Why do Chinese people like Audi and foreigners like Mercedes-Benz? We are really different

Some people say that among domestically produced models, Audi is higher than BMW and Mercedes-Benz, while among imported models, Mercedes-Benz is higher than BMW and Audi. If we only look at sales, this statement is correct. In 2017, Audi was ahead of Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the Chinese market. However, in the global market, Mercedes-Benz leads, followed by BMW and Audi. This has been the case for almost the past few years.

Why is Audi so popular in the Chinese market?

When talking about the rise of Audi in the Chinese market, we must first start with the Chinese government's purchase of Audi as official cars. In May 1981, the State Council decided to stop production of my country's Hongqi brand cars due to high energy consumption and unreliable performance. Therefore, the burden of finding official cars for government agencies fell on FAW.

Japanese car companies only wanted to import and sell, not produce domestically, and had disagreements with Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler on cooperation matters, all of which ended in failure. Finally, in October 1987, Hahn, then chairman of the Volkswagen Group, came to China for inspection and was shocked by the scale of FAW. He was quoted as saying: "God, why didn't I discover that China had such a large car factory earlier." Hahn then immediately proposed to cooperate with FAW to allow Audi 100 to be produced in China. Audi 100 is the predecessor of Audi A6.

In 1988, the German Audi company authorized China FAW to produce Audi 100. The first batch of 499 Audi 100s was produced and assembled. As Audi had a certain reputation worldwide at the time and the domestic understanding of high-end luxury cars was relatively limited, people in China believed that Audi was low-key, practical and high-end, and met the requirements of official vehicles. Therefore, this batch of Audi 100s was instantly snapped up by government departments, which also shaped the image of Audi official cars.

With the development of the domestic economy, more and more people can afford luxury cars, and these local tycoons have the same requirements for cars: low-key, practical, and high-end. With the endorsement of the Chinese government, Audi is the first choice. (Official account: x91play) Not to mention China, even German Chancellor Merkel has chosen Audi as her official car. Imagine buying an Audi A6, hiring a driver to drive and sitting in the back seat yourself. How great is that!

Nowadays, Audi's image as a government car has gradually faded, and technology has become its main brand in the new era. However, for the Chinese market, the most attractive factor for Chinese consumers to buy is still the price. Not only is the starting price lower than that of Mercedes-Benz and BMW, but the terminal discount is also much greater than that of Mercedes-Benz and BMW. In addition, in the eyes of the Chinese, BBA are all at the same level, and it is very face-saving to drive any of them, so naturally the one with the most affordable price will be chosen, which has also made Audi go smoothly in China.

In foreign countries, Mercedes-Benz and BMW do not play with Audi because Audi is too young compared to them. Based on foreigners' understanding of cars, especially Germans, they believe that Mercedes-Benz has more experience in car manufacturing than BMW and Audi. Moreover, foreign Mercedes-Benz and BMW will not be affected by import tariffs locally and their prices are not that expensive. So it is obvious why Mercedes-Benz's sales have always been ahead of BMW and Audi in foreign countries.

How long can the Chinese market support Audi?

Due to the impact of the SAIC Audi incident in the first half of this year, Audi's performance in the Chinese market was not satisfactory. Although it made efforts in the second half of the year, it only won the championship in the Chinese market with a slight sales advantage in 2017. Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which followed closely behind, only need one step to surpass Audi. Moreover, as the localization process of Mercedes-Benz and BMW accelerates, the sales in the Chinese market will further increase in the future. How should Audi respond?

Moreover, with the development of Chinese automobile culture, consumers will gradually have a deeper understanding of cars. They will have a deeper and deeper understanding of the three German giants, and one day the level of automobile culture will be comparable to that of foreign countries. In a word, the Chinese will understand cars. This has long been confirmed in mobile phones, but the parts of cars are much more complicated than those of mobile phones, and it takes more time to study.

Audi was once saved by the official car market in China. Now, a large number of Audi official cars have been auctioned off. Hongqi has released a new brand strategy. It is believed that the government will choose Hongqi in the new era in the future official car purchases. Who can save Audi then? Although Audi is still far ahead of the second-tier luxury brands in terms of scale, this year's situation shows that Audi has no advantage over Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the Chinese market. In foreign markets, it has been left behind by more than 100,000 yuan. In the future, the gap with Mercedes-Benz and BMW may become larger and larger.

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.