In response to these problems, GAC Toyota responded to Ling Fei Automobile that the suspension of Japanese market was caused by the characteristics of regional market. This change will not affect Camry's global market positioning, and related product development and iteration will not be affected. In addition, Camry has not stopped production in Japan and will continue to produce for overseas market demand. Industry analysts pointed out that the suspension of Camry's sales in Japan is also expected. Compared with other car companies' extensive adjustment of product marketing strategy, this is only a small change and will not affect Camry itself.
Camry is still sold in more than 0/00 markets around the world, especially in China and the United States. Camry has always been a popular model. In these two markets alone, Camry's annual sales volume exceeds 500,000 vehicles. It can be predicted that with China leading the world in intelligent technology, Camry will rely more on China in the future, and the shift of its center of gravity to the east is an irreversible trend. For China consumers, this means that Camry is more localized in R&D and functional configuration. Now, Camry is quietly moving towards a new stage, and so is GAC Toyota.
The China market is unaffected and continues to sell well.
In the Japanese auto market, the fate of a big car like Camry finally going to "stop selling" has long been doomed. Due to the special traffic and living conditions and the influence of taxes and fees, cars are mainly consumed in Japan, while the number of ordinary passenger cars is very small. It should be noted that among Japanese standard models, there are many classes of models in China.
Japan's standard for "ordinary passenger cars" is that the length, width and height exceed 4.70m, 1.70m and 2.00m respectively, the displacement does not exceed 2.0L, and the maximum power does not exceed 280 horsepower /206kW. For example, domestic compact cars are Japanese standards, but they are not very popular in Japan.
Statistics of production data of Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association
According to the sales ranking of Japanese cars in 2022, Toyota ranked first in the Japanese market, selling 1059842 passenger cars, including "ordinary passenger cars" 560654+074, small cars 480378 and mini cars 19290.
Statistics of production data of Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association
In February of this year, Toyota dominated the top ten sales list in Japan, but very few of them were "ordinary passenger cars", only Corolla, and the rest were basically small cars and smaller mini-cars. Among these cars, yaris and Sienda are well-known in China. The only one in the top ten that is not a Toyota product is Nissan's Note, but it is also a car.
As far as Camry is concerned, in 2022, the Japanese market sold less than 6,000 vehicles, less than half a month's sales in China. Judging from the sales data in the first two months of this year, Camry ranked 48th in the Japanese car sales list in February, with a monthly sales volume of 75 1 car. In June, 5438+ 10, the top 50 sales did not enter. For Toyota, instead of losing money in the Japanese market, it is better to focus on key markets such as the United States and China, so as to increase profits.
In fact, many car companies have already implemented this strategy. For example, Volkswagen recently stopped production of Passat in Europe and America. Ford is more exaggerated. The company decided not to produce cars in the United States a few years ago, but to produce SUVs with higher profits. GM stopped selling Buick Regal models in the United States and Canada as early as 20 19, because cars were gradually ignored in the North American market, and the demand of North American consumers shifted from cars to crossover cars and SUVs. Now both Ford and GM need to export cars from China to the American market.
This change is obviously in line with the business logic of an enterprise and the needs of the localization market. But stopping selling in a market does not mean that this model is becoming out of print. From the perspective of Ford, GM and Volkswagen, the cars they stopped selling in North America are still being updated normally, because the demand for these products is still high in other parts of the world. So is Camry. In addition to the tiny local market, Camry is also sold in 100 countries/regions including China and the United States.
In particular, as long as there is support from China and the United States, Camry's position in the Toyota system will not change. In China and the United States, the two largest markets in the world, Camry has always been the key vehicle in the market segment. In the American market, the sales volume of Camry in 2022 was 295,201vehicle, ranking first among mid-to high-end vehicles. In the China market, Camry sold 250,865,438+03 vehicles last year, ranking first in the market segment. Look at this year, in the new March when the models are clustered, the sales volume of Camry exceeds 2 1 000, and the total sales volume in June-March exceeds 5 1 000. The loss of 6,000 vehicles in the Japanese market this year will not have any impact on the overall situation of Camry.
Historically, Camry was originally developed for the American market, and it is also the second global model of Toyota after Corolla. Under the background of two oil crises in 1970s and 1980s, Toyota introduced the Camry with front drive (code name: V 10) in March, 1982 to replace the 6th Toyota Corona (code name: T 130), which also marked the official independence of Camry. From June 1983 to October/0/65438, Toyota Camry began to export to the American market. For the Chinese and American markets that like "big cars", Camry will undoubtedly be the key product of Toyota, and it is impossible to change research and development because of such a small change in the Japanese market.
In fact, Camry's product update plan in China has not been affected. On March 25th, 2023, Camry just went public. The model year car is constantly upgraded at the level of intelligent network connection, which can be added without increasing the price, and the high value is really affordable. In addition, information about the ninth generation Camry has been circulated, and it is believed that its replacement plan will be announced later. Analysts in the automotive industry pointed out that Camry, as the flagship car of GAC Toyota, has been selling well for many years, with a large number and strong reputation, and also has a clear plan for continuous research and development and product upgrading. It is completely safe to choose Camry.
