◆? The profiteering of "black business" in small workshops is the core power of fake engine oil. A humble workshop and a few dirty machines can produce products worth millions or even hundreds of millions. Fake engine oil is very profitable, but it seems that no one can tell how much it earns. Engine oil products include three parts: base oil, additives and packaging. How much a can of fake engine oil can earn depends on how low the cost of these three pieces can be reduced. From the production process, it is not difficult to make engine oil, and it is difficult to make engine oil well, which gives counterfeiters a lot of room. Base oil is the "base material" of engine oil. Generally speaking, mineral oil, total synthesis and PAO all refer to base oil types. A good can of engine oil must first have a good base oil. There are many engine oil enterprises, but most of them do not have the production capacity of base oil. Base oil is a derivative of petroleum industry, generally refined from crude oil or synthesized from natural gas. Besides Mobil, Shell, Castrol, Great Wall and Kunlun, they are oil giants themselves. Most enterprises can only rely on procurement. China is a big importer of base oil, and its annual import of base oil is more than 1 times of its export. According to customs statistics, from January to May 22, China imported 969,8 tons of base oil. The export volume is only .85 million tons. The total import value is 633 million US dollars (about 4.463 billion yuan), with an average of about 4,6 yuan per ton. Purchasing from China, the price is similar. China Lubricating Oil Network shows that the price of 15N(Ⅱ) base oil (a second-class base oil) is between 4, and 7, yuan per ton. The purchase price of higher-end three kinds of base oils and PAO synthetic base oils is about 1,-3, yuan per ton. Some counterfeiters, in order to further reduce costs, will choose waste oil recycling, smuggling oil and other unknown channels. In 219, a suspect in a fake engine oil case uncovered in Zengcheng, Guangzhou confessed that the cost of a ton of "bottom material" was less than that of 6 yuan through waste engine oil refining. Additives are the "seasoning" of engine oil. In engine oil, the additive content is usually between 1% and 25%. Base oil determines the viscosity, pour point (low temperature fluidity) and other physical properties of engine oil; Additives give engine oil "special ability" such as cleaning and oxidation resistance. Additives are the "secret recipe" of good engine oil. Additives that may be used in an engine oil include dispersant, detergent, antioxidant and viscosity index improver. Most enterprises do not have the production capacity of additives. Additive is the "chip" of engine oil, which involves the synthesis of substances at the molecular level, and the synthesis of some additives is technically difficult. At present, the global additive market is dominated by Lubrizol, Infineum, Chevron? Oronite) and Afton (AFTON) are the four giants, accounting for about 85% of the global market share. Domestic enterprises such as Hairun, PetroChina Lanzhou and Jinzhou Petrochemical also have the production capacity of additives, but most of them are single-dose, and some key technologies still have no breakthrough. According to customs statistics, in 218, the market size of engine oil additives in China was about 16.7 billion yuan, of which 72% was imported. Depending on the formula, the cost of high-end engine oil and low-end engine oil and additives may differ by tens of yuan. The purchase price of additives is generally around 5, yuan per ton. In order to save money, fake engine oil may be added less or not. A fake engine oil producer in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, said that it is not necessary to calculate the price of additives. Mobil, Harvest and Shell, whatever you want, he will adjust it. "We can do the 5W-4 of SN level, and several customers in Guangzhou get the goods from me." For fake engine oil, the packaging cost may be higher than that of oil. Some fake engine oil producers said that because the "Meijia Shell" has updated its packaging, the technology has not kept up now; Coupled with "strict investigation", several packaging factories in Guangzhou have temporarily stopped doing it. In order to prevent counterfeiting, "Meijia Shell" has been upgrading its anti-counterfeiting technology. For example, Shell's latest packaging uses multiple means such as 3D stereoscopic light effect, four-dimensional holographic pattern and double-layer anti-counterfeiting QR code, which makes the cost and difficulty of counterfeiting continue to rise. A packaging factory in Guangzhou said that they still have goods there, but the price is relatively high: Castrol Jinjiahu 42 yuan/piece; Mobil Subba 62 yuan/piece. A 4L bottle of engine oil weighs about 3.6kg, and one ton of raw materials can fill 287 barrels. Based on this estimation, if we make a high imitation Mobil Suba 1, 5W-3 engine oil, the cost of base oil is about 13.6 yuan, the cost of additives is about 26 yuan, and the total cost is about 11.6 yuan with packaging 62 yuan. Mobil official flagship store, the product price is 268 yuan, and the gross profit margin is close to 164%. Real counterfeiters will only have lower costs. Low difficulty and high profit make engine oil counterfeiting a hot pursuit.
