Author: Jeff
According to the latest retail data of the Automobile Market Research Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association (CAAM), GAC Toyota Saila sold 6444 vehicles in March, which was less than 1500 vehicles away from the Buick GL8, and sold 14893 vehicles in the first quarter (January to March), ranking third in MPV sales in the Chinese market, and ranking second in high-end MPV sales (the first is Buick GL8).
Toyota Saina (Rhino Finance Data Chart Sun Zhifu / Photo)
It is surprising that Xena was able to reach the top 3 in such a short period of time.
Public information shows that since the end of October 2021, the controversy on Xena has not been broken, mainly around the topic of price increases. People have doubts about whether Xena, which was crazy to increase prices at the beginning of the listing, can really challenge the Buick GL8 and rewrite the mid-to-high-end MPV market pattern. After all, the former challengers Volkswagen Weiran, Kia Gava, etc. were all pressed to the ground by the Buick GL8 and rubbed fiercely.
Toyota Xena controversy abounds
Toyota Syna has created many miracles since its birth.
Announced domestic production in June 2021, chengdu auto show in August, pre-sale began in September, and officially launched on October 30, more than 4 months of warm-up is destined to become a "hot spot in the car circle".
What finally "detonated" its hot spots was the continuous "price increase" from 4S stores.
In 2021, GPLP Rhino Finance visited a number of GAC Toyota 4S stores in Beijing to confirm that in the absence of existing cars, booking a new car for Xena, 6 models need to increase the price by 70,000 yuan. For such behavior, the explanation given by GAC Toyota is: "The manufacturer is only responsible for the production of the vehicle, gives the suggested retail price, does not participate in the sales link, the sales are carried out by the store, and the manufacturer has no right to interfere with the final transaction price." ”
In this regard, many people are criticizing Xena's price increase behavior, so when its wholesale volume (2791 vehicles) data came out in December last year, there was a lot of booing on the Internet, saying something like "against the price increase Toyota Sai Na, consumers finally won" and so on.
Did the markup really affect Xena's sales?
At the beginning of the listing, the data given by GAC Toyota showed that the pre-sale orders of Xena have exceeded 10,000. "These orders need to be digested by the factory for at least two months, and if the supply chain and chip shortage problems are not alleviated, it may take longer." In the short term, Xena will be in a situation of short supply, which is also the basis for the price increase of 4S stores, and the price increase will not have much impact on sales, not to mention that Toyota may also carry out price correction in the later stage. A number of industry insiders said so.
The initial price increase did not affect Xena's sales.
In January 2022, GAC Toyota released data showing that Xena sold 5,399 vehicles (4,329 vehicles in the data of the Association), of which the platinum version of the top-end model with a starting price of 405,800 yuan accounted for more than 40%.
In the monthly sales ranking of MPV released by the Association, Sai Na ranked sixth in January, beating veteran players such as Honda Alisson and Trumpchi M8. February coincided with the Spring Festival, the traditional off-season of the car market, and Sai Na came to the fourth place in MPV's monthly sales with a small decline in month-on-month sales of 4120 vehicles. In March, it continued its efforts to rank third with a score of 6444 vehicles.
In this regard, Zhang Xiang, dean of the New Energy Automobile Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College, said: "The increase in sales of Xena is mainly the result of the release of production capacity. In the early stage, the small production capacity was in short supply, so there was a situation where dealers increased prices. After the production capacity rises, the conditions for the increase in the price of the dealers with sufficient supply are no longer there, and the consumers who are waiting for the cheap car to pick up the car begin to sell, and the sales volume will naturally come up. ”
At the same time, GPLP Rhino Finance also learned from a number of GAC Toyota 4S stores in Beijing that the price increase of Xena has been pulling back, and now, many stores have no price increase.
New products are listed, prices are high and low, Toyota uses the most traditional methods to fight a psychological war with consumers, and the results are clear at a glance.
Buick GL8 is the only one
Compared with Xena's steady progress, its main competitor, the Buick GL8, is standing still.
According to the data of the Association, the "shoulder handle" of the high-end MPV market, the Buick GL8, only completed sales of 32,986 units in the first three months, a year-on-year decrease of 21%. Honda's Odyssey sales rose 2.3 percent year-on-year, while sales of its "same-door brother" Alexandre fell 36.4 percent year-on-year.
