Even if Lexus cuts its price by 70,000 yuan, it still cannot reverse its decline. Domestic cars may completely change the luxury car market.

Porsche's sales in China have fallen, and the Lexus ES series, which targets a wider customer base, has also begun to decline.

Lexus ES was once a dark horse in China's luxury car market, winning the favor of many consumers with its imported status, high quality, low cost and comfort. However, with the rise of domestic high-end new energy models, the market position of Lexus ES has been severely tested.

In recent years, domestic high-end new energy vehicle models have continued to make efforts, represented by brands such as Weilai, Ideal, and Zeekr, launching a series of innovative, technological and personalized products to meet the diversified needs of young consumers. These models not only have outstanding performance in terms of power, endurance, intelligence, etc., but also have strong competitiveness in price. In contrast, the Lexus ES appears to be too conservative and single, lacking sufficient appeal and differentiation advantages.

This is also reflected in the sales volume of passenger cars in September released by the China Passenger Car Association. The data shows that in September, 2.431 million passenger cars were produced, up 2.8% year-on-year, and 2.449 million wholesale sales, up 6.6% year-on-year. Among them, the wholesale sales volume of new energy vehicles was 829,000, a significant increase of 23% year-on-year.

The top five in the sales list are BYD, FAW-Volkswagen, Chery Automobile, Geely Automobile, and Changan Automobile. Four of them are occupied by domestic brands, and the sales of all brands except FAW-Volkswagen have increased significantly year-on-year, demonstrating strong market competitiveness.

Faced with the impact of domestic high-end new energy vehicle models, Lexus ES has adopted a price reduction strategy to maintain sales.

According to media reports, Lexus ES models have recently had huge cash discounts in many cities, generally ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, and some dealers even have discounts of up to 40,000 yuan.

Compared with the past situation where one had to pay an additional 20,000 to 30,000 yuan to buy extended warranty when picking up a car, the actual price reduction has reached as much as 70,000 yuan.

This is because Lexus' sales have shown a clear downward trend in the past two years. Especially in the Chinese market, Lexus sold 184,000 vehicles in China in 2022, a year-on-year decline of more than 16%, and this downward trend has not stopped in 2023, with sales in the first half of the year only 70,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 18.5%. The sales of Lexus' main model, Lexus ES, have fallen particularly sharply, and even with a substantial price cut at the terminal, sales have not recovered.

However, the price cuts have failed to win back consumers, but may have damaged the brand image and premium ability.

91che believes that if Lexus ES wants to maintain its competitiveness in the fierce luxury car market, it cannot rely solely on price cuts to attract consumers, but should increase investment in innovation and launch products that better meet market demand and trends. For example, it can consider launching a plug-in hybrid version or a pure electric version of the Lexus ES to improve power performance and environmental performance, while improving the configuration level and interior technology to enhance the added value and attractiveness of the product.

Times are changing, and so is the luxury car market. According to data, the sales performance of domestic high-end new energy vehicles this year is very impressive. Brands such as Weilai and Ideal have achieved rapid growth, while Lexus ES has experienced a significant decline. This shows that domestic high-end new energy vehicles have become a new force in the luxury car market, posing a strong challenge to traditional luxury brands.

From an industry perspective, the upgrade of automobile quality and the reduction of prices are a form of healthy competition, which will help promote innovation and progress in the automobile industry and provide consumers with more choices and better experiences.

From the perspective of consumers, this is a blessing, as they can enjoy products with higher cost performance and more advanced technology, and can also choose the right brand and model according to their preferences and needs. But for Lexus ES, this is undoubtedly a crisis, and it needs to re-examine its product positioning and market strategy, and find breakthroughs and advantages in order to break through the fierce market competition.

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.