"If you can't save it, you will accept your fate".
At the beginning of 2024, Gaohe, who has fallen into a shutdown stage, is struggling to wait for the hope of "rebirth", and Yueda Kia, which has given Gaohe a vacant land, has also waited for a longer time.
In 2023, when the joint venture market collapsed as a whole, Yueda Kia's report card showed a hint of warmth, with cumulative sales in China exceeding 160,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 312%。However, under closer examination, its ** population exceeds 80,000 units, accounting for nearly 50%. In other words, Kia's domestic sales are only more than 80,000 units, up from 9 in 202240,000 units also fell by nearly 15%.The average monthly delivery is less than 10,000 units.
Loss of status in China.
Yueda Kia, which fell from the peak of 650,000 units, has been hovering at the trough for 7 years.
As one of the first Korean car companies to enter China, Yueda Kia relied onExcellent value for moneyIt has occupied a certain market share in China, and many of its models such as Kia K2, Cerato, Kia K3 and Zhipao are loved by users.
According to the data of the car, from 2009 to 2016, Yueda Kia's sales have been accelerated, all the way from 24130,000 units soared to 650,000 units, and ranked 9th in the top 10 of the "2016 Joint Venture Brand Sales List" released by the Passenger Car Association.
However, when it stood at the peak, the speed of its decline was even more astonishing: since 2017, Yueda Kia's sales have declined for 6 consecutive years, and by 2022, it has fallen out of the profit "life and death line" of 100,000 units, only 940,000 units. Accompanying the decline in sales is a performance loss, with a total net loss of more than 11 billion yuan in three years from 2020 to 2022. What's more dangerous is that now Yueda Kia's asset-liability ratio has increased to 1379%, insolvency continues to intensify.
Regarding the rout of Yueda Kia, there is no shortage of interpretations in the market, some people say that it is caused by the decline in product power, and some people say that it is a problem with the strategy of car companies......
The failure of "cost performance" is a more unified answer in the industry. In the years of Yueda Kia's "water reversal", China's auto market began to change: independent car companies that also focus on cost performance seized the opportunity of China's auto market under the consumption upgrade to continue to attack, and joint venture brands and even luxury brands are constantly declining, and Yueda Kia's home field is constantly coveted and divided.
In the face of the unfavorable market, Yueda Kia's own problems are also constantly emerging:
First of all, in the face of the loss of market share, price reduction ** has become the main means of Yueda Kia, product and technology updates are slow, although there will be new cars launched every year, but the essence of the technology is not too much innovation, just in the original model to update some "skin", which eventually leads to a sharp decline in competitiveness.
At the same time, Yueda Kia is also a car company with "double standards". There are reports that the Kia Carnival adopted 35L V6 naturally aspirated engine with a maximum horsepower of 294PS. In contrast, the domestic use is G4nn's 20T turbocharged engine with a maximum horsepower of only 233PS; In addition to the model launch, Kia's safety in the U.S. and Chinese markets has also been evaluated differently by the same model. Zhipao, which achieved excellent crash test results in the North American market, broke the A-pillar in China. In this way, many mass bases have been defeated.
In addition, frequent executive rotation and rumors of infighting also left dealers and internal employees at a loss, further aggravating the turmoil and unrest, which ultimately led to the company missing out on many good opportunities and exacerbating external lagging behind.
Now there are so many good-looking and cost-effective cars on the market, why choose it. "Under the constant ** war,Today's domestic market has long been no shortage of a car brand with sufficient cost performance.
In the face of a precarious market, Yueda Kia has not been without action in recent years.
But its performance in the Chinese market is quite a bit of a hard work, but in vain.
Yueda Kia's first bullet of self-rescue,It is an attempt to get rid of the low-end positioning and take the high-end brand route. "In the future, we will stop production of models priced below 100,000 yuan as soon as possible and begin to seek high-quality development. The Ace and the Carnival MPV are the first products for Kia to reshape its consumer base and test the waters. ”
However, freezing three feet is not a day's cold. In terms of brand positioning, it is difficult for consumers to change their deep-rooted impression of Yueda Kia. The answer given by the market is not ideal, the performance of models such as Kia Kaiku and Zhipao, which are priced higher, is hardly optimistic, and the sales of hundreds of units of Jiahua every month are still far behind Toyota Sena, Buick GL8 and other models in the same period.
To summarize simply, at present, Yueda Kia's performance in the mid-to-high-end market has no bright spots, and there is no advantage in market share. On the traditional fuel vehicle track, Yueda Kia's high-end road is full of unknowns.
The second bullet is to switch to the new energy trackYueda Kia is trying to reopen the door of the Chinese market with the strategic goal of all in new energy.
In terms of planning: Starting from 2023, Kia will launch at least one pure electric vehicle developed based on the e-GMP platform every year; By 2027, a total of six EV models will be launched, bringing a more diverse pure electric travel experience to Chinese consumers. By 2030, the company aims to sell 180,000 EVs a year, accounting for 40% of sales.
In terms of products: Quickly launched the new car, bringing three electric vehicles in one go - EV6 GT, EV5 Concept and EV9 Concept. According to the official statement, Kia China's new energy strategy will follow the three paths of "high, medium and low", in addition to the mid-to-high-end route represented by EV5 and EV6, it will also launch models for the sinking market in the future to achieve full coverage of the product line.
However, the long-overdue electrification ambition is difficult to stir up waves in the domestic new energy market.
According to the data, the cumulative sales of the EV6 in the past year are only 99 units, while the sales of the EV5 in the past two months are 104 and 347 units, respectively. It is reported that the EV6 guide price is 2828-41.980,000 yuan, the terminal ** is more expensive than BMW i3; The EV5 guide price is 1498-17.480,000 yuan, belongs to the most competitive market segment, entrenched in such as Yuan Plus, AION Y, Song Plus, and even Buick E5, which is also a joint venture product, and other strong opponents. Therefore, Yueda Kia, which is already unknown in the new energy market, is destined to have dismal sales when the product has no advantages in terms of products and products.
Fuel vehicles can't be sold, and new energy can't be beaten.
From reaching the top of China's auto market to being uncared for,What cards can the stalled Yueda Kia play in the domestic market? From last year's sales structure, its overseas export business has accounted for half of the country, and it can be said that the domestic market has now been reduced to the backing of Kia's expansion of overseas markets.