The new energy vehicle financial "track" opens! These issues still need attention

At present, with the support of many policies and measures, the upstream and downstream of the new energy vehicle industry chain has achieved rapid development in many fields such as power battery manufacturing, electrified parts, charging piles, etc., and the production and sales of new energy vehicles have increased significantly. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first quarter of this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 1.293 million units and 1.257 million units, respectively, an increase of 1.4 times year-on-year, and the market penetration rate increased to 19.3%.

The ecological pattern of the new energy vehicle industry chain is accelerating change and reconstruction, and new formats, new models and new technologies are constantly emerging. Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a press conference held by the State Council New Office on February 28 to promote the smooth operation of industry and informatization and the improvement of quality and upgrading: "In recent times, we have carried out a series of research work, deeply felt the development of the new energy automobile industry, in line with the direction of green and low-carbon development, driven the extension and expansion of the industrial chain such as power batteries, motors, and electronic controls, spawned the rapid application of new technologies such as intelligent cockpits, automatic driving, and intelligent network connections, and promoted changes in the fields of logistics and transportation. It also brings a new experience of green travel to the majority of consumers. ”

The new development stage of the new energy vehicle market from policy-driven to market-driven has laid a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the "14th Five-Year Plan" automobile industry. With the increasing progress of technology and the improvement of consumer acceptance of new energy vehicles, the new energy vehicle consumer market has gradually opened up, and the new energy vehicle finance has also heated up.

The Financial Times reporter learned that after the Spring Festival this year, new energy vehicle brands such as Xiaopeng, Tesla, Weilai, and Ideal have launched financial solutions with zero or low down payment. Traditional car companies such as Great Wall Auto Finance, Volkswagen Finance, and BMW Auto Finance have also formulated exclusive car purchase financing plans for their new energy models, and publicized and promoted them through the official website and WeChat service account.

"The competition in the new energy vehicle market can be said to be very fierce, major companies have joined the ranks of new energy vehicles, and many car brands have made a name for themselves." A person from an auto finance company told the Financial Times reporter that taking into account the production capacity of the main engine factory, increasing the market share, promoting the sales of new models and the penetration rate of financial services, the auto finance companies of the manufacturer family will pay more attention to adjusting and promoting financial service solutions for new energy models according to market changes, such as adjusting the down payment ratio, interest rate, term, preferential items, etc. of new cars.

Strictly speaking, in terms of personal consumption credit, there is no obvious difference between new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles, and most new energy vehicle financial solutions replicate the financial service framework of fuel vehicles that have been relatively mature.

However, due to the relatively low frequency of maintenance and repair of new energy vehicles, the traditional profit channels have been compressed, but the battery repair, maintenance, recycling, installation and replacement of charging facilities have a higher demand, so auto finance companies are also looking for new profit growth points in the automotive aftermarket in the process of serving B-end dealers and C-end customers.

From the C-end personal consumption credit service to now extending to car rental, battery leasing, charging pile leasing and other services, a new "track" of financial services around new energy vehicles has been opened.

According to the analysis of the "2021 China Auto Finance Yearbook", new energy vehicles have entered the critical moment of the "qualifier", the market has ushered in explosive growth, financial institutions have dug new markets, and innovative products such as value-preserving repurchase and vehicle-to-electricity separation are also boosting the growth rate of new energy vehicles. The new energy sector will also be the focus of the future layout of commercial vehicle financial enterprises.

Yu Yarui, general manager of SAIC-GM Auto Finance Co., Ltd., said that in the face of changes in vehicles, auto finance companies need to deeply study different vehicle types, especially the customer group characteristics of new energy vehicles, and cooperate with the "new four modernizations" trend of the automobile industry to continue to drive business upgrading with scientific and technological innovation.

However, the risk problems behind the new energy vehicle finance exhibition industry cannot be ignored. Some lawbreakers use preferential policies such as zero down payment and low interest rates for new energy vehicles to maliciously cut off supply after purchasing a car. In addition, the Financial Times reporter saw on an Internet complaint platform that sales staff forcibly requested loans, did not clearly inform the loan interest rate and preferential situation to mislead consumers, and problems such as arbitrary charges for new energy vehicle leasing also occurred repeatedly.

Industry insiders admit that in the specific exhibition process, individual offline sales personnel lack the awareness of compliance with financial services, in order to complete sales tasks or credit indicators, failed to fulfill the obligation to inform or intentionally concealed relevant information, thus attracting consumer complaints and rights protection.

The issue of consumer rights protection in the auto finance industry needs to be paid more attention.

On February 10 this year, the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) notified Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance") of infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance had four acts that infringed on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, including publicity materials that did not clearly state the provider of loan products and the disclosure of service price information did not meet the requirements. The notice shows that the promotional materials provided by Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance to dealers in July 2019 put the company's loan products and the leasing products of Mercedes-Benz Leasing Co., Ltd. on the same page, but did not clearly state that the provider of the loan products was Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance; the promotional materials provided to dealers in January 2020 simultaneously promoted loan products and leasing products in the name of "Mercedes-Benz Finance", and only prompted that "'Mercedes-Benz Finance' refers to Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance and Mercedes-Benz Leasing". The promotional materials do not clearly explain the behavior of the provider of the loan product, which does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Guidelines for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests in the Banking Industry.

In the above-mentioned circular, the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stressed that all banking and insurance institutions should strictly implement the laws, regulations and regulatory systems for the protection of consumer rights and interests, earnestly assume the main responsibility for the protection of consumer rights and interests, establish and improve the institutional mechanism for the protection of consumer rights and interests, carry out business activities in accordance with the law and compliance, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers.