In less than ten days, Wanda drove the car company to six cities.
After Changchun, Shenyang, Guiyang, Yinchuan and Tianjin, the latest establishment is Taiyuan Wanda Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., which is 100% owned by Wanda Automobile Technology Service Co., Ltd.
Since the announcement of cooperation with FAW Hongqi in the second half of last year, Wanda's layout in the automotive field has gradually emerged, and Wanda Automotive Technology Service Co., Ltd. was jointly established with Faw-hongqi and Hongqi partners in November last year.
As early as 2016, Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group, invested 500 million yuan in Zhuhai Yinlong, a company focusing on new energy buses and new energy storage, with a shareholding ratio of 3.73%.
Along with his investment partners are Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric Appliances, and Liu Qiangdong, chairman of the board of directors of JD.com. For this investment, Wang Jianlin's external explanation is "trust in Dong Mingzhu and Gree".
Almost no one saw that investment as the beginning of Wang Jianlin's "car dream". However, when in October 2021, Wang Jianlin, who had been low-key for many years, took the key to a Hongqi car from Xu Liuping, chairman of FAW Group, at the signing ceremony of the strategic cooperation between Wanda Group and China FAW, the outside world was convinced that Wang Jianlin was serious about entering the car this time.
He announced on the spot that "personally taking the lead, Wanda vice presidents and above executives all changed to Red Flag Motors", which quickly became the headline of many media. Some people say that it is worthy of being one of the top IPs in the real estate industry.
It is said that in less than a month, Wanda Group employees ordered 1,000 vehicles.
At the beginning of 2022, the first Wanda Hongqi Automobile flagship store has been opened in Beijing Fengke Wanda Plaza, and Li Hongpeng, a well-known automobile manager whose resume is full of the names of Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Hyundai and other large car companies, also announced his joining.
On the road of the car, people can already hear the sound of Wanda's motor. Unlike the various people who entered the "car-making" army, Wanda's choice was to "sell cars".
The Tao is different
"In the future, when you go to Wanda Plaza, you can not only visit the mall, watch movies, eat, but also buy a car and drive home." This is the scene about the car described by Wanda officials.
On January 8, 2022, wanda hongqi automobile flagship store, which is defined as the "first new energy vehicle service ecology", was officially opened in Beijing Fengke Wanda Plaza.
67-year-old Wang Jianlin arrived at the scene, and at the end of the ribbon cutting, the scene was scattered with golden flowers, and he stood in the middle with a slight smile.
According to Wanda's official reports, the store has a business area of more than 1,000 square meters and consists of an above-ground display center and an underground service area. "In addition to meeting the requirements of new car delivery, test ride, beauty film, used car consignment and light maintenance functions, here you can also fully experience automatic parking, automatic car wash, automatic charging and other trendy car technology."
The cooperation with FAW in new energy vehicles, according to Wanda, "will be a useful attempt to innovate the integrated marketing of new energy vehicles, and will bring about a revolution in automobile sales services." ”
"This is a further in-depth embodiment of Wanda's asset-light operation." Song Hongwei, research director of Tongce Research Institute, told Phoenix WEEKLY Real Estate that unlike the current heavy asset investment of many enterprises entering the manufacturing field, Wanda mainly focuses on terminal display and sales, and aims to serve the asset-light operation service model of automobile manufacturers.
"This also enriches the performance of Wanda's commercial format." He said that in many commercial centers have appeared in the format of automobile showrooms, new retail models, especially in the context of the rise of experiential ecological business models, operators must make changes, the future sales and service separation of urban exhibition halls, will be the traditional 4S store dealer model in the top half of the sky.
Wanda's "First Year of The Automobile"
Wanda's launch in the automotive sector has been in the public eye since last year.
In July 2021, Wanda Group, FAW Hongqi and Taiyue Group held strategic cooperation talks in Beijing; in August, Wanda Group and China FAW signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Changchun; and on October 11, the official announcement of cooperation between the two companies was officially launched.
At first, the outside world was speculating, "What is Wanda going to do?" ”
At the launching ceremony, the official gave an answer, saying that it will jointly establish an automobile service company with Hongqi and Hongqi partners, and at the same time will "rely on Wanda's commercial plaza and cultural tourism projects to build a 'new Hongqi supermarket experience store' nationwide and become the carrier of building a Hongqi user experience ecology."
On November 22, Wanda Automotive Technology Service Co., Ltd. was officially established.
According to the investigation, the shareholders of this company are Dalian Wanda Co., Ltd. and Taiqing (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., which hold 65% and 35% of the shares respectively. Taiqing Technology, on the other hand, belongs to the Taiyue Group of Hongqi dealers.
At the same time, wanda automobile's business scope is mainly automobile new car sales, auto parts wholesale, motor vehicle charging sales and so on. Its recently established subsidiaries also focus on these areas.
