Perhaps seeing the harsh reality, Lynk & Co 02 Hatchback chose to "reduce the price" and start again.
Last night (March 24), the new Lynk & Co 02 Hatchback was officially launched, and two major adjustments were made: lowering the purchase threshold and optimizing the model lineup.
First of all, the new model adds Plus and Pro models, priced at 150,800 yuan and 162,800 yuan respectively, which is 26,000 yuan and 14,000 yuan cheaper than the previous entry-level model (2.0TD Halo); secondly, the new model cuts the Halo driving control kit version with a price of 181,800 yuan, and the Halo version is upgraded to a flagship model, and the price range is limited to 176,800 yuan; finally, the model lineup is expanded from two models to three, and the overall price of the model is moved down.
To a certain extent, this can be regarded as 02 Hatchback's positive self-help behavior, otherwise it can be found that 02 Hatchback is in a weak position in the same market.
In January this year, the sales volume of the Lynk & Co 02 Hatchback was 390 units, ranking 179th in the sales of self-owned brands, 78th in the sales of compact cars, and 68th in sales of 150,000-200,000 yuan models. This sales performance is also in strong contrast with the high expectations of the Chinese people after the listing of Lynk & Co 02hatchback last year.
In the final analysis, the performance of steel cannon models such as 02 Hatchback is a plaything in the niche market, with high prices, poor comfort, poor practicality, coupled with a vote of B-class sedan players in the same price market, the sales edge is also expected, even if it is as strong as the Golf GTI, the annual sales in 2021 are only 3947.
In addition, from the perspective of model sales distribution, it can be found that the 02 Hatchback purchase crowd is mainly concentrated in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
In the January 2022 national sales distribution list, Shanghai ranked first with 25 vehicle sales, accounting for 6.41% of the national sales, followed by Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen with sales of 19, 16 and 15 respectively.
Lynk & Co also seems to have realized the reasoning, trying to quickly start in second- and third-tier cities by reducing prices. However, this price reduction is more like picking up sesame seeds, losing watermelon, and the new Plus and Pro models are also tearing off the self-label of performance while the price is reduced, and the product personality is instantly flat.
Specifically, the two new models are equipped with a Drive-E 2.0TD T4 turbocharged engine, with a maximum power of 190 horsepower and a peak torque of 300 Nm, matching a 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, and the official announcement of zero hundred acceleration time is 7.8 seconds.
This creates an embarrassing situation, the acceleration performance of the new car is the same as the Lynk & Co 02 equipped with the same power unit (both 7.8 seconds), plus and Pro models are priced higher than the 02 2.0T entry model (the current Lynk & Co 02 terminal discount of 5,000-7,000 yuan), in contrast, the two new models seem to be only a pair of shells and shapes with some performance flavor.
Looking at the car market at the same price, the traces of this performance are further worn out.
For example, the price of the Maribal XL 550T model, both the Redline sports kit, as well as the 2.0T+9AT high-specification power unit, plus 237 horsepower and 7 seconds zero hundred acceleration, posture, performance, space have obvious advantages.
Moreover, there are still many B-class cars with performance flavors at this price point, and they can get the size and practicality of medium-sized cars. Like the new Mondeo, which has just announced a pre-price, it only takes 159,800 yuan to start, and is equipped with a 2.0T+8AT powertrain, with a zero-hundred acceleration performance of more than 6 seconds, even faster than the Halo version of the top model with a 2.0T high-power version of the engine (6.2 seconds to break the hundred).
What's even more embarrassing is that as more and more sports and personalized attributes of car products pour into the market, Plus and Pro models are inevitably a wave of performance ridicule from the lower price and smaller displacement of sports A-class sedans. For example, the Shadow Leopard zero hundred acceleration time with the 1.5T+7DCT powertrain only takes 6.95 seconds; the Veyron PRO with the 1.5T+CVT assembly accelerates in 7.7 seconds better than the two new models.
It can be seen that the new Lynk & Co 02 Hatchback seems to be far from the positioning of "real steel cannon", but it is an indispensable and important increment of Lynk & Co. What Lynk & Co needs to chase and think about is how to interpret the irreplaceability and core advantages of the 02 Hatchback in the most direct way when the performance halo of the new model is no longer dazzling.