How much patience does Jeens have dedicated to the long-term operation of the brand in the Chinese market?
Editor’s note: This article is from “Future Car Daily” (WeChat public ID: auto-time), author: Pan Lei.
Author | Pan Lei
Edit | Liang Chen
The Chinese strategy of Hyundai Motor began to adjust – Jens came.
According to online car market, the road test of the Janes G90 in China “Spy Shots” has been exposed, which means that as a high-end car brand of Hyundai Motor, Jens is accelerating its entry into China.
For Jens, it is no stranger to the Chinese market, and it can even be said that it has entered the Chinese market twice. Around 2015, Jens was also introduced to the Chinese market by means of import. However, in 2017, due to the bleak sales, Hyundai Motor cancelled the imported car business, and the first time that Jenns has withdrawn from the Chinese market, and the dealers have been arguing with the business.
But now, with the difficulties of Hyundai’s business in China, especially the low positioning of existing brands, resulting in poor anti-risk ability and sales decline, the market share is constantly being eaten by Japanese and independent brands.
In 2018, Beijing Hyundai, one of its joint ventures in China, sold 790,000 vehicles a year, less than 860,000 in 2012. In the same year, another joint venture, Dongfeng Yueda Kia, sold 370,000 vehicles. In 2012, it was about 480,000 vehicles, both of which returned seven years ago.
Brand inefficiency is considered to be the “culprit” of Hyundai’s decline in sales, which may have directly triggered the “return” of Jenns. In October 2018, Jennifer Auto Sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was incorporated and the company is 100% owned by Hyundai Motor, which is the sales company for Jens in China.
The purpose of Hyundai Motor is very simple. It is a combination of high and low collocation with Jens + Hyundai (Kia). It is expected to achieve a market effect similar to Lexus + Toyota – the high-end level can not only be positive PK Lexus, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Second lineLuxury cars, if you can get out of the price, you can even fight with the BBA. Even if the battle is not successful, it will enhance the brand awareness of modern times and indirectly help Hyundai and Kia brands.
But if this move works, it’s hard to say, because the market is completely different from when Jenns exited.
First of all, the market environment is different. China is already the world’s largest new energy vehicle market, and all the giants are spending huge sums of money to upgrade their new energy business so that they will not be eliminated in the new round of competition.
If Janes can’t have a killer in electrification, it’s hard to shake the current tyrannical pattern in terms of brand and product power.
In this respect, Hyundai Group has reserves, and even has a first-mover advantage in hydrogen fuel vehicles. However, according to the current information on the G90, it is still a 3.3L V6 engine. In the same class of models, this power configuration is difficult to stand out.
The second change comes from the opponent. Not only the BBAs still exist, but also the new generation brands such as Tesla and Wei Lai have come with electric motives. This makes the situation of Jenns as a niche high-end brand become a bit embarrassing, and it is very likely that it will fall into the The embarrassing situation of pushing a new car is behind.
The last reason is how much patience of the re-installed Janes after a failed trip to China, and is committed to the long-term operation of the brand in the Chinese market?
[I am Pan Lei, the author of the Future Auto Daily, focusing on the automotive industry and forward-looking technology, and are always welcome to exchange and provide news clues. WeChat A10010A123, please add a note name, company, position. 】
