It can be found that ES has been on the same page with the BBA in many ways.
Editor’s note: This article is from “Future Car Daily” (WeChat public ID: auto-time), author: Pan Lei.
Author | Pan Lei
Edit | Liang Chen
Lexus officially opened the price increase model.
September 12, Toyota’s high-end brand Lexus official announced the price increase news, the three main models of ES, UX, NX entry-level guidance price increased by 6,000 yuan -15,000 yuan, of which the most popular ES price adjustment The range is 11,000 yuan and 15,000 yuan.
According to the official statement, this upward adjustment guide price is derived from the provision of an upgraded version of the multimedia system and security system configuration, which is equivalent to the increase in the price increase.
But taking into account the timing of this price increase, that is, the domestic auto market sales in August fell by 6.9% year-on-year, and most of the luxury car competing products are discounted promotions. Lexus’s move has increased the brand and upgraded the premium. Sex.
Further, it may also express Lexus’s long-standing secret desire to be unwilling to live in the shadow of the German luxury car as a “second-line luxury car” and vow to be among the first group of luxury cars. , the three-country killing of the luxury car market “BBA” (Benz BMW Audi) into “BBAL”.
The price reflects the value. Finding the right time to increase the brand premium ability through price increases is the best way to enter the luxury car market. Lexus does exactly that.
Starting price “quietly” to see BBA
The price increase of Lexus is extremely targeted. The price increase involves a total of three models, of which the price of ES is increased by 11,000 and 15,000 yuan in two levels; the price of all models of the small SUV model UX260h is 15,000 yuan; the starting price of the compact SUV model NX is increased by 6000 respectively. Yuan and 100 million yuan.
The most representative of these is ES.
In the Lexus product line, ES’s positioning span is quite large. From the price range, it almost hits the C-class car from the B-class car, but it also gains a lot of “misplacement” advantage – both with Mercedes-Benz Class C, BMW 3 Series, Audi A4L Short SoldierIn addition, through the hybrid secret, I also pulled myself up to almost the same level as the E, 5 and A6L.
Through this wave of price increases, ES raised its starting price from 279,000 yuan to 290,000 yuan, greatly shortening the gap with Benzer C-class 307,800 and BMW 3 Series 309,800. Even higher than the Audi A4L’s 286,800 yuan. At the same time, the 300h high-end version has further entered the hinterland of the core segment where the E-Class, 5-Series and A6L are located.
This is only the guide price. Counting the different preferential prices of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi in the terminal, you can find that ES has been on the same page with the BBA in many aspects.
So for Lexus, this price increase is “a stone and more birds.” It has not only raised the brand, but also increased the premium ability. At the same time, it has been whitewashed for a long time in the sales terminal through the “package package” and other means to achieve a disguised price increase this slightly gray marketing approach.
Why does Lexus dare to raise prices?
The “shield” that Lexus found for this price increase is an increase in configuration, specifically the upgrade of LSS+ smart security systems and multimedia systems including G-books. There are also car owners who think that these configurations are worthwhile, saving their own post-installation upgrades.
But in general, the logic of “increasing the configuration and price increase” is rare in the current auto market. Nowadays, it is popular to “increasing the configuration without price increase” or even lowering the price. In combination with the current relatively weak market environment and some of the promotional incentives that competitors have taken at the point of sale, Lexus’s “doing the opposite” only shows one thing: no sales.
From January to August, Lexus’s cumulative sales reached 127,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 24.9%. This data far surpassed BMW’s 15.7%, Mercedes-Benz’s 4.1% and Audi’s 2.4%, and almost smashed the “second-line luxury car” boss Cadillac behind him.
Cadillac’s sales in the first eight months were 146,000 units, an increase of 2.1% year-on-year. Now there are still four months from the end of the year. The gap of nearly 20,000 vehicles is difficult for Lexus, but it is not unsurpassable.
In addition, Lexus has always adopted a sales model of “selling by sales”. The owner of the car has to wait a few months from spending money to order a car, so Lexus has accumulated a lot of orders.
Lexus has also been a “purely imported” aura, which means quality assurance and the resulting word-of-mouth effect. Coupled with Toyota’s promotion of more than a decade of hybrid technology, Toyota and Lexus are almost the first time technically able to keep pace with the German strong.
Toyota Akio has said, “Every Lexus is sold out.” Although this has not been fully realized in the Chinese market, after years of operation, Lexus has begun to show horrible product strength, and has been on the track of rapid growth in recent years.
This also makes it