Mini cars driving into high-quality era
- Source: CE.cn
- [09:00 December 23 2010]
- Comments
The selling season of mini car is at hand, Changan Auto, the pacemaker of mini car industry, launched a brand new high end mini car product. On November 16th, Jinniuxing, a new high grade mini car of Changan were launched in Chengdu. After two years' research and development, Jinniuxing has gone public with a brand new and exclusive logo. Although it is only the launch of a new type, the move has disclosed the new trend of mini car industry, what is to say, brand power and high quality products will become the new competition points of the industry.
Why do we say mini car will begin to compete by brands and high quality products? There are both immediate causes and remote causes.
In 2009, pushed by the country's incentive policies, mini car market became the main impetus for the overall recovery of auto market. Mini cars achieved a sales volume of 1.95 million in the year, up by 83 percent year on year. The "cake" of mini car market grew bigger rapidly, attracting vehicle companies to access the market successively. Except for the two mini car giants SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile and Changan Automobile, there are FAW Jiabao, Dongfeng Xiaokang, Guangzhou-Gonow, Chery Karry, Huachen Haixing, plus this year's newcomers BAW, Shaanxi Automobile, Haima and Lifan, vehicle industry's enthusiasm of developing mini car is on the upsurge. But mini car market is a little bit "cold" this year; it has entered into relatively stable growth period after blowout development. The alternation of cold and hot has undoubtedly intensified the ultra-competition of enterprises. In the face of such fierce competition, enterprises need a sharp weapon for decisive victory. This is the immediate cause.
As far as remote reason is concerned, consumers of mini car are centered largely in third- and fourth-tier cities and rural market. The State's value of the problems facing agriculture, farmer and country, the development of rural economy and the increase of farmers' income, and the supporting policies to small- and medium-sized enterprises impelled customers to change their consuming demand. This is the main reason for the upgrading of consumption structure in mini car market. Just like what Song Jia, Deputy President of Changan Automobile, has said that although the target customer of high end mini car Changan Jinniuxing remains former target customers of Changan mini car, the customers' demand is changing, they have a higher requirement on the security and comfort of vehicles.
High grade mini car emerged under such a market situation. This kind of vehicle is currently priced above 50,000 yuan, and the market share is presumably 5 percent. But enterprises expect a favorable potential of this market. Changan Jinniuxing, being priced between 45,900 yuan and 55,900 Yuan, is positioning at the said market.
At the release conference of Changan Jinniuxing, Song Jia explained that the reason Jinniuxing being called high grade mini car is in following three aspects: from technology level, Jinniuxing's safety collision is equal to medium grade sedan, its model and quality sense could be comparable to sedan, moreover, it employ energy saving and environment friendly technology like weak mixing intelligent oil saving system; from quality level, Jinniuxing is of high quality, its operating sense could be comparable to sedan and it also has exquisite vehicle assembly craftwork; from marketing and service level, as a high grade mini car, Jinniuxing has a super long guarantee services of three years or 100,000 kilometers as well as door-to-door services. By virtue of the launch of high quality products and new brand image, Changan Automobile is expanding its brand advantages in mini car market, and at the same time, the company will popularize series of mini cars to more consumers along with the strengthening of brand power.
It is not hard to see from Changan Automobile's move that only by the combination of brand and high quality products can a company make favorable achievements under the new competition structure of mini car.
