As the saying goes, "A golf course is half a popular history. It shows the significance of golf to Volkswagen Group. Since the launch of the model for 47 years, the cumulative sales volume is close to 40 million, ranking third in the world, which can be regarded as a satisfactory report card. Because of its pivotal position, the domestic market pays great attention to the listing of the eighth generation golf. After all, as a hatchback niche model, its performance in recent years is also relatively low. As the benchmark of this market segment, can golf inject new vitality into hatchback cars through the iteration of models?
However, since the launch of Golf 8 in November last year, its sales performance has fallen far short of expectations. Feeling disappointed at the same time means that consumers are not too cold about this newly replaced golf. As a global model that has been selling well for many years, is Golf 8 unacceptable?
It is precisely because domestic consumers love SUV models, and often independent brands lock the first launched models as SUVs, including the now famous new car-making forces Weilai, Tucki, Ideality and Weimar, etc., all of which send an SUV model first. Introducing an SUV with stronger passability than a car makes it easier for car companies to open the market smoothly.
For the car category that emphasizes driving maneuverability and comfort, consumers will prefer the traditional sedan shape, which is more practical without it. Especially in our country, even luxury brands are introduced into China, and they may not have the courage to go public without lengthening and broadening. It can be clearly seen from the sales list of last year’s models that the top ten are all sedan cars or SUVs.
The hatchback structure of golf is really embarrassing. It is an indisputable fact that hatchbacks have fallen out of favor in the mass market, leaving only so-called feelings, but it is difficult to resonate with consumers. For example, Mazda Angkor Sela and Buick Weilang have cancelled the supply of hatchback versions due to poor sales; Many hatchback models, such as Honda Fit, Toyota Zhixuan, Ford Focus, etc., have also begun to increase the cross-border style version in order to stabilize the pattern, but it is still difficult to have the explosion of hatchbacks like Nissan Tiida and Volkswagen Polo.
You know, in the most brilliant golf 7 period, its domestic monthly sales once reached 26,000, and the average monthly sales exceeded 10,000, so there was no pressure, and there were even cases where it was necessary to raise the price. However, times have changed. In the past few months, the highest performance of Golf 8 was only about 7,500 vehicles in the first full month after listing, and then it fell to more than 5,000 vehicles in January of the new year, which was more negative than the previous generation products at the end, and quite different from the heyday.
Before the peak was revealed, fatigue began to appear. We can attribute the poor sales to the fact that the new car has just been listed, the terminal discount has not yet started to be released, and consumers are generally on the sidelines. However, it also reflects the problem of insufficient cost performance of Golf 8 from another side. Although the starting price of the new car of 129,800 is slightly lower than that of the previous generation, it can be seen that the main model is 1.4T power, but its starting price has risen to 148,800.
Like the popular hatchback models Fit or Tiida, their price ranges are mostly in the early 100,000 s.. If it rises to around 130,000, I am afraid that I will be asked: Isn’t Xuanyi Corolla fragrant? Golf is a little higher than Fit and Reach. Of course, golf is really above them, but according to consumers’ usage habits, they have no difference in level, and the rear seat space is not even as good as Fit, which is good at "stealing space".
The price of 148,800 yuan can be considered as a sedan Civic or Angkor Sela that also meets the needs of young people in personality, and the starting price of the high-end 1.5T and 2.0L automatic versions is only 139,900 yuan, and the proportion of the car body is even more explosive. What’s more, the current automobile market is not as single as it was five years ago, and niche golf can also be favored. The rise of independent brands will undoubtedly have a greater impact on the car-making of joint-venture brand cars, such as the high-quality showstopper character of Linke 03 and the subversive rhetoric of Geely Xingrui’s 2.0T system. What they want to chew is the cake in the 150,000 range of joint-venture brand cars.
In an era when even luxury brands have to rely on terminals to make profits, perhaps the date of golf 8 discount impulse is getting closer and closer.
According to the configuration of the overseas version, it was thought that the Golf 8 listed in China was a sincere replacement. The interior of the digital cockpit was optimized and upgraded, and with the brand-new 1.5T power, consumers naturally had a lot of expectations for the new car. Unfortunately, after the domestic launch of Golf 8, we were surprised to find that the new car still used the 1.2T and 1.4T engines of the previous generation. The unsynchronization with the overseas version inevitably made domestic consumers feel unbalanced.
Although the difference between 1.5T and 1.4T is only 0.1L, and there is no obvious difference in power parameters, the gap between the two engines is a whole generation of research and development time-consuming. As early as 2016, Volkswagen Group released a new generation of EA211 1.5T Evo engine, which was widely used in overseas models. After four years of precipitation, it still doesn’t appear on the new generation of domestic golf 8. Don’t the public know the importance of the China market?
The existing EA211 1.4T engine has been in service in the market for many years, which has made great contributions to golf. However, compared with the slightly backward stability, consumers prefer to choose the most advanced products. The new Volkswagen EA211 1.5T Evo engine is equipped with a variable cross-section vortex supercharger, which can also drive the turbine to rotate at low engine speed, thus improving the lag of the previous 1.4T turbine machine. At high engine speed, with the increasing waste pressure, the angle of the guide vane of the supercharger also expands, achieving an ideal supercharging effect.
In addition, thanks to the introduction and optimization of many new technologies, such as ACT active variable cylinder, VTG variable turbine geometry, high compression ratio Miller cycle, GPE gasoline particulate trap, brand-new intermediate cooling and intake system and more accurate temperature management, EA211 1.5T Evo engine can bring better fuel economy to new cars. It is reported that although the displacement has increased, the official fuel consumption per 100 kilometers has become lower.
It is estimated that the time of EA211 1.5T Evo engine on domestic golf version will be in 2023, and it will take a long time. From the perspective of domestic consumers, it is obviously difficult to understand that there is a better engine technology, but an old power that has no market competitiveness is adopted. It is no wonder that the new generation of golf is in a state of being willing but unable to do so.
It has already entered a niche market, and the price competition is unprecedented. In addition, due to the recall of the overseas version of the new golf due to software problems, the confidence of domestic consumers in the reliability of the new golf has been weakened, and the concept of "digital golf" has become a laughing stock. As a legendary model with a long history, it really shouldn’t. It can only be said that it is really not the best time to start golf 8.
Figure | from the network
