Inheriting the previous part, "From the sales champion to the complete collapse, how did a generation of god car Fox fall?" In this article, we comprehensively analyze the product positioning and strategic layout. Look at whether a generation of god car Fox still has the possibility of "turning over", and how to "break the game" in the future?
The external market environment is harsh, and the competitiveness of Fox products is weak?
Frozen three feet is not a cold day, look at the problem can not only look at the surface, we can not put the reason for the decline of the Fox, all blamed on the "full series of three-cylinder machine and non-independent suspension". From point to point, the decline in Fox sales, perhaps there are other deeper reasons?
First of all, since 2015, the external market environment has begun to be harsh, and the compact car segment has also begun to roll in, and since 2018, the Chinese auto market has been stuck in the quagmire of negative growth and cannot extricate itself. In the context of the historic changes that turned from prosperity to decline at that time, the degree of inner rolling in the compact car market was further intensified, and it has continued to the present.
It can be seen that in today's car sales list, the top few are always occupied by Langyi, Xuanyi, and Corolla, and occasionally other models rush up, but they are all short-lived, and compact hatchback "sports" models such as the Golf have gradually begun to be marginalized.
Under this large inner volume, "home comfort" models such as German and Japanese seem to be more popular with consumers. Head models such as Xuanyi, Corolla, and Langyi have made targeted changes to the Chinese market, either by increasing the wheelbase and improving the comfort of space, or by changing the appearance of the interior style, which is more in line with consumer tastes.
In short, what consumers like, car companies will provide, especially Japanese brand models, which are deeply loved by consumers.
In contrast, Fox, although it is also changing and catering to consumers, seems to be too "radical" and does not seem to get the points that consumers need. Under the increasing pressure of competitors, Fox not only failed to stabilize the original head position, but also seriously fell behind, and sales collapsed.
Of course, from the perspective of the macro market, "product force" is illusory, because in different eras, the definition of "product force" is different. That involves another point, that is, consumer consumption concepts are also undergoing subtle changes. For example, today's consumers are far more sensitive to "space" than ever before, at least for most people, if you want to choose between "movement" and "space", I am afraid it is the latter.
It is worth mentioning that the prosperity of the SUV segment has largely squeezed the space of the compact sedan segment. Moreover, this also shows the strong demand of consumers for "space", and now, the arrival of the three-child policy is also the same. Obviously, in the SUV sales list, the popularity of independent brands and joint venture brands in SUV models is unmatched in today's compact car market.
Internal product positioning is chaotic, Fox product positioning is too rigid?
In addition to these external reasons, it is also impossible to ignore the product positioning. For example, for example, Forres diverted Fox's sales, the replacement was not timely, etc., these are the potential reasons for Fox's fall.
Obviously, at that time, the new and old sales were really incomprehensible, and it seemed to cover the entire price range of the compact car segment, but this was obviously in conflict with Forres. And it turns out that this "nest fight" has had little effect, Fox sales still can't be raised, Forres' sales are not much better, And Fox has even sold more than 10,000 vehicles per month from the previous month, falling back to today's monthly sales of two or three thousand.
Then there is product positioning, the first two generations of Fox products into China, product positioning is very obvious, that is, movement and control. Although consumers always complain that it is not good in space and the interior is too rough, absolutely no one complains about poor control, at least at that time, the movement is not as "niche" as we think.
However, from the third generation of models, Fox's strategy from product positioning to sales has changed a lot. In short, it is to lose the distinct sports label, to deviate from comfort, but to become more and more mediocre, because there are too many comfortable models on the market.
In the fourth generation of 2018, Fox sales are gone, sports labels are gone, and even if the sports version is launched, consumers will not buy it. Looking back now, in addition to the feelings of Fox, it does not matter what positioning and label Fox is, because it is not the product that consumers want at all.
Product quality control problems continue to make Fox worse?
What's more, the negative impact of product quality defects, since 2014, Changan Ford has exposed various product quality problems, such as the outbreak of the wing tiger shaft breakage incident, which has recalled more than 80,000 wing tigers; then Mondeo appeared "odor door", and finally failed; coupled with the current vehicle dual-clutch transmission setback, abnormal sound and other issues.
Moreover, this year, Ford "re-" went to the 3.15 party due to the problem of "water rusting" in the gearbox. Although Changan Ford previously said that the design defect of the transmission water rust is that it is a model produced before August 2019, the Focus with the current 6AT and 8AT gearboxes does not have the above problems.
But all this, for consumers, does have a sense of distrust of Changan Ford's models. If you do not pay attention to product quality issues, consumers, and the negative impact of product quality defects, then the "re", Fox sales will not only be a problem of the market.
