Auto finance is a model of deep integration of finance and industry. Among them, dealers are the most important customers and partners of auto finance companies, while dealers are mainly small and micro enterprises, auto finance companies continue to "transfuse" to dealers, through inventory financing, retail support, training services and other measures, to help dealers sustainable development, play a veritable role in industrial finance.
01
A rainstorm
On July 19, 2021, Zhang Kunyin, an account manager in charge of Henan region of SAIC-GM Finance, traveled to Zhengzhou as usual, and according to the plan, he will visit several general channel dealers in the nearby area in the next few days. In the afternoon, the sky began to rain, and soon the rain gradually increased, turning into a once-in-a-millennium rainstorm disaster.
That night, he found that many of his dealer partners were trapped in the exhibition hall, with no water, no electricity, no food, and the situation was tricky.
The next morning, taking advantage of the slightly smaller rain, Zhang Kunyin and Zhang Qiang, the regional manager, went out together, purchased mineral water, chocolate, bread and instant noodles and other daily necessities, and walked for 1 hour without transportation to the Xulong Buick exhibition hall in Henan. The dealers who were busy in the store were very surprised to see their arrival, and they couldn't believe that they had just experienced such a serious flood, and the partners of SAIC-GM Finance rushed to the scene for support at the first time, asking about the safety status of the partners, checking the disaster situation of inventory vehicles, and collecting the current needs of dealers... The dealer's gratitude is palpable.
In the following days, Zhang Kunyin and his colleagues handled countless telephone, WeChat, and remote meetings every day, coordinated dealers to restore computer systems, guided the registration of customer disasters, and followed up the coordination of claims one by one to reduce the burden on customers and dealers.
SAIC-GM financial employees rushed to the rescue of the affected dealers for the first time.
This is just a microcosm of SAIC-GM's financial assistance to the affected dealers.
After the henan flood, SAIC-GM Finance urgently issued more than 350,000 yuan of material support to local dealers and customers, including emergency materials such as window breakers and charging treasures, disinfectants, masks and other disinfection materials, and also customized emergency rescue kits and other gifts to retail customers in the disaster-stricken areas of Henan, supporting dealers to resume work and production, passing on love, and helping each other in the same boat.
In July and August, affected by the disaster and the epidemic, the operating pressure of dealers in some areas increased sharply. SAIC-GM Finance launched a special support program for dealers for the first time, helping dealers tide over difficulties through measures such as interest reduction and deferral of repayment. For a total of 10,587 inventory financing vehicles involved in a total of 61 dealers in Henan, Yunnan, Shandong and other places, the interest in the third quarter of 2021 was reduced by about 4.22 million yuan, and at the same time, special support was provided for the long-term inventory of dealers in the affected areas to be halved, further alleviating the pressure on dealers' overdue inventory.
02
Send umbrellas on rainy days, do a good job in the "stabilizer" of the automotive industry chain
Founded in August 2004, SAIC-GM Finance is the first professional auto finance company in China, providing auto dealers and car buyers with a full range of auto financial services, playing the role of "industrial finance". After 17 years of development, SAIC-GM Finance has built a three-in-one operation system of OEMs, financial companies and dealers, which helps OEMs greatly improve the utilization rate of funds and comprehensively accelerate the operational efficiency of the auto sales chain.
Dealers are the most important customers and partners of auto finance companies, but also mainly for small and micro enterprises, and like all small and micro enterprises, they often lack assets, lack of guarantees, it is difficult to obtain sufficient financial resources in a timely manner. From its inception to the third quarter of 2021, SAIC-GM Finance has issued more than 2.2 trillion yuan in loans to dealers through wholesale inventory financing, building a bridge for nearly 16 million vehicles to move from production lines to showrooms and finally to consumers. Especially in the disaster situation, the epidemic situation, and the industry adjustment cycle, the auto finance company continues to provide emergency financial support for downstream small and medium-sized enterprise dealers under the premise of controllable risks through collaboration with the brand's main engine factories, and maintains the stable operation of the industrial chain with financial stability channels and sales.
