China's luxury car market entered the "Three Kingdoms era"

If the Chinese auto market is likened to a symphony, then the luxury car market must be one of the most exciting ones. Some of the cruel thing is that not all luxury brands can feel the most beautiful market notes.

In the first half of this year, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz became the "First Corps" who led the domestic luxury car market with absolute advantages. The three companies took a clean ride and left all the other princes behind.

Ashkenazi luxury car continues to strengthen recently, the German three luxury car brands can not wait to announce the first half of the production and sales data, the data show that the "big three" strong leading the Chinese luxury car market. In the first half of this year, sales of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz were 141,000, 121,600 and 95,000, respectively, an increase of 28%, 60.8% and 59% respectively year-on-year. According to data from the China Automobile Association, domestic sales of luxury cars totaled 670,000 units in 2010, a year-on-year increase of 68%. Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz sold 225,000 vehicles, 168,000 vehicles and 147,000 vehicles last year, accounting for 80% of the luxury car market.

After achieving such a good performance, the three big German luxury brands have taken bigger steps. In October last year, Audi completed the first one million transcripts sold in China in 22 years. At the celebration party, Audi announced that “the next million cars” will be completed within three years, and ambition is evident. After rapid sales in the first half of this year, Audi has put forward a new target - target sales of 700,000 units in 2015, and introduce all models into the Chinese market. Mercedes-Benz this year put forward the goal of producing and selling 300,000 vehicles in 2015. BMW has accelerated the expansion of its production capacity. The BMW Brilliance II plant is currently under construction. After it is put into production in 2012, BMW will have a capacity of 200,000 vehicles in China. After full production, the annual production capacity will reach 300,000.

Compared to the aggressive three-strong Germans, Japanese luxury cars are increasingly being "marginalized." In 2010, Lexus sold 52,000 vehicles, while Infiniti and Acura sold 11,000 and 5,200 vehicles respectively. Cadillac, Jaguar, and Land Rover in other European and American countries sold thousands of vehicles.

Why do the competitive landscapes change in the domestic luxury car market? In the past two decades, they have experienced three major competitions: Audi is the only one with great strength, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Lexus are the top four; Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are the top three. stage. Since entering China in 1988, Audi has always occupied the top spot in the sales of luxury cars. From 2006 to 2008, sales of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus rose rapidly, and Audi was also known as the "four domestic swordsmen in the domestic luxury car market." Since 2009, Lexus has gradually declined, and the market has gradually evolved into a situation where Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are competing for the top three.

The success of German luxury cars in the Chinese market is due to the success of the localization strategy. Audi was the first luxury car brand to be manufactured in China and fully enjoyed the benefits brought by localization. It has always been the champion of domestic luxury car sales. In view of this, luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz are also hurrying to promote domestic distribution in China. From this we can see that the Ashkenazi luxury car brand rooted in the mainland has blossomed in both imported cars and domestic cars, and has quickly occupied the commanding heights in the luxury car market. At the same time, the Ashkenazi three have been guided by the Chinese market in recent years and continue to meet the needs of consumers. Audi's main technological concept is to continuously load new configuration with rich technology content and introduce extended models to meet consumer demand, and complete the transformation from “government car” to personal car positioning. Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which have always been "proud", have laid down their positions in recent years, introducing entry-level models and introducing extended models for the Chinese market. In terms of market promotion, the German three teams also tried their best to “please” Chinese owners, such as BMW and Audi’s “BMW Hyatt” and Audi quattro Cup Golf Championships launched by Chinese owners, which are increasing brand influence and reputation. Get points on.

On the other hand, Lexus, once popular in the Chinese market, gradually lost and detached from the mainstream market during the drastic changes in the market. The reason for this is that it is not a major cause for localization. The localization of Lexus has been discussed for many years, but it has not been implemented, resulting in missed market opportunities. Infiniti was too focused on personalization, and Acura's product line was too short. All these factors led to the gradual decline of Japanese brands into a passive situation.

The Germans, the top three, and the new top three Germans have no intention of stopping at the immediate results. They are brewing a new global strategy centered on China.

On July 21, the world’s fifth Mercedes-Benz advanced design center was unveiled in Beijing. The nearly 1,000-square-meter design center will work closely with Mercedes-Benz's four design centers in Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States to collaborate on the development of Mercedes-Benz's future models. It was very "coincident" that just two days before that, Audi also announced the establishment of a Chinese design studio in Beijing. The studio is mainly responsible for integrating Chinese elements into Audi's global design. According to sources, BMW is also actively building its China Design Center.

There is a view that China will change the prevailing pattern of the world automobile market. The major auto giants have changed their products in order to cater to this huge market in China. As the luxury brand competition continues to escalate, perhaps the "Made for China" card is more likely to narrow the gap with Chinese consumers. Previously, most of the Ashkenazi's "China Special" products were designed by their respective joint venture companies. Most of them were just "little" in appearance, and it was difficult to satisfy the Chinese consumer's habits from the "bone". . Now that the design center has been established in China, it will effectively solve this problem. Designers will design based on Chinese consumers' habits and aesthetic standards, and products will catch up with market changes more quickly. More and more global models will have Chinese DNA.

In fact, the curtain for the migration of the German three strategic centers to China has already been unveiled. Following the design of the center, the preparations for the R&D center have begun in full swing. Mercedes-Benz has taken the lead and its R&D center project jointly established with BAIC has been launched. No matter if it is a design center or an R&D center, it will train a large number of Chinese auto talents and their days of standing on the world stage will not be far behind.

"The second legion" will be the third best place in the German team. However, other luxury brands will not easily give up fertile land in the Chinese luxury car market. The "Second Corps" consisting of brands such as Lexus, Infiniti and Volvo has begun to plan new strategies.

Lexus chose "The Street Fight." From this year, Lexus has relaxed the conditions for dealers to apply. As long as the company is in the downtown area and the well-funded applicants, Lexus is mostly allowed. According to Lexus’s marketing department, after the implementation of the New Deal, at least two sales stores in the city center will be opened every month, which will greatly increase the sales capacity of the network.

Infiniti has set its sights on "localization." Recently, Infiniti’s forthcoming rumors are everywhere. Although it has not yet been announced, Infiniti’s insiders have confirmed this news, but the time has not yet been determined. At present, Infiniti has annual sales of nearly 20,000 vehicles in China. According to the current import model, it is difficult to achieve a breakthrough in the short term. Domestically, it has become an inevitable choice. However, localization is a double-edged sword. How to protect its quality and brand power in the future is still a problem.

After Volvo took over from Li Shufu, he is trying to change his "old" brand image. Although Volvo is known for its safety, it is often overlooked by overly cliche propaganda. Today, Volvo is no longer the "master" of that "death" security. Dynamic slogans such as dynamic driving and outstanding power have begun to be used in the promotion of Volvo's new models. The results have been good. Shortly after the new Volvo S60 went on the market, this once-for-old model has captured the hearts of many young people.

Companies such as Cadillac, Opel and Jaguar have started to introduce entry-level models as a means of seizing the luxury car market. In fact, members of the "Second Corps" are not "light-saving lights." The market situation is changing rapidly. Sometimes, a snooze will miss the market opportunity. Who can guarantee that the German top three will be “everything”? Who can guarantee that any "Second Army" member who has not been careful will "rise suddenly"?