Macan has broken a bone!”
Porsche sales Yuan Fang in Beijing admits that he has some headlines, but there is a lot of content about Porsche's price reduction on social **, and a gimmick headline is the key to attracting attention, and it can only be operated unconventionally.
In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is "broken bones", after all, in the past, you couldn't get a Porsche car without a price increase. But now it's different, and salespeople have to shout social **.
On social networks such as Xiaohongshu, flipping through Porsche-related content, words such as "**lowest price" and "inventory clearance" will appear from time to time, as if they have strayed into the down jacket off-season clearance activity.
Recently, Shijie visited a Porsche store in Beijing, and according to the clerk, there is a 2024 Cayenne car in the store, which is based on **9480,000 yuan, after a series of options such as lights, wheels, and interiors, the guide price is more than 1.13 million. "At present, we can give 10 points of discount, which is about 110,000 yuan cheaper. In addition, the entry-level Macan can be discounted by 10%, and the all-electric Taycan can be discounted by 8%.
Another store in Beijing, 3The 0-liter Porsche Cayenne offers a discount of about 100,000 yuan, and the installment purchase can be discounted to about 120,000 yuan. The 2024 model year has similar discounts for gasoline vehicles and plug-in hybrids, because they are not exempt from purchase tax.
As for Yuan Fang's store, the Macan can currently offer a discount of 17 points, the Panamera a discount of 12 points, the Cayenne a discount of 11 points, and other models also have different degrees of discounts. However, these discounts only apply to naked cars, and options are not involved. The manufacturer's guide price is 578-85.The price of the MACAN is 80,000 yuan, and the price is close to 100,000 yuan.
Since entering the Chinese mainland market in 2001, Porsche has 149 sales outlets in China. After consulting a number of luxury car dealers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, City Boundary found that due to differences in inventory depth and sales, dealers in different cities and regions gave different discounts, but they were basically around 10 points, and all of them had existing cars.
In Shanghai, a luxury car dealer said that only the Porsche brand in his store has the most discounts. "The 2024 model can be 18 points cheaper. And this preferential policy is not only applicable to naked cars, but also to participate in discounts.
According to the sales staff in Shenzhen, Porsche's preferential policies have been showing signs since the end of 2022. "At that time, the discount was more than 10 points. ”
As the most profitable sub-brand of the Volkswagen Group, Porsche was a brand that was not worried about selling in the past. Porsche has publicly revealed that the largest market for Macan is currently in China, and the age of Chinese car owners is mainly between 20 and 55 years old, with an average age of 20 years younger than European and American customers, and 61% of them are still female car owners.
In 2021, more than 1 3 of Porsche's cars worldwide were sold in China;In 2022, the Porsche China market will be ranked at 117With a revenue of 6.4 billion euros, it has surpassed the North American market and has become the favorite of Chinese ladies.
In the first three quarters of 2023, Porsche announced delivery figures, which showed a 10% increase in the global market. However, in this excellent report card, the performance of the Chinese market is very glaring. After the first year-on-year decline in sales in the Chinese market last year, Porsche's sales decline this year has a clear trend of expansion.
In the first three quarters of this year, Porsche's total deliveries in China were 60,748 vehicles, down 12 percent year-on-year and the lowest level in the past five years. Specifically, the sales volume of Porsche Q1 to Q3 in China was 2140,000 units, 2250,000 units, 1690,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 21%, -2%, and -40%, respectively, and sales in China in the third quarter fell off a cliff**.
What is embarrassing is that this report card was obtained under the premise of preferential volume this year.
At present, Porsche's product composition in China includes: sports cars (Porsche), sedans (Panamera, Taycan), and SUVs (Macan, Cayenne).
Chinese consumers prefer SUVs to sports cars. As a result, the Macan and Cayenne have become the pillars of Porsche's sales in China.
According to the data compiled by Yiche, in 2022, Porsche's annual sales in China will be 94,361 units, of which 27,161 units will be sold in Macan and 33,270 units will be sold in Cayenne, accounting for 273% and 353%。
But in the first three quarters of this year, Macan's sales in China were about 120,000 units, down 259%；Cayenne sales are about 180,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 168%。
Talking about the large sales in China in the third quarter, Porsche China CEO Ke Shimai said in an interview on November 5 that there are three reasons: first, the main product Cayenne is switched between the old and new models, the second is the market competition is extremely fierce, and the third is the allocation of part of the Chinese market to other markets around the world.
