In the eyes of many people in China, a century-old brand like BBA, after numerous market baptism, or because of the precipitation of technology, brand and other factors, is welcoming its heyday in brand history. However, not all century-old brands can maintain a good "healthy state". Just like Peugeot, Citroen and other car companies, even if they are alive and kicking in overseas markets, it is hard to hide the total collapse in the China market. The cooperation between Renault and Dongfeng was terminated early. Nowadays, Skoda, a century-old brand from the Czech Republic, seems to be embarking on the old road of French brands, opening the "middle-aged crisis" mode early.
Centennial brand Skoda? Has always been the pride of the Czech Republic (Sue? Photo)
On April 22nd, SAIC Skoda officially released the new guide prices of all its products through the official press conference. After the adjustment, the suggested retail price (MSRP) of all Skoda models was adjusted to 77,900-247,900 yuan, and the decline of some models even exceeded 65,438+05%. As soon as the news comes out, consumers who may wait and see will applaud the price reduction of products. However, from a practical point of view, the impact of Skoda's official price reduction on the terminal market price may be far less than its significance for Skoda's strategic adjustment in China. Judging from the sales trend of China market in recent two years, Skoda's market situation in China is facing great challenges. This price cut is considered by many people in the industry to be a "gamble" that Skoda had to make in order to save himself in a short time.
Jetta's influence in China is rising rapidly.
Regarding the sluggish domestic sales of Skoda brand in recent years, Volkswagen Group blamed it on the overall decline of the China market. Others say that the independence of Jetta brand makes Skoda completely lose its competitiveness in the mass system. Then, why can Jetta, which was established less than a year ago and has a model history of only a few decades, become the first choice for the introduction of the mass system? Can Skoda's tepid entry into China only be explained by the trend of market changes and the low price of Jetta?
Imagine whether the market performance of Skoda, which has the lowest positioning in the system, is much better than before the Jetta brand. The answer is obviouslyno. From the performance of sales data in recent years, it is not difficult to see that the appearance of Jetta only aggravated the decline speed of Skoda in China.
As early as 20 10, China became Skoda's largest single market, so Skoda's grasp of the domestic market trend is not without foresight. In 20 17, Skoda led Volkswagen to launch SUV series such as Kodiak. At that time, it coincided with the dividend period of SUV in China market, and Skoda successfully launched its brand voice in a short time. However, after Kodiak and Crook achieved initial success, it was Skoda's "confusion".
Product strength is gradually "lost"
From the product side, the word "slow" is more appropriate for Skoda to control the automobile consumption trend in China and even the whole automobile industry to control the new four modernizations. It has been 14 years since 2006, when Supai, the first model in China, was born. However, Skoda's design ideas have hardly changed substantially during this period.
Of course, Skoda executives did not take the initiative to seek change. As early as 20 10, Vahland, then the global president of Skoda, intended to introduce Yeti, which was popular in the European market, into the China market. In 20 17, Skoda also took advantage of the popularity of SUV products to enrich the product line and launch the Octavia station wagon. However, the cruel sales reality forced Yeti, whose design was not excellent, to withdraw from the market, and the market performance of Mingrui station wagon was flat because of the low consumer acceptance in China.
On the other hand, in 20 17 years, as a product advantage, Skoda only has ACC adaptive cruise, automatic parking and 8-inch TFT central control panel on high-profile models. By 2020, it will only become a burden when comparing the same class models. Even Toyota, which has always been conservative, has begun to join the networking elements on the car side. But in many Skoda products, we can only see the shadow of the previous generation of mass products.
If design and configuration are the catalysts that Skoda is difficult to break through, then Skoda's conservatism at the basic level is more like the root cause of Skoda's poor reputation. As the most popular product of Skoda in theory, the market prospect of Komik, a small SUV, has been unclear. Although Skoda can blame it on the strength of the Jetta brand and the fermentation of the "internal downgrade" incident, it is undeniable that Skoda's conservatism on the product side may become the most easily exploited and amplified point of Skoda in the market. Taking Komuk as an example, if it can be explained that Skoda adopted PQ34 platform at the beginning of listing because of the slogan of differentiated positioning, then the appearance of Jetta VS5 adopting MQB platform one year later is the best proof of Skoda's conservatism. In the face of many brands and models, the infighting between the old and new platforms is almost one-sided, not to mention Jetta's products are larger in size, higher in configuration and cheaper in price.
Marketing pushes the brand to a "one-way street"
As one of the joint venture brands that settled in the middle of China automobile market, Skoda also experienced a "highlight moment" with its back against Audi ag during its 14 years in China. Until 20 18, Skoda's sales still showed a year-on-year growth trend in the context of the overall domestic market environment decline. However, like the products of the legal system, the precipitous sales drop makes it difficult for Skoda to turn its head on the marketing side.
Skoda's brand image in China can be described as "success is popular, failure is popular". Different from the brand positioning on an equal footing with Volkswagen and SEAT in European and American markets, Skoda entered China late, and the influence of Volkswagen brand in China is deeply rooted in people's hearts, so it has been shrouded in the aura of Volkswagen. Besides, Skoda has indeed maintained a steady sales growth rate in China for a long time. Therefore, SAIC's Skoda not only did not reject the "greenhouse" of the public, but gradually became dependent. Although Volkswagen Group has never lowered the brand positioning of Skoda in the international market, the price positioning difference in China market has made people label Skoda as a "cheap Volkswagen" from the moment it entered China.