What are Fox's future prospects? How to break the game
Looking back at the past, you will find that it is really interesting to look at the past and look at the prediction of the future from the perspective of the present. Leaving aside the problem to see the essence, it is not just as simple as finding the problem, asking the problem, and then solving the problem, and our judgment of the future cannot jump out of the limitations of the current thinking.
Or rather, the problem Facing Fox today, how should it be broken?
Some people say that if you switch back to the four-cylinder engine and the independent suspension, will Fox's sales be good?
I'd say it's a train of thought, at least, that Fox still needs to revive its own sport label. Moreover, playing iron also needs to be hard, just like a sentence said by the old owner on the way to escape the wilderness in the movie "1942": "I know how to change from a poor person to a rich man, within ten years, your uncle is still the owner."
For Fox, the "selling point" that made a name for itself in the market that year was its own sports label, which is now in decline, the label is gone, but the foundation is still there, as long as the "dry goods" come out and return to the "selling point" in terms of product strength, from this level, Fox still has a chance.
Moreover, today's consumer market is getting younger and younger, looking at the compact car market, although the joint venture and independent models are flaunting sports and focusing on young consumers, only Honda Civic is really deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and Civic now has annual sales of more than 200,000 vehicles. From this level, as long as Fox can seize a breakthrough point, it is not a big problem to turn over, at least it can return to the level of monthly sales of more than 10,000.
Perhaps, you can look at today's Buick Yinglang, to say that once, it was also a difficult brother in the Fox "three-cylinder era", but after changing the four-cylinder, sales soon stabilized at a high level, of course, its amazing discount is also an important reason. Of course, Fox certainly does not have to fight the price war directly like Yinglang, with Fox's reputation and reputation, as long as it is willing to take out dry goods, and give consumers enough sincerity in price and service, the problem is really not big, and there should be no problem in returning to the head of the market segment.
Can the revival of Changan Ford really rely on Fox?
Obviously, the return to the four-cylinder machine, for Fox, everyone is still more optimistic. However, in terms of the revival of Changan Ford, it is really not necessarily appropriate?
As analyzed above, it is the SUV segment, consumer demand for large space SUVs is more hot, and even the larger space MPV segment is also unprecedentedly hot, the cumulative sales data from January to September 2021 shows that the sedan market is up 13.2% year-on-year; the MPV market is also up 10.4%; the SUV market is also up 10.9%, which shows that the SUV segment is still hot.
(Image source: Association of Passengers)
In addition, the degree of internal rolling in the sedan market is far more serious than the SUV market, from the monthly sales list, the SUV sales list changes faster, basically the iron Haval H6, the joint venture autonomy of the flowing water. Moreover, in the field of new energy, it is also this trend, and the top spot in the SUV sales list in September is tesla model Y. It is conceivable that in the future, the heat of supply and demand in the SUV market can be seen.
In this case, Changan Ford really has no reason to ignore the SUV model. Moreover, the Changan Ford EVOS launched some time ago is very much the flavor of Fox's early years.
It is not difficult to find that as a powerful model born under the strategy of "wave-chasing intelligence", Ford EVOS not only has ample and spacious space, but also focuses on the product concept of "three generations of home comfort SUV". apparently. This is not just a medium and large SUV so simple, its arrival, is the number into the seat, prepared, Changan Ford is bound to come up with something different, and not the "sharp world upgrade version" so simple.
Therefore, for Changan Ford, as long as it is willing to come up with sincerity and dry goods, its model is still very capable of playing, and the breakthrough in the future market is most likely to be an SUV, but Fox has few opportunities.
Auto Network Review: Changan Ford Focus's "game-breaking" road is still very long
According to the September sales report, Changan Ford's sales of more than 10 models in September were 20,707 units, which ranked relatively low among domestic companies, using a more intuitive analogy, that is, there was not yet one-sixth of SAIC Volkswagen's September sales (123501 vehicles), less than a quarter of Changan Automobile's September sales (83,880 vehicles). The Focus sold just 2,106 units in September, not even as good as the Peugeot 408 (2,162) and Kia K3 (2,377).
Obviously, there are times when we can't judge a model or a brand by sales. For Fox, its decline today doesn't obscure its former aura. Of course, we also have to face the reality, in addition to the market environment, consumer demand changes, the brand's product positioning, strategic layout, and product quality brought about by the negative impact, is also crucial.
Of course, since Fox is in this era, he should adapt to this era, the survival of the fittest, survival of the fittest is this truth. In short, to die, Fox's "game-breaking" road is still very long.