"We were really in a very difficult time when we were building SAIC Audi. Despite this, we have achieved what we wanted to achieve over the past three years. After four years, Thorsten Godulla, general manager of SAIC Audi's marketing business, came to the Beijing Auto Show again and sighed.
The 2024 Beijing Auto Show coincides with the third anniversary of SAIC Audi's founding, and it has delivered a gratifying report card to the market - in the first quarter of 2024, SAIC Audi's overall delivery volume exceeded 12,000 units, a year-on-year increase of about 430%, and the market share increased by 416% year-on-year. Not only that, the brand's "young and trendy" label is also recognized by consumers, taking the A7L as an example, the average age of its owners is only 34.5 years old, which is significantly lower than the average age of owners of competing products in the same class.
In China's highly competitive high-end market, it seems more difficult for latecomers to stand out than expected, and even with the halo of the Audi brand, SAIC Audi's journey has not been easy.
However, the competitive landscape of luxury cars in China is changing, and new energy brands represented by NIO are impacting the inherent market pattern, and it is not easy for SAIC Audi, a latecomer, to explore a new path for differentiated luxury car development. In the three years since its establishment, in the face of fierce competition in the domestic market and the accelerated evolution of industry changes, SAIC Audi has insisted on doing the difficult but right thing, and has embarked on a long-term road to drive the brand upward: while sticking to the luxury positioning, it has insisted on focusing on the brand differentiation of young people, and now this road is getting closer to the dawn.
More technological, younger
"Audi has always adhered to the principle of 'Breaking the Ground, Inspiring the Future' (Vorsprung durch Technik', but the content of Technik is different. In my opinion, SAIC Audi has helped the Audi brand to be more technological and younger, which is something we continue to do in the process of moving forward. Yang Siyao, general manager of SAIC Audi's marketing business, said.
In his view, SAIC Audi has its own unique positioning since its birth, especially the "user-centric" business model, in which the innovation of channels is worth mentioning, unlike other traditional luxury brands, SAIC Audi has adopted an innovative sales model that combines online and offline.
SAIC Audi has also responded to the situation and adopted an innovative business model of "user-centric" based on its own characteristics, which can bring users a direct and efficient experience and service. For traditional car companies that are familiar with the traditional dealer model, this innovation requires courage.
Moreover, through digital innovation, from the stage of customer attention, direct interaction with users is established, trust is established, and favorability is enhanced, which can better impress consumers and supplement other offline sales stores.
"SAIC Audi has also made a lot of new attempts in the operation process, which used to be a supermarket store, and now it is a supermarket + user center. In the first-tier cities, there is Audi City, and Shanghai has Audi Enterprising. Such a combination of punches, our consumers like, and can be better and closer to them to serve them. Yang Siyao explained.
At present, SAIC Audi has opened 181 dealer stores, covering 88 cities, and is expected to reach nearly 240 by the end of this year, in addition to 307 authorized service providers to provide after-sales service for users in 153 major cities. As of the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of registered users of SAIC Audi's online app has also exceeded one million. "In terms of communication and how to influence consumers, I think these things are being done by various car companies through social media, but I think what impresses young people is not what I deliberately do for you, but that we do things right. I believe that this generation of young people has enough discernment to judge whether you are good or not, and the resulting recognition and liking are the most real. Yang Siyao emphasized.
In terms of products, SAIC Audi has an accurate insight into the luxury travel needs of young elite users in China, and continues to launch models with good looks, strength and attitude, and polish Audi's "younger" brand label in this way. The brand's three current models – the Q6, A7L and Q5 e-tron – each offer a luxury mobility solution tailored to the individual needs of a specific market segment.
At this year's Beijing Auto Show, SAIC Audi integrated classics and innovation to create three RS kit racing models, with different positioning, interpreting the different styles under the RS spirit, meeting the yearning of subdivided groups with diversified charm, and reflecting the attitude of "luxury new power" advocated by SAIC Audi - while adhering to the luxury heritage, it integrates a more sporty, younger and trendier design concept and user experience.
Specifically, SAIC Audi Q6 is positioned as the "Audi of the whole family", as Audi's largest SUV, the Q6 brings luxurious luxury to the whole family with three rows of large six-seat space. The new SAIC Audi A7L refreshes people's perception of the C+-class performance luxury flagship, equipped with the only frameless door in its class, and the wide-body low-lying shape highlights the sporty style, becoming the first choice for new personality and trendiness. As the only 6/7-seater pure electric flagship SUV of 200,000-class ABB, the SAIC Audi Q5 e-tron is equipped with Audi's leading e-quattro technology, which meets the luxury travel needs of modern young families and creates pure electric driving fun.
