The rapid development of China's luxury car market for many years suddenly slowed down this year.

Recently, according to the latest statistics, in the first quarter of this year, the growth of the Chinese luxury car market was only 8.34%, showing a rapid shrinking trend, while the growth rate of the luxury car market in the first quarter of last year was about 40%. In contrast, the luxury car market sales in the first quarter of this year The increase was down by 80% year-on-year. The growth of the luxury car market in 2011 and 2010 also reached 40% and 80%, respectively. While the overall growth rate has shrunk, the market performance of companies that have seen rapid growth has also generally cooled.

In response, industry analysts believe that the new Chinese government’s strong emphasis on “anti-corruption” is one of the main reasons for the rapid cooling of the luxury car market this year; in addition, the reality of the overall economic trend in China is still in the adjustment period. The trend of the luxury car market has been affected, and the sales of Japanese luxury cars have been significantly damaged due to factors such as tight Sino-Japanese relations, which further dragged down the domestic luxury car market.

Constrained by multiple factors, industry experts generally believe that the rapid decline in the growth rate of the luxury car market this year is basically irreversible.

Depression

“From the situation in the first few months of this year, the overall growth rate of the domestic luxury car market has been slowing, and the market performance of all brands has also shown a big difference. At present, sales of Audi, BMW, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and JEEP brands are still maintained. A certain degree of growth has occurred, and both Mercedes-Benz and Japanese luxury car companies have experienced a year-on-year decline in sales.” Guoji Motor Co., Ltd. (a leading importer and full-chain service provider for a number of multinational automotive companies, hereinafter referred to as the “National Machine”) Wang Cun, manager of the automotive and marketing department, said.

In fact, companies that have achieved a certain amount of sales growth this year have also seen their growth rate worse than before. From the announced sales situation for January to April, BMW sales in China were 118,200 units, up 17.8% year-on-year; Audi was 141,500 units, up 13.9% year-on-year; Volvo was 18,500 units, up 27.6% year-on-year. . However, in the first four months of last year, the growth rates of BMW and Audi were as high as 35% and 41.4% respectively. In addition, in the first quarter of this year, Jaguar Land Rover’s sales in China increased by 21% year-on-year, but it has been significantly lower than the 110% growth rate in the same period of last year. Obviously, this year's growth rate of the luxury car brand has shown varying degrees of "shrinkage."

In fact, in the past few years, the growth rate of the domestic luxury car market has also remained stubbornly high: In 2010, the domestic luxury car market increased by as much as 80%; in 2011, only 4% of the entire Chinese car market increased, The domestic luxury car market is still up 40%; even in the backdrop of the domestic auto sales market slumping in 2012, domestic luxury car sales have also exceeded one million, or more than 20%. In the first quarter of this year, the increase in the domestic luxury car market suddenly fell to 8.34%.

Not only that, but in the report on China's imported automobile market in the first quarter of 2013 issued by SINOMACH, the demand growth of imported vehicles has also declined sharply in response to the slowdown in demand: In the first quarter, China’s customs offices imported vehicles in total. Twenty-nine twenty-nine vehicles were down 19.4% year-on-year, while 26 imported car brands, including Audi, BMW, and Volvo, which accounted for more than 90% of the market, had a cumulative sales volume of 213,000 vehicles, which was also a 9.5% year-on-year decrease. The development of the domestic luxury car market Showing a downturn.

Multiple effects

For the sudden crisis in the current luxury car market, Wang Cun believes that this year's growth in luxury car sales has been buffered by multiple factors: On the one hand, this is related to the larger sales base of the luxury car market in previous years; on the other hand, The overall economic situation in the country is still recovering. The macro economy is still in a period of adjustment. “More importantly, since the beginning of the year, the Chinese government has been strict on the use of official vehicles and strict controls on luxury consumption, making the overall public opinion and government The appeal has a greater impact on luxury car consumption. A large number of luxury car orders that previously belonged to the official car consumption sector have temporarily become waste paper.

According to the "China Business" reporter, since November 2011, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released "The engine displacement of general official vehicles and law enforcement duty vehicles does not exceed 1.8 liters and the price does not exceed 180,000 yuan." (hereinafter referred to as "double 18". After the regulation of the official car, there has been a trend of gradual shift from foreign brands to independent brands. In December last year, after the central government proposed "eight regulations and six prohibitions," the relevant departments strictly controlled the use of official vehicles, which also led to a substantial drop in the purchase orders of many luxury cars, either plain or dark.

