24%! Porsche's sales plummeted, and so did the brand recognition of Chinese high-end car owners.

Recently, Porsche China issued a joint statement entitled "Porsche China and All Authorized Dealers", claiming that both parties are facing a number of complex issues, with opportunities and challenges coexisting.

Prior to this, news of Porsche dealers "forcing the emperor to abdicate" spread in the market. Some dealers stopped delivering cars and demanded that the headquarters compensate the dealers for their losses with 1-4 percentage points of gross profit, and even asked Porsche's German headquarters to replace senior executives in China.

Internal conflicts between manufacturers and dealers are not uncommon, but the reasons are basically the same: no profit. In fact, Porsche, which seems to be in great shape, has been struggling in the Chinese market for at least two years.

In 2022, Porsche's global deliveries were 309,884 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%; deliveries in China were 93,286 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%, making it the only declining market in the world.

In 2023, Porsche delivered 320,200 vehicles worldwide, a year-on-year increase of 3%; 79,300 vehicles were delivered in China, a year-on-year decrease of 15%, once again becoming its only declining market in the world, and the decline has widened significantly.

In the first quarter of 2024, Porsche's global deliveries fell 4% year-on-year, while the Chinese market plummeted 24%.

Such a trend may not be uncommon in ordinary car brands. There are too many foreign brands that have failed to survive in the Chinese market in recent years. But when it appears in Porsche, it makes people feel that "the world is changing."

Porsche's influence in the global automobile market is self-evident. The closed front face that is popular in the new energy vehicle market seems to have originated from Tesla, but in fact Tesla was also imitating Porsche. In the domestic market, there are also many manufacturers that imitate Porsche's appearance, such as Xiaomi SU7.

The most direct reason for a mainstream brand's sudden drop in sales is major quality problems, but Porsche does not have such problems. So why has it been defeated in the Chinese market for three consecutive years?

Because of the changes in the market environment and the rapid rise of Chinese manufacturers, Porsche's originally stable consumer group began to split. Just like Nokia before the advent of smartphones, it did nothing wrong, but the times still abandoned it. Porsche itself did not have any problems, Porsche is still the same Porsche, but its opponents have evolved into Super Saiyans.

In a market where Porsche used to be aggressive in maneuvering and raising prices, the Yangwang U8 suddenly came along. Although it is priced at 1.08 million yuan, its sales have exceeded 1,000 yuan every month since its launch.

Then the M9 with a starting price of 500,000 yuan is also here. It achieves the same identity recognition at half the price of the Porsche Cayenne. Why wouldn’t the luxury car owners want to buy it?

The huge pressure from Chinese manufacturers is something Porsche has never encountered since entering China. Or it has never been deduced on the sandbox, which makes Porsche feel unprepared.

The capacity of the high-end market with a price of more than 500,000 yuan is not large. As a result, the rich will buy more Wenjie and Yangwang, and naturally they will buy fewer Porsches.

More importantly, the decline in sales may only be the beginning of Porsche's troubles, and a bigger crisis is yet to come. The rise of domestic manufacturers such as Yangwang and Wenjie is mainly due to their products that far exceed Porsche's performance and provide black technologies that Porsche has never mastered.

The Yangwang U8 integrates core technical equipment such as BYD's Yisifang platform technology and Yunnian-P intelligent hydraulic body control system. It can turn around on the spot, float on water in an emergency, and run on three wheels in the event of a tire blowout at high speed; the Wenjie M9 is equipped with Huawei's Hongmeng 4.0 smart cockpit, ADS2.0 high-level intelligent driving assistance system and other configurations. Porsche will not be able to provide these technologies and configurations in the short term.

In recent years, people have always criticized joint ventures for low-end configuration and high prices, and Porsche is no exception. As the king of the fuel vehicle era, in the face of strict environmental protection policies, the performance of fuel engines has reached its limit, and its new cars are unlikely to give people a bright feeling. When domestic cars with stronger performance appear, the local tycoon customers quickly disappear.

In the face of the crisis, if Porsche can adjust in time and launch some new energy models with strong performance, then it can still turn around with its strong brand appeal. But the problem is that Porsche is also in a mess in the field of new energy.

Under Porsche, the best performing new energy vehicle model is the Porsche Taycan. However, this car has never been updated since it was launched in 2019. In the Chinese market, this "evergreen" type of car is unlikely to gain a foothold in the market for a long time.

In fact, Porsche has all the problems that ordinary joint ventures have: slow updates, limited product performance improvements, high prices, etc. These are more prominent in Porsche. Ordinary joint ventures cannot change these problems, and Porsche cannot change them either. Its biggest advantage is the brand appeal accumulated over a long period of time, or the brand recognition of customers.

Now this appeal is gradually disintegrating, according to a survey by the China Automobile Association. Although Porsche is still the luxury car brand with the highest value retention rate in the Chinese market, its value retention rate has dropped from 83.1% last year to 76.7%. When the value retention rate cannot be maintained, the sales volume of new cars will definitely respond.

Time is running out for Porsche. When the brand recognition of Chinese high-end customers changes, considering the huge size of the Chinese market, this is like a drastic change that sweeps in like a tide , so the U8 and M9 are in short supply. Mr. Porsche, the times have changed, but you have not changed.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.