The second "resurrection" of Borgward cars ended in failure, leaving more than 100,000 car owners to pay for the endgame. The Beijing Business Daily reporter learned that at present, the official channels of Borgward Automobile have been completely suspended, and the remaining inventory cars have been transferred to the hands of secondary dealers, and they are selling on short video platforms such as Douyin. While official sales are suspended, the lack of spare parts also makes the after-sales outlets useless.
At the beginning, Borgward Automobile "expensive can be good, good can be expensive, good!" expensive! "Cramming slogan, let it harvest more than 100,000 Borgward owners." Today, the butterfly effect caused by the Borgward endgame continues, and car owners will face many uncertain futures.
Liu Xiaomeng/Photo
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The LOGO of the Zhongguancun exhibition hall of Borgward Automobile has been removed and turned into an advertisement for "Renting the Third Ring Network Technology Building"
Stores nationwide are closed
According to an enforcement ruling recently issued by the Third Intermediate People's Court of Beijing Municipality, the First Planning (Beijing) Culture Co., Ltd. applied to the court to enforce about 2.07 million yuan and interest of Borgward Automobile, and the court inquired into the account, house ownership, vehicle registration and industrial and commercial registration of the judgment debtor and found that the judgment debtor had no property to enforce. In this regard, the outside world speculates that Borgward Automobile is only a matter of time from bankruptcy, although Borgward Automobile has not responded to this officially, but at present, Borgward Automobile has been completely suspended, and 4S stores and directly operated stores have quietly withdrawn.
According to the official website of Borgward Automobile, there are currently three sales outlets in Beijing, namely Zhongguancun City Exhibition Hall, Chaoyang Sports Center Store and Daxing Old Palace Store. However, the Beijing Business Daily reporter of the Zhongguancun City Exhibition Hall saw that the LOGO of Borgward Automobile, which was hung above the exhibition hall, has been replaced by the advertisement of "Three Ring Network Technology Building For Rent", and the exhibition hall has also been emptied and is closed. In addition to the city's exhibition hall, a staff member of the Daxing Old Palace store of Borgward Automobile told the Beijing Business Daily reporter: "Borgward Automobile is bankrupt, and the store has long ceased to sell cars. In this regard, an official customer service staff of Borgward Automobile said: "Borgward Automobile has stopped selling nationwide. ”
In the past, the city exhibition hall adopted the direct operation model carried the landing of the new retail transformation of Borgward Automobile
A person in charge of the lessor of the Zhongguancun showroom of Borgward Automobile revealed: "The showroom has been in arrears in rent, and last September we could only let it withdraw and re-rent to the outside world. In the view of Yan Jinghui, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, in the past two years, the Borgward brand has no product strength as a support, sales have continued to decline, and they have also had problems one after another, and the lower profit margin has led to the inability offline stores to maintain operations.
Although the official channel of Borgward has been completely suspended, the remaining inventory cars have flowed into the secondary market and are active on various short video platforms. Taking the Douyin platform as an example, searching for "#Borgward Auto Inventory New Car#" will lead to a large number of short videos selling Borgward Cars. In the video, the highest appearance rate is Borgward BX5 and BX7 models, and the anchors also use Borgward Automobile's former luxury brand slogan of "BBBA (Borgward, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi)" as a gimmick to introduce vehicle information and brand history. It is understood that these anchors are not the official sales staff of Borgward Automobile, but the secondary dealers. A anchor with goods told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that the cars were previously purchased from Borgward auto dealers, and the production date is 2019 or 2020.
As these Borgward inventory cars are sold through unofficial channels, the price of the vehicle at the secondary dealership has also become a "one-stop price". It is understood that at present, the official guidance price of a Borgward BX7 is 189,800 yuan, and the quotation from the secondary dealer is 106,800 yuan. "Although it is a stock car, when the consumer picks up the car, we will replace the battery and other loss accessories for the model purchased by the consumer to ensure the delivery status of the vehicle." A video anchor in Guangzhou revealed that due to the affordable price, there will still be some consumers who will consult to buy Borgward inventory cars.
Difficult to repair the car
At the same time that Borgward Automobile was suspended nationwide, whether the after-sales service could be guaranteed has become the focus of attention of many car owners.
In this regard, the official customer service staff of Borgward Automobile said: "Only the new car is suspended, and the after-sales service of Borgward Automobile is still normal to provide services to users." However, the Beijing Business Daily reporter found that although the after-sales outlets operate, they are basically comprehensive maintenance outlets. According to the official website of Borgward Automobile, there are currently 5 Borgward automobile maintenance outlets in Beijing, which are located in Chaoyang District, Huairou District and Miyun District. The staff of each after-sales outlet said that the store can provide testing, maintenance and repair services for Borgward models, but also repair other brands of vehicles.
