Shut down and withdraw the network, 4S shop from "fragrant food" to "money-losing goods"

In the past, people wanted to see cars, test drives and buy cars without 4S stores, but in recent years, affected by the epidemic and the impact of the wave of electrification, many car brands are slowly moving away from the 4S store model, such as Tesla, Weilai Automobile, Xiaopeng Automobile, Genisais and other brands have used the direct operation model.

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Recently, foreign media reported that BMW Group may cancel the authorized dealer system of the MINI brand in the German market from 2024, and the BMW brand may cancel the authorized dealer system from 2026 onwards, and will use a new agency model to sell new cars in the future.

Previously, the relevant person in charge of the BMW Group also expressed his position on this decision when releasing sales in the first quarter of 2022: "For the European region, we believe that the future belongs to the pan-European agent (sales) model. We focus on tight customer loyalty and delivering a seamless, high-quality customer experience both online and offline. ”

As early as July 2021, Honda announced that it would cancel the "4S store" model in Australia, and the new car would have a unified retail price, and customers could only book from the official website. In April this year, Mercedes-Benz Motor said that it will carry out direct sales models in Germany and the United Kingdom from 2023; it plans to reduce the dealer coverage area in Germany by about 15% to 20% by 2028, and will transform the digital sales model.

From tesla, a new force in car manufacturing, to Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and then to BMW, this is releasing a message that more and more car brands will leave the 4S store model in the future and will adopt a direct sales model.

So the question is, will the 4S store disappear? To answer this question, we must first understand the past life of the 4S store, what role it plays between consumers and car manufacturers, and the advantages and disadvantages in the market, so that we can analyze the answer.

The Fall of 4S Mode

"4S shop" is the authorized brand stores of all automobile manufacturers, the so-called "4S" is the English vehicle sales (Sale), spare parts (Sparepart), after-sales service (Service), information feedback (Survey) abbreviation, originated in Europe.

After the 4S shop model entered China in 1999, the uneven services such as immature domestic automobile market, various car sales, and aftermarket maintenance have become unified, so that many consumers who have encountered a wall before and after buying a car in the auto trade city have turned to 4S stores, and also let the consumer group form a consensus, that is, to buy a car must go to the 4S store.

Because the 4S store has the authorization of the car manufacturer, both the vehicle and the service are unified standards, and it can best represent the manufacturer, so the 4S store is more likely to get the trust of the consumer group.

In this context, most of the brand's 4S stores have eaten dividends, made a lot of money in the market, and prompted more third parties to join the 4S stores, accelerating China's auto sales network throughout the north and south of the river. According to statistics, the number of domestic 4S stores has increased to more than 30,000, an average of more than 1,300 per year.

However, while the brand store grows and obtains the trust of consumer groups, the 4S store has a monopoly, the "credit" is realized and the price is not transparent, etc., "monopoly" is that consumers buy new cars are going to the 4S store, and they are afraid to buy a test drive or an inventory car (with a price of a new car); "credit realization" refers to after-sales service, such as oil change service, in the outside repair shop to change once to 200-300 yuan, and to the 4S store but to 600 yuan, which is the credit value of the 4S store.

"Price opaque" refers to the actual transaction price of a new car in different cities and different 4S stores, the gap ranges from thousands to tens of thousands; and some of the 4S store salesmen have a bad service attitude, and some in order to obtain high commissions, they sell cars at a disguised price increase, carry out key "projects" such as compulsory insurance and license plates, so that consumers who buy cars have pains.

The actual transaction price of the same car is uneven, the service and after-sales are not in place, and there are many problems such as unknown charges, so that consumers and 4S stores are gradually drifting apart; coupled with the impact of factors such as the epidemic in recent years, 4S stores have changed from "fragrant food" to "money-losing goods". According to statistics, in the past four months, nearly 1400 4S stores have been closed in China, and about 11 4S stores have been shut down and withdrawn every day. This is just one of the dilemmas of the 4S store itself, and there are other dilemmas that come from car manufacturers and the aftermarket.

The abdomen and back are attacked

Thanks to today's mobile Internet digital era, car manufacturers no longer need to invest huge manpower, material and financial resources as before, as well as cooperate with 4S stores to establish a sales network, now car manufacturers only need to develop small programs, APP and other online services, not only to make marketing channels more diversified and rich, but also to face consumers directly, so that consumers know that the price of the car is transparent, experience a higher quality of service and car experience and other advantages.

For automobile manufacturers, the direct sales model is more profitable than the 4S store model (middlemen, dealers), the profit of bicycle sales is higher, and it can directly obtain consumer information and feedback, timely adjust the product, enhance the competitiveness of the product, and the user's recognition of the brand, which is also one of the reasons why the traditional car companies "eye red" car manufacturing new forces, and have turned to the direct sales model.

As we all know, the most profitable way for 4S shops is not to sell cars, but also to rely on follow-up after-sales service, of which the basic conventional maintenance accounts for the largest proportion, but this cake can not be divided, because there are many repair shops in the market, etc., plus now many new similar to Tuhu car and other fast repair shops, their services are better, the subdivision repair and maintenance is more diversified, the quality is also guaranteed, and the most important cost performance is higher, so that many consumers no longer go to the 4S shop to do maintenance.

In addition, the era of electrification has arrived, pure electric vehicle structure is different from traditional fuel vehicles, they have no engine, do not need to change oil and spark plugs, etc., which also determines that they do not need frequent maintenance and maintenance, and even the maintenance cost is almost zero, which means that pure electric vehicles do not rely on the after-sales service of 4S stores, reducing the important source of income for 4S stores to survive, which is simply a fatal blow.

Although the market competition is fierce now, but the 4S stores will not be immediately withdrawn, they still have room to live; some industry insiders believe that China's traditional 4S store model will still dominate the market in the next 5 years, but it is expected to be replaced by a variety of more flexible models. That is to say, the 4S store is not in a dead end at present, and there is still a chance to transform and survive.

The people evaluate the car

The impact of the direct sales model, the newborn market and its own problems has weakened the 4S store model by the times and the market, but for the 4S store, perhaps the opportunity is greater than the impact, the 4S store still has many functions to play, may be able to survive through transformation and reform, but then it may be a big reshuffle, and the 4S store that can survive will not exist.