The concept of off-road and pan-outdoor market
Many people will mix cross-country and pan-outdoor; in fact, there is nothing wrong with it. Cross-country activities can be regarded as a kind of pan-outdoor sports, because compared with sports such as skiing, UTV, motorcycles, and skydiving, the two Both are sports carried out with the help of external forces, the difference is only in the different sports equipment; but if we start from the perspective of the automotive product market, the two cannot be confused, because there are essential differences between them.
What is the essential difference?
It is very simple, that is, off-road is a movement with the help of the “vehicle itself”. It is the direct user of the car. The performance of the car often determines where and how wild the “off-road” can go; The carrier of the tool, or just a part of the pan-outdoor sports, is not complete; what the vehicle plays here is only a bridge or an intermediate medium.
But without this vehicle, the so-called pan-outdoor sports cannot be carried out, because the equipment itself lacks or does not have its own mobility, especially in many areas that lack basic road construction; The reason why China’s pan-outdoor sports are called pan-outdoors is that the areas they involve have the characteristics of inaccessible geographical features, so they need vehicles with off-road capabilities.
From the perspective of the market, the product and consumption aspects involved in pan-outdoor sports will be wider, wider, and more vertical, with stronger penetration and more continuous consumption; but if you want to enter this kind of market, then the so-called pan-outdoor sports Outdoor products—that is, off-road products with vehicle functions are essential, because they are the most basic part of pan-outdoor sports; so based on the characteristics and applications of these products, off-road and pan-outdoor automotive products can be sold in the market classified into one category.
In terms of the functional characteristics of pan-outdoor products, the load space and weight it requires will be larger and more functional; from this point of view, pickup truck products are obviously more adaptable than hardcore SUVs; so we will talk about it next Yes, it is also because of this feature that the pickup is placed in an important position.
The tendency of the country’s policy on pickup trucks determines the outbreak and direction of the market
To some extent, national policies actually have a decisive influence on the pickup truck market; the development of pickup trucks in the personal market is greatly restricted due to the constraints of policies and regulations; annual inspections, high-speed speed limits, body stickers, casual There is a law enforcement agency that can stop you and educate you. These things seriously disturb the development of the market.
Similarly, the leap forward in emission regulations has also hindered the development of the pickup truck market, because pickup trucks are the most versatile model, and because of the characteristics of the application scenarios we mentioned earlier, at least it is currently not suitable for the development of new energy. At present, the density and application range of new energy sources are still extremely limited.
From a larger market perspective, for the still developing Chinese auto market, the multi-purpose of one vehicle is still the key appeal of most Chinese people for vehicles; Because the implementation of national policies is also gradually recovering and prospering—especially the pan-outdoor market, which covers a market far beyond the previous market division, so how big its market is and what kind of state it can finally reach is a big question. The extent depends on the liberalization of relevant regulations.
Of course, the enhancement of product power and the richness of peripheral supporting products are also extremely important aspects.
In terms of policy, even though there are all kinds of rumors so far, the real benefits for pickups are still elusive, and those markets with the highest consumption power (such as Beijing) are tightening the noose step by step. However, the demand of the market is always tenacious. The liberalization of only a few provinces and cities has had a profound impact on the pickup truck market—and no matter how much bad news there is, the development of high-grade pickup trucks continues. The most obvious is the impact of environmental emissions.
The implementation of a National VI policy has almost killed all imported products on the chopping board, which has also caused the high-end version such as Ranger Wiltrak to drop to 200,000 yuan because it only has National V emissions. This is probably the most valuable in the world. The ranger, the huge discount that the Australian people can’t enjoy is left in the corner because I can’t get a license for emission.
Is it a pity? It’s a pity, but it’s not a pity; the reality is like this, what can you do?
Confluence and Conflict Between Pickup Truck Market and Hardcore Off-Road Vehicles
In the off-road and pan-outdoor market, hard-core off-road vehicles and pickup trucks have always been entangled; many hard-core off-road vehicles are born out of pickup truck platforms, especially hard-core off-road vehicles with low and medium prices are almost all derived from this; In many countries, the difference between the two is only the purpose, and users can place an order to purchase according to their own needs.
