A letter from the "Jiangsu Province Automobile Trading Management Association ("Jiangsu Automobile Association") made Shanghai GM a public opinion.
On September 7, Jiangsu Automobile Association issued a letter on the official website of the Jiangsu Chevrolet dealership to SAIC-GM. It pointed out that the Chevrolet brand suffered losses in the vast majority of 4S stores in Jiangsu Province, and some faced bankruptcy, and the manufacturers' business policies, pressure behavior, and model price reduction were the main factors.
Under the new normal of the automobile market, the high inventory of dealers and the loss of selling cars are common phenomena. This is not the case with Jiangsu and Chevrolet. However, according to the statement of Jiangsu Jiangsu Automobile Association, the situation of Chevrolet dealers is much more severe. “There are 72 Chevrolet dealerships in Jiangsu Province. According to our survey data, the inventory index has reached 1.5 on the warning line, and the inventory index of some Chevrolet dealers has exceeded 3.” Chen Ning, deputy secretary general of Jiangsu Automobile Association, told reporters .
However, as of the press release of the Economic Observer, SAIC-GM has not made a public statement on this matter. A public relations official of the company told reporters that in their opinion, the Jiangsu Automobile Association is not an official organization, and the information transmitted is Inaccurate. However, the Jiangsu Automobile Association also revealed to reporters: "We are sending a letter in the attitude of being responsible for the dealers. If there is anything untrue, SAIC GM can come to the court."
It is worth pondering that the “FAW Toyota Dealer Incident” that was raging last year also came from the hands of the Jiangsu Automobile Association. It has sent a letter to FAW Toyota four times in a row, asking FAW Toyota dealers to solve the problem of dealers’ survival difficulties. With the high-profile intervention of the China Automobile Dealers Association, FAW Toyota introduced a dealer compensation measure and finally came to an end. As a domestic mainstream joint venture brand, what kind of problems did SAIC-GM Chevrolet dealers encounter?
High inventory, network outlet Xiao Zhang (a pseudonym) is a general salesman of a Chevrolet dealership in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. In addition to his recent duty in the store, he also has to go out of the store to distribute promotional leaflets to the streets and lanes. The scope of activities is about 2 km in the shop. The scope. A few of Zhang’s colleagues, like him, took turns to go out and “take the passengers”. In fact, guests do not have to walk into the store, from the banner hanging above the door of the store will see the "Mai Rui Bao models up to 40,000, Cruze and other models discount 20,000" information.
For this group of sales people, going out is the best way they can think of, and they didn't do it about two months ago. It is understood that the store's current publicity expenses for the store is borne by the store itself. SAIC GM's business policy in the second half of this year cut this part of the cost, while the previous replacement process management award was also cancelled, and the customer satisfaction award was reduced. Several Chevrolet dealers in Beijing, which are hundreds of kilometers away, face similar situations.
A sales consultant from a Chevrolet 4S store in Beijing told the Economic Observer: "The car is very difficult to sell. There are many people who come to see the car but there are very few shots. Manufacturers come to the store to test drive activities from time to time, just to let the store It seems to be lively.” Unlike the dealers in Jiangsu, the performance of these dealers in Beijing is outstanding. The monthly average car sales are over 100, and the salary level of employees is generally good. Therefore, the adjustment of the manufacturer’s business policy has not caused them. Very strong influence.
The reporter investigated and found that Chevrolet dealers in Jiangsu Province have certain specialities.
According to a survey of national auto 4S stores published by the China Auto Consultation Center, as shown in the first half of 2014, the number of 4S stores in Jiangsu Province ranked second in the country, ranking first in 1999 (the first Shandong) The province has 2,149 4S stores, and the third is Guangdong Province, which has a total of 1991 automobile 4S stores. This means that the automobile market in Jiangsu Province is highly competitive. When the automobile consumption is cold, the dealers’ natural conditions are natural. It also deteriorates faster than most other provinces.
The number of other joint venture brands in Jiangsu Province is 61: FAW Toyota 61; Dongfeng Nissan 59; Beijing Hyundai 41; Shanghai Volkswagen Skoda 38; Changan Ford 79, but including 13 concurrent Ford imported vehicles Business. In contrast, the Chevrolet brand has 72 dealers in Jiangsu, and the dealer network density is significantly higher than the rivals.
