Japanese auto makers fighting back to

　　According to rough statistics, in the South China market, market share of Japanese brands is close to 70% while that of Europe and American brands is less than 30%. Moreover, from the current sales performances, the gap will be fatherly widened in the future.

　　However, the dominance of the Japanese car enterprises in South China has been threatened since the end of last year.

　　In November 2009, Volkswagen announced its Southern strategy in China, planning to open up the southern market in which it has no advantage. To 2018, Volkswagen will invest 4 billion euros in the South China market and boost annual sales from the current 150,000 to 500,000. Besides, Volkswagen plans to build two new factories in Guangdong, each of which has a production capacity of more than 200,000. The two new plant s will be put into use in 2013.

　　Although in the global market, Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors has alternatively become the NO.1 in recent years, in the South China market, the JV brands in China of GM and Volkswagen can never shake Toyota’s dominance. Toyota has been firmly controlled this China’s most affluent market since it succeed in Honda’s place in the year of 2006. From this angle, difference between FAW- Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen exactly reflects their distinct status in South China.

　　Though Volkswagen brands are influential in China, the charisma of the latecomer Toyota in South China is obviously difficult for Volkswagen brands to match in the short term. Because of the first JV in China FAW Toyota, the models introduced to China mostly came in through the Pearl River Delta. The advantages such as the excellent air conditioning and low failure rate made FAW Toyota well known to consumers. In the four most important markets of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan, Toyota brands have been occupying the first position, which demonstrates the great appeal of Toyota brands in the first-line market evidently. Moreover, in second and third tier markets such as Meizhou, Qingyuan, Shaoguan and Shantou, only Toyota brands has been taken into consideration by consumers. By the strong market holdings and good user reputation, the sales of Toyota South China occupies nearly one-third of the national market.

　　It is worth mentioning that the first model introduced to China was Toyota Crown which was once all the rage. The influence and visibility of crown in the southern China was especially extraordinary in 1980s and 1990s. The new Crown will still have a significant contribution to the consolidation of Toyota’s dominance in south China market. In addition, according to the recent the amount of vehicle license plates in Guangzhou region, with a proportion of 46.58%, new crown occupied the absolute leading position in terms of Medium and large cars. Besides, the market share of the new Crown in Shenzhen reached 40.7% compared to the models of the same level. In February, the registration volume of new Crown listed NO.1 in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen, topping Audi A6L.

　　Compared to the configuration of Volkswagen models, Toyota has formed complete product chain in China with 23 models of different series. Toyota has a perfect product line from advanced car Crown to senior cars Reiz and Camry, from mid-class car Corolla to the economy cars new Vios and Yaris as well as from SUVs such as RAV4 and the Highlander to luxury car Lexus.

　　Nevertheless, confronted with the threat of German auto brands, Japanese auto manufacturers are still carrying out campaigns to expand the channels and increase marketing efforts. For example, the channels of Nissan have been divided to second-line and third-line market segments. The concessions launched by FAW Toyota directly promoted the sales in March in South China market to 12,141 units, accounting for 30% of the national sales.

　　(Translator: Yalong/Jessie)

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　　http://auto.sohu.com/20100512/n272084555.shtml