Since the brand premium rate is lost at the starting line, Skoda's differentiation will only continue to form the wrong price level with the public. Whether Skoda wants to admit it or not, judging from the pricing of new cars in recent years, Skoda can only always look at the face of mass products. Missed the best opportunity to establish a brand relationship similar to Buick and Chevrolet. Skoda's official downgrade seems to be for more markets, but in fact it has caused more serious damage to brands and customers. Imagine a reduction in the official guidance price. For consumers who have already bought Skoda, is the second-hand car preservation rate guaranteed? The accompanying brand value itself will also decline with the precipitation of time.
VisionC concept car
VisionC concept car, which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 20 14, was once known as the iconic product of Skoda's "popularization", but it has been six years since then, Vison? C still stays in the concept car stage, which may be the pain that Van der Stoel failed to complete until he left Skoda.
Now it seems that the rumor that "Skoda was downgraded by the public" last year was really a rumor, which led to the brand falling into such a situation. It is precisely the Skoda brand itself that has not been able to differentiate itself from mass products. Skoda, which lacks a clear label, completely lost its final "price" advantage after the Jetta brand officially entered the mass system. Behind Skoda's official passive decline is its inevitable helplessness in the one-way street of brand transformation.
Vahland (left) leads the strong growth of Skoda.
Today, Skoda's position among the public is increasingly precarious. "In Shanghai Volkswagen, the Volkswagen brand is very strong and it is the big brother; Skoda is a younger brother, and the focus of management team operation seems to be ignored. " When Vahland was still in Skoda, he repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with his marginalized position in the mass system. This problem became more and more obvious after FAW-Volkswagen launched SUV models and Jetta brand was formally established. Volkswagen Group's dissatisfaction with the word "Tu" has led to the resources of this department being more inclined to FAW-Volkswagen. As an accessory in the North-South competition, even Jetta, a "younger generation", has invested more quickly and vigorously in products and marketing than Skoda.
After the official demotion, "combination boxing" was added.
Compared with the plight of the China market, Skoda's performance in overseas markets is completely different. Since becoming a sub-brand of Volkswagen Group in 1990s, Skoda has been one of the profit growth points of Volkswagen Group, even higher than Volkswagen and Audi brands. Therefore, as Steven Wallenstein, president of Volkswagen China, said, although the business of Skoda and other brands in China is constantly eroded, which eventually makes it more and more difficult to make profits, Audi AG is still confident that Skoda will return to the growth track of Volkswagen and Audi.
On April 22, the day Skoda announced its official downgrade, Jia Mingyong, general manager of said Volkswagen Sales Co., Ltd. said that the goal of the said Volkswagen and Skoda dual brands in 2020 is to "ensure that the market share will increase, at least not decrease".
To this end, Skoda is planning to reorganize from the brand and product side. It is reported that according to the previous plan of Volkswagen Group, among the 65,438+00 products launched by Skoda's five factories around the world, Komik and Kodiak GT will be specially supplied by China. In the future, Skoda will release 30 new cars in two years and focus on SUV models in China market. In addition, in order to cater to the worldwide electrification trend, Volkswagen Group promises to launch 65,438+00 Skoda pure electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles by 2030.
In terms of networking layout, the new car will be equipped with the intelligent travel "Zebra Zhixing System" jointly created by SAIC and Ali Group. In the future, Skoda's various models will also realize the digital driving experience and the interconnected service ecology such as remote car control, in-car payment and scene map.
In terms of brand customer operation and integrated marketing, SAIC Skoda will promote the establishment of a younger, more active brand awareness, innovative brand digital marketing center, driven by the real voice of consumers, providing more accurate and demanding information, more intimate after-sales and service, and more unique product and brand experience. For example, we can catch up with the marketing pace of China automobile market through strategic cooperation with Suning Automobile, online marketing modes such as live broadcast, and online functions such as car inspection, test drive, insurance and finance.
Brand positioning is the top priority.
2020 is the 25th anniversary of the birth of Skoda brand/KLOC-0. As one of the oldest automobile manufacturers, Skoda has experienced the setbacks of war and equity change. Just as it relies on public management and management system to get a new life, it is also trying to make a difference. When China, the world's largest automobile market, hit a wall, Skoda fell into an unprecedented "midlife crisis".
As Stephen Wallenstein analyzed the China market, "In the past decade, trade conflicts and other factors have led to the vigorous development of established and powerful brands such as Volkswagen and some Japanese automakers in China, at the cost that some western brands find it increasingly difficult to gain a foothold in China. These embarrassing western brands were caught in the middle of the market, failed to break through the bottleneck of brand and sales, and were also impacted by rising stars such as Geely. Renault is a typical case. "
Today, Renault has officially "broken up" with Dongfeng, and Changan PSA has officially announced "dissolution". From the past, there is not much time left for Skoda to regain itself. It is not difficult to see Skoda's determination to reshape its brand image through formal demotion recently. However, under the "combination boxing", it can only be said that Skoda has been trying to make up for the gap with first-tier car companies in recent years. Regarding the "clear brand positioning" that consumers value most, Skoda seems to have failed to give us a clear answer.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.