“The main problem is that the factory layout is not reasonable.” Chen Ning pointed out that among the 72 Chevrolet dealers in Jiangsu Province, the layout of the North Jiangsu region is still acceptable, the Suzhong area is in the middle, and the distributors in the southern Jiangsu area are the most densely distributed. Dealers are under the most pressure. For example, there are at least 10 Chevrolet dealers in Suzhou.
In a letter to Shanghai GM, Jiangsu Automobile Association said that Chevrolet's same-brand dealers in the same region have pressed each other's prices, smashed each other, and sent "spy" to spy on each other's low prices. According to the reporter's understanding, this year Shanghai GM officially cut prices on several of its models, including Chevrolet Chuang Cool and Cruze, which greatly reduced the space available for the original dealers to obtain profits.
Wang Wei, assistant secretary-general of the National Federation of Industry and Commerce Automobile Dealers Chamber of Commerce ("Commerce Chamber") said: "The density of network layout of manufacturers in a region is crucial to the survival of dealers. Our survey shows that 36% of dealers It is reflected that the OEM will not announce the outlets in the region to the dealers. More than 50% of the dealers report that the manufacturers are still intensively arranged when the market conditions are not good."
In addition to intensive placement, the manufacturer's pressure warehouse also makes the dealers unable to eat. "The inventory index has reached 1.5 and it is already a warning line. Now some Chevrolet dealers have more than 3 stocks." Chen Ning said. However, according to the survey conducted by the Chamber of Commerce, the average inventory factor of Chevrolet dealers is 1.3, which indicates that the situation in Jiangsu is a special case. This also explains to some extent why dealers in Beijing do not feel the same pressure as dealers in Jiangsu.
According to dealer feedback, there are currently 11 Chevrolet brand dealers in Beijing. The Economic Observer recently visited three larger dealers, all of which reflect that inventory is not serious. However, Wang Wei also stressed that according to his understanding, most of the dealers who are willing to accept the investigation are those with better business conditions. Therefore, the current real inventory factor must be higher than 1.3.
The association "speaks out of the air"
In fact, the relationship between manufacturers is an old topic in the field of automobile circulation. Although the industry generally advocates re-manufacturing relations, the real regulatory and policy support has not yet been introduced, and dealers usually “tread and dare to speak”. Even if you really want to fight, you generally choose to use the official Chinese and national distributor organizations such as the China Automobile Dealers Association to speak or coordinate, and most of the disputes are resolved privately.
"Because dealers have to follow the manufacturers to make money, at present, dealers are subject to manufacturers in the short-term is difficult to change, no one wants to do too ugly to let manufacturers do not come to Taiwan." A large dealer group responsible person described the subtle relationship between manufacturers.
Immediately after the letter was issued by Jiangsu Automobile Association, it attracted widespread attention in the industry. One of the most striking points was that the document was very worded. “The business policy of the mainframe factory could not make the market warmer”, “the manufacturer’s pressure on the warehouse made the dealers have a headache”. The fierce competition has made dealers have nothing to do with it. These expressions are full of pessimistic feelings. Chen Ning said: "We are based on the dealer's appeal, based on the investigation of the legitimate rights and interests of the dealers and the maintenance of the brand."
The reporter also contacted a secretary-general of the Jiangsu Automobile Association who was responsible for the investigation. He confirmed to the reporter that he had spent more than two months before and after, and made the above judgment based on a large number of fact-finding investigations. For the reporters, the Jiangsu dealers did not choose the China Automobile Circulation Association, but chose to issue a fiercely worded statement through the Jiangsu Automobile Association. People from the "Jiangsu Automobile Association" avoided talking about this issue.
The reporter learned that after the Jiangsu Automobile Association represented the FAW Toyota Jiangsu dealers to “sound” to the manufacturers last year, the China Automobile Dealers Association also followed up and high-profile intervention, and finally promoted the “handshake and talk” between manufacturers and dealers. After the "Jiangsu Automobile Association" last year shouted that FAW Toyota Houyi quickly responded differently, the "Jiangsu Automobile Association" publicly shouted for more than 10 days, SAIC-GM has been "staying on the move", did not do this fiercely worded document Any response.
