Mercedes-Benz consecutive months of sales shrink shrinking import auto market slow adjustment

>> In the first half of this year, the growth rate of the domestic imported car market surpassed that of domestic cars by a year-on-year, becoming one of the few bright spots in the domestic auto market in the first half of the year. However, under this peaceful landscape, there are hidden dangers.

>> According to the latest data from China Imported Automobile Trading Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongjin Auto & Trading"), from the perspective of the trend in the first quarter and the second quarter of this year, imported cars have shown a downward trend. Among these, Mercedes-Benz is the first to bear the brunt, and sales in the domestic market have fallen for a few months in a row.

Mercedes-Benz’s decline in July was the most significant month-on-month. According to the latest data released by China Import & Export Corporation, in the first half of this year, the number of imported cars on the domestic market reached 395,000, a year-on-year increase of 36%, far exceeding the growth of domestic cars and continuing to maintain rapid growth. , But from the first quarter and the second quarter, although the magnitude is not large, it has shown a downward trend.

In this market shift, Mercedes-Benz sales in China are just like this change. The reporter found from the sales data released by Mercedes-Benz in China that starting in April, Mercedes-Benz sales in China began to decline month by month.

According to statistics, Mercedes-Benz sold more than 17,000 vehicles in China in April. By May, it had sold less than 17,000 units to 16,960 units; by June, Mercedes-Benz sales in China had reached 16,925 units, compared with the previous month. The difference was very small for 35 vehicles, but by July, according to the sales volume announced by Mercedes-Benz, its sales volume had dropped to more than 14,000 vehicles in the current month, which represented a larger decline than before.

Last month, Beijing Benz launched its new C-Class sedan. The replacement of this model has affected Mercedes-Benz sales to a certain extent. However, some experts said that from the sales figures released by Mercedes-Benz, it is not only domestic C-Class sedan that includes Mercedes-Benz S-class, SMART and other popular models have also seen sales decline.

In terms of subdivision models, sales of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class have been more than 2,600 since April, including 3,150 in June, while sales in July fell below 2,600 to 2,530; SMART sales From the previous months, it has been maintained at about 1,000 vehicles, while in July it dropped to 830.

In addition to Mercedes-Benz, BMW's growth rate has also started to slow down. Compared with the previous year's growth of about 70%, it has now fallen to less than 40%; and the public has also seen a year-on-year growth rate of more than 110%, down to the same period in the first half of this year. The increase was a little over 50%; while the “dominant” Audi of the high-end market has slowed down in China, it has long been an indisputable fact.

The reporter learned from an insider of an imported brand that the imported car market this year is not satisfied with the current market performance. "Not only is the pressure on the top executives, but the days of the marketing department below are also not good enough. Every day a meeting is approved." The source revealed.

In this regard, experts said that some imported brands had expected to be higher this year, or equal, in the context of rapid growth. However, judging from the current situation, the expectations for the domestic imported car market are still too optimistic.

The fastest growing first-tier market share of small-displacement vehicles has declined. While the market growth has slowed down, in the first half of this year, under the influence of multiple factors, the imported car market pattern has also quietly changed. According to data from China Import & Export Corporation, at present, the market share of large cars and medium-sized cars in the imported car market is 56.7%. Among them, the growth rate of large-sized cars is higher than that of imported cars. The main reason is that the growth rate of Mercedes-Benz S-class, Volkswagen Phaeton and other models is higher, which drives the overall growth of large-sized cars; while the growth rate of medium-sized cars in the first half of the year is lower than that of imported cars. The overall growth rate was mainly due to the significant decline in sales of the Lexus ES series, which fell more than 30% year-on-year, dragging down the entire midsize sedan market. The small car market, driven by BMW MINI, SMART and Mercedes-Benz A-class vehicles, has become the fastest growing segment with an increase of 156%.

From the imported SUV market, compact and medium-sized SUVs have the highest market share, accounting for 92.5% of the market share of imported SUVs. Judging from the current market trend, the growth of imported small-displacement vehicles is obviously in line with the state's purpose of regulating the imported car market.

In addition, imported vehicles also face adjustments in the sales area. From the first half of the year, the primary market grew by 16.3% year-on-year, which was lower than the overall market growth of imported vehicles. The growth rate of the secondary, tertiary, and tertiary markets was basically the same, and the growth rate was higher than the overall growth rate of imported vehicles. In terms of market share, it is also a similar situation, presenting the situation of “first-rate drop and second, third and fourth-line rise”.

To this end, the reporter learned from several imported car brands, this year's dealer development is also mainly concentrated in the market area outside the first class. Among them, Volkswagen will build its network outlets into second-tier and third-tier cities this year. At present, the number of dealers has increased to 70; Renault has also gradually introduced brand marketing activities into second and third-tier cities.

Some experts said that the imported car market is developing rapidly in second- and third-tier cities. The establishment of dealers in the second and third-tier markets is conducive to brand awareness and sales promotion, and consumers can also get perfect after-sales services.