Buick GL8 has dominated the domestic high-end MPV market for several years, according to the official data given by SAIC-GM in 2021: from January to November 2021, the cumulative sales of the Buick GL8 family 149175 vehicles, accounting for 43% of the total sales of more than 300,000 medium and large luxury MPV in China, ranking first in the market segment, accounting for as much as 53% of the joint venture brand MPV models.
Its dominance is evident here.
In fact, in recent years, there is no shortage of models that have challenged the Buick GL8, after all, in the face of the rising high-end MPV market, major car companies do not want to be a spectator, and have long been eyeing this market.
However, after the hustle and bustle, Honda Odyssey and Alexon, as the old rivals of Buick GL8 for many years, have long been willing to do "green leaves", and Volkswagen Weiran and Kia Kahua, who have threatened to break the pattern of the mid-to-high-end MPV market, have also forgotten their initial ambitions and faded out of competition.
According to the data of the Association of Passenger Transport Association, the sales volume of Volkswagen Weiran in 2021 is only 17531 vehicles, which is completely different from the sales volume of the Buick GL8 (161308 vehicles in the data of the Association). Since its launch in September 2021, Kia Jawa has never entered the top 15 of the association's sales volume, and it is impossible to compete with the Buick GL8.
Judging from the current situation, the responsibility of breaking the buick GL8 family's monopoly has fallen on Xena, does Sai Na have a chance?
The MPV market landscape is changing
Buick GL8 can be in a "monopoly" position in the mid-to-high-end MPV market for a long time, mainly because it has seized the opportunities brought about by changes in the market pattern earlier.
In December 2021, SAIC-GM announced that the cumulative sales of the Buick GL8 exceeded 1.5 million units, creating a sales legend in the MPV market. Such a large ownership volume has made the Buick GL8 form economies of scale, and the cost advantage is becoming more and more obvious. It is difficult for latecomers to do a large amount in the short term, and the cost advantage is difficult to replace the position of GL8, so any new MPV product wants to challenge the Buick GL8 is extremely difficult.
But that's changed.
According to Zhang Xiang, dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College, "The change in the MPV market pattern may bring certain opportunities to Xena. ”
In this regard, according to its introduction, China's domestic MPV market structure is changing, first of all, the total market volume has declined significantly, in 2016, the domestic MPV market reached a peak, sales of about 2.49 million vehicles, and since then it has declined year by year, and the sales of MPV in 2021 are about 1.05 million, down nearly 60% from 2016.
The second is that the commercial MPV market share is declining, while the household MPV market share is rising.
In general, there are two main types of commercial MPV:
One is the business reception class such as Buick GL8;
The other is a common class for vendors such as Wuling Hongguang.
However, due to the fact that most of the current business reception is carried out through car rental, this restricts the sales growth of the Buick GL8 MPV to a certain extent. At the same time, with the continuous progress of logistics and the popularity of private cars, Wuling Hongguang, which can pull people and goods, has gradually been abandoned by people.
While the commercial MPV market is declining, the residential MPV market continues to rise.
According to the latest survey data, the passengers of MPV are now mainly family members, followed by friends and colleagues. MPV is changing from commercialization to household use a decade ago, especially the liberalization of the multi-child policy, so that the demand for household MPV is increasing. Sai is an MPV for home use, and at the same time, Buick has also launched a GL6 product for families.
Finally, the buying population is changing, and the main consumption force of MPV is shifting to first- and second-tier cities, and it is showing a trend of getting younger and younger. Surveys show that the average age of car owners who currently buy MPV products is about 35 years old, and they feel that the Buick GL8 MPV is too commercial, and the choice of targets is more inclined to the family type of Xena.
"Compared with the Buick GL8, Xena has certain advantages in the powertrain. Sai Na equipped with Toyota dual engine power system has the characteristics of fuel saving, smooth and quiet, in Toyota Lexus, Camry these high-end cars are equipped with this power system, in the country is very popular, coupled with Toyota's brand blessing, Xena still has the opportunity and strength to compete with the Buick GL8. Zhang Xiang finally said.
It's just that in the Chinese MPV market, who can become the final winner in the end may need time to answer.