Many people think that 2020 is a precarious and stormy year. However, they ignore the principle of every cloud has a silver lining.
On September 9, when presiding over the 8th Meeting of the Central Committee of Finance and Economics, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed the need to promote the construction of a modern logistics system as a whole and provide strong support for the construction of a new development pattern. The logistics field has received unprecedented attention from the government, which undoubtedly brought great encouragement to the automobile dealers industry, and to a certain extent soothed the heavy losses to the industry caused by the factory shutdown, 4S shop shutdown and automobile market shutdown caused by the epidemic.
From November 17 to 19, more than 3,000 Chinese automobile dealers gathered in Suzhou to witness and participate in this year's industry event, China Automobile Dealers Industry Convention & Expo. The theme of this annual meeting is "work together and believe in the future". The purpose of the meeting is to encourage colleagues from all walks of life to work together to overcome difficulties and to firmly believe in the future. Led by a song "Ode to the Motherland", the conference kicked off.
In his opening speech at the development forum held on the 18th, Shen Jinjun, President of China Automobile Dealers Association, said that the world is currently undergoing a great change in a century. The spread of the epidemic in the world has accelerated the profound changes in international politics and economy. Facing the complicated and changeable situation, accelerating the formation of a new development pattern with domestic large circulation as the main body and domestic and international double circulation promoting each other has become the inevitable choice and inherent requirement in the process of China's economy's transition from high-speed growth to high-quality development. Expanding domestic demand has become the strategic basis of the new development pattern. To implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand well, we need to give full play to the basic role of consumption. Only by fully releasing China's ultra-large-scale market advantages and consumption potential can the domestic economic cycle be unblocked and high-quality economic development be promoted. Automobile consumption is undoubtedly the key area for steady growth and expansion of domestic demand.
Shen Zhanjun further pointed out that this year's automobile market has stabilized its basic position under the dual challenges and difficulties of downward pressure and the impact of the epidemic. It is extremely difficult, but it should also be clearly recognized that the stock characteristics of China's automobile market are obvious. Although the market has great space and potential in the medium to long term, the problems of market structure adjustment and kinetic energy conversion are still prominent at this stage. It is expected that the automobile market will continue to operate at a low speed for a period of time to come. At the same time, the diversification of demand and the change of consumption habits are forcing the accelerated change of automobile distribution channels.
In response, Shen Jinjun encouraged the dealers with the view of "firmly believing that the channel is the king": “Personally, I think that the channel will not die out for a long time to be expected in the future. Because the core of the channel is service, and the ultimate judgment of whether the channel is competitive depends on the efficiency and the experience and satisfaction of consumers. As for whether it is a direct or authorized operation, a combination or separation of sales and after-sales, a single-brand operation or multiple-brand operation, it is only a matter of different models. However, we hope that the dealers will face the future, embrace the change actively, drive the efficiency improvement with numbers, utilize big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, and cooperate across borders to improve the competitiveness and attract the consumers”.
In fact, since the beginning of this year, China Automobile Dealers Association's hard work has been indispensable to the elimination of the "long-standing problem" that has plagued the automobile dealers industry for many years and the timely introduction of a series of central and local relief measures for automobile consumption. A number of research reports and suggestions on the industry's survival status received great attention from the government and positive responses from the manufacturers, and eventually led to the introduction of the tax reform policy for second-hand cars, which has been called for by the industry for many years, thus obtaining a more fair and reasonable favorable policy environment for the industry's development. Next, there will be a number of major positive news in the field of automobile distribution, and the policy barriers that restrict the sustainable and healthy development of the automobile dealers industry are expected to be completely removed during the year.
