New car "global synchronization" is tricky

In addition to "price reduction", "global simultaneous listing" is currently the word with the highest appearance rate in the domestic auto market.

In today's "blowout" and "blowout" of China's auto industry, looking at the domestic auto market, there are almost no manufacturers who do not discuss "global synchronization", and there is no model that is not "global synchronization". Whenever a new car rolls off the production line, the manufacturer always emphasizes that it is a model that is synchronized with foreign countries. However, in addition to the same appearance, is the configuration, price and core technology completely synchronized?

In April last year, the Changan Suzuki Swift was listed, and it was all the rage under the banner of "global synchronization". By June, Audi's new A6L was launched, and the quality of the global synchronization doubled its value. In July of the same year, the Chevrolet Aveo was launched, and "global synchronization" became its main promotional language. In the second half of the year, the Hyundai Sonata NF and the new BMW 3 Series will also be listed globally...

Since this year, from the Sagitar, Peugeot 206, Mazda 3, and Accent, in less than 4 months, There are already more than 20 new cars on the market. Compared with the previous generation of products that were brought to China with high prices, manufacturers are now beginning to fully advertise their new cars as "global synchronization". For a time, the voice of "global synchronization" in the domestic automobile industry was endless.

"This is just the beginning." said Zhong Shi, senior auto analyst and general manager of Shanghai Zhice Auto Consulting Co., Ltd. "In the future, 'global simultaneous' listing will become the main competitive strategy of most auto manufacturers."

Overnight, the status of Chinese consumers has undergone earth-shaking changes, from the original consumption of foreign models to enjoy the original "international synchronization" treatment, why not make people proud and excited?

However, do Chinese consumers really drive the same "global cars" as foreign consumers?

Differences between domestic and foreign models

Many manufacturers promote "global synchronization" when new cars are launched, and some are even "in line with international standards" in terms of price. However, those who know it carefully will find that most of these models under the international banner are tricky - either "price injection" or "configuration shrinkage". "Global new car synchronization" launch, the model name is the same, but the essence is completely different. (See Table 1 for details)

Like the Changan Suzuki Swift, which was launched on May 27 last year, this car has been insisting that it will be launched globally at the same time since its promotion. However, the 1.3-liter 91-horsepower DOHCVVT engine, which is the essence of the Swift, has not been introduced. Instead, it adopts the 1.3-liter 85-horsepower SOHC engine used by the domestic antelope. The latter is obviously much behind the former in terms of performance.

Reiz, known as the "price benchmark" in its class as soon as it was launched, also hides a lot of secrets. The prototype of Reiz is called MarkX in Japan. From the front, Reiz and MarkX are almost the same except for the logo. However, there is an article on the power system. The MarkX uses an engine with gasoline direct injection technology, while the domestic Reiz does not have this technology.

Such examples are numerous in the current Chinese auto market. A car after-sales manager who has been engaged in maintenance for many years told reporters that some cars look like "new bottles", but the engines and gearboxes are "old wine"; although some cars have added audio, sofa leather and other facilities, they have reduced the number of involved vehicles. High-tech configuration of active safety; some cars are still sold abroad, but they have been on the market for several years, and are preparing or have a new generation of products...

The new car only has the shape of the global synchronization, but it does not have the quality of the global synchronization , which seems to be the secret of the "global synchronization" of the domestic auto market. While shouting the slogan "Global Synchronization", while silently reducing and increasing prices, manufacturers are very busy.

"Global synchronization" became the last trump card for car dealers

In 2001, Shanghai Volkswagen first proposed the concept of global synchronization when it launched POLO, and global synchronization became POLO's biggest selling point. The reason why POLO can sell so well is that it is directly related to this. Before the Guangben Accord was listed globally, 6,000 people were waiting in advance in Guangzhou. After the listing, in order to buy a new car earlier, many consumers are even willing to increase the price by tens of thousands of yuan to pick up the goods. Since then, global synchronized models such as Mondeo 2.5V6 flagship and Beijing Hyundai Sonata have achieved great success. In particular, Beijing Hyundai Sonata achieved sales of 52,000 units in the first year, and its second "global synchronization" best-selling model, the Elantra, achieved sales of 150,000 units.

In the increasingly competitive Chinese auto market, "Global Synchronization" has suddenly become a life-saving straw for automakers - a market "good medicine" that cures all ailments and sees immediate results. Therefore, overnight, car manufacturers seem to have agreed in advance that no matter what new model is, they will be crowned with a "global synchronization" garland. What is the purpose of this? From what purpose?

In Mr. Zhong's view, the fact that manufacturers are playing the "global synchronization" brand is due to the consumption environment of the Chinese auto market. "At present, the consumption power and consumption concept of most prospective car owners in China are still in the initial stage, and the price is still the primary criterion for consumers to measure a car. This concept forces manufacturers to use their brains in reducing costs, and the phenomenon of configuration shrinkage is just It's not surprising."

"The global synchronization strategy of auto manufacturers also shows that the Chinese auto market is beginning to mature from another aspect." Zhong Shi said that in the past, many imported products were old foreign models and even foreign models. In addition to information asymmetry, car manufacturers usually attribute the reasons to the fact that these models were in line with China's economic level at that time, the low quality of user needs, and the immaturity of the market.

However, since 2002, the demand for sedans by domestic users in China has surged, the quality requirements of users are closely following foreign models of the same class, and global information has become increasingly transparent. Then rashly introduce old models to fool Chinese consumers.