Where will millions of automotive marketers go in the future?

It's the first ten! According to the market conditions in previous years, almost all the employees of the 4S store in Dongguan Liaobu Automobile City have gone to work, and the eleventh road where the car shops outside the automobile city are concentrated have also opened the brick moving mode. But this year, many auto marketers have been delayed in their work, and everyone's heart is as cold as this weather.

Even Zhang Hongwei, who has been in the automotive industry for more than ten years, has shouted that this is not what it used to be!

What the hell is going on? Is the auto trade industry OK? Where will millions of auto marketers go?

It is difficult to change careers, and the future is uncertain without changing careers. Zhang Hong, who was thinking hard about the direction of the auto trade industry in his hometown, could not help but think of his auto trade career of more than ten years.

1. The era of grassy dividends

In 2010, Zhang Hong, a Hunan boy who had just graduated from high school, gradually came to Dongguan to work, and the assembly line homework day and night made him lose more than ten pounds in just one month. The aunt was very distressed to see it, originally tall and thin, this poured well, directly thin into a bamboo pole. Let the aunt take some connections, take two bottles of wine, and arrange Zhang Hongzhi into a Toyota 4S store.

Zhang Hongwei originally thought that there was a neat suit to wear, who knew that the sales manager looked at him more and more unhappy, coupled with a childish face, he was really not suitable for talking about a list, and could only be arranged to wash the car. Childishness does not mean that he is not good at talking, and Zhang Hong, who has a small horn, gradually brags with sales every day. At this time, for Zhang Hongwei, who took 800 yuan per month, he was dryly envious of the salesman who took four or five thousand or even six or seven thousand commissions every month, and felt that the most difficult and beautiful profession in the world was car sales.

Talk about the various skills of the list, and some kind big brothers reveal how to protect their commissions, Zhang Hongzhi is most interested in these, whenever talking about these, Zhang Hong gradually hates that he can't come to the front line in person.

In just two months, Zhang Hong gradually felt that he should not brag, but could blow elephants! Why can't you negotiate? It has always been a pity that heroes have no place.

Opportunities are always left to those who are prepared, the National Day peak season is coming, the sales manager and his cousin are in vain to ask for leave. Zhang Hong, who has a good popularity, has gradually been pushed to the "high position" of sales. At this time, Zhang Hongzhi can only be described as brave and forward, rushing to stand guard every day, and some customers rush over with smiles on their faces. He smiled really brightly, because in his eyes, seeing these people was equivalent to seeing the golden gold, could he not smile brightly?

Receiving one after another, explaining over and over again, Zhang Hong gradually felt like he had hit chicken blood, not knowing what fatigue was. Time flies so fast that Golden Week is over in the blink of an eye. The store always looked at the performance of the dragon and tiger list, Zhang Hong gradually ranked in the eye, and the difference between the champion and the champion was only one. "You boy is really good!" The store owner gave a thumbs up.

Other salesmen have asked Zhang Hongzhi for a big dinner. That night, Zhang Hong gradually paid the most expensive meal he had ever had,three hundred oceans, almost pouring out his heart, and that heart was dripping blood. But by the beginning of the second month, the salary-receiving Zhang Bangyan excitedly flew straight up, a full six thousand oceans, oh my God! This was the most money he had ever seen, and the most crucial thing was that the money still belonged to him.

Since then, Zhang Hongzhi has been braver, and after the position of the Dragon and Tiger List leader was targeted by him, others could no longer grab him. After only a year and a half of working, Zhang Hong gradually upgraded to a car-owning family, returned to his hometown in Hunan, where the elders in the village boasted, and from time to time there were elders who entrusted him and took her children to work together. Even his honest father couldn't help but stand up with his head held high as he walked. There is a sense of homecoming, so it is not prestigious.

The young dezhi also had many drawbacks, and soon he floated up. He often spends days and nights, even contracts gambling, and often talks to customers about cars with his sleepy eyes. Fortunately, the market is too powerful, the performance is always good, the salary is several times that of the assembly line employees, and the car washer is not to mention.

