The 21st Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition opened a few days ago. Xinhua news agency
China’s automobile import and export grew rapidly. The picture shows the logistics base where cars are stored at Xi ‘an International Port Station in Shaanxi. Xinhua news agency
School-enterprise cooperation in Chongqing to train new energy vehicle maintenance talents. Xinhua news agency
At the 2023 China 5G+ Industrial Internet Conference held recently, the audience was experiencing a new energy vehicle. Photo by Liu Kun/Bright Picture
Taizhou, Zhejiang Province launched an automobile repair skill competition. Bright pictures/vision china
[Economic Interface]
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and other nine departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Automobile Aftermarket" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), and put forward seven policy measures, including optimizing the circulation environment of automobile parts, promoting the upgrading of automobile maintenance services, and optimizing automobile consumption financial services.
The Opinions make it clear that by 2025, the scale of the automotive aftermarket will grow steadily, the market structure will be continuously optimized, and the standardization level will be significantly improved. The aftermarket will play a more prominent role in the automotive industry chain, value chain and innovation chain, and the application of new products and technologies will be more popular, the development of new formats and models will be more mature, the industry management system will be more perfect, and the automotive use environment will be continuously optimized to better meet the diversified automobile consumption needs of consumers.
"Automobile aftermarket" refers to a series of trading activities around various subsequent needs and services in the process of automobile after-sales use from sale to scrapping, involving many sub-sectors such as automobile maintenance, automobile maintenance, automobile supplies, automobile finance, used cars and car rental. At present, what is the development status of China’s automobile aftermarket? What are the opportunities and challenges? How to promote the high-quality development of automobile aftermarket? The reporter conducted an interview on this.
1. After the number of cars reached 330 million, the market consumption potential continued to be released.
"It is a very happy thing to own a car of my own. As a’ donkey friend’, I like go on road trip and enjoy the scenery along the way." Some time ago, Su Xiaoming, who works in a university in Beijing, bought a domestic car and shouted "Great experience".
Nowadays, as a mass consumer product, cars have already "flown into the homes of ordinary people".
By the end of September 2023, the number of motor vehicles in China had reached 430 million, including 330 million cars; There are 520 million motorists, including 480 million motorists. In the first three quarters of this year, 18.17 million vehicles were newly registered nationwide, up 4.4% year-on-year.
With the continuous increase of car ownership in China, the aftermarket formed around car use has become an important part of car consumption.
"The automotive aftermarket covers a wide range, including auto parts circulation, maintenance services, decoration and beauty, used car trading, as well as auto racing, auto culture, auto consumption financial services and other fields." Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of China Automobile Industry Association, said in an interview with this reporter that at present, the overall development of China’s automobile aftermarket is good, and relevant policy measures have provided strong support for it.
Judging from the second-hand car trading, in the first three quarters of this year, China’s second-hand car market remained active, and local public security traffic control departments handled a total of 25.05 million motor vehicle transfer registrations, including 23.31 million motor vehicle transfer registrations, accounting for 93.1%.
In addition, in recent years, automobile museums, automobile cinemas and other projects have sprung up everywhere, and colorful and diverse automobile cultural activities such as automobile theme exchange activities, theme exhibitions, fairs and carnivals have been actively carried out, further popularizing automobile cultural knowledge and creating a strong automobile cultural atmosphere. At the same time, some comprehensive automobile culture theme parks integrating automobile races, automobile services, outdoor leisure and parent-child activities have quickly become popular, and become online celebrity attractions for tourists from all over the world to "punch in".
Some camping enthusiasts drive to major camping camps, set up a tent, get close to nature and enjoy a leisurely and comfortable time.
At the same time, automobile racing activities are also getting more and more attention. According to reports, the China Society of Automotive Engineering has specially launched the Pure Electric Formula Car Competition for College Students, which not only helps to train talents of new energy vehicles, but also helps to open up a new path to the automotive aftermarket.
In view of new fields and new scenes, the Opinions proposes to build a multi-level automobile race pattern, accelerate the development of the traditional classic car industry, support the construction of camps such as self-driving caravans, and enrich the automobile cultural experience.
"Overall, the development prospects of China’s automotive aftermarket are improving." Xu Haidong believes that at present, although China’s automotive aftermarket is still dominated by the 4S shop model, third-party brand enterprises are accelerating their development, and Internet companies have also entered the market. With the increasing number of cars, the value of the automobile aftermarket will become more prominent.
Luo Lei, Assistant President of china automobile dealers association, said that in recent years, the scale of China’s automobile aftermarket has shown double-digit growth, and it is expected that the scale of China’s automobile aftermarket will continue to expand in the future. Stimulating the vitality of the automobile aftermarket has obvious effects on further promoting automobile consumption and stimulating economic growth.