Zhu Xiangyu, vice president of Hunan Shenxiang, still remembers that in early 2020, the sudden outbreak of the new crown epidemic brought challenges to the daily operation of dealers. SAIC-GM Finance took the initiative to explore the operation of dealers during the epidemic and provided liquidity support for partners in need, which can be described as sending umbrellas in the rain and charcoal in the snow: "After the Spring Festival resumed work, several executives of our company gathered together every day to meet, but every day they came, that is, their eyes were wide and small. Because the market has not recovered at all, we have a large number of stocks before the Spring Festival, and at this time we can't sell them if we want to sell, which is really caught off guard. During this time, SAIC-GM Finance took the initiative to contact us to discuss the reduction of inventory interest and give us a 'reassurance pill' in terms of liquidity support. Taking the initiative to cut interest rates and reduce burdens makes people feel that they are always standing side by side with our front-line dealers. ”
Auto finance companies are in the center of industry information analysis, and continue to provide stable and accurate financial service support for the auto industry. In the face of a complex and changeable market environment, we can cooperate with OEMs and distributors to adjust strategies in a timely manner and enhance the sales capacity of production terminals with innovative products.
Yu Zichao, general manager of Kunming Tonghe, introduced that the cooperation between Kunming Tonghe and SAIC-GM Auto Finance began in 2012, and the two sides have been fighting side by side for many years, and they can often think of ideas together in their work and use them in one place. He introduced: "Wuling Hongguang S3 model is selling well in Yunnan all year round. This seven-seat, rear-drive, high-chassis model is particularly suited to mountain road conditions. In the sales volume of Hongguang S3 in China, Yunnan accounts for more than one-third. Last year, due to the adjustment of the sales policy of the main engine factory in the country, the original national preferential plan of the Hongguang S3 model was cancelled, and the sales of all stores in Kunming Tonghe were affected. After SAIC-GM Finance understood the situation, it helped us find a way together. Finally, the main engine factory, auto finance company and dealer three parties together, designed and customized the launch of the regional exclusive Hongguang S3 financial service products. As soon as this program was launched, it was immediately welcomed by customers and helped us stabilize the market again. ”
03
Deep ploughing sinking market, opening up the "capillaries" of financial services
At present, SAIC-GM Finance has built a car financial service network covering a wide area and first-class service level, and has established good cooperative relations with nearly 10,000 dealers in more than 300 cities across the country. In this dealer network, there are first-level outlets, second-level outlets and even townships. The huge number of sinking outlets is relatively lagging behind in understanding industry information, and it is necessary for front-line account managers to be down-to-earth, go deep into the grassroots, and rush to the forefront of retail terminals to provide training and support.
Whether it is a rainstorm or an epidemic, the team of SAIC-GM Finance can appear on the scene for the first time, precisely based on their daily work to sink the first-line market and deeply reach the service capabilities of the industry's "capillaries".
Since its inception, SAIC-GM Finance has established a complete management system in the fields of product design and business sales management, covering business sales, training, marketing promotion, marketing material support and other aspects. For dealers at all levels, even new hires, they can quickly receive training and support, quickly adapt to the position, and quickly enter the role.
Zhu Canfeng, general manager of Henan New Future, cited a personal impression on him, "In 2005, SAIC-GM Auto Finance held an auto financial service skills competition with the theme of 'Car Loan Jianghu' in the country. There were three of us in the group, in addition to me there was a sales consultant, a financing insurance specialist, and we won the national championship in this competition. Since then, we have also been participating in the auto financial service skills competition organized by SAIC-GM Finance, which allows our dealers to learn relevant knowledge faster and better serve customers. "As of 2020, the Auto Financial Services Skills Competition has been held for 12 consecutive sessions, with more than 25,000 participants, with a professional talent training system and the selection of successive competitions, it continues to send high-quality talents to the industry, improves the business level of the whole industry, and is one of the best measures to achieve a win-win situation between enterprises and the industry."