Adhere to long-term doctrine and accelerate transformation.
As mentioned above, the change of Japan's suspension of sales also shows the trend of the world's cars moving eastward. Any brand that wants to become a truly global automobile enterprise cannot avoid the China market. If a product really wants to be world-class, it must also succeed in the China market. With the gradual advancement of intelligent technology in China market, the global automobile R&D and consumption trends will be affected. This means that Toyota will pay more attention to Camry's position in the China market, and will also absorb some high-quality products from the domestic market and spread to the global market.
This is the transformation of China from a key market to a core market, and the product strategy and R&D layout of multinational car companies will also change accordingly. Now, this small change of Camry is also one of the footnotes. How Camry and GAC Toyota continue to promote each other will be a new point of view in the future. Camry participated in 17 in the development history of GAC Toyota before 19. Camry is the first evergreen "explosion" created by GAC Toyota. This car not only successfully set the value benchmark of China B-class car, but also set the quality benchmark of B-class car.
From 20 18 to 2022, the annual sales volume of Camry increased at an average annual rate of 12.2%. Among them, the sales volume of intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine version is close to 6.5438+0.5 million, and the sales volume of intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine version plus 2.5L gasoline version exceeds 5.65438+0 million. Starting from Camry, GAC Toyota has achieved the ultimate in a car and a market segment in the past ten years of development, and Camry has helped the brand to establish a system-wide capability. Guangzhou Automobile Toyota achieved a breakthrough of one million vehicles last year, which was inseparable from the contribution of Camry.
In 20021year, GAC Toyota launched three strategies of high-end, electrification and science and technology, and gradually established three flagships represented by Camry, Highlander and Seine, thus realizing the overall promotion of the brand. Among them, in the car product line, Camry's stable output and strong brand appeal have always been the core pillars of GAC Toyota. In terms of sales volume, Camry contributes more than 25% to the overall sales volume of GAC Toyota every year. Among the sales of Camry, the sales of 2.5L and hybrid models accounted for more than 50%, the sales of high-end models above 200,000 yuan accounted for more than 45%, and the average transaction price of terminals remained above 200,000 yuan for a long time.
Camry has its own characteristics in maintaining combat effectiveness in the B-class car market. To sum up, there are several reasons: First, the reliable quality of Camry has become its golden signboard. Since Camry entered the China market, the quality of new cars has been in the forefront of market segments, ranking first for many times. At present, Camry ranks second in the industry in the relevant automotive data platforms, and the first is Toyota products. Secondly, Camry's ability of continuous evolution. Different from other car companies, every upgrade of Camry is based on the positive response of users' needs, in order to enhance the value of users' cars, meaningful upgrades are carried out. Third, according to the survey report, Camry's three-year hedge rate ranks first among medium-sized cars. Fourth, in terms of after-sales service, GAC Toyota 10 ranked first in terms of sales volume/after-sales service satisfaction.
It can be seen that building a product that continues to sell well requires multi-dimensional support. This is also the high wall of competition established by GAC Toyota in the market competition. A good product should face the local market and meet the local demand, which is the user-centered product force building model. Especially since 2023, GAC Toyota has entered the "post-million-vehicle era". In the "post-million-vehicle era", how can GAC Toyota maintain its control over the market and achieve a rapid and stable transformation in the transition to a new energy and intelligent era? What role will Camry play in this?
GAC Toyota pointed out that this year's auto market is extremely involuted, and it is time for big waves to wash sand. In this case, auto companies must refresh themselves. For GAC Toyota, they will "refresh" in three aspects: brand awareness, business philosophy and user experience. Especially in the face of the price war market environment, GAC Toyota will continue to adhere to the "long-term" development concept, do not fight price wars, do not seek temporary arrogance, and achieve high-quality growth by enhancing product value competition.
"Only by embracing consumption upgrading through value appreciation, consolidating the product pyramid, establishing high-end barriers and broadening the brand moat can we ensure sustainable high-quality growth." Wen Dali, executive deputy general manager of GAC Toyota, said. This is also the way for GAC Toyota to compete in the future. For China's automobile market, now is a mixed era. In this context, consumers need to be more cautious when choosing products.
In the past 2022, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has advanced by leaps and bounds, which is also a mixed year. The annual sales volume of GAC Toyota twin-engine vehicles was 294,462, up 58.8% year-on-year, accounting for 29.3% in the whole department. At the end of last year, GAC Toyota launched Toyota's latest fifth-generation THS II intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine technology, and also brought three intelligent upgrades: T-PILOT intelligent driving assistance system, T-SMART intelligent cockpit and T-LINK intelligent interconnection. According to the plan, in 2023, GAC Toyota will release and upgrade 12 dual-engine products to realize intelligent electric hybrid of TNGA models. As a result, GAC Toyota will fully launch the intelligent upgrade.
Undoubtedly, in 2023, both Camry and GAC Toyota entered a new stage.
This article comes from Ling Fei Automobile, the author of Easy Car Number, and the copyright belongs to the author. Please contact the author for any form of reprint. The content only represents the author's point of view and has nothing to do with the car reform.