The first and the last? The Chongqing Auto Show is finally back!

The 2020 Chongqing Auto Show has begun. However, as the first high-profile domestic auto show officially held after the epidemic, this year’s Chongqing Auto Show is particularly deserted compared to previous years. There is very little news about the Chongqing Auto Show in WeChat Moments, and very few corporate media are participating. .

In terms of exhibitors, more than 80 domestic and foreign automobile brands, new energy and smart car brands participated in the exhibition, with more than 1,000 models unveiled, including nearly 30 new cars for global, national and regional premieres. After a closer look, you will find that Most of the models are facelifted models this year, and truly new models are rare.

Everything is for sales

But no matter how deserted it is, I think everyone should cherish any auto show this year. The recurrence of the epidemic is likely to kill batches of auto shows that are trying to be held in the second half of the year in endless anticipation. Due to the recurring and volatile COVID-19 epidemic, it is unclear whether the Beijing Auto Show in September and the Guangzhou Auto Show in November can be held as scheduled.

In fact, exhibitors attach great importance to this auto show. The main reason for the small number of new cars being launched is the fear of recurrence of the epidemic, so they have to focus on cloud launches in the first half of the year.

Frustrated, mainstream domestic car companies hope to use the Chongqing Auto Show to sell more cars. SAIC Volkswagen, Lincoln, Changan Ford, Dongfeng Fengshen, and Dongfeng Honda have all introduced the latest models, dispatched capable personnel, and offered preferential prices.

For example, Lincoln brought the new Lincoln Aviator, a large six-seat American luxury SUV, as the leader, and the entire family of models appeared at the 2020 Chongqing Auto Show. For another example, SAIC Skoda brought the Kodiaq, Karoq, and Komik families as well as the Superb, Octavia, and Xinrui to the N3 Hall of the Chongqing International Expo Center.

It is said that during the auto show, Skoda’s booth also launched a wealth of huge discounts on car purchases and exciting interactive games. At the same time, both Dongfeng Fengshen and Dongfeng Toyota also held new car launches at the auto show.

Of course, the Global Auto Forum, the highlight of the Chongqing Auto Show, was also held as scheduled. The Automotive Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, BAIC, SAIC, Changan and Dongfeng all sent high-level officials to discuss cars. The auto industry has been looking forward to the restart and return of all this for a long time.

In any case, "selling cars" has become the main theme in Chongqing this year, and the "brand and marketing strategies" that were often praised in the past have disappeared. The organizers of the exhibition are also relatively pragmatic. In order to cater to the exhibitors' desire to sell, they have packaged the auto show into a large-scale store, with various activities emerging one after another.

Firstly, a large amount of experiential content will be added. The organizer carried out in-depth design of the scene, using elements such as water mist, mirror gallery, balloon square, and large screen to stimulate the audience's participation. At the same time, interactive content such as the "Auto Show Celebrity Competition", "Anti-Drunk Driving Theme Charity Activities", "JOYIN? CAR Car Class" and "Discover the Most Beautiful Girl" were staged on site, making the auto show an "amusement park" suitable for all ages.

Secondly, this auto show has integrated resources with multiple brand companies and issued a large number of vouchers to visitors. In addition to tens of millions of hot pot coupons, there are also oil, water, wine, air tickets, etc. Wang Wei believes that behind this is Chongqing's innovative thinking on the exhibition industry, which is to expand the exhibition scene from the exhibition hall to various places in the city, which not only meets the health and safety needs, but also shortens the distance with consumers.

Auto shows and "hot pot" should have been unrelated to each other, but now they are linked. Chongqing’s exhibition industry is trying to innovate by extending the traditional exhibition model to the “consumption season”.

The price war is a red-eye

Behind the fancy discounts, major car brands are saddled with certain sales targets, and a "price war" seems inevitable.

In this context, "hawking" has become the main theme of the Chongqing Auto Show. Inside and outside the exhibition hall, discount billboards of major automobile brands can be seen everywhere, such as "down payment 14,500," "comprehensive discount 54,000," Promotional slogans such as “Half price rush”, “Replacement subsidy up to 30,000 yuan”, “0 interest for 5 years” are everywhere.

After the silence during the epidemic, major automobile brands are gearing up and exhibiting many of their products in an effort to show off their skills at the auto show. Each booth sent a large number of sales consultants, and they even stood in the aisles handing out flyers to solicit business.

The booths of luxury brands are the most attractive, which is not unrelated to the current consumption upgrade and the increasing discounts in the luxury car market. For example, as soon as the auto show started, the Audi booth was crowded with visitors, and the on-site sales consultants were already overwhelmed.

In addition, the popularity of leading independent brand car companies is also considerable, and the discounts are also greater than those of 4S stores. Among them, Changan Automobile's CS75? PLUS and UNI-T, the first model of the new product series "Gravity", are the most eye-catching. Several consumers said that they are comparing these two models and plan to place an order during the auto show. .

However, compared with popular brands, the booths of Korean brands such as Dongfeng Yueda, Kia and Beijing Hyundai were relatively deserted. In addition, the booths of Japanese high-end brands such as Acura and Infiniti were not very popular.

What is slightly surprising is that Jeep’s current total sales in the national market are not large, but its popularity at the Chongqing Auto Show is frighteningly high. Although there are no new cars, including the Compass, Liberty Both Guang and Grand Commander were surrounded by Chongqing buyers. This kind of popularity is completely unlike a brand with monthly sales of 3,000 or 4,000 vehicles. This may also show that the Jeep brand's cognitive accumulation is its biggest capital for turning around.

Of course, Chongqing may itself be the core market of the Jeep brand. We can see that the most central advertising display board outside the gate of the Chongqing Auto Show is for Jeep. This should also be the advertising space that Jeep has invested heavily in, reflecting the importance Jeep attaches to this market.

Generally speaking, it is definitely a good thing for consumers to increase their sales efforts for the auto show. Whether it is a mainstream joint venture brand or a luxury brand, lowering prices is the key to driving upgrading of automobile consumption. It also gives consumers a good opportunity to buy bargains.

Who is next?

Looking at the Chongqing Auto Show, most brands have not lowered their participation standards due to the epidemic--of course, some brands are purely sales-oriented--this shows that the car companies themselves attach great importance to the Chongqing Auto Show. However, in the final analysis, car companies hope to have a good start in the "post-epidemic period", or to test the market conditions.

In fact, whether the Chongqing Auto Show can be successfully held is of great significance to the following Chengdu Auto Show. The reason is that from now to the end of July, more new cars will come to the market, and the previously delayed new car launches will inevitably be accelerated. At the same time, after missing almost 4 months of sales in the first half of the year, the traditional off-season of July and August will inevitably become the focus of various car companies to make up for the leaks, instead of accumulating strength for the Golden Nine and Silver Ten like in previous years, the Chengdu Auto Show will become a crucial time point. Of course, as the western market still has potential for first-time buyers, it is impossible for car companies to turn a blind eye to the Chengdu Auto Show.

As for this year’s Beijing Auto Show, I think it’s better not to have any hopes. After all, the epidemic has begun a new wave of outbreaks. It’s already good if we can avoid adding congestion to the capital.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.