AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)06/01 Report--

Domestic luxury car market competition incentives, a big price war between each other, some brands price reduction is very severe, and the existence of Lexus appears extra unique. Sales of Lexus, which did not participate in the price war, continued to grow. ES models alone contributed 10, 000 units in April. In that month, Lexus brand sales in China exceeded 20, 000 for the first time, and the cumulative sales from January to April also reached 58771, an increase of 11.1% over the same period last year. Sales are close to Cadillac, which ranks first among second-tier luxury brands.

On the afternoon of May 31, Lexus officials couldn't wait to release Chinese sales figures for May. At the media communication meeting, Lexus announced that the Chinese market had sold nearly 76000 units from January to May this year, an increase of 27% over the same period last year.

That means Lexus sold nearly 17000 units in May, up more than 150% from a year earlier. The sudden surge in growth was due to news in the same period last year that the tax rate on imported cars fell to 15 per cent in July and the replacement of the main model ES, and consumers were generally concentrated on picking up cars after July, leading to lower sales in May and June 2018.

In addition, the cumulative sales of hybrid models accounted for 33% to 25000 units in the previous May data. South China is still the main sales force of Lexus, with cumulative sales of 36000 units in the South China market from January to May, an increase of 29% over the same period last year, accounting for 47%.

According to statistics, Guangdong alone contributed nearly 1x4 sales of Lexus, surpassing the sales of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the second and third places combined. Due to the large sales of Japanese cars in Guangdong, the topic of "Guangdong favors Japanese cars" is often mentioned online, including Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other brands. Guangdong is basically their stronghold.

In terms of models, Lexus has launched more than 10 models in China, of which ES, NX and RX sell well. The compact SUV UX launched at the beginning of this year further enriches the product lineup and lowers the price threshold, becoming the latest entry-level SUV for Lexus.

On June 1st, the 23rd Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao Motor Show officially opened, Lexus brought a new RX/RX L model, the new car in the appearance and interior decoration are greatly adjusted, the extended version provides a 7-seat layout. The power is equipped with 3.5L naturally aspirated engine and a hybrid system composed of 3.5L naturally aspirated V6 engine and motor. The new car was put into production in the third quarter and launched in China this year.

At the recent Shanghai auto show, Toyota Wilfa and Lexus LM were unveiled at the same time. Since then, Guangzhou Auto Toyota is in charge of Elfa sales, FAW Toyota is in charge of Wilfa sales, Lexus ushered in a new model LM, and three Toyota high-end MPV are sold in China at the same time. In the past, Erfa raised the car price by about 300000, perhaps the increase in the number of models, the increase in sales channels, the price increase will be eased. Earlier, the Xinhua News Agency issued an article that "it has always been a tax black hole for Toyota to increase prices willfully without invoicing." according to a survey by Xinhua News Agency reporters, Elfa, which increases prices by 300000, not only does big stores deceive customers to illegally charge service fees and fee increases, but these unreasonable fees are often not invoiced and not accounted for in public accounts, and are suspected of tax evasion. But the reality is that even so, consumers are still flocking to these high-end models.

Another topic that has to be mentioned is "made in Lexus". Lexus has always been sold in the Chinese market as imported cars, and Lexus has a unique imported car status compared with other luxury brands that have lowered their prices and accelerated domestic efforts to open up the Chinese market. Since 2018, news of domestic Lexus has spread like wildfire, including Reuters and FAW officials of China, all revealing that Toyota has started localized production of Lexus, while FAW of China has revealed that FAW Toyota will introduce Lexus luxury brands as its corporate goal.

Recently, Sang Zhi, an expert from the China Automobile Circulation Association, did not cite well-informed sources as saying that Toyota intends to increase the share ratio of the two joint ventures in China, and the bargaining chip is Lexus contract manufacturing in China.

Comprehensive multi-party news, Lexus domestic is sooner or later, at the same time will also face the impact of the decline in brand value. Lexus China responded last year: "We have been conducting research and consideration on the issue of localization, and there is no specific time for localization." Lexus currently has 5.7 per cent of the luxury car market in China, and the brand plans to increase its share to 10 per cent by 2020.

Statistics show that the average transaction price of Lexus brand dealers in 2018 is 433000 yuan, second only to Mercedes-Benz brand. New car sales in China continue to decline, and the market downturn has led to big price cuts for car brands. The situation of Lexus is indeed unique.

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