The Lunar New Year is coming, and according to the custom, many 4S stores have begun to decorate their facades. However, unlike in the past, many brands now do not need to worry about selling cars for promotions, but instead feel distressed about not having existing cars.
"Now there are no cars in the store, and the order will not be picked up until the next year at the earliest." Due to the tight production capacity, the popular model Sai na is hard to find. In GAC Toyota's 4S store, sales need to repeatedly explain to customers why they can't buy a car with money.
"The number of existing cars allocated by OEMs to each 4S store is very small, and there may be more stores with high sales, but generally less than 10 per store per month." Because of the shortage of supply, many models have directly spawned to be on par with Hermès, and they need to be matched and priced to buy.
The above-mentioned sales staff revealed that now want to order a Sai Na, the price increase of 40,000-60,000 yuan is just a routine operation. Even so, there is no guarantee that this number will not continue to rise with the market.
In fact, affected by the epidemic and chip shortages, not only Xena, but also the lack of stock has become the daily routine of most star models. After visiting a number of 4S stores, Future Auto Daily found that many models need to increase prices, and there is a high probability that there are no existing cars.
On the one hand, the production is sluggish, on the other hand, the peak of car purchases, when the car market is in line with the "market", those models that are becoming more and more in demand have begun to return to the seemingly fairer rules of the high price.
The reasons for the price increase are varied
Referring to the sales trend of previous years, before the Spring Festival is often the traditional peak season of automobile sales, and superimposed on the more complex production and marketing environment this year, car dealers seem to have a little more confidence in price increases.
Because of the limited production capacity, the order volume of Xena has risen all the way, and the above-mentioned sales staff clearly stated that "the source of vehicles is very scarce, and the actual price will fluctuate with the market situation at any time." At present, the deluxe or comfort version of the model needs to add 40,000 yuan, while the extreme version or platinum version needs to add 60,000 or more.
However, according to the sales staff of the 4S store, the additional money is not counted as a "mark-up" car purchase, but a decoration cost. Specific items are not fixed, such as window film, customers can choose according to their needs. "You can also choose or not, then you need to wait longer."
In the medium and large MPV market, another bare-handed model, the Buick GL8, also has the same situation as Xena. Nowadays, ordering a GL8 also requires a price increase of 10,000 yuan for the purchase of interior decorations.
A number of Buick 4S store sales staff said that there is no existing car in the store at present, although there are vehicles "in transit" (manufacturer shipping status), but can not guarantee the specific arrival time, "the probability needs to wait until the next year." ”
"Customers are lining up to buy a car, but we are more anxious than they are." Wang Zheng, a salesman working in a joint venture brand 4S store, said that the price increase car seems to be the dealer making money from it, but in fact, after the user pays the deposit, the 4S store needs to pay the full amount to take the car, "In most cases, the manufacturer is a price, we are all loans to buy cars, in the absence of profits, the price increase is indeed a last resort." ”
The imported MPV Toyota Alpha, which has been selling well, needs to increase the price by hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy a car. In addition to the MPV market in the hard-hit areas, the prices of some economy cars, including Dongfeng Nissan and SAIC Volkswagen, are also rising.
Taking Xuanyi of 118,600 yuan as an example, in the past, there would normally be a discount of about 15,000 yuan, but at present, due to the lack of core production capacity, the discount margin is very small. A salesman said that customers who are anxious to use the car also need to increase the price by 5,000 to 10,000 yuan, and exchange orders with other customers, "These additional costs do not include decoration costs, but simply increase the price of the car." ”
Wang Zheng revealed that if other customers in hand are not in a hurry to pick up the car, the sales will usually be at the cost of one thousand yuan to two thousand yuan of red envelopes, for other customers to insert seats, but the latter need to pay five thousand or more fees. "This money needs to pass the financial audit of the 4S store, and then return it to the sale point after the transaction."
Source: Pexels
In this actionable process, the reasons for customers to increase prices are also various. "If there is no existing car, some people will claim to need to ship from other cities, then it will incur thousands of yuan in consignment fees." Wang Zheng said that the actual situation is that many 4S stores only need to transfer inventory vehicles from other local stores.
There are also some mark-up fees, which will be presented in various forms such as maintenance service fees, financial service fees, and consulting service fees. In the hardest hit areas of the price increase, luxury brands are even more confident.
"Now ordering M4 requires a price increase of about 50,000 yuan." A BMW 4S store salesman said that all BMW M series will be increased. "Our store has added a relatively small amount, and some stores can add more than 100,000 yuan, and there is no decoration."
At the same time, if you want to buy Audi's RS series, you also need to increase the price by tens of thousands of yuan, and the Mercedes-Benz G series can even reach nearly one million yuan.
The brand strictly controls the price increase
For a long time, the mark-up "god car" in the market is not a minority. From Mercedes-Benz's home-of-road off-road vehicle Big G to Toyota Alpha, which entered the Million Luxury car sequence with a mark-up, these models that need to be imported and have a small production volume have long been in a state of "short supply", which has also led to dealers being able to increase prices on demand. Under the wave of lack of cores, this trend has also spread to more models.
