The rout of joint venture car companies in the Chinese market is accelerating, which is not alarmist, and even Volkswagen, which was once loved by the Chinese people, is not as popular as before, and is facing a back-to-back battle.
A few days ago, a well-known car blogger forwarded a FAW-Volkswagen "Breakthrough Action" chicken blood poster circulated on the Internet, which instantly sparked heated discussions!
The content on the poster is that FAW-Volkswagen pushed a piece of content to all employees, FAW-Volkswagen is in the last and only transformation window period, except for the last battle, we have no way out, only all people are united in life to die.
In this regard, some media asked FAW-Volkswagen officials for verification, and the other party said that it was "inaccurate". However, it is a fact that FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen have recently faced the dilemma of declining sales.
According to the data, FAW-Volkswagen sold 119,032 units in April, down 15.6% year-on-year, and its share of the domestic market fell to 7.8%.
In the first four months of this year, FAW-Volkswagen sold a total of 514,000 vehicles, a slight increase of only 0.9% year-on-year. Compared with BYD, the domestic sales champion, the gap between the two is gradually widening.
FAW-Volkswagen lost to BYD in 2022 and lost the crown of "No. 1 in sales" that had been maintained for many years, and in 2023, it will be greatly left behind by BYD.
For FAW-Volkswagen, which has long led the development of China's automobile industry, it is a loss to be continuously surpassed, and it is also a side of the market's right to speak.
In addition to FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC Volkswagen, another joint venture brand of Volkswagen China, is also facing the embarrassing situation of declining sales.
According to the data of the Passenger Association, in April 2024, SAIC Volkswagen's monthly retail sales will be 78,313 units, a year-on-year decrease of 21.7%, ranking 6th in the retail sales list of car companies in the same period.
This means that in April 2024, SAIC Volkswagen's monthly retail sales scale has fallen out of the top 5 in the retail sales list of domestic car companies.
FAW-Volkswagen's problems are the decline in sales of fuel vehicles, the lack of star products for new energy vehicles, the Audi brand being surpassed by Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and the lack of growth potential for future development.
At present, FAW-Volkswagen is still struggling to support its traditional fuel vehicle business, and its sales of traditional fuel vehicles account for more than 90% of FAW-Volkswagen's overall share.
Nowadays, fuel vehicles are almost unbearable, FAW-Volkswagen Suteng, Bora were directly pressed to the ground by BYD Qin PLUS DMi and other models.
There are independent brands with more space, cheaper landing prices, and green cards, who is willing to spend more money to buy Bora and Suteng?
In the field of medium-sized cars, Volkswagen Magotan can not withstand the offensive of models such as BYD Han and Seal, and it can be said that under the strategy of BYD and other independent brands of gasoline and electricity at the same price, FAW-Volkswagen was beaten without temper.
Traditional fuel vehicles have been attacked and have to exchange price for volume. According to the information of the third platform, the reference price of Magotan dealers has dropped to below 150,000 yuan, and Tanyue has dropped to below 160,000 yuan.
A few more words
Has FAW-Volkswagen really reached the point of "fighting against the odds and living to the death"? Judging from the sales of 1.91 million units in 2023, it is far less severe than they say. The emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and the declining FAW-Volkswagen is quite large.
However, judging from the content of FAW-Volkswagen's all-staff push, it is clear that the company is aware of the urgency of transformation. Sometimes the collapse is only a moment, and once a downward trend is formed, it is difficult to reverse.
For Volkswagen China, in the situation that new energy models have not been popular, it will become more and more passive when competing with Chinese new energy vehicle companies.