According to the sales data released by Porsche in the first three quarters and the first half of the year, in the third quarter of this year, Porsche's sales in Germany, North America, Europe (except Germany) and other overseas emerging markets all achieved year-on-year growth, and the increase was reached. 01%。Among them, the sales volume of the North American market in the third quarter exceeded 220,000 units, surpassing China and becoming the world's largest market.
Zhou Hui is a veteran Porsche owner who currently lives in Canada and already owns two 911s, a Cayenne and a Macan, but even with such loyalty to the Porsche brand, he has never been able to get his hands on his dream car, the 911 GTS (luxury roadster).
In 2020, Zhou Hui wanted to replace the 2022 911 GTS with his 2020 911 GTS, because the old car had only traveled 5,000 kilometers, and the car dealer was willing to buy it back at the original price. But after two years, Zhou Hui didn't get the quota, and finally gave up. "It's still not VIP enough. Zhou Hui laughed at himself.
In his opinion, Porsche's sales system in the North American market is becoming more and more in line with Ferrari, "They divide customers into several tiers and determine quotas based on the cumulative amount of money spent by customers. "And non-GT such sought-after models, the purchase threshold is not low. "For some models that can be obtained at a higher price, the German headquarters notified the dealers in Canada that the options should reach 50,000 Canadian dollars (about 26.).70,000) to take orders. Zhou Hui said.
Chinese dealers also said that for so many years, Porsche has maintained high profits in China through "supply imbalance" and price increases. This year, Porsche is also deliberately controlling the quota of models given to Chinese dealers. "Normally, our store has a quota of 1,300 units, but this year there are only about 600 units. Because the Chinese market is not good, manufacturers do not focus on the Chinese market. ”
It stands to reason that the quota is reduced, and the Chinese market should be scarce and expensive, and it should be speculated. Why did Porsche sell more than 8,000 fewer cars in China than a year-on-year while discounting in the first three quarters?
In the eyes of industry insiders, the sales of Porsche's two main models in the Chinese market, Cayenne and Macan, have declined, and the decline in sales of Macan, which has the lowest total price, is particularly serious.
Let's take a look at the Macan first, although Porsche's excellent handling and powerful engine have been recognized by the majority of users, but the Macan was launched in 2013, and after entering the Chinese market in 2014, it has not been facelifted for 5 years, and now it is almost time to change the generation. Porsche plans to start deliveries of the all-electric Macan in 2024, but the specific time node has not been given. According to the shopping psychology of "buy new and not old", it is difficult for most consumers to be willing to make a move before the replacement.
As for the Cayenne, Ke Shimai once explained that the launch time of the Cayenne** model in various markets around the world is different, and its delivery in the Chinese market began at the end of September, and the switch between the old and new models affected the delivery volume in the third quarter.
Sina Auto data shows that from July to September this year, Cayenne's monthly terminal sales were 912, 674 and 1,896 respectively. Compared to the previous month, it was indeed a trough in Cayenne sales. Since the beginning of the month, as the Cayenne delivery speed has kept up, its terminal sales have shown a month-on-month increase every month.
Porsche's headquarters in Germany could not bear to "cut meat", and earlier took action to stop the price reduction behavior of Chinese dealers, sending a letter to Chinese partners to waive the new car sales target for the second half of 2023 and provide warehousing support for the latter. In 2024, Porsche will release sales pressure through production optimization and inventory support, while also paying attention to the quality of sales.
A dealer in Beijing told the city that the current discount is until December 31, 2023, and it is difficult to say whether there will be a new policy next year. Another dealer suggested buying before the end of December, "next year, the manufacturer will give the dealer less quota, and if there are fewer cars, the discount will definitely not be so great." ”
The reason for "sacrificing" sales to maintain market balance, Zhong Shi, an expert from the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that this is because Porsche's business philosophy has always been to prioritize profits, rather than market share or sales.
During the Shanghai Auto Show in April this year, Porsche Global Executive Board member in charge of sales and marketing business Pedder von Pedder expressed similar views when talking about the first war in China's auto market. He believes that the first war will only hurt customers' confidence in the product and the brand, and it is not a long-term solution, and Porsche has never wanted to participate in the first war, let alone be affected by any quantitative goals.
Although Porsche's business philosophy is profit-oriented, China still plays a pivotal role as a market that accounts for 30% of its sales, and Porsche is still very cautious about the Chinese market.