◆? Formal channels are also "polluted"? In the circulation link, fake engine oil is more concealed. Online channels that are difficult to distinguish between true and false, and auto parts malls that are mixed with dragons and dragons are all the soil for the breeding of fake oil. There is even a view that formal channels are also selling fakes. Some media reported that "at present, more than 7% of the' Meijia Shell' circulating in the market are fakes. Even some officially authorized dealers are selling real goods and fakes. " This kind of view holds that the "wealth password" of oil dealers is because the profit of genuine oil channels is not high and the genuine and fake goods are mixed and sold. A number of industry insiders said in an interview that there is indeed a risk of counterfeit goods flowing into formal channels, but the scale and proportion cannot be evaluated. Sun Xiao, the channel manager of getting on the bus, said that the profit of "Meijia Shell" dealers is generally 15%-3%. In contrast, the profits of some domestic brands are higher, basically above 1%. A car dealer who has worked for many years showed us a price list. He took the goods from the agent, and 4L was loaded with beautiful, elegant and shell, and the gross profit of the genuine single piece was about 1 yuan. However, he also said that with the store and labor costs, the profit of genuine engine oil is really not high. "If you buy fake goods, the cost will be 3%-5% lower than the genuine wholesale price". The maintenance shop uses fake engine oil. If it is a high imitation fake, the average consumer can't see it. With high income and low risk, fake engine oil has become the choice of some operators. But in general, formal channels are still the most effective means to avoid counterfeit goods. Formal channels, such as large-scale e-commerce platforms and offline chain supermarkets, pay attention to the long-term development of brands, and the opportunity cost and legal risk of selling fakes are high. These enterprises will not take the initiative to sell fake goods. Yuan Fang, senior manager of the company's car purchase and sales, said that in order to prevent fakes, the company has established direct cooperation with manufacturers such as Shell and Mobil, and launched a "one thing, one yard" traceability system to increase barriers to prevent fakes. It is more likely that the official channel sells fakes, but the "official channel" itself is fake. A merchant in Shenzhen claims to be an authorized distributor of the United States, Canada and Shell, and can deliver goods directly from the factory. However, Shell official said that it will not deliver goods directly to consumers. This person is also not found in the list of authorized dealers of Castrol. Such a channel will naturally buy fakes with a high probability. In recent years, the proportion of online channels has become higher and higher, but online is not a panacea to prevent counterfeit goods. Sometimes, online channels make it easier for fake oil to circulate. Every e-commerce platform, you can find a lot of the same paragraph, but the price is far lower than the oil of the official flagship store. With Shell Heineken HX7? 5W-4, 4L, for example, the same product is priced at 398 yuan in Shell Tmall flagship store; In another store, the price is only 199 yuan. Whether this kind of engine oil is genuine or not, the answer is self-evident. Rational consumers may not buy these goods. However, people with ulterior motives, using online channels, can more easily purchase fakes and easily earn high profits by changing hands.
◆? How to eradicate the "soil" of counterfeiting as a commodity, fake engine oil can be called "perfect": the cost is not high, the profit is not low, the difficulty is not great, and the risk is very small. Whether it is counterfeiting or selling fakes, it is a "good business". For consumers, the biggest problem with fake engine oil is that you can't know how low its lower limit is. Genuine engine oil is maintained once every 1, kilometers, while fake engine oil may only run for 3, kilometers. If it is extracted from waste oil, it will do more harm to the engine. Nowadays, fake engine oil and counterfeit "A goods" have become the mainstream, one or two thousand kilometers, and perhaps the owners are unaware of the difference. This is like a chronic disease, the harm is slow and deep. Golden engine oil rushes between gears, and dark carbon deposits precipitate a little; Only when the engine is abnormal and worn will you realize, "xx, I bought fake engine oil". The more chronic the disease, the more difficult it is to cure it. Fake engine oil not only harms the interests of consumers, but also distorts the engine oil industry. Rome was not built in a day. It is impossible to solve the problem of fake engine oil in a day. Fundamentally speaking, the flooding of domestic fake engine oil is related to the weak domestic engine oil technology. As a result, the pricing power of products is held by foreign giants, which makes the overall price of engine oil industry high and gives counterfeiters huge profit space. Therefore, the first problem to be solved is to break the technical barrier of engine oil and lower the overall price. Just like before Xiaomi mobile phone appeared, domestic mobile phone shanzhai flooded. When the cottage products have no profit, they will naturally gradually withdraw. Breaking technical barriers mainly includes two parts, one is additives, and the other is technical standards. Jin Chengliang, a senior engineer of lubricating oil testing, gave an example. After an additive was produced independently in China, the price was directly cut from 8, yuan per ton to 4, yuan. The proportion of additives in engine oil is not high, but the cost is not low; If there is no substitute for domestic production, the price will remain high. At present, the technical standard of engine oil is dominated by American API (american petroleum institute) and European ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association). Some domestic enterprises, after registering their trademarks abroad and obtaining European and American certification, in turn sell them at high prices in China. This is the market chaos caused by the weak domestic engine oil technology. It is not easy to break technical barriers in the short term. In terms of additives, foreign giants have a history of hundreds of years and it is difficult to catch up in the short term; The engine oil standard is closely related to the engine. If the engine technology cannot be broken through, it will be difficult to master the right to speak the engine oil standard. Technical upgrading is a long-term undertaking. In the short term, the control of fake engine oil still depends on supervision. China's automobile aftermarket has always been characterized by "scattered, chaotic and small", and the links of counterfeiting and sales are hidden and scattered, which objectively increases the difficulty of cracking down. As a result, it is difficult to carry out comprehensive management in the production process. In contrast, strengthening the management of circulation links may be more likely to produce results. On the one hand, the formal channels are relatively concentrated, ensuring that there are no fakes in these channels, and consumers can buy with confidence, which will compress the fake engine oil market; On the other hand, it is necessary to give play to the power of consumer supervision, establish clear complaint channels and compensation mechanisms, and form a shock to the sale of fake goods.
◆? Conclusion It is really not easy to control fake engine oil. If we don't start with "soil", harmful "weeds" will never be eliminated. In 22, China's car ownership will soon surpass the United States and become the world's largest car country; However, the chaotic situation of engine oil and aftermarket does not match the development of automobile market. How to make car owners use safe oil is really not a trivial matter. (Text/car home? Jiang Pingping)