On the second day of FAW Toyota's announcement of the sales report for the first half of the year, an automobile blogger posted on Weibo that FAW Toyota's sales headquarters will be moved from Beijing to the Tianjin factory, and at the same time, personnel will also face significant adjustments and optimization. "Auto Watch" immediately asked FAW Toyota Motor Sales Co., Ltd. and FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. for verification, but as of press time, no clear reply has been received.
Some people have argued that the relocation of FAW Toyota's sales headquarters is due to declining sales, low capacity utilization, and a competitive market environment. But in fact, in the past June, FAW Toyota delivered 73,545 new cars, not only a new annual sales high, but also showed a gratifying situation of electrification, high-end and intelligent "bumper harvest".
Continue to move upwards and newly
In terms of high-end layout, throughout the first half of the year, FAW Toyota's mid-to-high-end models sold a total of 166167 units, accounting for 50.5%. Half of the model sales are from mid-to-high-end models, which is a height that is difficult for independent brand car companies to achieve, which fully verifies FAW Toyota's "comprehensive high-end" strategy, and is receiving a positive response from the market.
Specifically, the star models RAV4 Rongfang and Ruifang sold 78,898 and 80,209 units respectively, a year-on-year increase of 11.7% and 48.4%; The high-end model Grevia and the bZ3 electric sedan sold 29,298 and 25,092 units, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 33.5% and 205%.
In addition, with the classic reappearance of the new crown this year, FAW Toyota has also successfully completed another important piece of the puzzle of the new crown brand product matrix. So far, the new crown brand has formed a full-segment product lineup covering sedans, SUVs, MPVs and crossover models, which has not only achieved a steady increase in the market share of FAW Toyota's high-end models, but also a leap in the direction of more texture and luxury.
In terms of electrification transformation, from January to June 2024, FAW Toyota sold 329067 vehicles. Among them, a total of 126592 units of intelligent electric hybrid models were sold, a year-on-year increase of 25.8%, accounting for 38.5%. Nearly 40% of the sales of intelligent electric models are definitely in the leading position among joint venture car companies, demonstrating FAW Toyota's tenacious competitiveness in the era of electrification.
In recent years, with the explosion of the hybrid market, hybrid technologies on the market have also blossomed, such as BYD DM-i, Great Wall Lemon DHT and Changan Zhidian iDD, etc., but when it comes to hybrid "grandfather", it has to be Toyota. Over the past 27 years, Toyota's more than 26 million intelligent electric hybrid engines have zero fire, zero explosion, zero leakage, and 1.5 million kilometers of hybrid system failure.
On the eve of the Beijing Auto Show, FAW Toyota released a new evolution of the IT'S TiME 2.0 intelligent electric hybrid technology brand, which has been installed on the new Grevia, the new Crown Lufang, the new Crown and the new Corolla Ruifang, and will be installed in all FAW Toyota models in the future, enabling FAW Toyota to open a new chapter of "comprehensive intelligent hybridization".
Among them, the all-new Pura equipped with the 2.4T 1MT HEV super hybrid has made a strong comeback, giving FAW Toyota a complete product matrix from small SUVs to compact urban SUVs, from medium and large SUVs to luxury hard-core off-road. In addition, Toyota's first domestic four-wheel drive MPV, the new Grevia, and the new Crown Land Amplifier of Intelligent Daqi have been launched one after another, and FAW Toyota's TNGA high-end platform product lineup has been further enriched and upgraded.
In terms of intelligent upgrades, the IT'S TiME 2.0 intelligent electric hybrid technology brand also includes two core contents: Toyota Pilot high-end intelligent driving and Toyota Space smart space, which can achieve safety equality and intelligent equality. On July 3, the new Corolla, which is favored by family users, was officially launched under the empowerment of the new IT'S TiME 2.0 intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine technology brand, once again refreshing the value benchmark of the 100,000-level family car market.
Among them, the Toyota Space smart space is equipped with the industry's mainstream Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, which increases the computing power by 4 times, reserving huge upgrade space for subsequent personalized OTAs. In addition, there is also an automotive intelligence ecosystem that can support the seamless connection of "people, vehicles, and homes" with top domestic technology companies such as Huawei and Tencent.
Perhaps in the extreme volume car market, FAW Toyota may usher in the corresponding organizational structure adjustment in order to match the market rhythm, which will trigger a series of chain reactions, including market strategy adjustment, etc., but the original intention of these measures is to reduce costs and improve efficiency, so that the brand continues to develop new and upward.
