It is another year of "3.8 Women's Day", and the topic of "she economy" in the automotive industry has entered the public eye.
With the upgrading of consumption levels and the gradual awakening of women's self-awareness, more and more modern women have a new pursuit of life brand demand and have become the main force of the consumer market in the new era.
According to a survey by the consulting firm Accenture, there are currently nearly 400 million female consumers in China aged 20-60, controlling up to 10 trillion yuan of consumer spending each year. This huge expenditure is enough to constitute the world's third largest consumer market, and the "she economy" came into being.
As a pillar industry of the national economy, the unique economic phenomenon formed around women's consumption in the automotive industry is also becoming more and more distinct. The "White Paper on China's Household Car Consumption" pointed out that in the family car purchase group, women account for 80% of the decision-making group, and are the main decision-makers and implementers. Therefore, if car companies want to boost sales, it is crucial to refresh women's favorability.
Whether it is from the brand positioning or the product audience, the MINI brand can be regarded as a classic example of women's cars. With its compact appearance and high cost performance, it has become the first choice for many women. In 2021, the MINI brand delivered 30,546 new cars in the domestic market, an increase of 5.2% year-on-year, with an average monthly sales of about 2,500 units, becoming the leader in the high-end market of compact models.
Just on March 8, the MINI brand also launched a special edition model, The Pat Moss Edition. Tribute to British female racer Pat Moss drove the classic MINI Cooper for his first victory in an international rally. The commemorative model will be officially launched and delivered in May, and reservations are now open.
If the MINI brand has become a model for female consumers to chase after entering the market, then the Euler brand has directly positioned itself as a "car that loves women more". From product naming, color selection, interior design to marketing promotion, the Euler brand is constantly catering to the car needs of female consumers.
In 2021, Euler Automobile sold 135,000 units in the whole year, of which the monthly sales in December exceeded 20,000 units, which also led to the upward upgrading of Great Wall Motor's electrification transformation. In the new market environment, the special brand positioning has also won more female users and market recognition for Euler.
In addition to the hard work on products, when choosing star spokespeople, various car companies have also begun to transform from the "main battlefield" of men to women. Cadillac signed freestyle skier Gu Ailing as the brand spokesperson, which is extremely in line with the brand's pursuit of self-confidence, bravery and independent high-end taste.
Earlier, Cadillac also co-produced advertising films with three female stars in "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves": Zhong Liti, Zheng Xiyi and Zhang Hanyun, as well as Gong Li, the star of "Win the Championship", which left a deep impression on female users.
Previously, SAIC-GM-Wuling also invited female star Zhou Xun as its global spokesperson for the brand. From the aspects of pragmatism, low-key, and dare to innovate, we look for resonance with the three gold (Golden Film Award, Golden Horse Award, Golden Rooster Award) queen.
It is worth mentioning that when car companies enjoy the various dividends brought by female marketing, risks and crises are also growing secretly. On the one hand, blind positioning is easy to make the product lose the male market, and women do not necessarily resonate with it; on the other hand, once they touch the sensitive topics of women, it is easy to cause social controversy.
In a live broadcast event, Nezha Automobile was accused of using female anchors to play vulgar "edge balls", which triggered heated discussions. Brand marketing pursues traffic wealth, but the "female" label must not become an alternative means of "bo out of place".
After only forwarding a video about Yang Kasa, Mercedes-Benz was pushed to the cusp of public opinion by netizens, and finally ended up deleting the video and clarifying that it was not a brand spokesperson. It can be seen that when encountering gender topics, traffic marketing also needs to be cautious.
At the same time, Euler has recently been deeply involved in the "price increase storm", its main models black cat and white cat, which account for nearly 65% of the brand's total sales, have stopped selling, according to CEO Dong Yudong, the two models have not been profitable since their birth, and have always been in the loss stage. Factors such as chip shortages exacerbated the decision to temporarily suspend the sale of the two models.
It can be seen that the small car positioned in a fashionable and people-friendly way, although it can meet the car needs of female consumers to some extent, it does not have a profitable advantage for car companies.
"She economy" is sweeping the entire automotive industry, and only by truly understanding and solving many pain points in the life cycle of women's car purchases can we fundamentally impress the determination of female segments to buy cars. Whether it is the icing on the cake marketing means or the dazzling product design, car companies still have a long way to go to truly seize the female consumer car market.