Has the own brand passed the dangerous period?

“Now almost every car in the store has a discount of up to 24,000 yuan.” At the Shanghai Volkswagen 4S store in Changping, Beijing, the public, Ms. Li, was surprised to find that the Tiguan that had previously required a fare increase was now able to offer one or two thousand yuan directly. car.

The once-hot joint venture brand car was suffering sales pressure from the auto market this year and was forced to start a big promotion. In sharp contrast to this, self-owned brand cars have achieved rapid growth in sales due to the popularity of SUVs. The latest data from China Automobile Association shows that in the first five months of this year, the cumulative sales of self-owned branded cars totaled 3.6628 million, accounting for 42% of the total passenger vehicle sales, and the occupancy rate was 3.9 percentage points higher than the same period of last year. From 2010 to 2014, the market share of self-owned brand cars has dropped for four consecutive years. Market participants predict that although the domestic auto market as a whole has grown at a low rate this year, independent brands may usher in a new outbreak.

Volkswagen car is no longer beautiful scenery

“When Tiguan was just listed, it was impossible to increase the price by 30,000 to 40,000. Afterwards, it was downgraded to force you to buy 10,000 or 10,000 decorative accessories. At the end of last year, you did not increase the price. You had to wait in line for several months. Car.” Ms. Li was very emotional: “Now most of the 4S stores in the capital not only have super-strong incentives for buying cars, but basically can go to the store to pick up the car, and the cash is sufficient.” In fact, the joint venture car companies crazy increase, public and part of the US Department The grand occasion of queuing cars at the door of the European brand has long been no longer. In the face of sudden sales pressure, Shanghai Volkswagen, Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., Changan Ford Motor Co., Ltd. and other joint venture auto makers have reduced prices through different methods.

In May, only Japanese cars in the JV camp achieved positive growth year-on-year. Among the top 10 automakers sold in the passenger car market, only the joint venture automaker Shenlong Motors achieved positive growth, which was mainly due to the smooth performance of Dongfeng Citroen and Dongfeng Peugeot. Other six joint-venture car companies including Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Shanghai GM, Dongfeng Nissan, Beijing Hyundai, and Changan Ford suffered a collective negative year-on-year growth in sales. FAW-Volkswagen, which was the most fashionable and the strongest in the days before, experienced a 22% year-on-year decline in sales in May and was the fourth consecutive monthly decline. The entire Volkswagen brand passenger vehicle sold only 1.12 million units in the first five months, down 3.7% from 1.16 million units in the same period in 2014.

“As consumers increasingly understand the car, the concept of buying a car is gradually weakening, the brand premium of the joint venture model is weakening, and the days of premium cars and luxury cars are not sold out.” A car dealer confesses .

In sharp contrast to this, the sales of independent brands have become more and more popular this year. In May, sales of Changan Automobile (Weibo) (000625, stocks) increased by as much as 35.6%, and Great Wall Motor (601633, stocks) grew 5.77%. From January to May, the overall growth rate of self-owned brand passenger vehicles was as high as 17%.

Strong rebound in self-owned brand market share

Since the implementation of the purchase tax reduction policy expired, the self-owned brand cars have entered a decline.

From the public data, in 2009 the market share of the self-owned brand car was 44.35%, and the highest point in 2010 was 45.6%. However, in 2011, the price of the self-owned brand vehicle market began to decline after the 1.6L or less models no longer reduced the purchase tax. , Since then, it has been lower and it has dropped to 38.44% by 2014. During this period, several cities began to purchase cars is also an important factor in the decline in the share of independent brands.

In the first five months of this year, the market share of self-owned brand cars continued to rise, allowing people in the industry to see the dawn of the national automobile industry.

From the data point of view, the intensive launch of the self-owned brand middle and low-end SUV models is undoubtedly the right treasure. In May, China's auto production and sales completed 1,964,200 vehicles and 1,903,800 vehicles, respectively, which decreased by 0.6% and 0.4% compared with the same period of last year. However, the sales of SUV models were 459,300, a slight decrease of 0.5% from the previous quarter and an increase of nearly 44% year-on-year.

Lao Wang of Pinggu, Beijing, was very satisfied with his decision to buy a car – he spent a long time after considering the total price of 100,000 yuan to buy a beautiful white Great Wall Hover, “open in the village quite significant, and fully functional ."

Compared to the earliest auto models launched by automobile companies such as Brilliance, Chery, and Geely, the main products of the major local auto companies have now undergone a qualitative leap, and the appearance of interior interiors has not changed much from that of joint venture brands.

“I have to admit that there is still a gap between the quality of self-owned brand passenger vehicles and joint-venture brands, but the gap is indeed narrowing.” Dong Yang, Secretary General of the China Automobile Industry Association, commented that after more than 10 years of development, the development of self-owned brand vehicles has made great progress. According to data released by JD POWER, a professional investigation agency, last year, the gap between the new car's quality PP100 (the number of questions per 100 new cars) and foreign brands has decreased from 139 in 2007 to 50 in 2013. In terms of the level of foreign brands in 2010, Guangqi Chuanqi, SAIC Roewe, Changan Yidong, FAW Pentium and others outperformed the industry average.

Is it free from the crisis of survival?

Is the strong performance of self-owned car enterprises in the micro-growth state of the auto market this year meant that they have passed the dangerous period in adjustment?

In this regard, Yan Jinghui, deputy general manager of the Beichen Asian Games Village Automotive Trading Market Center, told reporters that the self-owned brand vehicles are accurately entering the market through cost-effective SUV strategies, and their competitiveness has been enhanced. It is expected that sales of self-owned brand cars will continue to rise for some time to come.

However, sales growth that lasts only for several months is not without worry.

Recently, Great Wall Motor Co., which has long secured the top spot in domestic SUV sales, suddenly announced that before September 30 this year, consumers can purchase Haval H6 Sports Edition and enjoy a price of 6,000 yuan. The purchase of Haval H2 models can enjoy a price of 5,000 yuan. Offers. In addition, consumers will enjoy an additional replacement subsidy of RMB 1,000 per unit when replacing these two models. Previously, Haval's price system was relatively strong, but the slowdown in sales growth and the overall decline in the car business forced the Great Wall to resort to a price cut. Some automotive experts have warned that over-reliance on SUVs is not a good thing for independent brands, and companies need to have a rich product line to prevent the risk of a single segment down.

This reporter learned that the current price of SUV joint venture brands such as Kia has been down to 12 million. As joint ventures have gradually increased their SUV models, and the environmental emission requirements of automobiles have become more stringent, whether independent brands can continue to hold market share is a big challenge.

In Yan Jinghui's view, self-owned brand cars should also increase research and development efforts to further improve product performance, with a strong brand influence to get rid of the crisis of survival.