The reporter found that the Jiangsu Automobile Association was established in 2006, and its competent unit is the Jiangsu Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce. Since its establishment, it has provided relevant information consulting services to member companies in terms of automobile sales, maintenance and after-sales. Although the Jiangsu Automobile Association is not a local branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, the reporter was informed by the circulation association's official website that the current executive vice president and secretary of the Jiangsu Automobile Association, Shu Changsheng also serves as the vice president of the China Automobile Dealers Association.
This proves to a certain extent that the Jiangsu Automobile Association and the China Automobile Dealers Association are inextricably linked. Last year, the Jiangsu Automobile Association launched a call to FAW Toyota, and finally the Chinese Automobile Circulation Association intervened, which also confirmed this point.
According to public reports, from the end of October last year to March this year, Jiangsu Automobile Association issued a letter to FAW Toyota four times in a row, stating that its dealers have serious problems of survival and dilemma. The specific situation is similar to that of the Chevrolet dealer. . FAW Toyota responded at the end of December, but due to the lack of specific solutions in the reply, it was repeatedly questioned by Jiangsu Automobile Association twice.
Chevrolet "micro"
After the Jiangsu Automobile Association once again called the automaker, Wang Hao said after analysis: "As an association, it is impossible to make an appeal to the automaker because it receives feedback from several small or a dozen dealers. It is accepted by most dealers. According to the reporter, behind the worrying situation of Jiangsu Chevrolet dealers is the survival pressure of the Chevrolet brand itself.
Chevrolet has entered the Chinese market for ten years. It is currently an entry-level brand among SAIC GM Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac. It contributes more than 40% of SAIC GM's sales every year. However, in this year's micro-growth environment, Chevrolet's growth has declined. According to GM's sales data in China (including imported cars), Chevrolet's cumulative sales in China fell 7.4% to 391,677 units in January-August this year, while the Buick brand increased 5.4% year-on-year to 581,544 units.
A Chevrolet dealer manager told reporters that the reason is not difficult to understand, the SUV market continues to grow, the Buick brand of Angola, Angkewei sales soared, of which Angkewei is a new model this year; while Chevrolet also has Chuangkuo, Copaci two SUVs, but these two cars are listed last year, and the brand competitiveness is not as good as Buick, so it did not stimulate the sales increase, Chevrolet has no new car plan this year, the latest model is listed at the end of last year The Sail 3, the car and the new Cruze two cars listed last year became the main model of Chevrolet.
Although 2014 is the product of Chevrolet's products, Sail, Cruze, Chuangkuo, and Mindray have been listed, and continue to expand on the channel. According to relevant data, the number of Chevrolet dealers near the end of 2014 is close to 800. In the Chevrolet 2015 dealer recruitment plan released on its official website, a total of 51 dealers are planned to be recruited in 2015, of which only three are in Jiangsu Province. Nantong city.
In the first half of this year, Shanghai GM made a high-profile official decline, among which the Chevrolet brand's main models, Chuang Cool and Cruze, were in the category of sharp price cuts. The Jiangsu Automobile Association said in a letter sent to Shanghai GM: "The biggest impact on the single store of the 4S shop is the price reduction of the model, and the price reduction directly reduces the gross profit." The association said that if a car is reduced by 10,000 yuan, the dealer will Selling 100 new cars a month means a one-month gross profit reduction of 1 million. “If you don’t sell, stocks are high, and the dealer’s financial costs are overwhelmed.”
After the dealer survival crisis has become a hot spot in the industry, taking the initiative to decompress dealers has become the consensus of most automakers. "Let's relax the target assessment and adjust business policies, which is the mainstream attitude of automakers at present." Wang Wei said. The practice of forcibly pressing the warehouse has been significantly reduced, but it is common that there are still incentive clauses in the business policy to induce dealers to enter the car. “At the end of the day, some automakers are still trying to pass the pressure on the market to dealers.”
According to Chevrolet's plan, after experiencing branding and scale expansion, 2014-2018 is a new stage for Chevrolet's development in China, with the goal of becoming a million-brand brand.

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