2024-07-24
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In the price war in China's auto market, some will withdraw, while others will increase their stakes.FAW-VolkswagenIt has launched promotional policies for its models many times, and recentlyBora、Sagitar、TanyueThe three main models were "reduced at a big discount". When many netizens heard that the price of the "family god car" - the Sagitar, which originally cost more than 150,000 yuan, had dropped to about 100,000 yuan, they were shocked.
WatchingToyota Corolla、Honda CivicAs former competitors frequently launched price cuts, Volkswagen Sagitar, known as the "benchmark of A-class cars" in the industry, could no longer sit still.
As a three-box sedan positioned as A+ class under FAW-Volkswagen, the Sagitar is between the Bora (A class car) andMagotanThere are currently six 2024 models on sale (three low-end models and three high-end models), with an official guide price range of 127,900 to 172,900 yuan.
Among them, the three entry-level models use 1.2T turbocharged engines, with the tail label of 200TSI, while the other three high-end models use 1.5T turbocharged engines, with the tail label of 300TSI.
In early July, Shijie visited several FAW-Volkswagen 4S stores in Beijing. Salesman Gu Yang said that the full payment of the Sagitar 1.5T Beyond Edition can get a discount of 50,000 yuan, and the installment discount can get a discount of 60,000 yuan. "The current price is basically the same as that at the end of June. It is the most cost-effective option to pay off the installment in advance after one year. The total price including interest is about 5,000 yuan cheaper than the full payment. The details can be discussed later."
At a FAW-Volkswagen 4S store in Jiangsu, salesperson Gao Chao gave a more detailed introduction.
A 1.5T Chaoyue version with an official guide price of 158,900 yuan can be purchased in installments for 115,000 yuan without interest. "This includes a purchase tax of about 9,000 yuan and insurance of 5,000 yuan, so the bare car price is basically 100,000 yuan. Add in the interest of about 7,000 yuan and the official double insurance package of 2,699 yuan (maintenance discount + extended warranty), and the total price is less than 125,000 yuan."
Although netizens questioned that the company deliberately used low prices to attract customers, and the price would not be the same when the actual order was placed, Gao Chao bluntly stated that there was no tricks here and that all the cars sold were new cars that were not in stock.
"Shijie" found that for many consumers who bought this 1.5T Surpass Edition Sagitar in June, the installment price of the bare car was less than 100,000 yuan, and the total price including one or two years of interest was indeed around 125,000 yuan.
Even if you pay in full, the price is only about 124,000 to 131,000 yuan. Due to regional differences, this price is mostly seen in first- and second-tier cities. In small cities with fewer 4S stores, the total price is higher.
Wang Zhuo, a car owner from Hebei, bought this Sagitar in June. Excluding government subsidies, the total price including interest was about 122,700 yuan. "The bare car price was discounted by 60,000 yuan, from 158,900 yuan to 98,900 yuan. The purchase tax was 7,900 yuan, the insurance was 4,900 yuan, the license plate fee was 300 yuan, and the official double insurance package was 2,699 yuan. I took out a loan of 80,000 yuan, which was paid off in advance after two years. The total interest was 8,000 yuan, and there was no penalty."
However, Wang Zhuo said that his car price was not the lowest. "My 5% annual interest rate is considered high. Later, I talked with car owners and found that some 4S stores can save 2,000 to 3,000 yuan in total land price including interest."
whenBYD Qin PLUSWhen the price of the Sagitar dropped from 99,800 to 79,800 yuan, the public was surprised but not shocked. However, when the price of the Sagitar, which originally cost more than 150,000 yuan, dropped to about 100,000 yuan, many netizens were shocked.
In the automotive industry, VolkswagenGolfIt is almost universally recognized as Volkswagen's most representative model, and the Sagitar is actually the three-box version of the Golf.
Compared with its old rivals, the Volkswagen Sagitar has always had a relatively obvious advantage in terms of power, configuration, space, materials and craftsmanship. Therefore, although it is positioned as an "A+ class car", netizens always like to describe it as "high-end".
Today, the high-end model of the Sagitar has a bare car price of only 100,000 yuan. Some netizens lamented, "It turns out that the family car has also turned on the self-protection mode."
