When global auto makers are sharpening their heads to the Chinese market, GM announced on March 28 that the company will change its export strategy to the Chinese market. From January 2015, the Opel brand will stop selling in China. . Opel CEO Ni Kaiming said that this is an early decision. In China, raising the awareness of Opel brand and expanding the dealer network, Opel needs to spend hundreds of millions of euros for this purpose. Buick is one of the leading brands in the Chinese market. We plan to deepen cooperation with the Buick brand in the future. There are currently several projects under consideration.
In China for 20 years, Opel announced its withdrawal from China
The Opel brand was founded in 1863 and became the largest car company in Germany in 1914. In 1993, Opel formally entered China through import channels. Over the past 20 years, Opel's sales in China have continued to slump, and it has never escaped the role of a niche brand. Domestically produced plans have also remained in rumors. In 2013, 22 retail stores established by Opel in China sold a total of 4,365 vehicles, which was less than 0.14% of the 3.16 million units sold in China. In contrast, the Buick brand sold 810,000 vehicles in China in 2013, accounting for 80% of its global sales, with 650 dealerships in China; Buick Regal and LaCrosse, which originated from the General Motors Epsilon platform, have a high sales volume in China. Far from being comparable to the speed of the United Kingdom. Until last year, Opel continued its efforts in the Chinese market by introducing models such as the Axor, the new Zafira, and the new Astra GTC, which became part of the 17-car and line-up variant of GM in China. This decision means that after 20 years of entry into China, Opel failed to withdraw from China’s revitalization and announced that its revival plan launched in 2012 will eventually fail in China.
It is reported that Opel's withdrawal from China is not the first time that GM’s brands have withdrawn from the Chinese market. As early as January 2010, General Motors and Spyker Motors, the Dutch luxury car manufacturer, had signed an agreement to sell GM’s Swedish auto brand Saab to Spyker for US$400 million. This means that Shanghai GM will terminate Saab's imported car business by the end of 2010, and this high-end car brand will temporarily withdraw from China.
The reason for the exit is not poor sales. Implementing a global strategy is the key
For Opel to withdraw from China, there are industry analysts, not the reason for sales. Although Opel has sold only 4,000 vehicles in China, Opel’s profitability in China is not pessimistic compared to the losses of Honda Acura and Nissan Infiniti. According to a dealer of Opel China, Opel averaged a profit of US$ 3,000 for a car, and Opel’s sales team with less than ten people from China’s GM earned more than 100 million yuan a year, which is why GM China has been reluctant to transfer Opel to Shanghai GM. One of the main reasons why the Buick team operates.
Although Opel is not a big deal in the Chinese market, Opel has been in China for 20 years. During this 20-year development, Opel has not developed into a well-known brand such as Buick and Chevrolet. The main reason is that GM Opel's unclear positioning of the "European brand" has caused Opel to miss a development opportunity. Despite having certain prior advantages in technology and brand recognition, Opel also missed many market opportunities in China by positioning Opel as the first principle in adding value to Buick and Chevrolet brands in China. Opel is providing technology and platform support to other GM brands globally. Therefore, it is feared that internal competition among products will limit the development of Opel in other markets, including the Chinese market. In addition, the Chinese people are obviously not concerned about the homogeneity of the European mature market. For the similar models but the price difference is basically not acceptable, this may be the basic reason why the Opel model in the country is not applauded.
In 2013, GM began to adjust its brand layout globally. First announced that the Chevrolet brand will be delisted in Europe in 2015 to make room for Opelton. Later it launched the 2017 Australian brand Horton's plan to stop production. The actions of Opel and Buick in China and Europe are aimed at strengthening the synergies between the two brands on the one hand and sharing development and manufacturing costs. On the other hand, they also focus on key markets. Opel focuses on Europe, while Buick focuses on China and United States. This is one of the important aspects of the new Bola administration, which is one of the brand reorganizations of GM’s current CEO, Mary Bola, following the replacement of Exxon’s control of GM’s global business.
All sectors of the industry have different voices, or are expected, or are caught off guard
For Opel to withdraw from the Chinese market this time, the voice of various sectors of the industry is different. Some people think that although it is too sudden, but it is also expected; while others believe that humanity is insufficient, it is surprising.
Some analysts believe that Opel has always been a “low-key†showman in China, and rarely sees brand promotion. The owners do not feel the brand's voice. In terms of after-sales service, Opel seems to have done less aggressively. This “not aggressive†attitude comes from the ambiguity of Orient’s positioning in the strategic layout of GM in China, and it also comes from the Opel’s own mentality. In China, Opel seems to be only a sideline to Buick's brand strategy. General Motors Vice Chairman Kyrgyzstan once said that Opel can certainly use exports as a profit point for improving performance, but it must be in line with General Motors' overall strategy. In the Chinese market, adding value to the Buick and Chevrolet brands is Opel's first principle. Therefore, although the news of this withdrawal from the Chinese market was too sudden, it may be a correction and adjustment that is fast and tedious. However, Opel's decision seems to be insufficient in humanity because of the position of distributors and consumers.
For Opel's sudden exit, more dealers said they were caught off guard by this move. The biggest impact on this news is the existing Opel owners in China. The company stated in the announcement that it will continue to provide spare parts, maintenance and quality warranty for Opel owners. In the next few years, Opel owners will still be able to obtain maintenance services and genuine parts and components from existing authorized service centers and enjoy the company’s promised quality warranty rights. For Opel's dealers, the biggest problem will be how to solve the inventory and how to deal with and effectively deal with the problem of car owners after-sales service. Some dealers stated that the current pre-sales aspect will continue to be sold as usual in the second half of this year, and there has been no request for new purchases to explain the suspension of sales in 2015.