"As a central enterprise, Hongqi has a good momentum of development and a high degree of product reliability." Liang Nan, an analyst at Zhuge Housing Data Research Center, analyzed Phoenix WEEKLY Real Estate, saying, "In addition, the positioning of Hongqi customer groups or the passenger flow of Wanda has a certain overlap, which is conducive to sales and the revitalization of Wanda's stock resources." ”
Soon after, the "team leader" of Wanda Automobile appeared.
In December 2021, Li Hongpeng, who served as the chief commercial officer of Hyundai Motor Group (China), announced on his personal social platform that he would join Wanda Automotive Technology Services Co., Ltd. in January 2022 as president.
According to the data, this well-known automobile manager who has been engaged in the industry for nearly 30 years has served well-known car companies such as Beijing Mercedes-Benz, Ford China and Hyundai China since 1991, and has held important sales and management positions, with rich sales experience.
According to reports, Li Hongpeng is best at establishing integrated sales channels, and during his tenure at Beijing Mercedes-Benz, he once achieved 600,000 annual sales in a single market for the first time by establishing a complete set of sales systems.
Grab the "cake"
"From my experience in sales, especially for famous brands and new energy types of cars, it seems that selling in the mall can attract consumers than in 4S stores." A salesperson at the Wanda Plaza car showroom said.
After coming to the mall to sell cars, he can clearly feel that the sales situation has become better: "When passing the exhibition hall, many people want to see the car, and the more people who see it, the more people who buy it, the more people who buy it." ”
In the eyes of many people in the industry, this represents a trend.
"The sales momentum of new energy vehicles is getting stronger, which is one of the important reasons for Wanda's layout." Liang Nan analyzed.
According to the official data released by Wanda, since the opening of Shenzhen Longgang Wanda Plaza on September 17, 2021, as of December 31, a total of 1,037 electric vehicles have been sold, with an average of more than 300 units sold per month.
"Even during peak sales seasons like the end of the year, the sales volume in our stores is basically about 80-100 units per month." The staff of a new energy vehicle 4S store in a third-tier city in the north said, "The sales volume of 300 units per month in a shopping mall is indeed a lot for us." ”
According to data from the China Automobile Association, in 2021, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China will reach 3.4 million units, an increase of 1.5 times year-on-year. This year, China's new energy vehicle sales will reach 5 million, accounting for about 20% of total car sales.
On March 5, Xiao Yaqing, minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in an interview with the media at the two sessions of the National People's Congress: "The sales of new energy vehicles in mainland China in January and February this year are very good, more than doubled, and it is expected to achieve the expected target this year, which may significantly exceed the expected target." ”
It's a huge "cake".
"Wanda's commercial complexes are widely distributed, and adding car sales services does not require too much cost investment, which is conducive to achieving asset-light operation, and also adds a more stable source of income for itself." Liang Nan said.
By the end of 2021, Wanda has opened 418 Wanda Plazas in more than 200 cities across the country, with 5 billion consumers per year.
According to reports, in September 2020, Wanda Commercial's property sales revenue has dropped to zero, while commercial property leasing management revenue has risen to 92.77%. Earlier, Wang Jianlin had said that to achieve Wanda's goal of 100 billion yuan of rental income, Wanda would "let the wind and waves rise and sit firmly on the fishing boat."
Song Hongwei believes that Wanda will focus on selling cars, "which will increase Wanda's commercial profits." ”
He analyzed: "The combination of the model of the car showroom and the business circle will not only drain each other, have traffic dividends, and also collect rent from car companies." In addition, with the emergence of customized services, such as setting up charging piles or reserved parking spaces for showroom car brands, it will also get certain benefits from corporate manufacturers. ”
The "mountain" in front of you
However, the track in the field of automobile sales is not as easy to cut into as imagined.
Previously, Suning's layout of offline automobile sales was a good example.
According to media reports, as early as June 2017, Suning's first auto supermarket had already settled in Nanjing; in November of the same year, the official announcement of the establishment of Suning Tesco Automobile Company was officially announced. However, after entering 2019, there is less and less information about auto supermarkets, and Suning's focus on automobile sales has gradually changed from offline to online.
A number of industry insiders expressed similar views, and the main competitor of Wanda's "car sales" is the traditional 4S store.
Song Hongwei said: "In terms of quantity, the number of Wanda auto showrooms depends on the number of Wanda commercials, which will certainly be much smaller than the number of 4S stores, and the coverage and reach area are limited; from a functional point of view, the service functions of the showroom and the 4S store are very different, even if the vehicle is ordered from the showroom, the later maintenance and related services will rely on the 4S store to achieve, so it will not be a complete replacement for the 4S store." ”
And the life of the 4S store is not so ideal.
According to the agency's report, as of December 31, 2020, a total of 3920 4S stores withdrew or closed throughout the year. A car sales person admitted: "In recent years, the field of automobile sales is really not very good, and it is difficult for the market to have such a hot sales scene as before." ”
The challenges are obvious.
But in addition to Wanda, Wanda also has Wang Jianlin, the "gold medal" figure who once made a big splash in the real estate industry and attracted attention in every action. He is over the age of Hua Jia, and in the future, I am afraid that he will be the largest "spokesperson" of the Wanda department.