According to past experience, although price cuts are simple and crude, they are undoubtedly a powerful weapon for car companies. Especially for joint venture brands like FAW-Volkswagen, price cuts have a stronger appeal.
Data from the Yiche App shows that the monthly sales of the Sagitar in June 2024 was 19,440 units, a significant increase compared to 14,572 units and 17,558 units in April and May.
However, the current automobile consumer market can no longer be dealt with with past experience. If we extend the timeline and compare the sales data of the past two years, the performance of the Sagitar still makes FAW-Volkswagen worried.
In 2023, the Sagitar sold a total of 285,051 units, ranking fifth in the domestic sedan sales list. In the past year, the monthly sales of the car did not exceed 20,000 units in only three months.
But in 2024, the monthly sales of the Sagitar exceeded 20,000 units only in January. Although the Sagitar still ranks fifth on the list, it is far behind last year. According to the data of the China Passenger Car Association, the cumulative sales of the Sagitar from January to June this year were 110,051 units, a year-on-year decrease of 61.39%.
Within FAW-Volkswagen, the Sagitar is the absolute "sales leader", of course, the A-class sedan Bora and the A-class SUV Tanyue are also the main sales models. According to Shijie, the recent limited-time discounts are mainly on these models.
In the view of industry insiders, FAW-Volkswagen's move is obvious. Putting all its main models on the market shows its desire for sales.
Official data shows that from January to June 2024, FAW-Volkswagen's cumulative sales volume was 798,500 vehicles (includingAudiImported cars). Among them, the cumulative sales of Volkswagen brand reached 435,300 units. According to the data of China Passenger Car Association, in the first half of 2024, the manufacturer's retail sales of FAW-Volkswagen fell by 8.0% year-on-year.
In 2024, FAW-Volkswagen's sales target is 1.9 million to 2 million vehicles. According to the current completion rate of about 41%, the sales pressure in the second half of the year is quite high.
The current price war has not yet ended, and Chinese brand new energy vehicle models are gradually becoming stronger. FAW-Volkswagen's A-class sedans and SUVs are facing an even more tense situation.
BYDThe Qin PLUS andDestroyer 05After its launch, the sales volume exploded. Especially the Destroyer 05, whose monthly sales volume rose from less than 10,000 units to 20,000 units. Industry insiders predict that in the second half of this year, the sales volume of this car will surpass that of the Sagitar.
The 99,800 yuan starting price of the 99,800 yuan ...Qin LandSeal 06, the monthly sales in June have reached 18,000 and 7,625 units respectively. It is just around the corner for the monthly sales to reach 20,000 and 10,000 units in the future.
As one grows, the other shrinks, and joint venture fuel-powered cars, represented by the Sagitar, are having a hard time. Another A-class car from FAW-Volkswagen, the Bora, is in an even more obvious decline.
In 2022, Bora's annual cumulative sales were 212,700 units, which fell to 145,900 units in 2023. From January to June 2024, Bora sold only 48,300 units in total, and its position in the total sedan sales list has slipped from 10th in 2022 to 34th.
This also indirectly transferred the sales pressure of the entire group to the Sagitar.
Although there are nominally 6 models of the 2024 Sagitar on sale, according to Gu Yang and other sales staff, in fact, dealers are selling only the 1.5T Beyond Edition with a guide price of 158,900 yuan and the 1.5T Excellence Edition with a guide price of 172,900 yuan, which are the second-highest and top-end models in the entire series.
"These two models are the most recognized by customers, so the manufacturer regularly schedules production of these two models. The 1.2T model sold very little and received poor feedback from customers. Later, the manufacturer changed to an order-based production system, and there are still no cars in stock." Gu Yang said.
It is reported that the price of the latest entry-level Sagitar has been reduced from 139,900 yuan to 89,800 yuan, and it takes at least one month from ordering to picking up the car.
From the dealer's perspective, this deal is not worth it. "I am afraid that customers will cancel their orders after waiting too long, which will make it difficult to sell. Therefore, I still recommend buying the 1.5T Beyond Edition, which has no shortcomings and is priced right now," said Gu Yang.