Ren Xingzhou, former director of the Institute of Market Economy of the Development Research Center of the State Council and a researcher and doctoral supervisor, put forward his own views from a strategic perspective on the theme of "development and reform of the automobile dealers industry under the new development pattern". She pointed out that the dealers field is a basic, leading and strategic industry. The construction of a modern dealers system is of great significance to the construction of a new development pattern with the domestic large circulation as the main body and the domestic and international double circulation promoting each other. When it comes to automobile distribution, its role will be further highlighted. First, it will expand domestic demand and promote the formation of key industries with a strong domestic market; Second, the core industry to satisfy the urban and rural residents' pursuit of a better life; Third, it is an important industry that directly faces consumers and grasps the market trend; Fourth, the pivotal industry to realize C2M (customized production on demand) is the critical industry that determines the efficiency of distribution and thus the efficiency of the supply chain and even the whole industrial chain; Fifth, to promote international trade and participate in industries indispensable to the international cycle. In addition, automobile distribution is also a hub for integrating the information flows of business, logistics and capital flows, and a front-line position for adopting digital economy and modern information technology to promote business model innovation.
Ren Xingzhou suggested that in order to better serve the construction of the new development pattern, the field of automobile distribution should be reformed from several aspects, namely, from high-speed growth to high-quality development; Conform to the trend of consumption upgrading, focus on quality brands, and promote the green, healthy and safe development of consumption; Innovative business models; Expand the urban and rural consumption market; Improve the service level and distribution quality; And change from purchase management to usage management.
The international link with the theme of "A bosom friend afar makes distance near." is the reserved track of every annual meeting of China's automobile dealers industry. However, due to the global spread of the epidemic this year, the international friends in the automobile dealers industry are prevented from gathering in Suzhou. However, leaders of Automobile Dealers Industry Associations from the European Union, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, Canada, Brazil and Russia sent congratulatory messages to the conference site via the cloud end. In response to the crisis brought by the epidemic to the automobile dealers industry, Schmidt, President of the CECRA, particularly stressed that customer relationship and cost control are eternal themes for dealers.
Song Yingjie, a second-level researcher at the Automobile Dealers Division of the Ministry of Commerce's Consumption Promotion Department, said in a keynote speech on "Construction of the Automobile Dealers System under the New Policies" that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee reiterated the need to strengthen the basic role of consumption in economic development, and proposed to promote the transition of consumer goods such as automobiles from purchase management to use management, which pointed out the direction for the promotion of automobile distribution and consumption. Next, the Ministry of Commerce will, in accordance with the unified deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, continue to focus on the whole life cycle of automobiles, seize the key links such as new cars, second-hand cars and scrap cars, focus on solving the outstanding problems that restrict the automobile dealers industry, accelerate the revision of the Measures for the Distribution of Second-hand Cars, further improve the automobile distribution regulation system, and promote the change from automobile purchase management to use management.
Bai Jinghua, deputy director of the Network Transaction Supervision and Administration Department of the State Administration of Market Supervision, delivered a keynote speech on "optimizing the consumption environment and continuously stimulating the consumption potential of the automobile industry". Bai Jinghua pointed out that with the continuous advancement of urbanization and the continuous improvement of residents' income level, the demand for automobiles will continue to show an increasing trend in the future. Therefore, to protect consumer rights and interests in the field of automobile consumption is of great significance to regulate the development of the industry, stimulate the vitality of consumption, expand consumer demand, and promote the formation of a strong automobile consumption market.
The industry association aims to guide the healthy development of industry self-discipline. In order to achieve high-quality and sustainable development of the automobile industry, under the initiative of China Automobile Dealers Association, representatives of 17 dealer enterprises solemnly issued a declaration of industry self-discipline to the society. At the same time, under the guidance of the leadership of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the China Automobile Dealers Association has issued the "Guidelines on Automobile Distribution and Regulation (Trial)" for public supervision.
Xiao Zhengsan, Vice President and Secretary General of China Automobile Dealers Association, read out the declaration of industry self-discipline at the scene: "In the process of automobile distribution and service, we should adhere to the law and compliance, integrity management, to provide consumers with quality services, improve consumer satisfaction, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and create a harmonious and win-win order of automobile consumption to ensure the healthy development of the automobile consumption market, to promote the construction of a new order of automobile distribution, and to provide favorable support for the new development pattern of domestic and international double circulation and mutual promotion".
