Weilai spent 50 million yuan to set up an insurance brokerage company, and car companies seized the new energy car insurance entrance

Some new energy vehicle companies are eyeing the insurance business. Blue Whale Insurance learned that recently, NIO Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "NIO") registered and established NIO Insurance Brokerage Company with a registered capital of 50 million yuan, and its business scope includes insurance brokerage business, insurance agency business, insurance concurrently operating agency business, insurance valuation business, etc.

Behind the in-depth investigation, auto manufacturers layout the insurance industry, in addition to optimistic about the huge market potential of new energy car insurance, but also because auto insurance is the entrance of auto companies directly linking C-end users, which can not only open up the whole life cycle of car owners, but also cultivate new business models and growth space. Prior to this, Tesla and Xiaopeng have set up wholly-owned insurance intermediary companies, and car companies are eager to try and want to get a "piece of the pie".

There are views in the industry that the national insurance agency license plate is a necessary business qualification for car companies to carry out car insurance business, the acquisition of the license is only a "stepping stone", and it is also necessary to set up regional branches to meet the conditions of localization operation, while establishing a service network and building a system to successfully achieve business expansion, the challenge is not small.

License plates are only "stepping stones", and the establishment of service networks and systems is facing challenges

According to public information, the registered capital of NIO Insurance Brokers is RMB 50 million, wholly owned by NIO Holdings Co., Ltd., and its business scope includes insurance brokerage business; insurance agency business; insurance concurrently business agency business (projects that require approval according to law, and business activities can only be carried out after approval by the relevant departments) General projects: exclusive insurance agency business within the scope of the authorization of insurance companies (operated with authorization); insurance valuation business (in addition to licensed business, Can independently operate projects that are not prohibited or restricted by laws and regulations in accordance with the law) and so on.

However, NIO Insurance Brokers is currently only registered with the Industry and Commerce Department, and if it wants to obtain an insurance brokerage license and engage in related business, it is necessary to apply to the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission for approval.

Prior to this, NIO has initially entered the insurance field in the form of additional services, providing NIO car owners with a service package of worry-free and worry-free insurance, covering insurance, maintenance and other services, as the main service content of the automotive aftermarket.

Insurance worry-free consists of two parts: optional insurance (basic insurance + additional insurance) and NIO exclusive services, and you can purchase exclusive services (including scratch paint repair, basic maintenance, maintenance and transportation services, maintenance pick-up and delivery services, door-to-door tire repair services, etc.) by purchasing the basic insurance of WEILAI cooperative insurance companies. From the pricing point of view, the price of the service package is an exclusive service of insurance cost + 1680 yuan / year, which is suitable for the new purchase and renewal of all models on sale, and the insurance cost varies according to the different prices of the model, and is also related to the owner's region, illegal records, past insurance situations and other factors.

On December 27, 2021, the China Insurance Industry Association 's Exclusive Clauses for Commercial Insurance for New Energy Vehicles (Trial Implementation)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Exclusive Clauses") was officially launched, clarifying that new energy vehicles no longer use traditional commercial auto insurance clauses, but have exclusive insurance products. Since then, many new energy car owners have revealed that their car insurance premiums have increased significantly, especially Tesla's "premiums soared by 80% overnight" has become a hot term, although it is a case, but also caused the attention of many domestic car companies. Weilai also deliberately issued a relevant statement, saying that it is evaluating the possibility of establishing a captive insurance product for Weilai Automobile.

Cui Shudong, secretary general of the Association, once wrote that the introduction of new energy vehicle insurance is a good thing, but the cost increase is high, and the fuel money saved by new energy vehicles may have to pay insurance, resulting in new energy vehicles that seem to be uneconomical and not conducive to promotion. Therefore, it is recommended that car companies establish their own insurance varieties, the industry should have more accurate insurance calculations, and the state should also support reasonable subsidies for insurance costs.

There are views in the industry that the national insurance agency license plate is a necessary business qualification for car companies to carry out car insurance business, and the license acquisition is only a "stepping stone", and it is also necessary to set up regional branches to meet the conditions of localization operation, establish a service network, and build a system to successfully achieve business expansion.

A major challenge for car companies to lay out in the field of auto insurance is the establishment and management of service networks. Zhang Lei, CEO of Cheche Technology, believes that at present, the digital process of auto insurance in mainland China is relatively shallow, and key links such as localization of orders, settlement services, and push repairs are the necessary capabilities of auto insurance institutions as the scope of the auto enterprise service market continues to expand and sink. In order to provide users with high-quality claims, maintenance, and car owner services, requiring car companies to cooperate with a large number of offline service outlets or build a huge service network system will require a lot of time and capital costs, and insufficient preparation is likely to affect the user's service experience.

In addition, the construction of the system is also an important challenge, in order to achieve the car and mobile terminal of the car insurance business development, car companies must have a mature online system, with quotation, payment, billing, claims, settlement, management and other functions, while achieving in-depth docking with the insurance company quotation, underwriting core system. However, under normal circumstances, there are differences in the interface and underwriting rules of different companies in different provinces and cities, and it is difficult to achieve docking with a large number of systems in a short period of time, and only a few practitioners in the country have such capabilities.

Car companies hope to open up the whole life cycle of the car owner through new energy car insurance

According to the Data Association of China Automobile Association, the sales of new energy vehicles in mainland China will reach 3.521 million units in 2021, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for 7 consecutive years, and it is expected that the sales of new energy vehicles will reach 5 million units in 2022, an increase of 42% year-on-year, and the market share is expected to exceed 18%.

Recently, the State Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan" Comprehensive Work Plan for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction, which proposes that by 2025, the sales volume of new energy vehicles and new vehicles will reach about 20% of the total sales of new vehicles.

New energy car insurance is optimistic, in addition to the huge market potential, but also because car insurance is the entrance of auto companies directly linking C-end users, which can not only open up the whole life cycle of car owners, but also cultivate new business models and growth space.

iResearch pointed out in the "China New Energy Vehicle Insurance Ecological Co-construction White Paper" report that car insurance is the first service product that consumers come into contact with when buying a car, and in the past, the automobile sales terminal was mainly controlled by dealers, so the car dealer channel has also become the most important sales channel for car insurance (especially new car insurance). The rigid attributes and stickiness of car insurance enable dealers to control the entrance of car owner services, thereby expanding auto aftermarket business such as auto maintenance, claims repair, and auto finance. Usually, the profit margin of the automotive after-sales service market is much higher than that of the automobile manufacturing link, so the profit value it creates often accounts for 50-60% of the entire automotive industry chain, but the participation of car companies in the traditional service model is very limited.

In the context of the current "disintermediation" and the reconstruction of the relationship between "people, vehicles and factories" of new energy vehicles, car companies are expected to face end consumers on the basis of direct sales model and automobile networking, and the future vehicle delivery is only the starting point for car companies to create value.

More importantly, new energy vehicles are an important scene end of future auto insurance reform and innovation. Most of the new energy vehicles are connected cars and intelligent cars, with the Internet of Vehicles technology, will drive the automotive industry intelligent, thereby changing the car insurance pricing model, risk characteristics and claims experience.