This is the dividend era of large auto trading companies (4S stores), an ordinary employee is still like this, the store is always more exaggerated! The open income is already quite a lot, and the news of the auto industry still blows up from time to time that this store is totally greedy for a million, and that store has always moved two million clouds. Fortunately, the market is very good, although the management of auto trade enterprises is not perfect, it still makes a lot of money.

2. The era of mushrooms after the rain

4S stores are so profitable, small and micro auto trading companies (car dealers) have also been established. Although the car dealership often helps the 4S store to solve the urgent need (help the 4S store complete the manufacturer's sales task), it also brings the trouble of dividing the market cake and even disrupting the price of the car. 4S shops really love and hate car dealers.

In 2017, the state issued an anti-monopoly law on automobile sales, and car dealers no longer have to be sneaky, and car dealers in various places have mushroomed.

At this time, Zhang Hong's eyes were also red, but he did not know how to be frugal for many years, coupled with the economic pressure after starting a family, he could only be in a hurry. Fortunately, many large car dealers also urgently need talents like him, and under the warm invitation of the owner of the car shop, he has also become the "second boss" of a car shop in Dongguan. Life has finally taken a big step.

It is really a gratifying market, and those who distribute imported cars also earn money, those who distribute joint venture cars also earn, and those who distribute domestically produced cars also earn. There are even car dealers that only sell a Rolls-Royce to earn more than 400,000 differences.

The big boss has resources and funds, the second boss Zhang Hong gradually has the management ability and customer resources, and the car dealership has entered a steady profit stage within three months of opening. In the store in front of customers, the two sides called Li Zongzhang, and in private, they were brothers and brothers, and it is unknown whether they hugged together after drinking.

3. The Age of Ice and Fire

Flowing like water, unconsciously coming to 2019. With the tightening of the 4S store's policy of two networks and three networks (car dealers), coupled with the decline in market share, the profits of many car dealers have plummeted, and Zhang Hongwei's car shops are also unfortunate among them.

Zhang Hong gradually found that the big boss changed his mind too quickly, often intervening in management, and even always questioning financial data. You should know that before the big boss came to ask about financial data, but his face was full of smiles, and now he was actually tense. The performance of the car dealership is average, and Zhang Hongzhi can only change the style of drinking tea and blowing water during the day and drinking wine at night. Performance has finally slowly picked up, and there is no danger in spending the year.

The sudden outbreak of the epidemic has made many car dealers cry bitterly, and the pressure on large car dealers like Zhang Hongzhi is even greater. During the peak season, May Day was affected by the epidemic, and it is understandable that the business was very poor. It can be said that the retaliatory consumption did not appear as scheduled until the eleventh day of the National Day. In just three years, the car dealership has experienced profitability - profit compression - loss.

I thought that 2021 would be better, but I did not expect that the first half of the car chip production was reduced, and in the second half of the year, the power ration was also limited, and many car dealers with hot selling models could not get the goods, and the price of the car that got the goods was not advantageous, and the customer group was becoming more and more dispersed. Many car dealers are either on the road of distress or on the road of serious consideration of changing careers.

Zhang Hongwei also often quarreled with the big boss. The reason is very simple, if all the auto trading enterprises are losing money, then there is no need to argue, everyone directly discuss how to liquidate. But the problem is that there are also many people who make a lot of money.

The profitable 4S stores and the second network are mainly concentrated in these three categories: the first is those agents to the hot selling models of large auto trading enterprises, lying all day, waiting for customers to buy a car, what needs to be done is to calculate which customer has a large profit space, give priority to which customer on the line; the second is those who are good at new media marketing 4S stores or car dealers, through online drainage, the service radius from the original radius of five kilometers to fifty kilometers or even radiation farther, the scattered passenger flow concentrated on their own hands; the third is the relationship household, this can not be said, He can get a car that no one else can get, or he can't get a price that others can't get.

Da Dangjia's classic line to Zhang Hongwei: "You see, others engage in new media drainage, and customers fifty kilometers away come to see the car." A live broadcast attracts hundreds of people to see the car. ”

Zhang Hongwei said to the big boss: "General Manager Li, now this one can't get the goods, and the car source is too small!" You look again, the goods we get, the price is three or five points higher than others, our marketing pressure is also very large! ”

In fact, the big boss is also very wronged, he has not drunk less wine, and the gift has not been sent less. However, the second-hand relationship or even the third-hand relationship is always not preferred.