But in China, because of different attributes, the two models with the same gene are clearly divided into two completely different market segments, but the reality is that the division of policies can no longer completely separate them; pickup trucks and hard-core off-road vehicles derived from pickup trucks It stems from both the similarity of models and the convergence of market demands—especially the sense of market convergence. This is an important feature that leads to the start of off-road and pan-outdoor markets to coincide in the same direction.
From the perspective of the product itself, people who buy hard-core suvs are generally not their first car, and they are not likely to be their first car in their families; and from the perspective of pan-outdoor and off-road groups, people who buy pickups are generally their first car in their families. 2-3 cars, which actually shows that this group has strong purchasing power, consumption power, and continuous consumption power.
From this point of view, pickup trucks are often just their vehicle, which is the cornerstone of their hobbies—not the destination; for off-road motorcycles, fishing, water sports, ice and snow sports, paragliding and even outdoor activities, The vehicle is the prelude to their arrival at the target, and what is loaded on the vehicle is the purpose they need.
Therefore, the market based on this is far from being as simple as the auto market itself, and its consumption behavior will not be limited to this market itself; and in today’s economic downturn, the impact on consumption brought about by doing a good job in this market will be far greater For selling small cars—Although the ABC car market seems huge, in terms of consumption power, it is far less than the huge potential of these “trucks” in terms of consumption power of a single customer, not to mention that the homes of these customers also have a high probability of Lie those little cars.
Of course, this is from a macroeconomic point of view. How automakers can get cash from a market space that does not belong to them depends entirely on their depth of exploration in this market; from the perspective of market success, Toyota’s TRD and GR, Jeep’s Wrangler is a successful example; but in terms of expansion, the space in the Chinese market is far greater than the potential of these brands based on their own development.
reality has manifested in the competition
Judging from the current market situation, mid-to-high-end pickups have largely impacted the product market that originally belonged to hard-core SUVs—but the market range of hard-core SUVs is not large, and they cannot achieve the product expansion of the pickup truck market itself. In terms of product performance-to-price ratio and because taxes and fees are at a disadvantage, this market has always been in a tepid state. Although it has begun to recover with the influence of national policies in recent years, compared with the rapid growth of the pickup truck market Just overshadowed.
In the past few years of pickup trucks’ siege, whether it is a full-size high-performance model or a mid-size model, the market growth has often exceeded expectations, especially in the mid-level pickup market. Although the main products have obvious shortcomings, they still Squeezing the only space for hard-core SUVs, after Great Wall launched the “Gun” series of pickups aimed at the passenger car market this year, this sense of forced entry into the market has become more obvious.
It is now near the end of 2019, and the market performance of this year has been roughly determined. It seems that the market differentiation does not seem to be large, but judging from the number of orders already generated by the Cannon Pickup, it will have a huge impact on the off-road-pan-outdoor product market next year. , this point will be very obvious in the next year.
The development and trend of specific products
From the perspective of the market structure, although full-size high-performance imported pickup products are dazzling, the total volume has not maintained high growth in the past two years, but has a downward trend; this is mainly due to several aspects; first, the unstable parallelism caused by import problems.
Although the demand of the Chinese market has triggered the interaction of multiple markets, especially the follow-up of the Middle East market, the characteristics of Middle East products cannot fully meet the domestic demand, especially in terms of emissions and the subsequent domestic certification, which makes importers worry. In addition, the Sino-US trade war in recent years has directly led to the obstruction of two products that are most suitable for the Chinese market, greatly curbing its market potential.
Secondly, the value preservation rate of this type of product is not high, and the price fluctuates with the wind as the source of goods changes; this will also dampen the determination of customers, and the mid-level pickup products that continue to emerge in China will also divide this market, so its products pressure. In addition, the complete unequal strength between OEMs and parallel vendors will also make this type of product lack of control over prices, which will also have a direct and indirect impact on customers.
Of course, there are many reasons that affect this segment of the market, especially the certification problem caused by the new National VI standard that can only be solved by OEMs, which will make it difficult for dealers to open up import channels, and how much impact will this have? It’s not fully revealed yet.
Overview of major domestic products: full-size imported pickups
The main products are the new Ford Raptor and Toyota Tundra, and others include some products of Ram and GM, but the former two are the most common in general. Full-size is the forerunner in this market. They have played a very good market demonstration role, and their image has been widely recognized. The current problems are that the purchase and use of vehicles are too expensive, the depreciation rate is high, and the size is too large, so the recent It has been hovering at a relatively fixed market share for several years; the implementation of the country’s new emissions also has a great impact on it.