On May 3, local time in Germany, Porsche's chief financial officer Meschke said at the first quarter financial report that it plans to increase the number of new models in the United States and European markets by 4%-8% in the second half of the year. However, for the Chinese market, the spokesman said that Porsche will not raise prices, but will continue to pay close attention to profits, demand and the competitive environment to maintain its top positioning.
In September, a Morgan Stanley report pointed out that Porsche had lowered its sales target for the Chinese market in 2023, from more than 90,000 units to 820,000 units, down to less than 80,000 units in 2024.
Since most of Porsche's city was lost by Macan, who took this part of the market?One is the old rival of fuel vehicles such as BMW X5, and the other is new energy luxury cars.
According to the data of the Passenger Association, from January to September this year, the sales of traditional luxury cars were 1.66 million, a year-on-year increase of 13%.The sales volume of new energy luxury vehicles was 580,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 89%. In other words, although the luxury car market has maintained growth, traditional luxury cars are no longer the main driver of its growth, and new energy luxury cars are.
According to the definition of luxury cars by the Passenger Car Association, cars with a starting price of more than 300,000 yuan are all cars. From the perspective of market segments, from January to September this year, the sales champion of high-end SUV models was Tesla Model Y, and the second and third places were Audi Q5L and Mercedes-Benz GLC. In addition, there are also ideal L7, L8, L9, as well as BMW X3 and X5 in the top ten.
In the past, with the blessing of the Porsche brand, Macan became the favor of many middle-class and young Bai Fumei. But with more and more options for new energy vehicles, Macan's limelight has been stolen.
Because the total price of the Macan is 68Starting at 660,000 yuan, even if it is discounted, it is more than 600,000 yuan. For a high-end compact SUV of a Chinese brand, it is generally difficult for the top configuration to reach 600,000 yuan.
Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Automobile Association, pointed out that the high-end route of independent brands has made breakthrough achievements, and in the market of more than 300,000 yuan, many independent brands have outstanding product strength, which has formed a squeeze effect on traditional luxury car brands.
The city has noticed that now it is not only the middle class that has begun to pay attention to cost performance, but also the wealthy.
In October this year, it was rumored on the Internet that Wang Sicong ordered an ideal L9 worth 400,000 yuan. Recently, since the blogger Evie Vic posted a visit to the rich man's house on social media. The protagonist is Fang Zheng, chairman of Meigao Education Group, as the founder of a well-known international school in Shanghai, there is no shortage of luxury cars with more than one million dollars.
But he also has an AVATR 11 with less than 400,000 yuan at home and an ideal L9 with more than 400,000 yuan. "Since our domestic cars and electric cars came out, I have made a decision to buy domestic cars as much as possible in the future. He said in **.
Interestingly, he also introduced his dream car when he was a child, a Porsche 911 GT3 worth 2 million. But he said he drove very little of the car himself.
Porsche's other most popular model, the Cayenne, is still able to call the wind and rain in the million-level SUV market, and there has not yet been a strong opponent, but the surprise and shock it has brought to Chinese consumers is no longer what it used to be.
In the era of fuel vehicles, gearboxes, engines, and chassis are the key to widening the gap between brands, and in today's era of electrification, the three electric (battery, motor, and electronic control) have become the core of products, and the original technical moat of luxury brands also needs to be re-established.
However, judging from the actual performance, Porsche still has a lot of room for improvement in the new energy track.
According to reports, in late December, Porsche recalled 41,345 new energy vehicles in the North American market due to the possibility that the charging cable may be overheated and there is a ** risk. These include the all-electric Taycan, the plug-in hybrid Cayenne e-hybrid and the Panamera e-hybrid for the 2019-2024 model year produced between August 16, 2018 and December 31, 2023.
According to statistics from BitAuto, Porsche's first pure electric model, the Taycan, sold more than 1,000 units in China only in the first quarter.
In the second and third quarters, it was below 1,000 vehicles. As for the Cayenne e-hybrid and Panamera e-hybrid, the former sold 4,889 units in the first half of the year, while only 566 units in the third quarter;The latter's cumulative sales in the first three quarters were also less than 1,000 units.
It can be seen that Chinese consumers' trust in Porsche is more in fuel vehicles, and there are not too many new energy vehicles for it. As we enter 2024, how can Porsche support the high premium of new energy vehicles, and how can Chinese consumers be willing to pay?It's not just a challenge, it's a big gamble.
Yuan Fang and Zhou Hui are pseudonyms in the article).
Author |Liu Dongxue.
Edit |Tian Yanlin.
Operations |Liu Shan.