Zhang Hong gradually felt that he was more wronged, and he understood the importance of new media customer diversion, and he also understood a lot. Build a new media operation team by yourself, director, editor, editor, photographer, live broadcaster, etc., at least five or six more people, and the monthly labor cost will increase by another 70,000 or 80,000. This also excludes advertising, management, and device costs

Finding a third-party operation saves a lot of money, but the effect cannot be guaranteed, just like luck. His friend's car dealership, spent more than 300,000 yuan in three months to find a third-party operation, although it played some publicity effect, but relying on the clues from the drainage, only three or four transactions were finally completed, and the loss was large.

Quarrel after quarrel, the car dealership still has to continue to operate, or it has to bury its head in hard work. In the dead of night, Zhang Hongzhi always wondered, is it okay to do auto trade now? Where will automotive marketers go in the future?

4. The era of new models

In the dead of night, Zhang Hongzhi always wondered, is it okay to do auto trade now? Where will auto trading enterprises go in the future? Where do you go from here? The disturbing comments are not as good as their own research.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released production and sales data for December 2021 and the whole year, and production increased in December, and sales fell slightly year-on-year. In 2021, production and sales for the first time since 2018 turned red, ending a three-year downward trend.

Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, introduced the research results of the "2022 China Automobile Market Development Forecast Summit" of the China Automobile Association at the press conference: the total sales volume of mainland automobiles in 2022 is expected to reach 27.5 million units, an increase of about 5% year-on-year, and continue to maintain growth.

Don't check and be shocked, the original cake in the car market is so big, and it is still getting bigger, but the person who cuts the cake is changing. Since the big market is no problem, it seems that it is better not to change careers.

Zhang Hongwei then analyzed while investigating.

What are the new models of auto trade now?

Direct operation mode: Tesla, Xiaopeng, ideal and other manufacturers have risen direct sales + large shopping mall drainage. This model is a bit harsh, and traditional 4S stores and car dealers can't get a piece of the pie. However, there are many drawbacks to this model, the automotive industry has always been a heavy asset, manufacturers directly operate them with greater risk, and it is not easy to drain in the suburbs of large cities and small and medium-sized cities. In addition, their market share is small, and it is not enough for the time being.

Loose alliance model: many car dealers huddled together for warmth, closed fewer stores, worked together to sell cars together, and exchanged resources. This can indeed reduce rental costs and increase the yield rate. However, the small and micro automobile trading company (car dealership) has few vehicle sources, is difficult to obtain customers, and is more restricted. These three mountains are still pressed on the head of the car.

Sharing mode: such as the large auto trading company Huizhou Hanlong Industry to carry out the "car 121" model. It is planned to complete 1,000 Hanlong Wanjia Automobile Life Center (Shared Car City) in Guangdong, gather 20,000 sales, and unite 10,000 service outlets.

The area of the shared car city is about 1,000 square meters, and there are 20-30 shared exhibition cars in the exhibition hall, and there are 20 independent and comfortable negotiation rooms for small and micro auto trading companies/free entrepreneurs to settle in.

The advantages of this model are in federation and sharing. The headquarters carries out brand management and online drainage, becoming the central part; coupled with the combination of so many car dealers and marketing elites, turning passive into active, so that high-quality car sources take the initiative to find the door; not only sharing the exhibition hall and exhibition car, multi-party sharing mode, the operational risk of all parties has become smaller.

Zhang Hong gradually praised.

If the auto trade industry does not have this big reshuffle, how will the auto trade investment frenzy cool down, how will the rent drop sharply, and how will the high-quality talents flow to a more advanced model? This major reshuffle will undoubtedly promote the development of more advanced auto trading companies.

"Winter is coming, will spring be far away?" The colder the winter, the closer it is to the turning point.

5. Postscript

Thank you to Mr. Zhang, the owner of Dongguan Liaobuk Car Dealership, for sharing his wonderful experience in the industry, in view of his requirements, only pseudonyms are used here.

The data in the text are from authoritative public data, which can be used as a reference for auto people.