"Yang" brand solo dance high-end, domestic brands want a sword sealing throat
The editors have been known in the industry as "China's first year of lubricants" in 2004, and many large-scale manufacturers will compete in this year. Especially in the high-end market, foreign brands such as Shell, Mobil, and BP who have been “sleepers†are most likely to encounter powerful challenges from domestic brands. A Chinese and foreign oil war is inevitable.
For Chinese consumers, they will be the beneficiaries regardless of the outcome of the final Sino-foreign oil lubricants. For China's lubricants industry, the days of "Yanyou" will become more and more important.
With the rapid development of China's auto industry, China has become the world's third largest consumer of lubricants. This giant cake has attracted almost all internationally renowned lubricant brands. They have entered China through alliances with multinational car manufacturers and have almost monopolized the domestic high-end automotive lubricant market.
Reversing the passive situation of high-end automotive lubricant products has become a top priority for domestic companies. When local brands represented by the Great Wall, Kunlun, and Unity seek to break through and work hard, they also shoulder the heavy responsibility of “raising up the banner of domestic brands and fighting against foreign brandsâ€.
Domestic brands account for 80% of the market but only 20% of profits
According to authoritative data, the total domestic lubricant consumption in 2002 exceeded 440 million tons, total sales exceeded 22 billion yuan, and will exceed 30 billion yuan this year. It is predicted that by the year 2005, the consumption of cars alone will reach 9 billion yuan. Lubricants are shifting from industrial products to daily consumer goods and even placed on shelves of large supermarkets.
In terms of market profits, although high-end lubricants currently account for only 30% of the entire vehicle oil market, profits have greatly exceeded the total profit of low-end products. Moreover, people in the industry expect that by 2005 high-end oil will account for about 48% of the entire vehicle oil; in the next three to five years, the annual growth rate of high-end oil will exceed the current 3% to 5%. The huge lube market has caused coveted domestic and foreign companies.
This market is precisely the soft underbelly of local brands. Due to the lack of competition in local products, the imported products with the “Ocean Size†seem to have formed an “offensive and defensive allianceâ€: price is almost the same and has remained high, the profit margin is far Far better than local brands. This alliance has made great contributions to foreign brands seizing the Chinese lubricants market. At the same time, many customers will also be asked to import high-grade oil, because in their eyes, domestic oil products are only low-end products.
Therefore, such statistical results have emerged. Some 4,500 domestic lubricant companies, including the Great Wall, Kunlun, and Unicom, have lost to foreign brands such as Meifu, Shell, Cadiz, and BP. Domestic brands account for nearly 80 percent of the total. % of market share but only 20% of profits.
Local companies took up the Great Wall to target the high-end market
This status quo, of course, is difficult to accept domestic lubricant companies. Among the domestic lubricating oil brands, the Great Wall, Kunlun, and Unification are generally considered to be the companies that can compete with foreign brands most. They have already hailed the banner of “yangyou oil†and their goals are very consistent. It is to become a Chinese lubricant. The brand's "day number one."
Judging from the current market, Great Wall Lubricants can be said to have the most strength. This is based on the brand of Sinopec. Last year, sales reached more than a dozen billion, accounting for 5% of the high-end market share.
The plan for the Great Wall is to increase its share of the high-end oil market to 30%-40%. To this end, the Great Wall played four ace cards: First, it focused on the launch of the Jinjixing series of high-grade lubricants. Second, it began to vigorously construct the three major production bases. The third was to establish the first lubricant chain stores nationwide, and the fourth was to promote high-end automobiles. The strategic cooperation of the repair center expands the high-end market.
More importantly, behind the Great Wall, there are more than 24,000 petrol stations throughout China, and this huge available terminal sales network will be the “killer†of the Great Wall winning market. It is understood that the Great Wall is advancing its ambitious plan - "on-grid" to attack the end market, to achieve a win-win market for lubricant sales system and fuel sales system. At present, the petrol stations of Sinopec all over the country can already see the display cabinets of Great Wall Lubricants.
"Kunlun" took over RMB 150 million and won the CCTV Standard King
Compared with Sinopec’s Great Wall, the time that Kunlun Lubricating Oil Company, which is backed by China’s oil companies, is actually changing is even earlier. In December 2000, after the establishment of PetroChina Lubricant Branch, it consolidated all the lubricant brands that were distributed to various subsidiaries of the company, and launched a new brand in November of the next year. lubricating oil. Liao Guoqin, General Manager of PetroChina Lubricant Branch declared that he hopes to use Kunlun for the first time in five years.
However, Kunlun Lubricant has suffered losses for three consecutive years due to problems in previous operations and many other issues. Since the beginning of this year, "Kunlun" has suddenly made a big splash, spearheaded the high-end market, and re-created the image of the brand in full swing.
On the streets and high-speed roads in Beijing, "Kunlun" billboards stand tall; Beijing Kunming's "Kunlun" advertising features rolling dials; the first "Kunlun Oil Products Store" quietly opened in Beijing; at the same time, Kunlun marketing personnel organized six major marketing centers nationwide. On the November 16, 2004 CCTV advertising bid, Kunlun spent more than a dollar, and won the CCTV standard this year for 150 million yuan.
