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SAIC-Volkswagen sales fell sharply in 2020, in addition to the epidemic and changes in the market environment, many netizens blamed Passat for the problem.

According to SAIC-Volkswagen official data, the cumulative sales of Passat models in the first half of this year was 56022, down 38.7% from the same period last year, falling out of the top 15 of the car list. For comparison, Honda Accord sales of 89000 vehicles fell 15 per cent in the first half from a year earlier, while Toyota Camry sales of 76000 vehicles fell 10 per cent year-on-year.

The decline in Passat sales is almost in sync with SAIC-Volkswagen's downturn in the market. According to the latest SAIC report, SAIC-Volkswagen sold 143275 vehicles in June, down 7% from a year earlier. In the first half of the year, it ranked first among its subsidiaries with cumulative sales of 577400, but it also had the biggest year-on-year decline of 37.18%. SAIC-Volkswagen has been in a state of decline since 2020. Even if the car market picks up, most car companies achieve year-on-year sales growth, while SAIC-Volkswagen still shows a decline.

Passat was cited as one of the reasons. Prior to this, the SAIC Volkswagen Passat model had an "accident" in the C-IASI collision evaluation of the China Insurance Research Institute. The A-pillar was seriously bent and the driver's airbag was seriously offset in the 25% offset collision, resulting in a poor final rating. So far, the Passat is also the worst safety model of the same level under the China Insurance Research C-IASI evaluation. The safety questions Passat encountered also led to a turning point in consumers' ratings of SAIC-Volkswagen products, dealing a heavy blow to the brand and corporate reputation.

The public has also responded. Feng Sihan, CEO of Volkswagen passenger car brand in China, said, "third-party testing institutions are very welcome to use different testing standards to test the safety of our products to ensure that the safety of our products continues to improve." At the same time, SAIC Volkswagen also said that it hopes to get in touch with PICC Research and do another test to correct the name of Passat.

On the other hand, the decline of SAIC Volkswagen market competitiveness and the unsalable of some products have also caused a great decline in enterprise sales. Tuguan L, which is supported by corporate sales, sold 76220 vehicles in the first half of the year, down more than 40% from a year earlier, according to official data. In addition, the market performance of Skoda brand made SAIC-Volkswagen very embarrassed. Due to market pressure, SAIC-Volkswagen took the lead in launching official price reduction measures for Skoda models in 2020, with a maximum reduction of 24500 yuan.

According to the official statement, Skoda pricing reduction, mainly to distinguish from Volkswagen brands, while pricing is also closer to the status quo of terminal sales.

SAIC Volkswagen, which pursues the scale of sales volume, is now facing a sales dilemma and facing great challenges under the stock competition. SAIC-Volkswagen's decline of 37.18 per cent in the first half was also higher than the 22.4 per cent decline in the passenger car market as a whole. SAIC-Volkswagen may need more remedial measures in the second half of the year to recover its declining performance for half a year.

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