A 4S shop marketing director of a luxury brand in Beijing told reporters that the store had a 10% decline in sales in the month of 2011 when the “double 18” policy was introduced, and this year was affected by “eight regulations and six bans”. Sales lost at least 20% in the first 4 months of the store. “This consumption trend will further affect more civil servants, state-owned enterprise cadres and the middle class, and urge them to consider low-key as much as possible in their individual car purchases.” Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary-general of the National Federation of Cliques, believes that the “anti-corruption and clean governance” policy is oriented toward The luxury car market has a deep influence.

The combination of various factors, it appears that it is not difficult to understand that the Chinese luxury car market has cooled down significantly in the first four months of this year. In this context, the performance of some companies is even more "glare."

The “Auto Dealer Inventory Survey Results” announced in the China Automotive Dealers Association’s March release recently showed that Honda’s Acura, Nissan’s Infiniti’s and General Motors’s Cadillac, had 7.3, 6.05, and 3.59 inventory coefficients (inventory coefficients), respectively. = At the end of stocks / current sales, the greater the value that the higher the amount of stocks, and become the top three brands of high inventory, in addition, Toyota's Lexus inventory coefficient is also high.

Among them, the overall crisis of Japanese luxury car brands has attracted more attention. The reporter learned from internal statistical data of related departments that in the first quarter of this year, Lexus's wholesale volume in China fell by 40%, while Infiniti and Acura's terminal sales in China also fell by 28% and 29.8% respectively. In response to this, Cui Dongshu said: “In addition to the political factors, Japanese luxury car brands have been slow to introduce new cars, price adjustments, and channel development. Therefore, the market performance of most Japanese luxury car brands is still not showing improvement. This is also true for luxury. The overall performance of the car market has become a drag.”

Depth adjustment

Despite the differences in the market conditions of the luxury car brands in the first quarter, the cold sales atmosphere in the first half of the year still leads the overall luxury car market, and the trend of the luxury car market for the next three quarters this year is related to the relevant companies. Focus of attention.

Wang Cun believes that in the second to fourth quarter of this year, there will be 42 new imported vehicles on the domestic market, which will stimulate the upgrade demand in the consumer market. Therefore, it is expected that the imported vehicle market will gradually come out of the adjustment trend in the second quarter of 2013, import volume and sales. The amount is expected to recover. However, Wang Cun also added: "This year, the sharp decline in sales of the luxury car market is a foregone conclusion. The main reason is that this year's overall economic environment and policy environment will not be greatly improved. The recovery of Japanese luxury car brands will still take time. On the other hand, the determination of the Central Government to investigate corrupt consumption will not be relaxed in a short period of time."

At the same time, Zhong Shi, a well-known commentator in the automotive industry, also stated that the era of high growth in China's luxury car market has ended, and the growth rate of this year's market will surely become more rational. “The more the market growth slows down, the more auto companies’ judgment on the market becomes more important. If the luxury car companies are well-controlled in terms of development strategy and marketing strategy, the market outlook in the second half of the year may be more optimistic. Zhong Shi said.

In fact, in order to turn the tide as quickly as possible, the luxury brands have also been active recently: Infiniti, which has a new product naming system, recently announced its Q50L and QX50L models that will be made in 2014; Audi will also revamp its Q5 models, and Increased the manual block models; In addition, Cadillac, JEEP and Acura and other luxury car brands have stepped up announced the domestic plan in China. A few days ago, Chairman of Daimler Group's board of directors and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Motors, Zeche Zee, also told reporters that Mercedes-Benz’s sales in the first quarter of the year were indeed affected. In order to improve its 2013 performance, Mercedes-Benz will launch this year. Including the new A-Class, the new E-Class, and the new S-Class, and will make timely adjustments to market expectations and plans.

"In the future, the luxury car companies in the management concept, product design and product positioning, should be more in line with the characteristics of China's mainstream consumer groups, rather than directly moving foreign products and marketing strategies to China, so that consumers themselves to adapt." Choi Dongshu He said that in the current market environment, the better the “localization” is, the easier it will be for anyone to win.