The king of real hammer retention rate
"Prado's three-year value retention rate has reached an incredible 99.49%, and what can wrestle with this data is today's gold." This is a sentence that Dong Xiuhui, general manager of FAW Toyota, said at this year's Beijing Auto Show, which sounds very exaggerated at first glance, but it is actually seeking truth from facts.
The data comes from the "Report on China's Automobile Retention Rate in the First Half of 2023" released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, which clearly mentions that Prado's three-year retention rate has reached 99.49%. This means that consumers can buy a new Prado car and sell it at the original price three years later, which is simply invincible, worthy of the title of "value preservation artifact" and "mobile cash flow".
The reason why Prado can become an evergreen tree in the off-road market and a well-deserved king of value retention rate is inseparable from FAW Toyota's meticulous polishing in terms of quality, performance and reliability. Whether it is professional off-road performance, reliable quality assurance, or comprehensive intelligent technology support, Prado has shown the strength of a mature off-road vehicle.
Not only that, FAW Toyota ranked first among joint venture car companies with a three-year value retention rate of 70.47%, becoming the biggest winner, indicating that its reputation for fuel economy and durability has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Although in recent years, independent brands have relied on new energy vehicles to achieve "corner overtaking", but the long-term cost and technical walls built by joint venture brands are not easy to overcome, and FAW Toyota's three-year value retention rate is the best proof.
In addition, according to the results of the fourth quarter of 2023 released by the Auto Finance and Retention Rate Research Committee of the Automotive Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in the first half of this year, FAW Toyota Asia Dragon won the first place in the value retention rate of medium-sized cars with a three-year value retention rate of 63.67%; With a one-year value retention rate of 79.86%, Crown Lufang ranked first among medium-sized SUVs of 200,000~300,000 yuan.
Constantly winning new honors and constantly opening up new patterns is the inevitable result of FAW Toyota's high-quality development. As a "frequent customer" in the top 10 sales of Chinese car companies, FAW Toyota has always adhered to the TPS lean production and QDR standards of high quality, high durability and high reliability, and continues to improve and innovate with strong brand appeal and product competitiveness.
Not the same price war
In 2024, the "price war" will continue to sweep the entire Chinese auto market from the industry end to the user side, especially in the face of the "tablelifting" of BYD, the leader of new energy vehicles, the challenges faced by joint venture car companies are the most severe, not only to face the decline in car prices, but also to experience the huge pressure of declining sales and profits.
But at the same time, China's auto market is also ushering in a new round of policy spring breeze, and "trade-in" will become a new engine to drive the demand of the auto market. According to the forecast of the State Information Center, the trade-in demand of China's auto market will account for 44% of the total demand in 2024, and is expected to increase to about 48% by 2025.
In response to the call of the country and to stimulate sales growth, FAW Toyota moved when it heard the wind. In early April, when the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Trade-in of Consumer Goods", FAW Toyota quickly launched a series of sales policies based on "2 billion yuan of discounts".
Then in late April, the seven departments jointly issued the "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Car Trade-in Subsidy", proposing to support and promote automobile consumption with subsidies ranging from 7,000 ~ 10,000 yuan. FAW Toyota once again responded quickly to provide users with a value-for-money car purchase opportunity of "national subsidy + factory subsidy".
At present, FAW Toyota's entire car series can enjoy multiple financial policies such as up to 8 years with zero down payment, 36 installments with 0 interest rate, and 505 flexible financial scheme. In addition, FAW Toyota has also prepared a replacement subsidy of up to 16,000 yuan for users, that is, users can obtain a total of 23,000 yuan of "national subsidy + factory subsidy".
The price of the Corolla, known as the "king of the world's family sedans", has dropped to 71,800 yuan, with a discount of up to 45,000 yuan; the compact SUV Corolla Ruifang has a comprehensive special offer of 43,000 yuan, with a starting price of only 99,800 yuan; and the discount range of the new high-end model Crown Lufang has also reached 34,000 yuan, and at the same time, the purchase rights of 15,000 yuan are superimposed, which is equivalent to a maximum price reduction of 49,000 yuan compared with the old model.
On the one hand, FAW Toyota's attitude and execution of closely following national policies, keenly grasping market trends, and actively promoting automobile consumption are reflected in the sincere preferential policies; On the other hand, it also played a significant role in boosting FAW Toyota's sales, so that it could draw a successful end to its performance in the first half of the year with a steady pace and good results.