The Chinese automotive industry is developing rapidly in sync with the Chinese economy, with a total of 154 million cars in 2014, ranking second in the world. Meanwhile, as the main battlefield for automobile sales, there are already over 20000 4S dealerships. Since around 2008, major brands have been upgrading their terminals and enhancing their brand image. As a flooring material for upgrading the image of 4S stores, floor tiles are also included in the designated or recommended procurement scope of various automobile brand OEMs.
In order to unify the image, tiles, color, style, and quality standards, various automobile brands generally designate or recommend domestic well-known tile brand champions, Nobel tiles, or professional tile brands such as Katina tiles, with quality assurance, source assurance, and delivery and transportation services, and complete tile brands.
Due to the fact that major domestic joint venture car brands mostly rely on the original color and style of foreign floor tiles, the floor tiles in the exhibition halls of various car 4S stores are mostly matte, with gray and white as the main colors, and are basically uniform and plain colors, with little major texture changes. So that consumers can better focus on car products rather than the ground or other background.
Here is an introduction to the color and style of floor tiles in 4S stores of major joint venture car brands:
1. Shanghai Volkswagen 800 * 800mm medium gray spot matte brick, with overall qualification. We currently supply brands such as Champion and Katina.
2. Shanghai General Motors Buick 800 * 800mm pure white and dark gray matte tiles, branded as Nobel, Champion, and Katina, among which the anti fouling of matte pure white tiles cannot be achieved by ordinary brands, requiring special attention.
3. Shanghai General Motors Chevrolet 800 * 800mm and 600 * 600mm medium gray polished tiles, branded as Nobel, Champion, and Katina.
4. Dongfeng Peugeot 800 * 800mm white light gray and mocha (dark coffee) matte tiles, branded as Nobel, Champion, and Katina.
5. Dongfeng Citroen 800 * 800mm medium gray and beige matte tiles, branded as Nobel and Katina.
6. Dongfeng Honda 800 * 800mm beige and medium gray matte tiles, branded as Nobel and Katina.
7. Dongfeng Yueda Kia 800 * 800mm beige, medium gray, white matte tiles, branded as Champion and Katina.
8. FAW Volkswagen 800 * 800mm medium gray spotted matte brick, with the same color as Shanghai Volkswagen, and the brand is Nobel or optional.
9. Huachen BMW 600 * 600mm medium gray coffee matte brick, branded as Champion and Marco Polo.
10. Other imported high-end or niche car brands such as BMW and Mercedes Benz mainly use 600 * 600mm matte floor tiles in their exhibition halls. Most tile brands are so-called imported brands produced by OEM, with higher prices.
With the intensification of competition in the domestic automobile market, the operating environment of 4S stores is poor, profits are declining, and more importantly, the domestic anti-corruption and anti-monopoly efforts are increasing. The original host factories no longer specify 4S store decoration tiles in principle. However, 4S store showroom tiles are different from general public engineering tiles and home decoration tiles due to their color and style. Therefore, although the host factories do not specify or even recommend them, there are still very few tile brands available for supply at any time, mainly Nobel, Champion, and Katina. Of course, the opportunities and rights for 4S store owners and construction units to compare and freely choose have to some extent broken the hidden rule of corruption in the industry, which is dominated solely by the host factory.
Due to the rapid development of the domestic ceramic tile industry, the quality of ceramic tiles has been reliably guaranteed. Ceramic tile brands with brand management awareness can deeply understand, research, and seize this segmented market. Katina Ceramic Tiles is an active participant in this niche market and hopes to become a leader in this segment.
