The lofty words and ambitions are still in my ears, but Su Nanyong chose to leave quietly again in August 2065438+2008, a year and a half later. He was replaced by Chen Bingzhen, the new vice president of Kia Motors. Chen Bingzhen said: "In 2065438+2009, Dongfeng Da Yue Kia will be ready to start again."
What the hell happened to Kia? Is there any room for redemption?
Zheng Dayu, then general manager of Dongfeng Da Yue Kia Motors Co., Ltd., once said: "In the China market, quality and price are the most critical factors. I dare say that none of the existing models in China is more cost-effective than Maxima. "
That's true. At the same time, the automatic transmission models of Sail, Pariaud, POLO and Fit cost 654.38+ million, but Maxima pulled the price to more than 90,000.
With the identity of joint venture brand and high cost performance, Maxima became an instant hit, but it also labeled Kia as a low price, so that Dongfeng Da Yue Kia had to stop production of Maxima in the later period to save the brand image, but it was too late.
A careful study of KIA's sales will find an interesting phenomenon: the sales of independent brands will decline, and vice versa. For example, the frustrated period of Kia in 2005-2008 happened to be the glorious period of Chery. 20 15 to this day, KIA's sales have been sluggish, and this period is the rise of Geely.
The key reason is that Kia's biggest magic weapon in China market is actually low price. Whether it is the early Maxima, or the later main models K series and KX series, Kia is trying to grab the market by low prices. However, in the process of exchanging price for quantity, Kia did not establish its own brand tonality. From the early Maxima to the later Seratu to K2, K3, Lion Run, Chi Run and K5, they all took the low-cost route. Even if the price set at the time of listing is slightly higher, it will be greatly reduced at the terminal because of the sales pressure after listing. For example, K5 was once dubbed by netizens as one of the "three treasures of diaosi". Today, the terminal price of a B-class car has fallen below 654.38+0.2 million.
Therefore, when independent brands become more and more powerful, Kia, which relies on cost performance, completely loses its advantage, and it is inevitable that sales will drop sharply.
KIA, who was heartbroken by KX7, learned from a painful experience and decided to bow to sales and return to her true heart. Huanchi, which went public on September 26th of that year, chose to take the tradition of low price to the extreme. The price of the new car started at 49,900, setting a new low for the joint venture model.
Huanchi, who took the low-cost route, did not disappoint Kia. After listing, it quickly became the main sales force of Kia, and became the highest-selling model of Kia in July.
But unfortunately, the low-price strategy failed to save sales. Both KIA's new generation K3, which had high hopes, and its desperate gallop and escape, failed to meet expectations.
Therefore, although Kia has always said that it wants to change and innovate, the fundamental problem has not changed: the former design advantages have been greatly changed by independent brands, the three core components of the engine gearbox chassis have no advantages, the quality reputation continues to decline, and the confidence of dealers has lost. The low-price strategy is to quench KIA's thirst, but KIA has no choice but to run blindfolded and support hard.
However, if Kia still regards short-term sales as a hero, it is obvious that Li Feng also saved Da Yue's Dongfeng Kia. If KIA's decision-makers are determined to break their wrists, they should focus on improving the product strength, instead of being a speculator and shortsighted person, bringing genuine sincere products to China consumers and striving to enhance KIA's brand image in the China market. Kia, a once brilliant brand in China market, is bound to usher in a new life.