11 months ago, unified product lineup, integrated channels, "North and South" Mazda merged lightly in the appearance of the new Changan Mazda.

After 11 months, Mazda's sales in China not only failed to improve, but also continued to slide to the edge of the market.

In the past year, no new strategies have been implemented, no new models have been launched, and the sluggish sales have made the terminal price almost fall, and Mazda's "silence" remains.

In July of this year, Mazda handed over a monthly sales report card of less than 10,000 vehicles in China, a decline for 16 consecutive months.

Terminal price falls

  Last year, an announcement made Changan Automobile, Mazda and China FAW sit together to build a new Changan Mazda, and Mazda has no "north and south".

Subsequently, at the Guangzhou Auto Show last year, Wu Xuxi, executive deputy general manager of Changan Mazda Automobile Sales Branch, said: "The merger of the two joint ventures can make full use of the brand assets accumulated by the relevant parties so far, and promote Mazda in the fast-growing and highly competitive Chinese market. The long-term and sustainable development of the brand business.”

  Perhaps, the "long-term sustainable development" mentioned by Wu Xuxi also contains ups and downs, but I didn't expect the merger to be up to now.

Nearly a year after the merger, Mazda's sales in China have not improved.

Data show that in July this year, Mazda's sales in China fell to 9,044 units, a year-on-year decline of 33%, and it has experienced negative growth for 16 consecutive months.

  The sluggish sales volume has caused fluctuations in the end-market prices of Mazda models.

Last year, after the new Changan Mazda landed, the dealer channels of FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda also merged.

However, the streamlining of 4S stores and the selection of more models for sale in a single store did not ease the pressure on the new Changan Mazda dealers.

On the contrary, Mazda, which has always claimed that there is no price war in China, has started to offer substantial discounts after the merger of "North and South" Mazda.

  A reporter from Beijing Business Daily saw in a Mazda 4S store that the CX-5, one of Mazda's most popular SUV models in China, was placed in the center of the store. Models, the whole series of cash discounts can be given 30,000 yuan, and the replacement car can also enjoy 8,000 yuan replacement subsidy, taking the model with a price of 185,800 yuan as an example, the landing price of the whole vehicle is 161,400 yuan.”

  The above-mentioned sales staff revealed that the previous maximum discount of the old CX-5 model was only 24,000 yuan.

Not only the newly listed remodeled models have increased discounts, but currently all models on sale in the store have more than 10,000 yuan discounts.

Among them, the cash discount for the CX-4 model has risen to 25,000 yuan, while the Angkersela model, which has always been discounted at only 1,000 yuan, has also been raised to 15,000 yuan in terminal discount.

  In fact, behind the substantial discounts, it is not unrelated to the high inventory pressure of Mazda dealers.

Affected by the shortage of chips and other factors, many joint venture dealers are currently in shortage of car sources, but Mazda stores have sufficient car sources.

The above-mentioned salesperson said that the inventory of Ankesaila and CX-5 exceeded 20 units.

Missing new models

  At the beginning of the merger, the outside world had speculated that the integration of "North and South" would allow Mazda to have a concentrated effect in China.

However, the actual effect is not obvious.

Industry insiders said that the merger of "North and South" Mazda is more of a superficial effort, and the two brands of models are sold in stores, but the new products and new development strategies have not been implemented, and the essential problems have not been solved.

  It is understood that after the establishment of the new Changan Mazda, only two "new" models have been launched, one is a remodeled CX-5 model, and the other is the upcoming Ankesaila Obsidian version, but the new model has not been introduced yet. The models on sale have not been replaced.

Yan Jinghui, a member of the Expert Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that the competition among car companies in the Chinese market is extremely fierce. Not only their own brands, but also joint venture brands are intensively launching new and localized models tailored to the habits of Chinese consumers, but Mazda still maintains its own The launch rhythm did not launch more models in line with the Chinese market. The merger of "North and South" Mazda failed to cure the symptoms.

  However, contrary to the status quo of the slow product launch in the Chinese market, Mazda's product line in overseas markets is increasingly enriched.

In March this year, Mazda released a new SUV model, the CX-60, without specifying whether it will be launched in the Chinese market.