Domestic joint venture independent brands
Jiangxi Isuzu products
Jiangxi Isuzu’s D-MAX and mu-X products were once the vanguard of similar products in China. In particular, D-MAX took the lead in entering the personal consumption market with the characteristics of high power and high configuration. It can be said that it first expanded the domestic mid-level and mid-priced products. Off-road – the pan-outdoor market, and has achieved great success; but from the perspective of two products with the same core, the market resistance encountered by mu-X is completely different, and the market sales of mu-X have always been far lower than that of D- MAX total amount.
The reason is mainly due to the domestic consumer group’s cognitive deviation of the product; SUV is defined as a passenger car, so the customer group will naturally treat it according to the requirements of the passenger car. The problem is that the domestic customer group is limited by the characteristics of diesel engines Little is known about it, and the models on the pickup truck platform have always been characterized by simplicity, practicality and durability, which directly caused the difficulty of mu-X in the domestic market.
The people who buy d-max are relatively more aware of their own needs and product features, and relatively do not care about those details, so they tend to be more accepting, especially the surging feeling brought by the high power of the Isuzu diesel engine, which makes many people like it. , but increased market demand.
d-max has completed a major mid-term product change this year; the new 2020 model just released in Thailand will be introduced later; the new d-max has stronger product power, but it introduces the certification of various product tests required in the country It will take at least a year. For many pickup truck enthusiasts, this waiting period is undoubtedly extremely anxious.
Zhengzhou Nissan Navara
The original version of the Navara was pretty good; two powerful diesels with a coil spring suspension rear axle, and an AT Polar version, arguably well suited for what we call the off-road – pan-outdoor market; but these good products we None of them have been seen. Only models equipped with 2.5 self-priming engines are sold in the domestic market. Although the power is sufficient, when everyone is rushing towards the road of high horsepower and high torque, this configuration undoubtedly lacks the right to speak.
Judging from the current product development, this situation will not change in the short term. That is to say, Navarra’s product competitiveness is gradually declining. The success of the Beijing market does not mean that its products are strong, but that Explain that the special market demand created it.
At the end of the year, diesel 2.3 of the Ruiqi brand (Renault prototype, Dongfeng Qingfa product) will appear, and the power problem will be solved. However, the market corresponding to the Ruiqi brand is different from that of Nissan, so no matter what the reason, Nissan will not increase the power and suspension. The frame structure options are all disregards that are drifting away from market needs.
Great Wall Pickup – Cannon Series
The Great Wall Cannon can be said to be the most exciting product in the pickup truck market this year. Of course, the F-150 released by Ford is more eye-catching, but the price will also make people who buy it have a “background”. Broad-based market segment, but look at the Great Wall Cannon – a completely passenger car-like design, at least half a class larger than competing products, exquisite interior and safety configurations, multi-link rear suspension structure, and a complete range of peripheral products Supporting, which undoubtedly greatly increased the extension of its product power.
The product classification of the gun is clear. Regardless of commercial use, its minimum configuration starts very high, which also allows it to reduce product costs by relying on sales. It also has a special version in the off-road-pan-outdoor range. Everything is based on the player’s thinking For configuration, from this point of view, there is no second company in China currently doing it.
New products of Beiqi Foton
Beiqi Foton’s new pickup truck has also made great improvements this year, regardless of its appearance, interior or configuration, it has advanced to a high standard; Borgward’s legacy can be used on Foton pickup trucks, which is also a bright spot, and Foton is the same as the Great Wall All have the biggest advantages of independent brands: high flexibility and quick response to market demand. So from these two points, Foton has the potential to grab a piece of land in this market.
ford ranger wiltrak
Ranger is indeed a good car from our experience; but the price to enter the market is too high – it is indeed priced at 30w in Australia, and Ford is not expensive in China, but the problem is that this market range is very embarrassing in China , People with spending power don’t really know how to read it; after all, it’s already more than 300,000 yuan if you buy it with a little tidying up. The price of an entry-level luxury is not a small number.
However, the National VI emissions hit it to the ground again, and the price dropped by a small 100,000, which made the people who bought it extremely unhappy, and the brand image was hit, so the Ranger is really a good car, but it is a pity to enter It is a pity that the timing and the right product were not selected in China.
