Recently, a commercial center cooperated with automobile brands to introduce car stores into shopping malls, and also introduced "repair and maintenance", which is the business of the automobile aftermarket, in an attempt to create a closed loop of sales and services.
It is understood that the above-mentioned auto flagship store is divided into two parts, the above-ground exhibition area and the underground service work area. Services provided by the underground service area include new car delivery, test ride, beauty film, used car consignment and light maintenance.
Previously, the new car brand entered the business circle only in the "transaction link" node, focusing on the static experience, dynamic test drive and sales explanation of the vehicle transaction, and finally promoted the car purchase transaction. The above-mentioned commercial centers and new energy vehicle brands have innovatively introduced maintenance business into shopping malls, which is the first case in China.
A relevant person from the commercial center told Blue Whale Automobile that putting "light maintenance" into the mall is its advantage from other supermarkets selling cars.
In fact, in order for this innovative model to run through, it is also necessary to solve the problems of qualification and cost of related scenarios.
Complex auto repair service scenarios Safety and risks need to be considered
In addition to cost and sales targets, "safety" has always been one of the most important points for car companies.
Electric vehicles are composed of many high-voltage devices and require professional equipment for inspection and maintenance. In addition, the popularization of new energy vehicle software has also made detection require more sophisticated instruments and professional technicians.
At present, the national standard information public service platform does not yet have a maintenance and opening standard for "new energy vehicles". With reference to the "New Energy Vehicle After-sales Service Specification DB 46/T 518-2020" issued by the Hainan Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, in addition to obtaining relevant licenses and qualifications, the new energy vehicle maintenance point should at least include an appropriate amount of high-voltage (insulated) maintenance stations for new energy vehicles, special sites for power battery disassembly that meet national specifications, and power battery storage libraries.
That is to say, how to create software and hardware facilities suitable for car maintenance in shopping malls is a problem that developers and car companies need to consider.
Relevant people of WM Automobile told Blue Whale Automobile bluntly, "The business circle scene is not suitable for carrying out corresponding automobile services, and relevant laws and regulations require automobile services to have certain qualifications, including service facilities." Electric vehicles are products with high pressure, and should be operated in places with professional conditions for safety reasons. ”
In addition, extreme krypton automobile insiders also told Blue Whale Automobile that the new energy vehicle after-sales site needs to be equipped with fixed instruments, in addition to moving the instrument back and forth, it is also equipped with professionals, which increases the cost of car companies.
However, some car companies believe that this new model is worth looking forward to.
A number of traditional car companies told Blue Whale Automobile, "The commercial innovation transformation of traditional car companies and traditional housing enterprises is worth encouraging, and it is necessary to adjust the strategy with market changes." If this model is successful, it will be more gimmicky. In its view, the purpose of this new model is not to rely on after-sales service to make money, but to establish a channel of communication with users to achieve the effect of service upgrade.
It is worth mentioning that the above-mentioned traditional car companies also mentioned the potential risks of this model to the brand image.
"For new power brands with a shorter brand life cycle, it is not realistic to introduce a series of links such as after-sales into the business circle." In his view, compared with the "own territory" of 4S stores, the business circle is uncontrollable, and once the user has a dispute with the brand in the after-sales link, it will cause a fatal blow to the brand image.
The core business district has little land and money The game of cost and profit
In fact, the entry of automobile brands into the business circle is not a new thing, and there is a certain synergy between the traffic characteristics of the business circle and the young customer base of the new car brand, and the cooperation between the two sides can achieve the effect of 1+1>2.
With Tesla practicing the direct car model and succeeding in the Chinese market, and the new car brands supported by capital have strong ability to pay rent, more and more brands have "driven" cars into the mall.
However, it should be pointed out that if the "maintenance after-sales" service is moved into the mall, there is a game between the commercial center and the car company in terms of cost and profit.
For commercial centers, whether the automobile maintenance industry can bring stable and effective passenger flow to itself is a problem that needs to be considered.
Wang Lei, head and director of Savills North China, pointed out to Blue Whale Automobile, "Although the rent payment ability of new energy vehicle brands is very strong, when the commercial center makes business format selection, rent is only one of the dimensions to consider, and it is also necessary to consider the complementary interaction with the overall format of the project." ”
For example, she said that the bank's ability to pay rent is very high, but because people go to the bank for a strong purpose, nothing more than depositing and withdrawing money or handling other official business, this format is difficult to interact with other formats, and it is not necessarily suitable for placing it in a position with large passenger flow.
"Whether auto repair can bring traffic to the mall remains to be examined." For many shopping malls in the golden business district, their leased areas are scarce, and many business districts are creating blocks with strong traffic attributes on the B1 floor. Wang Lei said bluntly.
For brands, the uncertainty of the lease cost and lease term of the commercial center poses a challenge to the business model of "maintenance services into the mall".
Extreme Kr Auto insiders said that selling cars is the first line in all car companies, although the investment in recent years has been replaced by research and development, but the priority and weight of selling cars is still much higher than after-sales, "in the vicinity of the business circle to rent such a large venue to support after-sales, the cost is difficult to cover." ”
He further mentioned that the cooperative lease period of the shopping mall is not stable, and the autonomy is in the shopping mall (property owner), "the car company is more passive in terms of lease period, and the movement of maintenance instruments is very troublesome and costly, so the brand side does not dare to invest on a large scale." ”
Wang Lei also said that "three years" is a conventional option for the contract period between the commercial center and the car company, and the owners of some core commercial areas may also compress the contract cycle out of concern about the stability of the new car operation, and for the brand, the slightly longer contract period is conducive to amortizing the cost of decoration.
"Whether the auto repair itself can bring traffic to the commercial center, and whether the overall rental payment capacity can be agreed with the landlord, are all issues that need to be paid attention to in the future." Wang Lei concluded.
It is worth mentioning that although the interviewed industry insiders have a wait-and-see attitude towards the model of "maintenance services into the mall", they all mentioned that the cooperation between developers and car companies in the car use link will be a major trend in the future, such as the construction of exclusive charging piles for co-construction brands, parking discounts, etc.
At present, the documents related to new energy vehicles and power exchange infrastructure issued by the General Office of the State Council and the National Development and Reform Commission all mention the support for the construction of charging piles as public facilities, and the services provided by the cooperation between the commercial centers and car companies mentioned above also include free parking.
"The state's support for the construction of public charging piles has allowed car companies and developers to find a win-win point of cooperation, which is conducive to solving the problem of parking garage vacancy rate, and also helps car companies to complete the construction of supplementary energy, thereby enhancing the brand service and brand reputation of car owners after buying a car." Auto industry insiders say this to Blue Whale Motors.