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Recently,BMW、Benz、AudiThe news that luxury brands are withdrawing from the price war is spreading online.LotusGroup CEO Feng Qingfeng posted on social media that Lotus will never join a price war, nor will it rely on the so-called brand premium to obtain high profits.

When everyone was competing on price and selling cars, Feng Qingfeng really helped Lotus gain some strength and attracted a certain amount of attention to the brand. As Feng Qingfeng said, the downside of price wars is that they cannot increase sales and damage the brand image, so Lotus has never joined the price war.

But how long can Feng Qingfeng's toughness last? The environment of the Chinese auto market has changed. Domestic new energy vehicles are already eroding the market share of luxury cars and sports cars. In this environment, BBA, as a first-tier luxury brand, can no longer hold on and has to cut prices.Porsche, and both sales volume and revenue declined.

As a more niche brand, Lotus faces more challenges in China than other luxury brands. At the same time, the strategic mistakes made by Lotus's helmsman Mao Jingbo have plunged Lotus into a deep predicament, with sluggish performance and declining brand appeal. In this case, is Feng Qingfeng's so-called confidence just empty prestige?

auspiciousWhy lower the price if you have support?

Feng Qingfeng said that the reason why Lotus does not participate in price wars is that Lotus' brand culture, brand genes and pure product experience do not allow price to be exchanged for volume.

It is undeniable that Lotus is positioned high up. It is a million-level luxury pure electric car brand that once competed with Porsche,FerrariThese sports car brands are equally famous, and their sports cars have always pursued a pure driving experience, even if they have transformed into electric vehicles and launched pure electric SUVs for home use. ELETREThe car model also has the ultimate pursuit of aerodynamics.

Lotus is a high-end luxury brand, and its buyers are wealthy people. Lotus does not need to cut prices, and cutting prices will have side effects, not only losing profits, but also affecting brand value. As Feng Qingfeng said, some brands are desperate to trade price for volume, and their products are discounted, which ultimately hurts the brand and does not gain good reviews and reputation in the market.

From the perspective of Geely Group, Lotus cannot lower its price, otherwise it will erode its market share.Zeekrmarket share, Zeekr and Lotus, one is a civilian route, and the other is a high-end route. Price is the boundary moat of the two brands. If Lotus lowers the price of new cars, it will not only affect the development of Zeekr, but also destroy the luxury tone of Lotus.

However, Lotus's insistence on not lowering prices is far more than just a matter of brand culture and market positioning. The sluggish market demand is also an influencing factor that cannot be ignored.

Lotus' high-end positioning has destined the brand to go the niche route. Taking the sales target for 2024 as an example, Lotus has set a global sales target of only 26,000 vehicles. With such a small market demand, it is highly likely that Lotus' models will not be able to sell well even if the price is reduced.

More importantly, Lotus is not short of money. With the support of Geely, funding is not a problem. It was once reported that Lotus can get sufficient resources and independent space to seek development within the Geely Group, and will not have strict budget benchmarks like other brands. It is reported that Lotus's global smart factory in Wuhan Economic Development Zone has a total investment of 8 billion yuan and covers an area of ​​more than 1,500 acres.

Another issue is capital operation. At the beginning of this year, Lotus Technologies was listed on the Nasdaq through SPAC, which shows that Lotus has strong financial strength. Now that the funding problem has been solved, why should Lotus blindly pursue sales volume?

Geely’s expectations may be dashed?

In fact, Geely's goal for the Lotus brand is not just to pursue sales. Li Shufu has always had a dream of a sports car. When the Panther failed in the market, Li Shufu placed his hopes on Lotus. Geely acquired Lotus with the plan to first establish a high-performance sports niche, and then Geely will use the Lotus brand to harvest overseas high-end car market share. Therefore, Geely now strongly supports the development of Lotus and provides various resources, while market sales and cash flow are not the goals that Lotus focuses on.

