Sales of Small SUVs in the First Three Quarters: Self-reliance on the Korean and Legal Systems

For the passenger vehicle market, September is often the best month for sales during the year, but this year's “Golden September” does not seem to have come too violently, continuing the sales of the domestic passenger car market in 2017. Possibility.

According to the sales data released by the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Association (CCC), the total domestic passenger car market sales in September this year were 2.3 million, a slight increase of 3.4% year-on-year, and the cumulative sales volume in the first three quarters was 16.75 million. Vehicles only increased by 3.2% year-on-year. It is worth mentioning that although the passenger vehicle market did not achieve a substantial year-on-year increase in sales volume in September this year, the chain growth rate reached 17%. It can be seen that September is still a month with strong consumer demand, which has boosted the domestic passenger car market. The overall performance of the first three quarters.

Looking at the sales in the first three quarters, both the car market and the MPV market experienced a certain degree of decline in sales, with the car market dropping by 1.3% and the MPV market dropping by 19.9%. Compared with the two, the SUV market remained strong. The sales volume in the first three quarters increased by 16.3% year-on-year, which was a major contributor to the continued growth in sales volume in the passenger vehicle market in China.

Although the SUV market continued to maintain rapid growth in the first three quarters, the performance of small, compact, medium-sized SUVs and other market segments was quite different, especially in the small SUV segment. Among the 49 models included in the statistics, the first three quarters were only There are 8 models with year-over-year sales growth (excluding new models that were launched after September 2016), which accounted for only 16%. The sales data for the small SUV segment in September was even more dismal, with only three models achieving year-on-year sales growth.

The overall performance of the small-sized SUV segment is poor, and it is closely related to consumer upgrading. Nowadays, domestic consumers have a higher pursuit of space, configuration, and quality. Small-sized SUVs have been unable to meet the needs of some consumers to some extent. The decline is also reasonable.

Of the 49 small SUVs in the statistics, there are 34 models with independent brands and 15 models with joint venture brands. From the perspective of sales performance in the first three quarters, the performance of self-owned brand models in the small-sized SUV segment is extremely strong, sweeping sales rankings. In the top two, the sales volume of the Baojun 510 is comparable to the sales volume of the third and fourth Honda “Gemini” XR-V and Binzhi. Of course, it is the brand that has to admit it. Strong performance is directly related to price advantage.

Po Chun 510 "The Menace"

Although sales of China's small-sized SUVs have declined this year, they still cannot hide the fact that small-size SUVs have been “popular” in the domestic passenger car market in recent years. Compared with joint-venture brands, self-owned car makers realized the rapid growth of small SUVs, combined with their advantages in localization, and actively completed the layout in the small SUV market segments.

Today, in the small SUV market segment, there are more than 30 self-owned brand models. It can be said that the joint-venture brand models have formed an “encirclement and suppression” trend, which can also be reflected in sales volume. The total sales volume of self-owned brands of small SUVs reached 1.074 million in the first three quarters of this year. Vehicles, which account for more than two-thirds of the small SUV market segment.

In the first three quarters of its own-brand small SUV sales, the Baojun 510 was a dark horse. The car was officially launched in late February of this year. The cumulative sales for the first seven months of the listing have far exceeded those of other small SUVs in the first three quarters. Baojun 510 is priced at 5.48-7.58 million yuan, the price advantage is very obvious. Baojun 510 has a wheelbase of 2,550 mm and is the mainstream of small SUVs. Technology configuration is the highlight of the Baojun 510. Keyless entry/one-button activation, cruise control, panoramic sunroof and other configurations are readily available, significantly increasing the competitiveness of the vehicle in the same class of vehicles.

In fact, the former small-sized SUV market overlord Harvard H2 also maintained a high growth rate in the first three quarters, an increase of 33.9% year-on-year, but the persuasive Baojun 510 attack is too fierce, it is difficult to parry, can only give up the sales championship throne.

In addition to the above models, the Southeast DX3 is also worth our attention. The car was launched in November 2016. Although there is no year-on-year increase in sales data, it has sold over 10,000 units in September (only 4 models have been sold in the self-owned brand SUV). Millions). In the first three quarters of cumulative sales of more than 70,000 vehicles, the Southeast DX3 is also an important brand of small SUV can not be underestimated a force.

It should be pointed out that there is a problem we must look at directly, that is, although the small-size SUVs of their own brands are far ahead of the joint venture brands in terms of sales volume, the gap between the profits and the quality and the joint venture brands is still relatively large. Still taking the "low-cost, low-end" route, I believe that with the rapid development of self-owned car companies, this trend will be greatly improved next.

Korean system and law system collapsed across the board

Compared with the self-owned brands, the joint venture brand SUVs are not very satisfactory in terms of sales this year. In addition to the year-on-year sales figures of Dongfeng Nissan Skeleton and Changan Suzuki Co., Ltd. which were listed on this year's sales in September, the sales volume of other joint-venture branded small-sized SUVs also appeared. The year-on-year decline. In the first three quarters of sales, only the Dongfeng Honda XR-V and Jeep Freeman achieved sales growth year-on-year, and the sales situation is not optimistic.

In the first three quarters, Honda’s “Gemini” XR-V and Binzhi continued to lead the sales of joint-venture branded small SUVs. Both models’ monthly sales were maintained at more than 10,000 units, and the cumulative sales exceeded 100,000 units. Other joint-venture brands of small SUVs maintain a leading edge. The success of the XR-V and Binzhi is inextricably linked to Honda’s strengths in terms of reliability, fuel economy, etc. This is also a microcosm of the success of Honda’s “Dual Vehicle Model” in China.

Most of the small-sized SUVs of joint venture brands today are not so good. Among them, Dongfeng Yueda Kia KX3, Dongfeng Citroen C3-XR, Dongfeng Peugeot 2008, and Beijing Hyundai ix25 saw the most significant drop in sales, with a year-on-year drop of more than 60%. (Because Changan Suzuki Fengfeng has stopped production, we will no longer evaluate the sales volume of this model.)

Of the four models mentioned above, two are Korean cars and two are French cars. This is another confirmation of the fact that the Korean brand and the legal brand are going “downhill”. After that, the two big brands were acquired with high cost performance. The ideal market share, but with the rapid development of the Japanese and German brands, the Korean brand and the legal brand seem to have been left behind, and even show the trend to be surpassed by the independent brand.

Not only is the “Spermlessness” played in the small SUV segment, but at the corporate level, Korean car companies and French companies have also lost ground (excluding Dongfeng Renault, the youngest joint venture brand). In the first three quarters of this year, Beijing Hyundai’s cumulative sales volume was 489,000 units, down 37.2% year-on-year; Dongfeng Yueda Kia’s total sales volume was 213,000 units, down 49.8% year-on-year; Dongfeng Peugeot’s total sales were 160,000 units, down 30.8% year-on-year; Dongfeng Citroen accumulated sales. 75,000 vehicles, down 57.2% year-on-year.

Judging from the sales volume of enterprises, the sales volume of representative cars of the Korean brand and the legal brand has fallen sharply. This is directly related to the lack of innovation and the quality of the products of the two brands. If the two do not actively work together, A change, I am afraid that will be thrown away by other brands.