GAC Honda no longer operates the Acura brand, what is the lesson of making luxury cars in China?

　　Yangcheng Evening News financial commentator Qi Yaoqi

　　Recently, the official news of GAC Acura showed that GAC Honda will no longer produce and sell existing products of the GAC Acura brand starting in 2023.

This news has also confirmed the previous rumors of GAC Acura's withdrawal from the Chinese market.

After five years of support, it is finally over. Acura's ending today has a profound lesson.

　　As the representative of Honda's entry into the North American market in the 1980s, Acura has always competed with Toyota's Lexus and Nissan's Infiniti.

In 1987, the sales volume of Acura had surpassed any European luxury car, and it became the sales champion of imported luxury cars in the United States. So far, Acura's status in the United States cannot be underestimated.

　　Acura officially landed in the Chinese market in 2006 and achieved localization in 2016.

In the past 20 years, although GAC Honda has been increasingly challenged by the market, after all, it has not made any major mistakes and has maintained its consistent iconic position in various market segments.

This market position matches Honda's perception and satisfaction of consumers, but Acura is not as smooth as Guangben.

　　To be able to seize the market in luxury cars, the competition faced is all-round.

Acura is obviously too idealistic, both before and after domestic production.

On the one hand, the share of German luxury cars in China has accounted for more than 70%, and Lexus, which insists on importing its image, can only be ranked in the second-tier camp.

Acura's market popularity period is much shorter, and it has dropped a level after domestic production, but the price is not close to the middle class.

What's more, its models are much less than those of first-tier luxury brands, with less than 10 models, and only two or three well-known ones.

　　Looking at the BBA's dazzling array of models occupying various levels, Acura is so thin in outlets and models, so if consumers are not loyal fans of Honda, they will leave after reading it in the showroom in one minute.

Secondly, Acura is also lacking in targeted research and development for domestic consumers, and it is not generous enough.

Independent brands have emerged in the past ten years. Through low prices and high allocations, they have continued to break into the market of more than 250,000 yuan.

In particular, the new energy vehicles directly rushed to the level of 500,000 yuan, which also led to the followers of the new wealthy class.

In contrast, no one knows what Acura has done for China's emerging class, and it feels like a slim out-of-market presence.

　　Technology alone is not enough to win.

To be a luxury car, the appearance and design must have the aura and specifications of "luxury", and the function and configuration must surpass the ordinary family car.

Acura is not aggressive enough in these aspects, but still retains a calm and calmness.

It seems to only please people who "know cars".

This is almost the opposite of the desire of wealthy groups to show their achievements to society.

　　In the luxury car market, it seems that it is a business that compares hardware and data, and its roots are all feelings.

Acura makes people unable to grasp its emotional characteristics.

Honda stands for pragmatic, reliable and worry-free, so what is Acura?

Is it more pragmatic, more durable, and more worry-free?

If not, the price is still the same as the BBAs, then it is impossible to say.

　　The withdrawal of Acura also gave domestic brands a lot of warnings.

One is that the update speed of the brand is getting faster and faster, the old brand may not win, and if it is not updated, it will definitely die.

In fact, the connotation must be highly suitable for localization needs.

The era of scarcity of imports is over. Don't imagine using American and European products to educate Chinese people.

Chinese people's aesthetics, physiology, habits, and gameplay must be satisfied to the greatest extent, otherwise it will be a dead end.

Behind Acura, there are actually a lot of foreign brands and domestic brands waiting, which is thought-provoking.