Build the largest supply and marketing network "unified" target of 20 billion
Also not to be underestimated is the unification of small packaging lubricants. The Beijing-based petrochemical company which originated from a private background was the first to realize the brand image of local lubricants companies.
At the end of 2002, it unified the CCTV Group's bidding for a golden segment advertisement and it was a startling success. It took eight months of advertising time at a high price of 64.29 million yuan. At the beginning of the new year of 2003, after the CCTV news broadcast, a slogan “More Lubricated, Less Friction†promoted the “unified†lubricant brand to millions of households. Uniform market sales have skyrocketed. This year's increase is as high as 300%. At the same time, the unified Marshal Li Jia also shouted out the slogan of “The Lubricant Industry Boss Who Gives Meâ€.
At present, Uni-President has built the largest supply and sales network for all cities and counties in 31 provinces and cities across the country. This year, sales have surpassed the Great Wall, reaching 1.25 billion yuan, accounting for 7% of the high-end market. Next year, the unified minimum sales target is 2 billion yuan.
Foreign brands adopt Terminal Union joint venture depot to designate "Yanyou"
In the face of the powerful offensive of domestic lubricant companies, multinational corporations have chosen not to face up to the challenge, but to evade their edge and attack it with their long attack.
On November 2nd, Exxon Mobil became the exclusive oil supplier of Mercedes Benz Service Center operated by East Star (Mercedes East China Agent) in East China. This cooperation stems from a memorandum of understanding signed between ExxonMobil and Mercedes-Benz China Co., Ltd. in April 2002, which established the priority of ExxonMobil as its oil supply partner.
In fact, this kind of implementation of the terminal alliance method is not only the above example. According to industry sources, when the Chinese auto market, especially the car market, is controlled by foreign brands, the lube oil market, which is an important subsidiary product of automobiles, is bound to be affected by this auto market. The most important reason is self-evident. Foreign brands account for Leading automakers will be "selfless and supportive of foreign brands of lubricants."
It is an indisputable fact that almost all of the foreign-made joint-venture cars are shipped on "accompanying documents." In the special maintenance factories of branded cars, you can only use lubricants of certain foreign brands that have been "designated", even if they do not have this. As a rule, you will also be advised to use a foreign brand. Otherwise, some of the vehicle accidents and damages caused may be at your own risk.
Lubricants OEM market nepotism has become a unique scenery: Germany Volkswagen use is Germany's Flowserve lubricants; South Korea Hyundai Motor uses South Korea's SK lubricants, Japan's Toyota Motor is Japan's early light lubricants ... ...
As China's automobile sales, especially private car consumption, show a growth in blow-out, the tendency of the lubricant industry to take a ride has become increasingly apparent.
Farewell to the "Yanyou" era, domestic companies have already sounded a horn
Since the beginning of 2000, domestic lubricants have had a tendency to “rise their headsâ€, but in June this year it was the beginning of the declaration of their true foreign brands. According to the information obtained from merchants and auto repair shops selling lubricants all over the country, it has become clear that consumers who have asked for domestic lubricants and actively requested replacement of domestic lubricants have significantly increased since June.
From the sensitive “wind vane†of display containers by sellers, it can be seen that many domestic lubricants such as Uniform, Kunlun, etc. have been introduced into the market, and the situation of market sales shows that domestic lubricants have always taken the lead in the low-end market, with a share of 60%. In the past, the share of domestic lubricants in the high-end market, which was very weak in the past, has also risen from less than 10% last year to 20% this year, and is approaching 30%.
The most exciting news for local lubricants companies is that this year, many domestic auto makers are breaking through the original supporting measures of manufacturers, increasing the diversity of lubricant selection. In the past, Sino-foreign joint ventures had "advanced papers" in the automobile factory. The supporting measures and practices of owners using certain foreign brands of lubricants are being broken.
Reporters observe that oil is not always suitable for China’s national conditions
Nowadays, the view that "Oil is not necessarily suitable for China's national conditions" is spreading in the industry. Some people in the industry summed up four reasons to demonstrate:
First of all, due to the fact that the service life of automobiles in China is 2-3 years longer than that of developed countries, and the general traffic congestion in Chinese cities accelerates the aging of engines, together with the fact that China's sand and dust are more likely to cause oil route obstruction, the purity of lubricants is required. Higher, and "Yangyou" is tested in a relatively good environment in Europe and the United States, so it is often encountered in China;
Secondly, local products are researched and developed in accordance with China's actual conditions, taking full account of the national conditions, vehicle conditions, climate, road conditions and many other factors, especially the breakdown of product efficacy, which is even more unmatched by international brands;
Third, most international brands have been using the "Chong Yang" psychology of some Chinese consumers after entering the Chinese market, emphasizing the value of the brand's outside, and ignoring the consumers' actual feelings;
In addition, international brands generally overstate brand value in the Chinese market, and few international brands advertise large-scale advertisements and rarely communicate in depth with Chinese consumers. As Chinese consumers gradually become rational and mature, and local brands pay more and more attention to brand communication, international brands are bound to experience a sharp drop in sales.
At present, many manufacturers have specified the use of domestic lubricants. For example, the lubricants designated by the Beijing-based Shenlong Automobile Co., Ltd. are the domestically produced Nanhai brand, while SAIC, FAW, and FAW have all started to designate the Great Wall. Kunlun and other domestic lubricants.