To this end, Feng Qingfeng also launched the "Vision80" brand revitalization plan within Geely, which is to complete the brand's comprehensive transformation to electrification and intelligence by 2028, the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Lotus brand.

However, Geely's expectations for Lotus have not yet been met. Lotus' development in China has not been smooth in recent years. Since entering my country's smart car market, this luxury brand with a history of more than 70 years has not been able to deliver a satisfactory answer, and its brand voice is very low.

Although Lotus China President Mao Jingbo once said that Lotus is the world's first all-in electric and intelligentSupercarBrand, but the strategic shift in product layout failed to bring about changes in market performance and voice for Lotus. Instead, Lotus fell into a negative public opinion crisis.

First, in May last year, a Lotus Eletre user complained that Lotus sold test drive cars as new cars, suspected of consumer fraud. Then Lotus Eletre was exposed to have three reductions in configuration, and the car owners were not informed. Even more unacceptable is that the Suzhou Lotus Center held a "high-end" blind date, requiring men to verify their capital of more than 50 million yuan, and women to have a master's degree or above and good temperament and image.

This series of events has not only lowered Lotus' brand image, but also reduced its favorability among consumers, and has cast a shadow on Lotus's path to brand revival.

Lotus's problems are more complicated than they appear

Lotus has failed again and again in the market, and some people in the industry have said that Mao Jingbo, known as the "Iron Lady" of marketing, cannot control Lotus.

Let's take a brief look at Mao Jingbo's experience in the automotive industry. Before she joined Lotus, she worked atLincolnHe held important positions in two auto companies, Mercedes-Benz, and during his tenure at Lincoln, he successfully achieved great sales and reputation for Lincoln, pulling Lincoln from a marginal brand back to the top.LexusA brand that is on par with Cadillac. Perhaps Geely saw Mao Jingbo's ability to revive the brand, and Mao Jingbo later joined Lotus as a founding partner and served as the president of Lotus China. This shows that Geely has high hopes for Mao Jingbo.

According to Li Shufu's idea, the most important task for Mao Jingbo after he came to Lotus was to clarify the value and definition of the Lotus brand and to create a solid brand imprint. To put it bluntly, it was to give the Lotus brand new vitality in the Chinese auto market and to follow the same path as the Lincoln brand.Avenue。

However, things went against one's will. Lotus's performance in the market is obvious to all. Whether it is sales, revenue, or brand reputation, it has not achieved outstanding results. In other words, Lotus has failed to live up to the expectations of Mao Jingbo under her leadership.

It is not easy to solve the crux of Lotus. Lotus now faces many internal problems. First of all, in terms of the helmsman, it is reported that after Mao Jingbo took over the position of CEO of Lotus China, he brought many of her former subordinates with him and placed them in important positions. He also purged many people from the Geely system in various ways, including Ye Qin, a Geely veteran who was the legal representative of Shanghai Lotus Sales Company. When Mao Jingbo did not have significant achievements to support him, this nepotism was criticized.

Then there are the shortcomings in marketing. A typical example is that last year when everyone was tightening their belts, Lotus took the opportunity of its 75th anniversary and spent 100 million yuan to hold a party at the Shanghai International Circuit and advertise on major online platforms. However, the money was spent, but as everyone can see, Lotus' brand influence was affected, and hundreds of millions of dollars were not effectively converted.

For Lotus now, it is very important to enhance its brand power. Feng Qingfeng frequently uses social platforms to express Lotus' attitude of not engaging in price wars. This behavior of going against most car companies can indeed gain a certain amount of attention for Lotus, and to a certain extent demonstrates Lotus' adherence to brand values ​​and persistence in value marketing.

However, the value marketing pursued by Lotus needs to provide consumers with a real high-value product experience rather than secretly reducing configuration. Otherwise, what Feng Qingfeng said, "Lotus always provides the best sports car in its class, provides customers with the purest driving pleasure, and gives customers the most unique emotional value," is just empty talk.