A few days ago, Boston Consulting's survey of brand loyalty in the Chinese auto market showed that nearly 75% of car owners plan to change brands when changing cars, the highest proportion in the world's major auto market. Compared with the current domestic car ownership, more than 90 million people will prefer other brands when changing cars. This is called “big brand migrationâ€.
It is worth noting that the survey shows that the brand loyalty of independent brands is worrying.
Only 30% of car owners are willing to continue to buy their own brand, Boston Consulting, in a report titled "The Brand Loyalty: The Next Battle of the Chinese Auto Market," which pointed out that 85% of self-owned brand owners are planning to buy. In the new car, “replace the brandâ€, only 30% of the owners are willing to continue to buy other independent brands.
According to the report, the loyalty of domestic independent brands is only 17%. According to the analysis, for a long time, due to its low price, independent brands have always been regarded as “knocking the door†of the ranks of car owners. However, due to the low price and low quality image, they are generally abandoned by users when upgrading consumption. Although self-owned brands have greatly improved in appearance, performance and research and development strength in recent years, it is necessary to change the long-term perception of consumers.
To this end, He Maike, a partner and managing director of the Boston Consulting Group, told the Daily Economic News reporter: "This is not to say that Chinese brand models should increase their price, but they need to be unique in appearance and performance. Find a competitive market segment."
The lowest consumer loyalty in China The report shows that Chinese consumers have the lowest brand loyalty in the world's major auto markets. In addition, in the Chinese market, as the level of the model increases, the loyalty of consumers has increased significantly. For example, in the models of 80,000 to 250,000 yuan, 70% of the owners who plan to change brands are in the market. Of the high-end brands dominated by European high-end brands, only 57% of car owners plan to change brands.
According to Jin Weidong, general manager of the Greater China Region of the Boston Consulting Group, this is a more rational expression for consumers of mid- to high-end models. However, according to industry insiders, the middle and low-end brands are also one of the reasons. According to statistics, there are currently more than 100 kinds of automobile brands sold in China, and the number of brands of independent car companies is still increasing. This part of the car is mainly concentrated in the low-end and also makes it more difficult for consumers to choose.
For a large number of “brand relocationsâ€, not all domestic car companies are under pressure. According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, 40% of self-owned brand owners who want to upgrade their consumption tend to choose the Volkswagen brand. Nearly 90% of foreign mid-range brand owners who plan to upgrade to high-end brands are likely to choose Audi, BMW or Mercedes.
According to the survey, quality and safety have become two of the most important factors for consumers, and the Boston Consulting Group's report also supports this conclusion. The data shows that whether it is a self-owned brand owner or a mid-to-high-end foreign brand owner, the most valued customers for quality and safety account for about 60%.
In this way, improving the quality and safety of products will be the key to winning consumers' favor. Some people in the marketing field told reporters that, on the whole, the cost of a brand to mine new customers is far greater than the cost of retaining old customers. Hema Ke believes that "losing a customer means losing a series of customers who are similar to him." Therefore, the investment in quality and safety may be the most "cost-effective" investment for domestic car companies.