Last year, Mazda released the "Post-2022 Crossover SUV Product Line Development Plan", planning to launch CX-50, CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90 models in 2022-2023, but did not mention the Chinese market , but continue to focus on the US and European markets.

Regarding whether Mazda has plans to introduce new models in China, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily contacted Mazda (China), but no reply has been received as of press time.

  The introduction of new models is indefinite, and the models on sale have not been able to hold the market.

According to Mazda China's official website, the Mazda models currently on sale in China are Angkersela, Artez, CX-30, CX-4, new CX-5, CX-8 and CX-30 EV.

Although there are many models on sale, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily found that the Mazda 4S show cars in the store are mainly Angkersela, Artez, CX-30, CX-4 and new CX-5.

However, due to poor sales, the 4S store adopted an order-based sales model for the CX-8, CX-30EV, and CX-30 compression ignition models.

  In addition to the above-mentioned models, two models, CX-4 and Artez, which once belonged to FAW Mazda, also belong to the "retracted" models in the merged Mazda 4S store.

The sales staff in the store said that the monthly sales of the CX-5 and Anxella models in the store are about 10, but it is difficult to sell one of the Artez and CX-4 a month.

"For Artez and CX-4, the manufacturer sets a minimum inventory task of 4-5 vehicles. If the inventory does not meet the standard, you will be fined. Therefore, you have to enter the car in the store if you can't sell it, which also causes a certain financial pressure." he said.

  For the two "big trouble" models of Artez and CX-4, the sales staff's sales enthusiasm is not high.

A Mazda 4S shop salesperson said that the current CX-4 is the stock model of last year, it is better to choose the CX-5.

Left behind the Japanese camp

  In fact, "Blindfolded Running" has made Mazda fall behind the mainstream Japanese brand camp in China.

  Last year, the "North and South" Mazda merged, and the two joint ventures bid farewell to going alone, but the overall sales have not improved.

Data show that in the first half of this year, Mazda sold 63,700 vehicles in China, down 20.28% year-on-year; while Dongfeng Honda sold 338,000 vehicles, GAC Honda sold 357,000 vehicles, FAW Toyota sold 389,000 vehicles, and GAC Toyota sold more than 50 million vehicles. 10,000 units, Dongfeng Nissan sold 464,000 units.

Mazda's sales in China are at the bottom of the Japanese camp.

  At present, GAC Honda, GAC Toyota, Dongfeng Nissan, Dongfeng Honda's Accord, Camry, Teana, and CR-V occupy the top positions in the monthly sales rankings. Several mainstream Japanese brands have product lines in China ranging from A-level to C-level. Models, from sedans, SUVs to MPVs, are fully deployed.

At the same time, in the field of new energy vehicles, "North and South" Toyota bz4x and Dongfeng Nissan ARIYA pure electric models have also entered China one after another.

  Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Vehicle Market Information Association, said that China is an important market for global auto companies, regardless of whether they are fuel vehicles or new energy vehicles.

Compared with Toyota, Honda and Nissan, Mazda obviously does not pay much attention to the Chinese market, and its product layout and electrification transformation is slower, and it gradually widens the gap with other Japanese brands.

The "North-South" Mazda merger is only the first step. After the merger, how to make use of the advantages of all parties and formulate a strategic plan in line with the development of the Chinese market is the key to Mazda.

  It is worth noting that in April this year, Mazda China issued a notice on the appointment and removal of the chairman of the board. Toru Nakajima became the new chairman of Mazda China, and served as the executive director of the Mazda China business and the head of the China Business Headquarters, responsible for the Mazda China business.

According to the data, Toru Nakajima joined Mazda in April 1987 and has served as the head of Mazda's global sales and marketing department and the president of Changan Mazda. He has extensive management experience in the field of global and Chinese marketing.

Industry insiders said that the transfer of Toru Nakajima, who has global experience, is responsible for Mazda's business in China, which may be a signal from Mazda that the Chinese market and the global market are developing simultaneously, but it has been 4 months since Nakajima took office. A new plan has not been announced on how to develop further, and there is not much time left for Mazda in the Chinese market.

  Beijing Business Daily reporter Liu Yang Liu Xiaomeng