AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/06 Report--

The continued growth of the luxury car market against the trend has become a bright spot in the current car market. The demand for high-end cars brought about by the upgrading of consumption and the increasing competition for luxury cars have led to a continuous decline in prices, further expanding the consumer market covered by luxury cars. According to the HKCEC report, in the first eight months of this year, the cumulative sales of the domestic luxury car market was about 1.533 million, an increase of 8.3% over the same period last year, and it was the only one of the three major market segments that maintained positive growth.

In recent months, as the market has gradually picked up, domestic luxury car sales have grown even more strongly, with sales in August reaching 243700, up 31.6% from a year earlier. Under such circumstances, most luxury brands have achieved substantial growth. In the past September, the growth momentum of luxury cars has continued, and a number of brands have taken the lead in reporting sales results.

In view of the fact that it is the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, most brands have postponed the release of monthly sales figures, and only Red Flag, Volvo and Lincoln have released September sales.

There are more than 20,000 red flags

After a number of subdivided products have been launched one after another, the sales volume of the Red Flag brand has continued to grow and has exceeded 20,000 units for two consecutive months.

Official figures show that Red Flag sold 21500 units in September, up 86% from a year earlier, and has now replaced Volvo in the second-tier luxury market, close to Cadillac and Lexus. From January to September 2020, the cumulative sales of the Red Flag brand reached 130000, an increase of 104 per cent.

There has been a dilemma for independent car enterprises to impact the high-end road. In recent years, the changes in brand image, product strategy and market positioning of Red Flag have led to a continuous increase in its sales. At present, there are six models on sale under the Red Flag brand, including H5, H7 and H9 sedan products, as well as HS5, HS7 and E-HS3 SUV products. After the completion of the mainstream product layout, the Red Flag brand will make efforts in high-end areas, including the launch of E-HS9 flagship models. According to the plan, Hongqi brand will form 21 products covering L (supreme car), S (sedan car), H (mainstream car) and Q (commercial car) in the next five years.

From previous data analysis, Hongqi brand mainly relies on HS5 and H5 models to achieve sales growth, of which HS5 model sales reached 10721 in August, while H5 model sales reached 7335. And the HS7 model launched 2.0T + 48V micro-mixing system version, the starting price also further down to 270000 yuan, the overall sales should be boosted.

With the substantial increase in red flag sales, in addition to the continued growth in terminal private purchases, some car sources have also flowed to the shared travel market, including Qimiao travel and T3 travel. In terms of government procurement, Wang Guoqiang, deputy general manager of FAW, said: "of the 100000 cars sold by Hongqi in 2019, only 600 are government public cars, and the rest are to C terminals."

Volvo growth slows down

Volvo, which used to rank third in the second-tier luxury market, has sold less than the Red Flag brand for five months in a row. Official figures show that Volvo sold 17292 new cars in China in September, up 15.9% from a year earlier to 113278 from January to September, up 3.4% from a year earlier. Both sets of figures are lower than Red Flag.

Unlike the 8.3% growth in the overall luxury car market, Volvo's performance is clearly below average. At present, Volvo has four domestic models: XC40, XC60, S60 and S90. affected by brand and market competition, Volvo terminal price is obviously out of control, such as S90 general market discount rate of 80, 000 yuan.

Adopt the market strategy of "price for volume", let Volvo see the dividend of short-term rapid development, but the follow-up development is more and more difficult, the growth is weak.

Competitive measures such as price for volume are no longer applicable to luxury cars, and if you continue to pursue sales at the expense of brand value, there will be greater challenges and difficulties in the future, said a luxury car executive.

Increase in the proportion of Lincoln's domestic cars

Since the launch of domestic adventurers and domestic pilots, Lincoln's sales in China have reached a record high. in September, Lincoln brand sales exceeded 7300, an increase of 75% over the same period last year, which is also the best result since Lincoln entered China. Lincoln's strategy is said to be to stick to the "differentiated" competition of brand value, American luxury and service.

In March this year, Changan Lincoln adventurer went public and became the first domestic model of the Lincoln brand. The new compact SUV, priced between 24.68 and 345800 yuan, is equipped with a 2.0T engine and an 8-speed manual gearbox. Adventurers' lower market positioning, as well as price, configuration, power and other advantages to obtain better market performance. In September, adventurers sold more than 4000 models.

The domestic Lincoln Flider officially went on sale in July, equipped with a 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbocharged engine and a 10-speed automatic transmission powertrain at a price of 50.98-759800 yuan. The latest figures show that pilots sold more than 1400 units in September.

The Lincoln brand began to enter the Chinese market in 2015, and then experienced rapid sales growth for three consecutive years, with annual sales peaking at 50,000 vehicles. In 2018-2019, the upgrading of Lincoln's own products also stalled under factors such as the decline of the overall car market and trade frictions between China and the United States, resulting in a decline in sales in China. In 2020, Lincoln domestic models were launched, and the proportion of domestic car sales increased, which made the brand sales pick up.

The first-line luxury car market occupied by BBA is mature and stable, while the second-and third-line luxury car market competition is fierce, the two-tier differentiation is obvious, including Infiniti, Acura and other brands are still in the doldrums. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Federation of passengers, believes that at present, the market share of BBA is relatively stable, and with the introduction of entry-level models and the price drop, second-tier luxury brands will still face greater pressure in the future. In view of factors such as brand strength, there are still great challenges for second-tier luxury brands to break through.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat