Recently, the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Transformation and Upgrading of the Automobile Maintenance Industry to Improve Service Quality" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") was jointly issued by ten ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Communications, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Public Security. The promulgation of the "Opinions" means that the long-term monopoly of OEMs in the after-sales maintenance market has been broken. There will be major changes in the business channel layout of lubricating oil, tires and other auto parts.

Publish maintenance technical information and open up accessories channels

There are two key points in this "Opinion" on the anti-monopoly measures for after-sales of automobiles: publicizing maintenance technical information and clarifying the opening of accessories channels. According to the "Opinions", starting from January 1, 2015, automobile manufacturers should specify the vehicle type approval certificate information in the automobile product manual, specify the technical requirements for emission maintenance, and explain the manufacturers, models and valid service life, etc.

The "Opinions" clearly stipulate that manufacturers of original parts are encouraged to provide original parts and independent after-sale parts with independent trademarks to the automotive aftermarket, and 4S shops are allowed to resell original parts to unauthorized maintenance companies or end users.

In addition, the "Opinions" also clearly stipulate that automobile production and its authorized sales and maintenance enterprises (including imported automobile business enterprises) should inform consumers to use, maintain and repair automobile products correctly according to the requirements of the instruction manual, and shall not restrict or interfere with consumers' independent choice. Maintenance companies and maintenance services shall not refuse to provide maintenance services on the grounds that the car chooses unauthorized maintenance services within the "Three Guarantees" period.

Break the "trust monopoly" of 4S store channels

Statistics show that by the end of 2013, there were 480,000 motor vehicle maintenance households and nearly 3 million employees across the country, with an annual maintenance volume of 330 million vehicles and an annual output value of more than 500 billion yuan. This also means that my country's auto maintenance industry has developed from a simple vehicle maintenance and support industry to a people's livelihood service industry.

The monopoly interests in the field of automobile after-sales service are intertwined, mainly including the control of parts and components channels, the control of pricing, and the control of labor costs and so on. But in the final analysis, OEMs and 4S stores are using these monopoly channels to achieve a "trust monopoly": only in 4S stores can you get "genuine parts" with reliable quality, and only in 4S stores can you enjoy three guarantees for car maintenance. Only in the 4S shop to endure the ridiculously expensive labor costs to maintain the quality of maintenance.

With the continuous efforts of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce's anti-monopoly investigations, the auto industry's anti-monopoly has further extended to the aftermarket. The "Opinions" clearly declared that it would "break the monopoly of maintenance parts channels", and required auto companies to disclose the technical data of auto maintenance from next year. If the "Opinions" are implemented, it will greatly promote the development of domestic independent auto repair plants, especially those with strong chain maintenance companies. Once they get the most lacking maintenance technical information and genuine spare parts, relying on their high cost performance, they will be able to use it in automobiles. After the market grabbed a lot of cake.

"Zero-to-Integral Ratio" Big Data for Common Models

According to the report of "Southern Weekend", on April 10 this year, the China Insurance Association and the China Automobile Maintenance Association jointly disclosed the coefficients of the "Complete Vehicle Parts Ratio" and "50 Vulnerable Parts Ratios" for 18 common models. The "zero-to-full ratio" is as high as 1273% and as low as 272%. In Europe and the United States, the "zero-to-integration ratio" of automobiles is usually 300%, which means that Chinese car owners have to hand over high profits to monopolized automobile suppliers when repairing and replacing parts.

The reason for the high zero-to-integral ratio of Chinese cars is also very simple - you can't buy original parts outside the car 4S stores, and car manufacturers only disclose car maintenance information to the 4S stores. Auto suppliers (including auto manufacturers and general dealers) strictly require dealers not to source parts from other sources.

The era of 4S shop lubricating oil monopoly and profiteering is over

At present, most of the 4S shops are one car brand and one shop. Vehicles within the warranty period can only be guaranteed if the oil is changed here. Otherwise, the 4S shop will not care about the problems that arise. During the warranty period, the price of a barrel of special oil is about 300 yuan. These special oils are provided by the manufacturers themselves, and the price is several times higher than that of the agents. These huge profits are caused by the monopoly of auto maintenance.

In fact, the easiest way for car owners to maintain their vehicles is to refer to the maintenance manual of the purchased vehicle and replace the oil according to the type of oil required in the manual. use and save money.

Great changes in the automotive aftermarket

After the completion of the filing of auto brand dealers, the auto dealers engaged in the sales of auto brands will uniformly register the business scope of their business licenses as "auto sales" in accordance with the relevant regulations on the administration of industrial and commercial registration. The single sales model dominated by automobile 4S stores will be broken, and diversified automobile operations will be expected to be implemented. With the disappearance of the 4S shop model, the future is bound to have a profound impact on car sales and the car after-sales market.

With the disappearance of the car brand sales model, auto companies will lose their monopoly on the price of after-sales parts. Original after-sales parts are expected to enter the auto parts market through multiple channels, even if there is still a single channel for auto companies to control the distribution of parts and components. However, due to the existence of homogeneous parts in the market, it will inevitably bring about a reduction in the price of original parts.

It is foreseeable that with the breaking of the single-brand sales model of automobiles, the future Chinese automobile aftermarket will usher in a blowout development, which will rapidly change the problem of uneven development of the Chinese automobile sales market and aftermarket in a short period of time. Independent auto service brands attached to auto manufacturers will become the mainstream of China's auto aftermarket in the future, and the layout of lubricant marketing channels will also undergo major changes.