This half year is not easy for luxury brands.

Compared with the explosive growth after the epidemic in 2020, the luxury car market after the epidemic in 2022 is followed by a more complicated market environment: the impact of the epidemic on the terminal consumer market, the test of supply chain guarantee, and the market changes brought about by the rapid penetration of new energy vehicles.

Just like a microcosm of this era of automobile revolution, "uncertainty" became the key word in the first half of the year.

However, as Zhang Yan, senior executive vice president of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales & Service Co., Ltd. said in the mid-year media communication: "At four o'clock in the year, it is always half a storm and half a sunny day, and half pays half a harvest."

The ups and downs of the outside world cannot be changed. What we can do is to maintain sufficient resilience and determination in the process of change and change.

Perhaps the sales figures will fluctuate for a period of time because of the market environment, but behind the sales volume, we should also see the determination of Mercedes-Benz to transform into electrification, actively embrace the digital trend, see the market trend clearly, and make changes in line with brand development.

After the rapid growth in the past decade, the luxury car market is also entering a new stage. In the new market and competitive environment, Mercedes-Benz will continue to pursue value instead of simply pursuing sales volume, create value for customers and Mercedes-Benz, and maintain valuable growth on the basis of good profits.

Stay resilient in the face of challenges.

Compared with the previous two years, the recovery and growth of luxury car market under the same epidemic situation, the first half of 2022 is undoubtedly full of great challenges.

On the one hand, the epidemic has a long-term impact on the core market of luxury car consumption, a challenge to consumer confidence, and the rapid development of new energy vehicles has eroded the traditional market.

In the first half of this year, Mercedes-Benz delivered more than 355,800 new cars in the China market. In June, the epidemic situation was stable, market stimulus policies were introduced, and sales increased by 6% year-on-year.

Specific to the models, in June, the main products such as C-class cars, E-class cars and GLC SUV all achieved double-digit growth, further consolidating the supporting role of core luxury products. High-end luxury cars continued to lead, with S-class cars increasing by 65,438+03% and Mercedes-Benz-Maibakh increasing by 62% year-on-year, setting a new high in the same period. At present, four domestic EQ series have been realized, and the sales volume is gradually rising. Sub-models including AMG's first pure electric vehicle, the new EQS 53, are also being gradually introduced.

Not long ago, the medium-and long-term strategy released by Mercedes-Benz mentioned that in the future, it will gradually adjust and improve the product structure, make the high-end luxury bigger and stronger, and increase and upgrade the core luxury.

Judging from the sales performance in the first half of 2022, Mercedes-Benz is moving towards this goal in the China market. Especially in the context of repeated epidemics in 2022, the first-tier cities in the core consumer market of luxury brands have been continuously impacted, and the growth of economic pressure has also brought pressure to the high-end car market.

In this context, it can also maintain the market performance of high-profit products, which shows the value of Mercedes-Benz brand and the toughness of the system. As Zhang Yan said: "In this context, the overall situation of Mercedes-Benz in the first half of the year still maintained the resilience and flexibility of business operations."

First of all, for dealers and operating systems, Mercedes-Benz has launched corresponding policy support and helped dealers to tide over the difficulties, such as helping them solve the problem of funds and inventory during the suspension of dealers due to epidemic prevention and control, or using home office hours to strengthen online training and improve dealers' business capabilities.

At the same time, in view of the fluctuation of different regional markets, Mercedes-Benz promotes the accurate distribution of vehicle types in the operating system, ensures that products can be transported to the right market in time, meets the needs of customers in different regions as much as possible, and helps dealers maintain normal operations. In terms of logistics, we also try our best to solve the problems of parts entering the factory, vehicle transportation and receiving and storage of products after they arrive at dealers.

"In this process, Mercedes-Benz's operating system has truly demonstrated scientific management capabilities and strong flexibility." Zhang Wei said.

Digitalization empowers "heart luxury"

Pursue value instead of simply pursuing sales.

In the era of change, how to better convey the connotation and value of Mercedes-Benz brand beyond the sales figures? In the new energy automobile consumption market that directly connects with users and pursues service experience, Mercedes-Benz consolidates the customer base of luxury brands by creating a "heart luxury" service experience that matches the "new luxury" product lineup.

Zhangyan said: "Only good products are not enough for customers to truly love a brand, but also brand services that meet customers' needs. I believe that no matter what era, customers will have such expectations for the brand. "

The "Pioneer Luxury" proposed by Mercedes -EQ is not only the technology, design, safety and comfort of the product itself, but also the service experience. The development of electrification and digitalization not only promotes the upgrading of product technology, but also makes the service concept of "luxury at heart" better practiced.

