Nowadays, the impact of domestic new energy vehicles on the entire auto market is not only the rise of the new energy market share, but also a serious threat to the survival of traditional fuel car companies. Affected by this, industry giants such as Guangqi Honda began to be forced to lay off employees. Following the first layoff of 900 employees in the fourth quarter of 2023, it is reported that Guangqi Honda has recently started a new round of layoffs.
According to media reports, Guangqi Honda has been recruiting resources from its production staff since early May, and so far 1,700 people have applied, accounting for about 14% of the total number of employees in the joint venture.
In response to this news, Guangqi Honda officials did not deny it. At the same time, Guangqi Honda officially said that Guangqi Honda did not announce the action of layoffs, but based on the commissioning of new energy plants within the year, combined with medium and long-term development, considering the optimal production capacity and personnel efficiency, as the implementation of voluntary resignation recruitment, and will be in accordance with laws and regulations for the targeted personnel to provide economic compensation.
It is understood that as early as 2022, there were media reports that Guangqi Honda will invest 3.5 billion yuan to build a new energy base with an annual production capacity of 120,000 vehicles in Guangzhou, and the new plant will be put into operation in 2024 as planned. According to Guangqi Honda's official response to the news of layoffs, the new energy plant should be put into operation this year with a capacity of 120,000 vehicles.
Perhaps, the commissioning of Guangqi Honda's new energy plant is not the fundamental reason for Guangqi Honda's "layoffs". The decline in sales for three consecutive years and the lack of competitive new energy models are the root of Guangqi Honda's "layoffs".
You must know that since the decline in Guangqi Honda's sales in 2021, there has been no trend of recovery. From 2021 to 2023, Guangqi Honda's sales will decline by 3.1%, 4.93%, and 13.66% year-on-year, respectively. Entering 2024, Guangqi Honda's sales will continue to decline, and the data shows that the cumulative sales of Guangqi Honda from January to April this year fell by 19.01% year-on-year.
Especially in the past April, Guangqi Honda's sales of other models were below 10,000 units, except for the Accord, which had just exceeded 10,000 units. Once the king of small cars, the Honda Fit sold less than 2,000 units for three consecutive months; The once very hot Guandao has long lost its "combat effectiveness", and its monthly sales have only been at the level of more than 1,000 vehicles this year. It can be said that at present, Guangqi Honda is struggling to support sales by relying on Accord and Haoying.
Relying on excellent power performance and fuel economy, Guangqi Honda has become popular in the fuel vehicle market, especially Honda's Earth Dream engine is sought after by consumers, so there is a saying that "buy a Honda car, send an engine". But in the new energy era, it is obviously no longer an advantage, but has become Guangqi Honda's "oil bottle".
In the face of the "counterattack" of new energy vehicles on the fuel vehicle market, traditional fuel car companies such as Guangqi Honda are under pressure. Guangqi Honda originally hoped to maintain its market position through the Accord PHEV and Haoying PHEV, but after the launch of the two new models, monthly sales only remained at the triple-digit level, contributing very little to the overall sales. In addition, Guangqi Honda also launched two pure electric vehicles, e:NP1 and e:NP2 2, but the monthly sales of e:NP1 have basically remained at a double-digit level since its launch, and the e:NP2 2 is not optimistic on the eve of its launch in April this year, and it is very likely to be drowned in the new energy "tide". I have to admit that in the new energy vehicle market, Guangqi Honda's current presence is almost zero.
Although Honda China recently released a new new energy brand "Ye", the first model will not be launched until the end of this year at the earliest. And as soon as the brand was released, it was complained by netizens. Many netizens said that the word "Ye" is on fire, and as a new energy brand, it is obviously not in line with the consumption habits of Chinese people. As the competition among new energy vehicle companies becomes more and more fierce, does Honda "Ye" still have a chance? There is still a big question mark to be put on it.
Write at the end
Sales have declined for three consecutive years, and the decline has been increasing, and the "combat effectiveness" in the new energy market can be almost zero. In the face of the strong attack of new energy vehicle companies, traditional fuel vehicle giants such as Guangqi Honda can no longer withstand the pressure, and it remains to be seen whether they will face the fate of being eliminated in the future.
(This article is originally produced by Wenwu Lane New Media Studio, please indicate the source: Wenwu Lane, the author of this article: Xia Mu, personal opinion, for reference only)