Wu Yingqiu: The auto market adjustment does not mean that companies do not have the opportunity

This week, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released data on the production and sales of the automotive industry in April. One key piece of information caught everyone's attention: the chain of production and sales fell more than 15% month-on-month, which was the first time in the same period of the year. Some authoritative market institutions and experts have come out to speak: this year's auto market is grim.

Indeed, this year's auto market has many disadvantages, and it is also mingled with many unpredictable factors. The auto market like me expects that "optimists" will also have to lower their expectations at the end of the first quarter. But I don't think that this year's auto market has no chance for auto companies. In other words, if the auto companies respond well to the market and have effective measures, the market situation may not be so severe. In fact, from the previous four months of automobile production and sales data can be seen this point, Shanghai GM increased 33.3% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, Shanghai Volkswagen's April sales rose 32.7% year-on-year.

Undoubtedly, one of the most important reasons for the worst record of production and sales in April for the 27 months was the decline in sales of Japanese cars. The Japanese earthquake affected Japanese car supply in the market. The latest data shows that the proportion of sales of Japanese products in total sales of narrow passenger vehicles has dropped from 21.88% in March to 15.46% in April, and the wholesale market share has dropped from 21.48% to 17.25%. In April, retail sales of Toyota Motor (including joint venture products in China) decreased by 23% year-on-year in China. It is for this reason. Who will make up for the shortage of Japanese cars? It should be a matter of importance to all other companies. Unfortunately, in the past month or so, almost all companies have not seen this rare opportunity to increase sales and increase their share. It can be expected that the shortage of Japanese car supply will become more apparent in the coming months. If other brands can take advantage of this contradiction between supply and demand, adopting targeted marketing measures will certainly have an effect. Therefore, to give companies a reminder, this opportunity is still catching up.

The adjustment of the market tests the marketing capabilities and level of the company. In the past few years, sales work has been doing well. Of course, companies have done a lot of work, but we must also see that the inertia of the market has played a role to some extent. It is worth pointing out that the past high growth masked the lack of marketing ability and training of companies. What is even more frightening is that at the beginning of the year, it has been predicted that the auto market will be adjusted this year. Many companies still follow the past practice in marketing. The most prominent of these is still playing around the primary and secondary markets and big cities, that is, unwilling to sink to the second, third, and third-tier markets to open up. Actually, the authoritative agencies have continuously issued forecasts since 2007. The average growth rate of first class cities is 10.6%, that of second class cities is 18%, that of third graders is 26%, and that of fourth graders is 25%. However, I noticed that most companies did not invest human and material resources in responding to changes in this market trend. This year, the auto market has fallen, many analysts will list such factors as Beijing limit licensing, urban transportation, and environmental protection pressure. The factors that affect automobile sales are precisely those in the second and third grades, especially in the third and fourth grade cities. If companies work hard in those cities earlier, perhaps the April sales figures will not be so ugly.

I am still that view, and it is too early to give a judgment on the increase in the auto market this year. The Chinese market is very large and there are many needs. It depends on how you do it. Doing a good job and doing a solid job will give the sun a bright future.