2. The problem of "small, scattered and chaotic" still has industry pain points that need to be broken.
"Not long ago, I washed my car in a roadside shop. Not only was I repeatedly promoted to get a card, but I was even’ suggested’ to replace tires and other accessories. The routine was too deep." Wang Qingbin, a post-90 s car owner, said that the management level and service quality of some car wash shops and repair shops need to be improved, which failed the trust of consumers.
Like Wang Qingbin, many car owners have had similar experiences. While people enjoy the convenience and happiness brought by cars, they also have various troubles from time to time. At present, the supply system of auto parts is not perfect, the level of vehicle maintenance is uneven, and the financial procedures of automobile consumption are complicated. Some people spit out: "It is difficult to repair a car, but expensive to maintain it", "Services cut corners, and various fees are charged" …
Xu Haidong admits that at present, some consumers choose to maintain in automobile 4S shops, which is more expensive; There are also some consumers who choose to repair in "small, scattered and chaotic" roadside shops, and the quality is difficult to be guaranteed.
"The fundamental solution to these problems is to promote the high-quality development of the automotive aftermarket." Xue Xu, an associate professor at Peking University University of Economics, said that the service level and quality of the automobile aftermarket are directly related to the experiences and feelings of hundreds of millions of car owners and consumers, and are also an important link affecting automobile consumption.
Experts believe that with the rapid growth of car ownership, consumers’ demand for related services will be more diverse. For the automotive aftermarket, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. It is necessary to focus on the key areas and key links of the automobile aftermarket, focus on solving the outstanding problems faced in the development of the industry, tap the consumption potential of the automobile aftermarket according to local conditions, and enrich the products and services of the automobile aftermarket.
In this regard, the "Opinions" proposes to standardize the circulation order of automobile aftermarket parts, formulate and implement relevant standards for the circulation of automobile aftermarket parts, and create a transparent, orderly and efficient circulation environment for parts. Actively expand the distribution channels of auto parts, and build a multi-channel and multi-format auto parts distribution network to meet the diversified needs of consumers for auto aftermarket accessories. Guide automobile manufacturers to continuously improve the after-sales service network, strengthen personnel management training such as after-sales maintenance, and provide standardized and convenient vehicle maintenance services for car owners.
"The Opinions is the first guiding document issued by China for the automotive aftermarket, which plays a very important role in the development of the automotive aftermarket." Xu Haidong said that in the future, in addition to the automobile 4S shop system, some third-party automobile service enterprises will develop one after another, providing services with low prices and certain quality guarantee, which will form a benign complement with 4S shops, so that consumers can rest assured that they can consume and promote the automobile aftermarket. Achieve high-quality development.
3. Consumer demand is more diversified, and financial services are constantly optimized.
In October this year, Liu Yantao, a young man from Shandong, rented an off-road vehicle with several friends and traveled to Lhasa by car. "I didn’t expect that renting a car was so convenient. We were very lucky. We rented a new car and the rent was more cost-effective. We talked and laughed all the way and had a good time." Liu Yantao said.
In recent years, a large number of auto credit, leasing and insurance companies have developed rapidly, providing consumers with more competitive products and services.
At the same time, some consumers have reported that the service quality of related industries is uneven, and the convenience of auto finance still needs to be improved. The business scope of some auto financing companies is narrow, and it is difficult to meet the diversified loan needs of consumers, so it is necessary to further expand the business scope and increase the business varieties. In the long run, we should give full play to the leverage of finance to better promote automobile consumption and circulation.
In this regard, the "Opinions" proposed to optimize automobile consumption financial services. Encourage financial institutions to optimize financial services for automobile use and consumption, and standardize the financing of automobile accessories under the premise of legal compliance and controllable risks. Develop automobile financial leasing and standardize the financial leasing business of sale and leaseback mode. Guide financial institutions to optimize resource allocation and business layout, and increase credit support for automobile consumption in rural areas. Encourage payment service providers to increase the single payment amount for specific scenarios of online car consumption under the premise of preventing and controlling risks.
In Xue Xu’s view, optimizing automobile consumption financial services will bring more benefits to consumers. Automobile consumption has a large volume, sufficient potential and strong industrial driving effect. Promoting automobile consumption has a positive effect on stabilizing China’s consumption market and promoting the high-quality development of industrial chain.
Experts said that it is necessary to firmly grasp the new situation of automobile market development, conform to the new trend of automobile consumption, focus on promoting the high-quality development of automobile aftermarket, focus on establishing and improving institutional mechanisms, cultivate and expand business entities, optimize the supply of products and services, develop new formats and models, promote the scale growth, structural optimization and quality improvement of aftermarket, and provide strong support for stabilizing and expanding automobile consumption and services to build a new development pattern.
(Reporter Liu Kun)
Source: Guangming Daily