"For SAIC Audi, we are newcomers and latecomers in the luxury car track, and what we have been thinking about is that there have been many mature practices before, but we can't rely on others, otherwise we can't get out of a road that belongs to SAIC Audi itself. We have been exploring this path of luxury branding, we have been talking about long-termism, and we will provide more products that are more suitable for Chinese consumers, just next year. Yang Siyao revealed that soon SAIC Audi will launch a new luxury intelligent pure electric product.
Welcome to "involution" but adhere to long-termism
It is worth noting that in July last year, Audi and SAIC signed a memorandum of understanding, which indicates that SAIC will deepen its strategic cooperation with Audi and accelerate the development of intelligent connected vehicle products.
Yang Siyao said that the cooperation between Audi and SAIC is constantly moving forward and pushing, and everything is very smooth. At present, SAIC Audi's product spectrum is only in the first stage, and based on the new cooperation model, SAIC and Audi are jointly committed to developing a new pure electric platform, and based on this platform, they are continuously enriching the pure electric product matrix in the Chinese market. The two parties not only collaborated on the technical level, but also conducted in-depth research on market insights and consumer demand analysis. This all-encompassing partnership ensures that the new platform can truly meet the expectations of the Chinese market and open up new customer groups in China's high-end market segments.
What will SAIC Audi plan to launch in the future for young people to launch a new species of electric luxury? Yang Siyao also gave the answer: "Everyone now agrees that the German design, control, safety and technology can not only inherit these brand genes given by more than 100 years of hard work, but also have the intelligence of the new forces, to be very smart, to be able to drive intelligently, will be integrated into the entire ecology, can create more scenes for everyone, we want to create such a product." ”
However, "volume" has become the main theme throughout this year's automobile market - "volume" products, "volume" technology, "volume" price, "volume" upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, when the "involution" is transmitted to every corner of the automotive industry, the involution has intensified the situation of the melee, anxiety and impetuousness have also exploded, and the luxury brands that have attached importance to brand equity in the past have also been coerced into it, but at this moment it is more necessary to have determination.
Yang Siyao said frankly that this year's "involution" is more serious, from the rhythm of 1-2 months earlier than last year, and the price reduction has also been upgraded from 1-20,000 yuan to 3-50,000 yuan. "But for luxury brands, if consumers can't like and agree with the product and brand concept from the bottom of their hearts, just because the price is a little cheaper than others, this is not what we have always been pursuing. The next step is to 'roll' our products, so that our products can better serve our consumers, and the use scenarios of the products can take into account the needs of consumers. ”
In his view, luxury brands are cars for consumers who fit the brand and identify with the brand. Pay more attention to the difference between yourself and your core competitors, rather than gaining everyone's recognition through price. "Of course, the price will tend to a reasonable range, but we believe that this reasonable range cannot only rely on price reduction, on the one hand, we will definitely observe calmly and wait and see what happens, after all, we are all in this and will continue to participate. While sticking to long-termism, we will also look at how we adjust in the near future. On the other hand, what is more important is the heartfelt recognition of consumers, which is the essence of making luxury brand cars. Of course, this is also difficult, and it must be combined with long-termism. ”
In the face of the shortened R&D cycle of new forces and the intensive product offensive, the speed of car manufacturing is extremely important in China. In this regard, SAIC Audi's innovation of organizational structure also has its unshakable bottom line and persistence. According to Goldler, all of SAIC Audi's decisions and all developments are currently being completed in China, which is a way to ensure that SAIC Audi can have a competitive advantage.
At the same time, Gaudel stressed that it will not blindly shorten the development time, and SAIC Audi will not compromise on ensuring product safety. He noted that cars are essential for both personal safety and families. "We're going to benchmark ourselves against the best in the industry, and we're going to do the best we can't do it, and it's absolutely unacceptable to just compress development time and sacrifice a lot of things that we don't think we can sacrifice. The two shareholders are on the same point in joint development, not only to come up with the best things, but also to recognize each other's values. ”
Today, SAIC Audi is firmly on the road of long-termism, waiting for the polishing of products and the test of time, and continuing to improve.
For more information, please download the 21 Finance APP