AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/06 Report--

On April 6, Honda China announced terminal car sales in March 2022. According to the data, Honda's cumulative sales volume of terminal vehicles in China in March was 82,041 vehicles, down 18.8% year-on-year, of which GAC Honda fell 28.4% year-on-year to 41,813 vehicles and Dongfeng Honda fell 15.1% year-on-year to 40,228 vehicles. In addition, Honda's cumulative sales of terminal vehicles in China from January to March were 220,367 units, down 37.7% year-on-year, of which GAC Honda's sales fell 36.2% year-on-year to 117,926 units, and Dongfeng Honda's sales fell 39.4% year-on-year to 102,441 units.

Honda's terminal car sales in China have fallen sharply again, which is surprising. Honda's terminal sales in China have fallen year-on-year for seven consecutive months, according to Auto Industry Concern.

In March, Hubei opened the strongest car purchase preferential season in history, among which nearly 60 models of Dongfeng Honda, Dongfeng Peugeot, Dongfeng Citroen, Dongfeng Nissan and other seven brands participated. Among them, Dongfeng Honda subsidized models basically cover all its models, all models including subsidies up to 68,000 yuan discount. Specifically speaking, UR-V model subsidy quota is the highest, 68,000 yuan;2022 CR-V PHEV second, 60,000 yuan. Alishen subsidies 54,000 yuan, M-NV subsidies 40,000 yuan, Civic subsidies 20,000 yuan.

However, the incremental market brought about by this government-enterprise joint subsidy activity is very limited. In March, Honda's terminal sales volume in China declined again, still reaching more than double digits. Although Dongfeng Honda's sales volume declined lower than GAC Honda, GAC Honda's sales volume was still higher than Dongfeng Honda's, which was enough to show that the government and enterprise subsidies had little impact.

At present, Honda's market in China still can only rely on traditional fuel vehicles, but fuel vehicles are increasingly difficult to sell, Honda has to face the problem. In 2022, Honda launched new CR-V, brand-new Haoying, new generation XR-V, new generation Binzhi, ZR-V Zhizai and other models in China, but a series of new products launched did not drive Honda sales growth. According to the data, Honda's terminal sales in China in 2022 were 1,373,122 vehicles, down 12.1% year-on-year.

Honda sales decline in China, the most fundamental reason is the lack of product strength of the new model, as well as the sharp increase in competitive pressure in the Chinese auto market. In fact, whether it is the brand-new CR-V, the brand-new Haoying or the new generation XR-V, the new generation Binzhi, the biggest change of these models is only the appearance modeling, and the most critical power system is basically the same as the old model, even retrogression, which is obviously not desirable in the fuel vehicle market. In addition, in the era of intelligence, Honda models do not have the intelligent configuration, such as the latest Honda CONNECT 3.0 system, in fact, in the current market does not have much advantage.

Entering 2023, the new generation Accord will be made in China. This model is Honda's sales model in China, competing with Toyota Camry, Nissan Teana, Volkswagen Passat, Ford Mondeo and other models. However, the biggest change of the new generation model lies in the appearance modeling, while the powertrain system provides fuel, oil-electric hybrid and plug-in hybrid for consumers to choose from, among which the fuel version is the main sales source of Accord. In addition, Dongfeng Honda will launch HR-V, positioning compact SUV, and Guangzhou Automobile Honda ZR-V sister models, competing Toyota front Lander/Corolla sharp put and other models, but from its market performance, it is expected to have a better market performance.

At present, Honda's performance in the new energy vehicle market is still worrying. The monthly sales volume of two pure electric cars belonging to the e:N brand-e: NP1/e: NS1 is basically maintained in three digits, which is almost negligible compared with other traditional independent new energy brands. It is reported that at the upcoming 2023 Shanghai Auto Show, Dongfeng Honda e:NS brand second bomb new products will be unveiled, fully demonstrating the determination and confidence to cope with the trend of the times with strong technical strength and unswervingly promote the new energy strategy.

At present, great changes have taken place in China's automobile market, and the development of new energy is in full swing. BYD, Geely, Volkswagen and many new brands of automobile building continue to make efforts in the field of new energy electrification, continuously improving user experience in aspects of three-electric system, battery life and intelligence, while Japanese brands are too cautious in electric development, leaving Honda with few opportunities.

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