Consumer upgrade light price high-end car market favored

The consumption upgrade can be said to be the keyword that runs through the 2017 automobile market. This year, the growth rate of mid- to high-end vehicles, luxury cars and other market segments has accelerated, and consumers have more choices of models. The survey data released by JDPower recently showed that the influence of price factors on car purchases is declining. More and more consumers are turning to quality and paying for technology.

Brand, quality, value, technology into four major determinants of car purchase

According to public statistics, sales of passenger cars in China have grown by an average of 14% per year over the past five years. From the perspective of the growth in private car ownership, the number of private cars in China in 2016 increased by 17% over the previous year. In addition, there are more than 700 models in the Chinese market and 2.5 times the models in the US market. On this basis, the number of models is still increasing, providing consumers with more choices.

With the increase in the popularity of automobiles in the Chinese market, cars are no longer just a means of transport for Chinese consumers, but have become a personality expression and a life attitude.

The JD?Power China Automotive Sales Satisfaction Study (SSI) found that the reasons for the purchase of cars by Chinese car owners have changed significantly: the price factor has dropped from the primary factor in 2000 to the fifth place in 2017, while the brand, quality, value and technology , becoming the reason for the top four cars. Consumers' demands for vehicle quality and safety have been continuously improved. Since 2005, the weight of quality in car purchase causes has increased year by year. From 2015 onwards, with the increasing content of automotive technology, Chinese consumers’ attention to technology has begun to show, and the proportion of new car purchases due to technical reasons has risen rapidly.

High-end car market usher in spring

Under the influence of rising spending power and rising demand for replacement, Chinese consumers’ purchasing power for luxury cars has gradually increased.

According to JDPower's China New Vehicle Purchase Intention Research (NVIS), the attractiveness of mid-size cars and entry-level mid-size cars to potential owners has been significantly reduced since 2010; luxury cars account for the proportion of potential car owners who want to buy the most, from the 1 in 2010. % rose to 9% in 2017. In this regard, some people in the industry also said that consumers who purchase cities in the purchase of models, they are often more willing to consider more expensive models, or directly to luxury cars.

According to the statistics of the Federation of Travel Unions, in November 2017, the top ten luxury cars, including Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Mercedes-Benz E-class, Cadillac ATS-L, Cadillac XTS, including 6 models The monthly sales volume achieved double-digit year-on-year growth, far exceeding the 3.9% increase in the overall passenger car market in November.

In addition, in the car market where high-end and high-end models are concentrated, the trend of consumption upgrade is also very obvious. According to public figures, in the first half of 2017, the overall sales of the sedan market fell by 3.3% year-on-year, with the most significant decline in compact and mid-to-low-end models, but the sales growth of mid- to high-end models reached 9.21%.

Consumers are willing to pay for new technology

Intelligent, networked development is recognized as the future trend of automotive development. At this stage, various kinds of onboard intelligent technologies are gradually changing the way people and vehicles communicate.

According to JDPower statistics, in 2017, the installation rates of automatic parking systems, read-out SMS, on-board internet connection, lane departure warning system, voice recognition, built-in Bluetooth phone, navigation system, and parking assist/reversing radar were all higher than in 2015. With a certain degree of improvement.

In the past two years, many self-owned brand car companies and local technology companies have also been involved in the development of smart driving technology. For example, in 2017, GAC Group, Changan Automobile, Geely Automobile, Chery Automobile, JAC and other car companies have successively released smart driving development strategies or related intelligent products.

McKinsey predicts that by 2025, smart driving cars will be a huge market of 200 billion to 190 billion US dollars. By then, China will occupy 24% of the global market.

With the hot new technology, consumers' acceptance of vehicle-based smart technology has gradually increased. JDPower said that compared with consumers of other ages, the enthusiasm of 90s after the new technology is generally higher than that of consumers of earlier ages. At this stage, smart car technology, while playing the role of assisted driving, has become a major selling point for car companies to attract young consumers.