A few days ago, some media reported that they learned from Acura’s dealers that the Acura brand will withdraw from the Chinese market, and they are currently waiting for the final notice from the manufacturer.
According to online sources, the only 4S store in Beijing, the GAC Acura Beijing Jingang Store, has officially ceased sales, and will become McLaren’s 4S store in the future.
It is understood that Acura has stopped its imported car business in the Chinese market since 2021. Some dealers said that Acura models have been discontinued in China. Currently, the 4S stores sell stock cars produced last year, and they are just waiting to withdraw from the Chinese market. Manufacturer’s final notice. Subsequent repairs and maintenance of Acura vehicles will be docked by GAC Honda 4S shop.
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of GAC Honda said: “There is no such statement that Acura will withdraw from the Chinese market.”
Weak brand marketing
According to public information, the Acura brand was founded in the United States in 1986. It is a high-end car brand under Honda Motor and the first Japanese luxury brand. However, in terms of brand recognition, domestic consumers have less awareness of the Acura brand, which is mainly due to its low presence in the Chinese luxury brand camp.
In 2006, Acura was introduced into China as an imported car. At that time, the Acura brand in the Chinese market competed with Lexus, Infiniti and other brands. Unfortunately, the market recognition was far less than that of the BBA luxury brand, and the final sales volume was not acceptable. optimism. Today, Acura Beijing also has 4 dealer showrooms, all of which are located in GAC Honda 4S stores.
In addition, in terms of brand recognition, among the domestic luxury car brands, Acura’s brand market recognition is far less widely recognized than other second-tier luxury brands. Infiniti and Lexus are also Japanese luxury brands. The awareness far exceeds that of Acura. The other second-tier brands such as Lincoln and Cadillac have also undergone new changes in their brand performance. The Japanese luxury brand Acura is gradually being marginalized.
From the perspective of market communication performance, most of the content of GAC Acura’s official public account content push is the product map of conventional models, and less brand activities have become an influencing factor affecting consumers’ cognition.
The Acura brand has also reported that dealers are under great operating pressure and are gradually reducing operating costs. Today, the news that the Acura brand is about to withdraw from the Chinese market has once again been reported. In the future, it may affect the sales performance of the Acura brand in China, and the situation of GAC Acura dealers will also become more and more difficult.
Significant decline in sales
The decline in the Acura brand and sales volume is not a short-term factor. Although it is a second-tier luxury brand, Acura has also achieved good market sales results. In 2014, it launched the “Plan 2020” for the Chinese market. In 2015, the sales volume of Acura brand in China was also close to 5,000 vehicles. In 2016, in order to further expand market competition, Acura brand began to introduce three sedans, ILX, TLX, RLX, as well as RDX, MDX and ZDX has three SUV models, and started the domestic product strategy with GAC Group. The launch of the first domestic model CDX has won the market growth for it. Sales data show that in 2016 Acura’s sales in the Chinese market reached 9,062 units, up 120% year-on-year.
According to Acura’s sales data released by Honda China, Acura’s sales in China reached 16,300 units in 2017, with a significant year-on-year growth rate. Since 2018, the Acura brand’s sales in the Chinese market have declined to only 9,424 units. Acura’s sales in China once again reached 14,786 units.
In 2020, GAC Acura sold 11,193 units, down 31.73% year-on-year. Entering 2021, Acura brand sales in China continued to decline. According to the latest sales data, the cumulative sales volume of the GAC Acura brand in 2021 is only 6,554 units, a year-on-year decrease of 45.05%. Among them, the sales volume of the main model CDX is 3,264 units, and the sales volume of the other RDX is 3,290 units.
Different from the Chinese market, the Acura brand’s new car sales data in the United States in 2021 shows that its total sales will reach 157,408 units, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%, ranking among the top 5 in the US luxury car market. Obviously, mainly Acura’s marketing strategy is different.
Acura’s sales in the Chinese market are sluggish, while overseas market performance is considerable. Zhang Xiang, an automotive industry analyst, said that because Acura’s main market is still for the North American market and the Japanese market, its sluggish performance in the Chinese market is due to product design and Chinese consumers’ car needs do not match. In addition, the publicity investment of Acura in the Chinese market is not enough. Consumers only know that it is a luxury brand of Honda, but Chinese consumers do not know what the products are. For example, like the BBA brand, everyone knows that it is a German car, and the quality is relatively good. Cadillac is an American car. As a presidential car, the brand is relatively strong, but Acura does not have these brand aura, awareness is not high, Chinese consumers do not quite understand, with China’s new car companies into the domestic market, but also intensified Acura out of the domestic market.
