AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/15 Report--

In the face of the continuous downward trend of the domestic car market and the double impact of the epidemic, more and more brands are gradually marginalized, even the Acura brand as a luxury brand. Due to poor sales, Acura brand has to implement the grid-connected model in order to achieve cost control.

A few days ago, some media visited a number of Acura dealers in Beijing and found that there was only one independent Acura dealer left in Beijing, and the rest were common sales channels between Guangzhou Automobile Honda and Acura brands. From the pictures taken at the scene, we can see that the best-selling Honda Haoying and Accord models are parked in the Guangzhou Automobile Honda 4S store, while an Acura CDX is parked between the two, so the position is also very conspicuous.

Higher-end models such as the Acura RDX also have their own booths, which shows that Guangzhou Auto Honda still treats the Acura brand differently. And the current RDX and Guandao models, in the price is also very similar, of which RDX four-wheel drive entry version after the discount is about 333000 yuan, while the top Guandao in 329800, there is no discount.

For such a situation, it may give people a way to put luxury brands in Guangzhou Auto Honda to sell together, will not affect Honda's sales? In this regard, showroom sales said that they are not worried, and they will take the initiative to introduce the Acura brand to consumers. After all, Honda is more well-known than Acura in China, and most consumers come to the store for Honda's best-selling models.

In fact, as early as the middle of last year, many Acura brands were merged into GAC Honda 4S stores to sell in the same room. Although sales have improved over the past year, Acura's positioning of luxury brands, which are also owned by Japanese brands, is significantly less than Toyota's Lexus or even Nissan's Infiniti.

According to Honda China data, GAC Acura reached its peak in 2017 after it became domestically made in 2016, with cumulative sales of 16348 vehicles, an increase of 100.8 per cent over the same period last year. But by 2018, Acura's sales were just 7337, down 55 per cent from a year earlier, while sales rose 63 per cent to 14786 in 2019.

Although Acura has a place in the US luxury market, ranking fifth behind BBA and Lexus, its sales are even higher than Infiniti, Land Rover, Lincoln and Volvo. But when it comes to the Chinese market, Acura is hardly recognized by consumers and its brand recognition is so low that sales are at the bottom of luxury brands all the year round. Some netizens even compared it to the LOGO of Changan Automobile, which undoubtedly dealt a blow to Acura's reputation.

In fact, the online sales model is also a relatively good move for Acura, because second-tier luxury brands like Acura, which has a low image, relatively less investment in after-sales outlets and marketing, it is undoubtedly positive to help it achieve more exposure through Guangzhou Auto Honda, which has a higher flow of people and popularity. At the same time, it can also give GAC GROUP more advantages in cost control for the Acura brand.

According to public data, the Acura brand began to enter China as an imported car in 2006, until 2016, when Guangzhou Auto Acura officially achieved domestic production. Until now, GAC Acura has launched three domestic models, namely, CDX, TLX-L and RDX, and two imported models, MDX and NSX.

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