In addition, SAIC-GM Finance has also set up corresponding training courses for different stages of dealer personnel's career development, with online and offline multi-channel teaching methods, providing a strong guarantee for cooperative dealers to cultivate professional auto finance talents.
The inclusive support of financial services for consumers is not only the depth of reach and the breadth of coverage, but also needs to match the real needs. Sometimes, "at your fingertips" masks the complexity of financial products, and ordinary people think they have the ability to control products and identify risks, but they are not rational consumption. As a financial services company facing specific industries and specific consumers, SAIC-GM Finance has finally improved the public's understanding of financial products, helped customers grasp their own risk preferences, and created a financial consumption environment of honesty and trustworthiness and fulfillment of their responsibilities through the training of dealer terminal employees.
04
Innovative products, customized "buffet" for customer needs
Customer-centric, on the one hand, we must open up channels and improve the "availability" of services; on the other hand, we must also adapt to local conditions, polish products with the times, and improve the "richness", "diversity" and "pertinence" of services.
Because of the deep cultivation of the auto financial market, compared with other financial institutions, auto finance companies can fully understand the market situation and customer needs, through personalized services, to meet the different needs of consumers and industrial partners, to help terminal retail customers earlier and more easily realize the dream of car purchase.
Zhu Xiangyu, vice president of Hunan Shenxiang, commented that SAIC-GM Finance has the fastest response to the market and is most sensitive to customer needs. For example, he said: "New cars are often transported from the manufacturer's production line to the dealer's store through highway logistics. A few years ago, the state introduced new specifications for logistics vehicles on highways. During the landing of the new regulations, the in-transit transportation time of the outgoing vehicles was once extended several times, and our liquidity was occupied additionally during this extra time. After understanding this situation, SAIC-GM Finance took the initiative to add an interest-free transportation period for our dealers - for example, according to different geographical locations, extending the logistics interest-free period by seven to eight days. This approach makes us feel like a family with auto finance companies, who really understand the details and changes in the industry and really want to do a good job of car sales with us. ”
In recent years, the state is promoting mass entrepreneurship and innovation in depth. Small and micro business owners and individual industrial and commercial households are an important group of entrepreneurs to get rich, and they are also an important focus on expanding the scale of middle-income groups. Saic-GM-Wuling brand under the Rongguang small card, Hongguang V, Rongguang new card and other models are known as "entrepreneurial god car", "national small truck", "good partner of the strivers", is the majority of entrepreneurs efficient, reliable, low-cost means of transport. Customers of this type of start-up tool car buy not only travel tools, but also production tools. In the initial stage of the business, if you choose to borrow money to buy a car, the entrepreneur can revitalize the funds at hand and use it for other aspects of the business.
In the past two years, Wuling's passenger cars have also been very popular. Li Chunhu, director of Finance at Yunnan Zhongji Machinery, recalled that a customer came to the store to buy a Wuling Capgemini: "This customer is very young and wants to take out a loan, but has some concerns about the fixed repayment every month. Later, we learned that this customer is in the home improvement business, the monthly income is not very fixed, usually to complete a project to get money. In response to his situation, we recommended the '5050 Loan' product to him, which can first pay half of the price of the car, and then pay the remaining half the following year. Only interest needs to be repaid every month, and the pressure on capital flow is not large. The customer was very happy to hear this, and praised the product as if it was tailor-made for him. In fact, the 5050 product has been an old product for many years in SAIC-GM Auto Finance, and there are many product solutions with different down payments, different terms and different repayment models. ”
In addition, SAIC-GM-Wuling and Lalala jointly launched the Rongguang extended version of the customized model, in this regard, SAIC-GM Finance quickly customized the "operation easy loan" product that meets this model, which is very timely and targeted. At present, in Yunnan Zhongji Group, the penetration rate of "Operation Easy Loan" in this lala customized model has exceeded 90%.