May withdraw from the Chinese market
The factors affecting the sluggish sales in the Chinese market, Acura also manifested in product and marketing mistakes, and did not make factual changes in the Chinese market. To this day, Acura’s imported models MDX and NSX have long been discontinued in China, and GAC AcuraTLX-L also announced the discontinuation of production in 2019. Today, Acura only has two domestic models, the CDX and RDX, on sale in China.
To this end, the person in charge of GAC Honda said: “The official side has not issued any statement, but at present, there is some information that can be revealed, combined with the development trend of the Chinese market and the changing trend of consumer demand, GAC Honda is exploring the integration of brand resources. In terms of after-sales service, GAC Honda will continue to provide after-sales service for existing customers. Under the premise of good cooperation, GAC Honda will communicate with special stores, suppliers and other related parties one by one to properly handle related matters and protect the interests of special stores and suppliers.”
Regarding whether the Acura brand can finally withdraw from the Chinese market, Zhang Xiang, an auto industry analyst, said that the Chinese market has become the world’s largest auto market. Large luxury car brands have entered the Chinese market one after another. Therefore, in the process of market competition, some brands will definitely win and some brands will withdraw from the market. As market competition intensifies, it is inevitable that some brands will be eliminated in the Chinese market.
A source close to the GAC Honda dealer revealed to the media that in the future, the dealership authorization of Honda’s new pure electric brand e:N will give priority to the original Acura dealers, and Acura users can choose the Acura dealership where they purchased the car before. You can go to the GAC Honda dealership for after-sales.
Facing the sales of Acura cars, the official customer service of Acura said that the current Acura brand 4S stores are in normal operation, and the customer service center has not received relevant information from the manufacturers. The order can also be satisfied normally, you can buy it with confidence, and the manufacturer will also do a good job in the customer’s related after-sales work. For after-sales maintenance services, the manufacturer will provide guarantees. Regarding the abnormal situation of the Acura dealership in the Beijing area, the customer service said that it will further feedback to the manufacturer for verification.
Subsequently, the relevant 4S dealerships of Acura gave feedback, but it was not the feedback received from GAC Acura Beijing Jingang Store, but the other party said, “At present, the Acura brand is still operating normally. Selling cars and normal sales, orders can basically be satisfied, and you don’t need to worry about new cars and subsequent after-sales services.” As for whether to withdraw from the domestic market, the salesperson said, “These are after all news posted on the Internet, not official responses. At present, Honda and Acura are selling, ordering and maintaining cars as normal.”
According to Honda’s official description of the integration of brand resources, the feedback given by the dealership is that “Acura and Honda have also implemented this strategic adjustment measure of the same storefront, that is, Acura and Honda will sell in the same store in the future.”
To this end, the GAC Acura Beijing Jingang offline dealership said, “Currently the Jingang store is in a normal business state. The news about the GAC Acura Jingang store is some false information. It takes about 20 days to order a new car. If you buy a car, subsequent car use and maintenance will not be delayed.”
For Honda, Acura’s market performance is facing a situation of acclimatization. Zhang Xiang, an analyst in the automotive industry, said: For Honda, the price range of Acura’s mainstream products is between 300,000 and 500,000 yuan, and the new power brand in this range is ideal. Auto, Xiaopeng Motors, Tesla, etc. are all in the process of product layout, including BYD is also in the market of about 300,000 yuan. The entry of these new brands has not only squeezed the market space of BBA, but also squeezed the market. Acura’s living space cannot be profitable in the Chinese market. If it continues to operate, the losses will become more and more serious, so Acura withdrew from the Chinese market.
The Acura brand is facing acclimatization, and it is also reflected in the fact that Honda’s layout transformation in the field of new energy vehicles is not ideal. Honda is still taking the hybrid technology route, and it is unwilling to invest in the field of new energy. At present, many luxury brands such as BMW, Audi, Porsche, Cadillac, etc. are all actively deploying in the new energy field and building new energy product platforms, while Infiniti, Acura, etc. have not made new progress, which will lead to brands withdrawing from the Chinese market in the long run.
Faced with the rise of independent brands and the rise of new power brand car companies, the market competitiveness of joint venture brands has gradually weakened. Nowadays, the products in China’s auto market are becoming more and more diversified, and the competition in the luxury car market is also more intense, especially in the auto market of second-tier luxury brands. Cadillac, Infiniti, Lincoln, Volvo and other auto brands are now adjusting their market strategies in China, and Acura brand will surely make adjustments. In the face of the development of China’s new energy vehicle market, the Acura brand will face uncertain market challenges, leaving less and less room for it to think. Source