evaluation of Jeep: "A good hand of cards played badly!"
(Maybe Land Rover has long forgotten that this is what it should be)