Deep observation： strategic analysis of Skoda／Volkswagen／Audi SUV

　　[XCAR Deep Observation Original]

　　SUV is only one type of vehicle segmentation, why does it become the topic of today’s headlines? The reason is simple, because it attracts more and more attention and sells better and better, especially in China market. According to the latest data, from January to September, the national SUV sales reached 5,999,200, up 45.91% year-on-year, while the car sales reached 8,441,200, but the year-on-year growth was only 2.70%. It can be said that SUV is the most popular model in China market at present, and it is also the fastest-growing model, which further stimulates major car companies to increase their efforts in the field of SUV models. Skoda, Volkswagen and Audi, the three brands of Volkswagen Group, are very familiar to everyone, and they are also three brands that domestic consumers like very much. Let’s talk about the SUV strategies of these three brands in the following article.

　　Skoda brand SUV strategy

　　Since 2013, Skoda has gradually accelerated the launch of brand-new products in China market. Last year, it completed the replacement of Jingrui and Supai, and launched a brand-new brand Slogan. With the increase of sales volume, Skoda will launch more brand-new products in China market, with only three SUV/CUV models planned in China, and gradually expand the product layout in the SUV market segment.

　　Among them, Yeti, which was repositioned and listed last year, is an extremely important step in Skoda SUV strategy. Yeti aims at the hot small SUV market in recent years and further explores the SUV market segment. At the price level, Yeti is positioned in the range of 130,000-180,000 yuan, which has a great intersection with the products of the same level on the market. For products one level higher than it, the entry threshold should be 180,000-200,000. In contrast, the cost performance of Yeti is still very high.

　　This year, in order to make up for the gap of Skoda brand in the large SUV market, Kodiaq, the first medium-sized SUV model to be unveiled at Guangzhou Auto Show, will become the second SUV of Skoda in China market after Yeti. With this SUV model, Skoda will not only further improve its layout in the domestic SUV market, but also realize the seamless connection from small SUV to medium-sized SUV market and further meet the upgrading needs of consumers. So, what strength does Skoda Kodiaq have to take the lead in the fierce market competition in the future?

　　The first domestic medium-sized SUV Skoda Kodiaq was unveiled at Guangzhou Auto Show.

　　Since we talked about Skoda’s SUV strategy earlier, we have to say that Skoda is a very important car at present, which is Skoda’s first mid-level SUV model Kodiaq. Skoda Kodiaq first met us at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016. At that time, it was still in the concept car stage, and there was no brave name of Kodiaq, but it was called Vision S.

　　Six months after the concept car was unveiled, the exact time should be September 1st. Skoda’s new mid-level SUV model KODIAQ was launched in Berlin. The new car continued the style of the VISION S concept car and was built on the Volkswagen MQB modular platform.

　　Skoda KODIAQ (named after Kodiak Bear in Alaska) adopts the integrated design of headlights and front grille, and the headlights are added with LED light groups, and the air intake grille adopts an all-black hollow style. The side lines of the car body are straight and tough, and the smooth curve of the roof also reserves a certain head space for the third row. In the rear part of the car, the rear part of the car has a strong sense of hierarchy. The taillight group adopts C-shaped LED strip shape, which has a strong visual impact. The three-dimensional double tailpipe design makes the rear part more powerful and sporty.

　　In terms of body size, the length, width and height of KODIAQ are 4697/1882/1676mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2791 mm. The new car offers five-seat and seven-seat versions for consumers to choose from. In addition, the minimum weight of KODIAQ is only 1523kg because of the lightweight measures such as high strength steel and weight reduction.

　　Previously, SAIC and Skoda Motor have signed a memorandum of understanding, and it is planned that the amount of investment in China will exceed 15 billion yuan in the next five years, which will be used in SUV, new energy, automotive interconnection solutions and new modes of travel. Among them, in the SUV field, Skoda has started to invest in three factories in Ningbo, Yizheng and Shanghai to expand production capacity and carry out technical transformation. According to the production plan of Shanghai Volkswagen Skoda, the new SUV model KODIAQ will be put into production in Changsha factory.

　　Kodiaq will form strategic complementarity with Yeti to enhance brand and product positioning.

　　In the domestic automobile market, Yeti was originally sold in China in the form of import. After localization improvement, it was made in China, with a backpack spare tire design, which was obviously different from the imported version of Yeti. At present, the sales volume of Yeti has maintained a rapid growth of 10%, which is the fastest growing model of Skoda brand. At this year’s Chengdu Auto Show, Yeti officially launched the brother version, and the new car added many configurations on the basis of the previous version, selling for 159,800 yuan. Subsequently, on September 20th, the 2017 Yeti was officially launched. Together with the previously listed Brother Edition, there were 6 models, and the price range was 129.8-20.98 million yuan.

　　In order to enhance the competitiveness of products, the 2017 Yeti has adjusted the configuration of some models, among which the 1.4T DSG pioneering version will add external spare tires, leather seats and side airbags. In addition, the model will also be equipped with an 8-inch multimedia system screen; The 1.4T DSG Zunxing Edition will come standard with an 8-inch multimedia system screen. In addition, the 2017 Yeti canceled the 1.4T manual forward version. After upgrading the configuration and improving the models, Yeti’s competitiveness in the domestic joint venture SUV market has been further improved. Compared with the models of Freeman, Dongfeng Honda XR-V and Hacker of the same level, Yeti not only has obvious price advantage, but also has better comprehensive competitiveness than its competitors at the same level, and has the strength to compete with compact competitors in fuel economy, space flexibility and configuration.

　　With the continuous improvement of Yeti’s strength, the influence and reputation of Skoda brand in the SUV market will also be continuously enhanced. After the new medium-sized SUV Kodiaq officially joins the Skoda SUV camp next year, the influence of Skoda brand in the domestic SUV market will be further enhanced. In order to further expand the layout of Skoda in the domestic SUV market, Skoda will build a richer SUV product portfolio in the China market in the future. As Mr. Han Maian, President of Skoda China, revealed: In addition to Kodiaq, a large 7-seat SUV, a number of SUVs including crossover vehicles will be launched in the future, which will eventually achieve full coverage of SUV products and become a powerful guarantee for Skoda to hit 500,000 vehicles.

　　In the future, more SUVs will be pushed to further enrich SUV cars.

　　In addition to the Yeti and Kodiaq mentioned above, a few days ago, overseas media also exposed a set of imaginary maps of Skoda’s brand-new SUV. The design concept of this car comes from Skoda Jingrui, which locates the small SUV market and is expected to be officially released in 2018. Skoda’s new small SUV will be positioned under Yeti, and its main competitors in the future will be Citroen C4 Cactus and Nissan JUKE.

　　This new small SUV has not yet exposed specific parameters in terms of body size, but it is reported that it is likely to be equivalent to the current Yeti, and the next generation Yeti will be upgraded in terms of body size, forming a differential layout with the new small SUV, thus competing with hackers for market share of compact SUVs.

　　On the whole, in the field of SUV models, Skoda will gradually form a small, compact and medium-sized all-round layout in recent years, alleviating the situation that Yeti is alone at present. With the coming out of Kodiaq and brand-new small SUVs, what kind of achievements will Skoda make in the SUV market in the future? We will wait and see.