The "limited-time discount" of the Sagitar is a common promotional method. "In fact, the prices of joint venture fuel cars have basically bottomed out," an industry insider analyzed.
Under the heavy pressure of sales, how joint venture car companies can break through has become an urgent problem facing FAW-Volkswagen.
In early May, according to the Daily Economic News, an internal notice of FAW-Volkswagen titled "Breakout Operation" was circulated online. "FAW-Volkswagen is in the last and only window of transformation. We have no choice but to fight to the death." Judging from the wording of the document, it is full of chilling, and also let the outside world see the difficulties of traditional automakers in transforming to new energy.
FAW-Volkswagen is also striving for change, but the first to be submitted is still fuel-powered vehicles.
In early July, the new generation Magotan (hereinafter referred to as "Magotan B9"), internally codenamed B9, was launched. In the eyes of the industry, this car played a pioneering role in breaking the game. FAW-Volkswagen used two killer moves for this car: "intelligence" and "two generations under one roof".
Seeing new energy vehicle companies competing with each other in smart cockpits and smart driving, FAW-Volkswagen also wants to attract attention with the Magotan B9 and tell the outside world that "we are not lagging behind."
In this car, FAW-Volkswagen has arranged a 15-inch central control screen, an 11.6-inch passenger entertainment screen, iFlytek AI voice solution, a new car system, an always-on 5G network, and the IQ. Pilot intelligent driving system jointly developed with DJI.
Although it is not as good as the top new energy models, FAW-Volkswagen's positive attitude towards products is unique, at least among the current joint venture B-class fuel vehicles, and has largely consolidated its position as the "leader" of joint venture vehicles.
However, many intelligent configurations are only available on top-end models, which makes many industry insiders worry about the Magotan B9. "At a time when many brands have made many entertainment configurations standard, it seems that Volkswagen's configuration thinking has not moved on from the past."
Compared with the inevitability of "gasoline cars becoming smarter", the strategy of selling the old and new generations of Magotan, B8 and B9, together is a double-edged sword for FAW-Volkswagen - low-priced old models can stimulate sales, but in the long run it will damage the brand image.
The official guide prices of the three models of the new Magotan B9 range from RMB 179,900 to RMB 246,900; the official guide prices of the two models of the old Magotan B8 are RMB 174,900 and RMB 206,900 respectively.
Although the price difference is not big, the price of Magotan B8 has a lot of room for price reduction. From the terminal market point of view, the actual selling price of Magotan B8 has dropped to about 140,000 yuan, almost catching up with the price of the top configuration of Sagitar.
An industry insider commented, “Dongfeng NissanandBeijing Hyundai, which once thrived with a sales strategy of selling multiple models and two generations, are now in trouble. Selling old models at low prices to boost sales is like drinking coffee to stay awake. You have to know when to stop."
The localization changes of Magotan may well be a "preview" of a series of actions to be taken by FAW-Volkswagen in the future.
It is reported that FAW-Volkswagen has already carried out trial production of the new Sagitar, and in the future it will most likely undergo substantial localized upgrades on the original model, just like the Magotan B9.
Volkswagen has not stopped its pace in the development of new energy vehicles. On July 22, Volkswagen Group andXpeng MotorsSigned a strategic cooperation and joint development agreement on electronic and electrical architecture technology.
According to the agreement, from 2026, all pure electric vehicles produced by the Volkswagen brand in China will be equipped with an electronic and electrical architecture based on regional control and quasi-central computing - CEA (China Electronic Architecture), including models developed based on the new CMP platform and MEB platform models planned to be launched in China in the future.
This new electronic and electrical architecture was jointly developed by Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd., CARIAD China (Volkswagen's software branch) and Xiaopeng Motors. CARIAD China will play a key role in the project and integrate the latest generation of advanced autonomous driving assistance solutions and smart cockpit software functions into the new architecture.
Time will tell whether Volkswagen's "oil-electric intelligence" strategy can become the optimal solution for current joint venture car companies.
Author |Huang Shuo
Editor |Tian Yanlin
Operations |Liu Shan
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