In fact, in order to avoid dealers arbitrarily increasing prices, as early as 2017, the Ministry of Commerce issued the "Measures for the Administration of Automobile Sales", which stipulates that dealers should clearly indicate the prices of cars, accessories and other related products sold at the business site and the charging standards of various services in an appropriate form, and may not increase sales or charge additional fees in addition to the list price.
"If the dealer's mark-up complies with the law, it does not constitute an illegal act." Zhu Jieping, founding partner of Tai Kun Law, said that from the above provisions, it can be seen that the state has severely cracked down on the sale of automobiles at a higher price. However, the price of such commodities as automobiles is not set by the state, but the merchants adjust the price of commodities at any time according to market conditions, and the main reason for the increase in the sale of automobiles is the relationship between supply and demand.
As for whether it is illegal for auto dealers to sell cars at a higher price, Zhu Jieping believes that it is still difficult to define. "When the market is in short supply, dealers will adapt through various means and methods, which increases the difficulty of supervision of relevant law enforcement departments to a certain extent."
Source: Lexus official website
There have also been cases of penalties because of the mark-up. In December 2019, Toyota China was fined 87.613 million yuan for the price monopoly in the sale of Lexus brand cars due to reported price increase sales and unified price of 4S stores.
However, the price increase has not disappeared. A Lexus 4S store salesman said that there are currently no existing cars in all major models and need to be increased to pick up the car. Taking Lexus ES as an example, its 300h series models need to be decorated with 20,000-30,000 yuan.
In the face of price increases, independent car companies have also maintained their brand image with stricter management.
Not long ago, in response to the short video platform users reported the "mark-up delivery" behavior of tank brand dealers, tank brands issued an announcement that the company has issued a notice to permanently cancel the tank brand operation authorization of the dealers involved. At the same time, the tank brand emphasizes that the situation of collusion between manufacturers and dealers is indeed not true.
"The Tank APP is the only channel for making decisions, the price is very transparent, and we don't add extra fees." A Weipai 4S store sales staff said that the manufacturer explicitly prohibited the 4S store price increase, and the official guidance price is the final price. "And you can't insert the car to pick up, if there is a situation of taking the car in advance, only the previous order is cancelled, so as to postpone the order."
"Now most dealers will not increase the price, and some models even have a few thousand yuan discount." A sales staff of a Lynk & Co brand 4S store said that the manufacturer has high requirements for 4S stores, and the price also follows the official guidance price, and there is no other mandatory fee. As early as 2017, the Lynk & Co brand announced that it would stop issuing commercial vehicles to dealers with mark-ups.
In BYD's 4S store, a salesman said that he would now order the BYD Qin Plus model and would not be able to pick up the car until the next year. "There is no other cost to this car, and we will also send thermal insulation films and foot pads." ”
Can direct operation cure the root cause?
Although the premise of the price increase lies in the strength of the product, the shortage of supply and demand has a great relationship with dealers and car companies.
Interestingly, in 2019, Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda said when asked about alpha markup, "We didn't add a penny to the dealer's alpha, you can go directly to them." ”
It seems that the head of the "mark-up" of the pot to the domestic dealer. From the actual situation, as a middleman between car companies and users, in order to protect their own interests, dealers do put more hopes on hot models.
After entering the era of new car manufacturing, when Tesla introduced the direct sales model to the market, it also made people see another possibility of car sales. Essence Securities has analyzed that direct sales can adjust products to make them more suitable for customer needs, improve product competitiveness, and users' recognition of brands.
In June 2013, Tesla held a shareholder meeting in Silicon Valley, California, and Tesla was still in its infancy, because it insisted on adopting the direct model and was shelled by dealers. "The Association of Automobile Dealers of America is waging a war against you, how are you going to respond?" When someone questioned Musk, the latter's answer was very sharp: "There will be no good end to working with dealers." ”
Source: NIO
As other new car brands follow suit, a clear trend is that more and more companies are beginning to learn from Tesla and innovate sales channels.
In order to promote the sales of the ID. series, Volkswagen launched an agency marketing model, and the models implemented a national unified retail price. This sales model is between traditional 4S stores and brand direct stores, which allows manufacturers and consumers to have one-on-one direct contact, which also makes the price of the ID. series more transparent. In addition, car companies including Great Wall and Geely have also begun to try self-operated channels.
Correspondingly, the traditional distribution model also shows sluggishness. According to the data of China Automobile Circulation Association, by the end of 2020, the number of passenger car dealer networks in the country was 28229, the annual network growth rate declined by 5.3%, and the cumulative number of dealers returning to the network reached 3920 throughout the year, with an average of more than 10 returning to the network every day.
All indications show that although the current auto market is still dominated by 4S store sales, authorized dealers have experienced negative growth for the first time in 2020, which also means that the direct operation model is gradually being accepted by the automotive industry.
However, in the long run, in addition to the absence of middlemen, car prices have become more and more transparent, and if you want to really change the situation of buying a car at a higher price, the most fundamental thing is to enhance your strength and give users more good choices.
The author | Qin Zhangyong
Edit the | Wang Yan