"NAC's poor reputation hit MG sales" - J.D. Power China

SOURCE: MG Enthusiast

"Nanjing Auto did not have a good reputation in China for its production of passenger cars [Dr. Songlin Mei, China general manager, J D Power] says. "Take for example its failure to successfully launch its own brand, Soyat, plus dismal sales of Fiat cars..."

This affected MG sales along with niche marketing (young people who like sporty cars) and initial lack of auto options...

patpending wrote:SOURCE: MG Enthusiast

"Nanjing Auto did not have a good reputation in China for its production of passenger cars [Dr. Songlin Mei, China general manager, J D Power] says. "Take for example its failure to successfully launch its own brand, Soyat, plus dismal sales of Fiat cars..."

This affected MG sales along with niche marketing (young people who like sporty cars) and initial lack of auto options...

He starts off with "But the biggest hindrance to MG's growth in China was its association with Nanjing Auto."

Well without Nanjing Auto it seems likely that MG wouldn't have any sales in China, it was not an association, it was Nanjing Auto that bought and brought MG to China!

Soyat was not exactly NAC's own brand either, it was a joint venture and sold so few cars that except for the people who live in and around Nanjing, hardly anyone had heard of it. It seems unlikely that it has affected the sales of MGs to the younger generation, or significant sales to any generation.

Nanjing Fiat was unsuccessful, but I'm not sure that people associate Fiat with MG - they are two foreign brands from different parts of the world and a lot of Fiat owners were very happy to "upgrade" to an MG when there was a suitable MG available. We are still waiting for the mid-range car though.

The reputation of Nanjing Auto was based mainly on it's truck sales and that was and still is quite a good reputation, the truck business is still doing very well, but of course nobody decides not to buy a Ford Focus because Ford Transits still use a live rear axle with leaf springs and drum brakes!

Looking at SAIC's sales, one car - the 750 - is doing no better than the MG3, the other car - the Roewe 550 - is selling every one they can make which currently amounts to six times the sales of the 750. The Roewe 550 is still a new model from a new company, it was listed just 1 year ago so why is it doing so well and the MG3 not so well - it's a good car that people want! Very little to do with reputation of the parent companies.

Windy wrote:

patpending wrote:SOURCE: Enthusiast

"Nanjing Auto did not have a good reputation in China for its production of passenger [Dr. Songlin Mei, China general manager, J D Power] says. "Take for example its failure to successfully launch its own brand, Soyat, plus dismal sales of Fiat cars..."

This affected sales along with niche marketing (young people who like sporty cars) and initial lack of auto options...

He starts off with "But the biggest hindrance to MG's growth in China was its association with Nanjing Auto."

Well without Nanjing Auto it seems likely that MG wouldn't have any sales in China, it was not an association, it was Nanjing Auto that bought and brought MG to China!

Soyat was not exactly NAC's own brand either, it was a joint venture and sold so few cars that except for the people who live in and around Nanjing, hardly anyone had heard of it. It seems unlikely that it has affected the sales of MGs to the younger generation, or significant sales to any generation.

Nanjing Fiat was unsuccessful, but I'm not sure that people associate Fiat with MG - they are two foreign brands from different parts of the world and a lot of Fiat owners were very happy to "upgrade" to an MG when there was a suitable MG available. We are still waiting for the mid-range car though.

The reputation of Nanjing Auto was based mainly on it's truck sales and that was and still is quite a good reputation, the truck business is still doing very well, but of course nobody decides not to buy a Ford Focus because Ford Transits still use a live rear axle with leaf springs and drum brakes!

Looking at SAIC's sales, one car - the 750 - is doing no better than the MG3, the other car - the Roewe 550 - is selling every one they can make which currently amounts to six times the sales of the 750. The Roewe 550 is still a new model from a new company, it was listed just 1 year ago so why is it doing so well and the MG3 not so well - it's a good car that people want! Very little to do with reputation of the parent companies.

I wish they would sell the 550 Sport as an MG, the Roewe brand should never have a sport version anyway. What they should do is sell the 550 Sport as the MG 5 and people will buy it.