Tesla and Weilai have entered the game one after another: Why are car companies keen on insurance brokers?

21st Century Business Herald reporter Peng Suping Shanghai reported that new energy vehicle insurance was officially launched less than a month ago, and some car companies have reacted quickly.

Qixinbao information shows that on January 19, Weilai Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd. was established. The company's legal representative is Qu Yu (Vice President of Finance of NIO), with a registered capital of 50 million yuan, which is 100% controlled by NIO Holdings Co., Ltd.

NIO became the second new car manufacturer to establish an insurance brokerage company after Tesla. As early as August 2020, Tesla established Tesla Insurance Brokerage Co., Ltd. in China, which triggered the imagination of the industry about the landing of UBI (Usage Based Insurance, that is, "insurance based on usage premiums").

Insurance brokers are a type of insurance intermediary. In fact, over the past many years, domestic and foreign car companies, including SAIC Motor, GAC Group, Great Wall Motor, etc., have set up their own insurance intermediary subsidiaries to use insurance business as a touchpoint to try to serve users in more links – but these businesses are more insurance agents than insurance brokers.

Now, with the launch of new energy vehicle captive insurance, the industry's call for UBI is getting higher and higher, and car companies are more and deeper involved in the auto insurance business.

Some auto insurance industry insiders told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that insurance agents are selling products on behalf of insurance companies, and insurance brokers are more for the overall planning of users, although both can sell insurance products, but the business highlight of insurance brokers is that they can design insurance products that meet the characteristics of their own users together with insurance companies - this will provide soil for UBI to land.

Regarding the business planning of NIO Insurance Brokers, on January 25, WEILAI responded to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter: "This initiative is to prepare for providing users with a better service experience for a long time." The company is still in the registration stage, and we will communicate with you at the right time. ”

UBI is welcoming important players

After the establishment of an insurance brokerage company, NIO's "ambitions" in the field of auto insurance surfaced. Some analysts pointed out that Weilai is likely to follow the Tesla model and provide users with lower-cost and more personalized insurance products while creating more revenue.

As a new car manufacturer with a service brand, NIO has incorporated insurance into its service system. When it comes to insurance, WEILAI has launched two products, one is the "Insurance Worry-free Package" and the other is the "Service Worry-free Package", which covers insurance, repair, maintenance and other car rights.

The two "worry-free packages" created by Weilai essentially contain insurance agency business, but in addition to the conventional insurance agents, Weilai will "package" the follow-up repair, maintenance and other services, and an intuitive experience of the user is that once the insurance is out, as long as a phone call, the follow-up matters can all be handed over to the staff of Weilai to complete.

This model is also explored by many traditional OEMs. At the 2021 China Automotive Industry Summit hosted by 21st Century Business Herald, Jin Qi, general manager of Shanghai Automotive Group Insurance Sales Co., Ltd., introduced that they have made direct contact with various insurance companies in the past six years, and there have been many pits in the middle, but they have also become enterprises that have a very strong perception of users and can track claims throughout the process.

These services can significantly improve the user experience, but the Tesla model is based on the underlying changes.

Tesla has been trying to introduce its own insurance. Last October, at its Texas headquarters, Tesla officially launched branded insurance based on five core dynamic numbers, including five aspects: every 1,000-mile forward collision warning, emergency braking, sharp turns, unsafe follow-up distance, and forced autopilot detachment.

Tesla provided UBI with its basic model. UBI can comprehensively record the daily driving behavior of car owners through equipment such as the Internet of Vehicles, synthesize the driving habits, driving technology, vehicle information and surrounding environment of car owners, establish multi-dimensional models of people, vehicles and roads, and achieve differentiated car insurance pricing.

However, China's insurance market is a highly regulated market that requires licensing, and Tesla cannot directly operate its own insurance. Under such restrictions, Tesla resolutely established an insurance brokerage company to enter the brokerage business, which is also expected to achieve the customization of insurance products.

