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Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

The once inseparable relationship between car companies and dealers is facing considerable challenges in today's turbulent market.

Recently, the withdrawal of a Cadillac dealer in Henan has once again put this American luxury brand in the spotlight. Many car owners were unable to redeem the maintenance packages they purchased from the store, and the 10,000 yuan deposit that some consumers applied for purchase tax subsidies was not refunded.

A person close to SAIC-GM revealed that the dealer had a dispute with the brand, and then its sales qualification was revoked. An insider revealed that Cadillac had nearly one million yuan in deposit that had not been returned to the 4S store, and the latter also had unpaid car payments. The dealer chose to withdraw from the store with a tendency to stop losses.

Cadillac has not yet commented on this. However, the conflict between it and its dealers has become a reflection of its current survival situation.

This year, the prices of Cadillac models have continued to hit new lows.CT4In some stores, the price of bare cars has dropped to around 130,000 yuan. Although the price has increased after adding purchase tax, insurance and installment interest, buying a Cadillac for more than 100,000 yuan has indeed touched the hearts of many consumers.

Cadillac's "self-price reduction" is because it really can't sell well.

Looking at Cadillac's development over the past 10 years, after several years of rapid growth, it began to gradually decline after reaching a peak of 233,100 units in 2021. In the first half of this year, its sales of the entire series were only 62,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 30%, making it the mainstream second-tier luxury brand with the largest decline.

Currently, Cadillac has nine models on sale, but its monthly sales are hovering around the 10,000 mark.PorscheIn an environment where first-tier luxury brands are all "cutting prices to survive", Cadillac, whose living space is extremely compressed, can only rely on breaking the bottom price in exchange for a moment of respite in scale.

However, as the middle buffer layer, dealers bear the pressure of "selling cars at a loss" for Cadillac.

Sources close to the channel revealed that 4S stores that sell at a loss are mainly trying to meet their targets in order to obtain quarterly or annual rebate subsidies from manufacturers, following the "small profits but quick turnover" model. However, some dealers said that Cadillac's subsidies did not meet expectations last year.

Therefore, the enthusiasm of 4S stores was frustrated, and the two sides gradually became estranged. In addition to the dealers who took the initiative to withdraw from the store, some Cadillac 4S stores are already planning to switch brands and enterHongmeng Intelligent DrivingAnd other domestic series.

In fact, the conflict between manufacturers and dealers is also the current Porsche,BMWAmid the wave of price wars, Porsche had dealers "turning against it" in the first half of the year, while BMW,BenzBrands such as Toyota and Toyota subsequently introduced support policies for their dealers to ease their financial pressure and avoid repeating Porsche's mistakes.

Compared with the direct sales of new forces, in the common distribution model of traditional car companies, dealers are the most critical link to reach the terminal. They play a vital role in selling vehicles, maintenance services, and feedback of front-line market information.

Obviously, how to repair the relationship with dealers has become a must-answer question for Cadillac. Otherwise, once the trend spreads, its brand power will face greater challenges.

Channel sources pointed out that Cadillac's product strength is actually not bad. Backed by SAIC and GM, Cadillac has self-developed intelligent capabilities such as the Autoneng pure electric platform and Super Cruise, and still has certain bargaining chips. If it can provide subsidies in a timely and sufficient manner and mobilize the initiative of its first-line dealers, it may be possible to make the total sales volume rise again this year.

However, the correction in marketing is only superficial. Faced with the rapid development of high-end domestic brands in recent years, Cadillac needs to consider how to accelerate its integration into the new market environment and reshape its high-end brand image, which is related to whether it can reshape its glory in China. This requires Cadillac to create more popular models and reduce its dependence on existing flagship products.

According to the data from the China Passenger Car Association, in the first half of this year, Cadillac sold 62,000 units, of which 200,000 yuanCT5It contributed 56%, but this has planted uncertainty for the brand.

A salesperson said that at present, apart from the CT5, other products are difficult to share the sales pressure. Taking June as an example, apart from the CT5 with a monthly sales of 4,817 units and theXT5, Cadillac no longer has a single product with monthly sales of over 1,000 units.

Producing more market-competitive products has become the biggest expectation of front-line sales for Cadillac.

Fortunately, Cadillac has already taken action. According to the plan, the new XT5 is expected to be launched at the Chengdu Auto Show at the end of August, and a newXT6and a large six-seater new energy vehicle. Together with the already launched pure electric SUV Aoge, it plans to launch a total of four new vehicles this year.

Just withAsk the world, Enjoy the world,NIOWith the continuous efforts of Li Auto and Ideal in the high-end circle, Cadillac has little time and space to maneuver. Thinking clearly about its own advantages and mobilizing the group's resources to launch an offensive may be the last hope for this American luxury brand to break through.