The Toyota Camry, a generation of god cars, was once regarded as "the god car belief of middle-aged men" for a long time. However, now the Camry has reduced the price concession to 120,000 yuan for the sake of sales, which has suddenly penetrated the middle-aged man's belief in the Camry's magic car. Why is that?
1. Middle-aged men's belief in the magic car
As a global flagship sedan that Toyota has been honed all in, the Camry has a long history of 42 years. After nearly half a century of time travel, the Camry has already become an evergreen in the B-segment car field. Over the past 42 years, Camry has sold 25 million units worldwide. After the sixth-generation Camry was localized by GAC Toyota, it triggered a rush of Chinese people. In the early years, buying a Camry was equivalent to stepping into a well-off society with one foot. With beautiful appearance, affordable price and stable performance, Camry has gradually become "the belief of middle-aged men".
In the 18 years since Camry entered the Chinese market, the cumulative sales volume has exceeded 2.7 million units. The previous eighth-generation Camry, which can be called GAC Toyota's best-selling model, has sold more than 1 million units in just five years. In 2023, the Camry will sell 225,500 units, ranking first in B-class sedan sales for three consecutive years. Not to mention independent brands, even joint venture B-class cars such as Accord and Passat are not opponents of Camry. The monthly sales are maintained at about 20,000 units, and the Camry is stable all year round, and the Camry is firmly on the throne of the B-class family sedan car, which can be called the king of the B-class car that symbolizes identity and status.
2. Killed by a Camry of 120,000
What is surprising is that in 2024, with the launch of the ninth-generation Camry, the belief in the god car of middle-aged men has begun to collapse. In March this year, the ninth-generation Camry was on sale, with a range of 171,800-259,800 yuan, but the sales volume did not exceed 10,000 for three consecutive months. Among them, 6,842 units in March, 9,323 units in April, and 8,681 units in May. The monthly sales are less than 10,000 units, which is in strong contrast with the previous more than 20,000 units. It is worth noting that this happened when the Camry terminal price was more discounted.
What's more serious is that the price of Camry in some stores has dropped to 120,000 yuan. According to media reports, the guide price of the Camry 2024 2.0E Elite Edition is 171,800 yuan, and some stores provide a discount of 46,000 yuan, superimposed with replacement subsidies, etc., and the actual price drops to about 120,000 yuan. It is unimaginable that "low prices have become the selling point of Toyota Camry", and a generation of B-class god cars has actually "fallen" to this. In the past few decades, the 200,000 yuan range has always been a decent price for B-class cars. There are all kinds of signs that the middle-aged man's former belief in the magic car is being killed by the 120,000 yuan Camry.
3. Behind it is the collapse of Japanese cars
In fact, Camry's price continues to fall in order to sell sales, which is the epitome of Toyota's failure and even the entire Japanese car market in China. In 2022, Toyota's sales in China will usher in an inflection point, and as of 2023, it has declined for two consecutive years; In 2023, Honda will only sell 1,234,200 units in China, down 11% year-on-year, compared with 400,000 units in 2020; In 2023, Nissan will be even more miserable, with sales of only 793,800 units, a sharp decline of 24.05% year-on-year, and annual sales will fall below the million mark for the first time in nine years, which is directly halved compared to the peak moment.
Entering 2024, the sales trend of Japanese cars in China will deteriorate further. In the first half of this year, Toyota's sales in China were 784,600 units, a year-on-year decrease of 10.8%. Toyota's public relations department responded, "Despite the aggressive promotion strategy, the deterioration of the market environment and the increasing price competition are still putting significant pressure on sales. "In the same period, Honda's sales in China were 415,900 units, a year-on-year decrease of 21.5%; Nissan's sales in China were only 339,300 units, down 5.4% year-on-year. In the first half of this year, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan sold a total of about 1.54 million units in China, down 13% year-on-year.
According to the data of the China Passenger Car Association, the market share of Japanese cars in China has dropped from more than 24% in 2020 to about 15% today, which is a very obvious decline. The main reason is that the core selling points of Japanese traditional fuel vehicles, such as high cost performance, fuel economy and durability in the past, have gradually disappeared under the impact of China's local new energy vehicles, and consumers naturally no longer pay. In addition, the slow pace of electrification of Japanese cars and a number of large-scale collective counterfeiting scandals have caused immeasurable damage to brand image and consumer trust. For Japanese cars, it has become extremely difficult to win the hearts and minds of Chinese consumers.