Bai Jinghua highly praised the declaration of industry self-discipline and "Guidelines on Auto Distribution and Regulation (Trial)". She said: "Enterprise self-discipline and industry self-government are important parts of the modernization of the national governance system and governance capability. They have demonstrated the industry's courage and determination to accept challenges in the future. Enterprises in the automobile consumption field should always maintain the initial intention of honest management, earnestly fulfill the main responsibility, and strive to closely link the operating efficiency with the rights and interests of consumers and social and public interests. They should strictly abide by laws and regulations in their business activities, uphold honest and creditable business ethics, and set an example of honest management. In particular, they should constantly improve the quality of service, pay attention to consumers' demands and opinions, handle consumer complaints in a timely manner, and effectively resolve conflicts and disputes with consumers so that consumers can have a greater sense of ownership. "
Xu Changming, Deputy Director of the State Information Center, shared two judgements in his speech on "Analysis and Expectation of Automobile Market". First, the market recovered to a high degree in 2020, and the rate of recovery far exceeded the industry expectation, which was the result of superposition of multiple favorable factors. Second, under the combined action of long-term rules and short-term factors, the passenger car market in 2021 is likely to achieve double-digit growth.
This year's epidemic has accelerated the process of digitalization in the automobile dealers industry. In response, Zhong Xiangping, Vice President of Tencent, said that the challenge brought by the epidemic to automobile sales has made many enterprises more aware that digital tools and operation methods are indispensable and necessary to keep in touch with users. Recently, many dealers and auto companies have increased their digital investment, and the construction of a full-channel online and offline user service system has become an important proposition for enterprises. In the process of building a user-centered distribution service system, digital technology will bring two major aids, one is to create a global reach marketing system, and the other is to deepen the connection to realize the closed-loop service.
With the expansion of second-hand car trading scale and the loosening of policies, it plays an increasingly important role in the whole automobile distribution field. In order to promote the integrity system construction of the second-hand car industry, create an honest and transparent second-hand car market environment, and implement the protection of consumers' rights and interests, China Automobile Dealers Association, relying on its resources and advantages in data information, channel market, platform system and other aspects, has developed and constructed the second-hand car information service platform CADA Lemon Search, which is dedicated to providing a transparent, authoritative, comprehensive and real-time service solution for the historical information of vehicles. The purpose is to create an honest and transparent second-hand car market environment, promote the convenient transaction of second-hand cars, and further promote the healthy development of the second-hand car market in China, and promote the distribution and consumption of the car market. Diao Jianshen, Vice President of China Automobile Dealers Association, and Gao Ling, Secretary-General of China Automobile Dealers Association Automotive Consumer Research Professional Committee, together with representatives of dealer groups, second car dealers and car companies, jointly launched CADA Lemon Search, a second car information service platform.
Combating the epidemic is undoubtedly an unavoidable topic in 2020. In this year's fight against the epidemic, auto dealers enterprises have the courage to take social responsibility. China Automobile Dealers Association commended the "Social Welfare Model". Dai Deming, President of Hengxin Automobile Group in Wuhan, won the title of "Anti-Epidemic Pioneer". During the epidemic, Dai Deming bravely rushed to the front line of prevention and control, led the enterprises to do their own prevention and control well, and actively reached out at the same time to provide medical and nursing personnel with material support and financial support for food, clothing, housing, transportation and urban prevention and control work. At the same time, under the stable prevention and control of the epidemic, Dai Deming responded to the national "six stability and six guarantees", and actively resumed production and business. The enterprises in the automobile dealers industry gave back to the society with great love and assumed due responsibilities. This is also the power of an example, and also reflects the great love that Chinese automobile dealers have when the people and society need it.