For the current question of whether Borgward Automobile still provides after-sales service direct sales outlets only for its own brand models, the official customer service personnel of Borgward Automobile did not directly answer, only saying that the existing outlets are authorized maintenance outlets of Borgward Automobile and can provide corresponding services for car owners. Industry insiders said that usually in the 4S store maintenance, repair, the store will provide rest areas, lunch and other services, but if you move to the comprehensive maintenance point, these services that should be provided for the owner are likely to be canceled, and the maintenance personnel are not only responsible for a brand, after all, the comprehensive maintenance outlets are mainly repair shops.
In fact, while switching from the 4S store to the comprehensive maintenance outlet, Borgward car owners are also encountering car repair problems. Beijing Business Daily reporter learned from a number of Borgward Auto after-sales outlets that although normal after-sales service can be provided, it may not be able to help car owners who need to replace spare parts. "Manufacturers have not supplied us spare parts for a long time, headlights, pumps and many other spare parts are not in stock, and the arrival time cannot be guaranteed." A staff member of Borgward Auto's after-sales maintenance outlet said. In this regard, the car quality network shows that in 2020-2022, when many car owners complained that the Borgward models they purchased needed to replace accessories, they were told by dealers that the manufacturer did not have accessories, and the problem could not be solved.
The staff of the above-mentioned Borgward Auto after-sales maintenance outlets revealed: "In the absence of original parts, the solution we provide for car owners at present is to find original parts in the market or use the general parts of other brands for replacement." "However, because the maintenance outlets purchase spare parts, the owner needs to pay the corresponding spare parts fee. The above-mentioned staff said: "Because the manufacturer has been unable to provide warranty services, does not provide spare parts in the store and does not pay the corresponding fees, so even if the owner of the Borgward vehicle purchased by the owner is in the warranty period, it cannot enjoy the free warranty service, and the replacement of the accessories must pay the corresponding fee." In response to the supply of spare parts at the after-sales outlets, the Beijing Business Daily reporter contacted Borgward Automobile, but did not receive a reply as of press time.
The butterfly effect intensifies
Not only is it troublesome to repair the car, but Borgward owners also have to face more problems.
Due to the difficulty of repairing the car, Borgward owner Wang Ming (pseudonym) considered selling the BX7 that had been purchased for less than 2 years. But he did not expect that the quotations given by many used car dealers did not meet his expectations. "When I first bought the car, the guiding price of the model was 235,800 yuan, the price after the discount was 180,000 yuan, and only the quasi-new car was opened for less than 2 years, and the quotations of the second-hand car dealers were about 70,000 yuan." He said.
The price of the "fractured" used car puzzled Wang Ming, but in the eyes of the second-hand car dealer, such a quotation is already very high. "Since last year, the second-hand price of Borgward models has begun to decline." A person in charge of a second-hand car dealer said that last year, he had acquired a new car for more than 200,000 yuan for a new car of more than 200,000 yuan, but it took more than two months to find a buyer, and the final transaction price was only 110,000 yuan, almost losing money. This year, the price of Borgward's inventory car is lower, and the price of 70,000 yuan can be given is already very high.
Compared to the Borgward BX7, owners of the BX3 and BX5 models have more headaches. The person in charge of the above-mentioned second-hand car dealers admitted that at present, Borgward models are generally sold to third- and fourth-tier cities, and some users in these cities like to choose low-priced large cars, which also makes Borgward BX7 an object of attention for many second-hand car users. However, compact models such as the BX3, unless the price is very low, second-hand car dealers are reluctant to collect it, for fear of not being able to sell it.
For the low residual value rate of used cars of Borgward Automobile, economist Song Qinghui believes that if the Borgward brand disappears in the later period, it will be more difficult for car owners to sell vehicles of the brand, and the retention rate will also decline rapidly.
In addition, the possible increase in vehicle insurance costs has also become a hurdle for Borgward car owners. An insurance industry insider said that car insurance premiums will be calculated based on the previous year's insurance rate, while luxury brand models involve higher spare parts and maintenance costs, if coupled with the high insurance rate of brand models, insurance companies will increase the premium amount for such models after comprehensive consideration. At the same time, in terms of vehicle damage insurance amount, insurance companies will also consider in many aspects, if the original parts of the model are difficult to find, there are unstable factors after-sales, and the residual value rate of the model is not high, the insurance company may also reduce the amount of vehicle insurance in order to avoid risks.
Industry insiders believe that if a Borgward car owner has a high insurance rate, the superimposed manufacturer cannot perform the warranty, the spare parts are difficult to find, and the cost of repairing the car increases, in order to reduce the risk, the insurance company is likely to mention the insurance cost of the next year to reduce the risk.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Liu Yang liu xiaomeng