Geran Road Consulting once pointed out that compared with self-built insurance companies, Tesla's better choice is to deeply cooperate with one or two insurance companies, share accident insurance data, adjust the price of accessories, in order to help the insurance company quickly reduce its premium amount and reduce the impact of premiums on car sales.

Weilai enters the field of insurance brokerage, and the probability of taking is the same path. On January 25, Jin Qi analyzed the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, although there is no UBI product in China, the future UBI is the direction, and emerging car companies like Tesla and Weilai, which themselves use direct sales channels, also have advantages in car owner services, data collection, etc., and indeed have room to customize some products with Baosi.

Premiums for some new energy vehicles have risen

A month ago, the new energy vehicle captive insurance was launched, Tesla, Weilai and other new energy vehicle brands have attracted a lot of attention because of the rise in premiums, and even some consumers said that the insurance of new energy vehicles is too high, and the advantages of car costs have been completely wiped out - in this context, Weilai joined the team to promote UBI, to some extent, it is really helpless.

On December 27 last year, after the launch of new energy vehicle insurance, the insurance policies released by Tesla consumers on the Internet showed that the insurance cost of Tesla Model Y long-endurance version rose from the previous 8278 yuan to 14,900 yuan, an increase of 80%.

There are also suspected "prospective car owners" posted the model 3 high-performance version of the insurance quotation, the picture shows that PICC property insurance, Ping An property insurance, China Life property insurance and other institutions have given a high quotation of 18,000 yuan. According to the prospective owner, the original premium of the car he ordered was about 8,000 yuan, and after the "New Deal" on December 27, the premium soared by 1.25 times.

At that time, the 21st Century Business Herald reporter learned from a Tesla's car friends forum that after the launch of new energy car insurance, the premium of Tesla models did rise, but relatively speaking, model 3 high-performance version, Model Y long endurance version of such a configuration and higher price of models, the premium increase is more, and Model 3 standard endurance version and other models, the increase in premiums is not large.

In addition to Tesla, the models of new energy vehicle companies such as Weilai, Xiaopeng, Ideal, and BYD have a certain increase in premium prices, but the specific increase in the range is also different due to factors such as models and regions.

At that time, Lu Jianxiao, head of Weilai's service operation, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that after confirming with cooperative insurance companies, Weilai's premiums did rise to a certain extent, but the increase was not large, "The overall premium changes are related to the user's region, illegal records, past insurance situations and other factors, and the situation in different places is also different." ”

Based on the situation that some users "refund" due to the rise in premiums, some analysts said that the rise in premiums may indeed affect the sales of some new energy vehicles, after all, many car owners choose new energy vehicles, that is, from the economic point of view of the car, if the fuel saving does not save the premium, then consumers are bound to weigh it again.

At that time, NIO tried its best not to let consumers be affected. On December 29 last year, WEILAI issued a statement saying that the "service worry-free package" has added three additional insurances added by the new provisions, and the existing service worry-free users can get corresponding protection, and the price of the new service worry-free package will not change. However, the "Insurance Worry-free Package" is different, users need to buy from the insurance company that NIO cooperates with, and the premium of this part of the user will be determined by the latest quotation of the insurance company.

After the launch of new energy vehicle captive insurance, the formulation of insurance will usher in more flexible space, and car companies obviously realize that the insurance design scheme that is truly suitable for intelligent electric vehicles must be completed in combination with a series of data such as driving records - which can not only improve the user's experience, but also provide a grip for car companies to further expand their business.

In fact, the policy also encourages products such as new energy vehicle insurance and UBI. In September 2020, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the Guiding Opinions on the Implementation of the Comprehensive Reform of Motor Insurance, which proposes to "support the industry to formulate model clauses for new energy vehicle insurance, driver and occupant accident insurance, and motor vehicle extended warranty insurance, and explore the development of innovative products such as motor vehicle mileage insurance (UBI) in new energy vehicles and qualified traditional cars." ”