Mercedes-Benz started digital empowerment many years ago, and established the connection between products, channels and customers through digitalization. "We are committed to building a new digital infrastructure, with the goal of opening up all kinds of online and offline connections and connecting manufacturers, dealers, customers and vehicles." Zhang Wei said.

At the dealer level, the "Dealer 2020 Network Upgrade Plan" can enable digital devices to better assist dealers in introducing models and providing services. Through the retail "OTR+" dealer operation system, dealers can better serve customers by digital means.

In sales, digitalization has changed the communication process between customers and sales consultants, from focusing on products and computers to focusing on customers. Sales experience experts can communicate directly with customers through cars with mobile devices, which is more efficient and flexible.

In the after-sales aspect, through the digital infrastructure, dealers can prepare for the reserved customers in advance, and they can also know the vehicle status of customers who have not reserved at any time and provide corresponding services, thus improving the efficiency and level of dealer's service to customers.

In addition, Mercedes-Benz is also constantly promoting the construction of online contacts, including official website, WeChat platform, mobile phone applications, car-machine interconnection and so on. At present, more than 3 million customers have activated the intelligent interconnection service of Mercedes-Benz cars, and the download volume of Mercedes-Me mobile phone applications exceeds 3.3 million, with an average monthly activity of 1 10,000, with a score of 4.9 in the Apple App Store. Through Mercedes-Me mobile phone application, car owners can also know the vehicle status remotely and establish contact with service outlets.

"After establishing the connection between manufacturers, dealers, customers and vehicles, we can perceive customer needs more timely through digital means, and sometimes even predict customer needs in advance, thus providing services to customers more accurately." Zhang Wei said.

Zhangyan believes that digitalization is not only the hardware and software itself, but also the change of thinking mode. Through the data and digital platform team established in the background, Mercedes-Benz can make more efficient use of digital contacts and existing data, so as to fully understand customer needs, design corresponding products and services, and provide them to customers accurately.

It is worth mentioning that, in view of the "three laws and one regulation" in the digital field, Mercedes-Benz also launched the Mercedes-Benz "Digital Contact Management Specification" in time to help dealers learn to establish effective, safe and legal digital services and connections in the process of business development and guide dealers to better protect customer privacy.

Open the electric vehicle market

What is the relationship between the growth of new energy vehicles and the market share of luxury cars?

On the one hand, the growth of electric vehicles represented by Tesla and domestic new power brands has eroded the market share of traditional luxury brands in some areas, but on the other hand, the overall scale and competition pattern of the high-end electric vehicle market is still in its infancy.

On the one hand, it is an entry-level market below 200,000 yuan, and on the other hand, it is a new energy vehicle where luxury brands are gradually increasing.

On July 25th, the new EQE of Mercedes-Benz officially started pre-sale. This is the first domestic Mercedes -EQ model based on EVA platform. It was put into production in Beijing Mercedes-Benz Shunyi Factory. The launch of the new EQE has also created a new luxury pure electric market segment.

In zhangyan's view, the main growth of new energy vehicles still comes from entry-level models, and will gradually extend to high-end models in the future. With the upgrading of customer consumption and experience, there will be more opportunities in the luxury new energy vehicle market.

"We will do our products and services step by step. While paying attention to products, customer experience is also the core of our work. " Zhang Wei said.

The new energy vehicle market is still in the development stage. How to better adapt to the new needs of customers and understand the new changes in the market is what every manufacturer is exploring.

By the end of this year, it is estimated that nearly 600 dealer outlets in China will have the sales and customer service capabilities of Mercedes -EQ, in addition to EQ City Experience Store, AMG Performance Center and Maibakh? Diversified offline contacts such as Lijingcheng Brand Center meet users' personalized experience needs for brand matrix and rich products.

The construction of these outlets is also adapting to the popular Shangchao experience store model, and many of them are located in the core areas of cities or automobile dealer clusters, and their design and function settings are also advancing with the times.

Zhangyan said that Mercedes-Benz is actively exploring the establishment of Shang Chao exhibition halls in suitable cities to meet the needs of customer experience and brand promotion, and has built three EQ experience stores in Shanghai and Beijing.

In fact, there are only two core measures to explore the sales network and model: first, contact customers at the first time, whether online or offline; Second, we can provide customers with the services they need.

On this basis, we also need to consider the investment efficiency of partners, so the mode, location and scale of offline contact are determined by considering various factors, and the core is to bring better experience to customers.

Write it at the end

Know yourself and know yourself, and you will win every battle.

In the era when the automobile industry is changing with each passing day, we should see the changes, understand the market and understand our own advantages. After all, the auto market is not a vegetable market. Who has the loudest voice?

Winning the market depends on competitive products, excellent service experience and value provided to users. The product lineup of "new luxury" and the service concept of "heart luxury" are the core of implementing these competitiveness.

The competition in the new energy luxury car market is far from over.