05
Technology empowerment, digital transformation "little butler"
In the support of small and medium-sized enterprise dealers, digital technology empowerment is a major core support point.
Promoting digital transformation is the need of the vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises. However, there are three major pain points in the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises, namely: the transformation ability is not enough, "will not turn"; the transformation cost is high, "can not turn"; the transformation pain period is relatively long, "dare not turn". Building a digital ecosystem in which OEMs, dealers, and auto finance companies unite with each other is conducive to breaking the obstructions and bottlenecks in the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises.
At present, SAIC-GM Finance has landed a number of business systems and innovative projects. At the retail end, from the perspective of the whole process of customer acquisition, application, approval and post-loan service, the digital service of the whole life cycle of the loan is realized, and the customer experience is further improved through digitalization, and the digital tool product is slowly transformed from a cold tool into a warm service. Taking the self-developed "Little Butler" mobile application as an example, the use of mobile Internet technology and blockchain technology has changed the original computer reporting mode and greatly improved the efficiency of reporting. At present, the utilization rate of "Little Butler" has reached 97%, the average loan approval time has been shortened to 17 minutes, down 11% year-on-year; more than 90% of customers can enjoy an average of 1 hour from application to lending.
Zhu Canfeng, general manager of Henan New Future, introduced that from the earliest manual mailing data approval, to computer reporting, to mobile phone reporting, work efficiency is getting higher and higher. It used to go from the morning to the afternoon loan, to the later half hour of the loan. Now, it is often the customer who drinks tea in the exhibition hall, and after a short while, the lending process is completed.
Li Chunhu, director of Yunnan Machinery Finance, also gave an example: "Our cooperative township outlets are located in a relatively remote geographical location. Actual sales are about 20 units per month, but its financial services penetration rate is close to 50 percent. The person in charge of this branch told us that on the one hand, he and the customer felt that the product was good and there were many choices; another important reason was the high efficiency of digital tools. Relying on the digital tools now provided by SAIC-GM Finance, customers can realize same-day lending and same-day pick-up. ”
At the wholesale business end, SAIC-GM Finance launched the "Lightning" system, an intelligent inventory management platform. Previously, the inventory inventory of vehicles relied on staff to go to the dealer storefront for manual inventory, which was time-consuming and laborious. After the "Lightning" system was launched, it realized the remote, multi-dimensional, and high-frequency digitization and systematic management of vehicle information, so that the status of the loan vehicle was clear at a glance. Up to now, SAIC-GM Finance has fully promoted the "Lightning" system, and the "warehouse tube" mobile application used by dealers has achieved 100% coverage for wholesale business dealers and secondary networks, and dealers can carry out vehicle inventory operations on their own.
Zhu Xiangyu, vice president of Hunan Shenxiang, introduced: "As a sales and service terminal, we hope to meet customer needs, but in terms of our own capabilities, there will not be such a large manpower and material investment in the construction of digital system. SAIC-GM Finance's strong digital system just fills our gap. These digital tools are free for us to use, and we are like standing on the shoulders of giants to develop. In recent years, we have experienced the increase in management efficiency brought about by digital tools. Using the 'warehouse tube' mobile application, a staff member can complete the scanning inventory, and the system will automatically enter the corresponding inventory record, after the inventory, you can also locate the location of the vehicle. We stock about 200 vehicles, and the inventory originally required two people to be busy for 6 hours, and now one person can complete it in 3 hours. ”
Facing the future, SAIC-GM Finance will adhere to its original intention, take serving the real economy as its own responsibility, adhere to the differentiated and professional development positioning, actively explore new models of financial services, and use a new generation of information technology such as the Internet of Things and blockchain to promote the digitalization, networking and intelligent upgrading of vertical industries. Pay attention to the opportunities in subdivisions such as second-hand cars, new energy vehicles, and after-purchase service markets, find incremental breakthroughs in industrial transformation and upgrading, continue to serve people's better lives, and promote high-quality development of the industrial economy.