Sales have been increasing for more than ten years, so that most automobile brand manufacturers and dealers have maintained a relatively stable relationship because of the continuous growth of new car sales. In fact, the interests of manufacturers and distributors are different. Manufacturers want dealers to pay first, and in the process of cooperation, they want dealers to make less demands, invest more money and engage in more marketing, absolutely cooperate with manufacturers' promotional activities and absolutely obey manufacturers' daily management; Dealers, on the other hand, want manufacturers to give more policies, pay first, distribute exclusively, invest more promotional resources and only sell models that are sure to make money. Therefore, dealers and manufacturers are contradictory stakeholders. However, these contradictions were concealed under the appearance of sales growth in the past when automobile sales continued to grow, and did not erupt.
In the relationship between manufacturers and distributors, manufacturers are in a strong position. Dealers, as authorized agents and sellers of manufacturers, obey the channels and franchise management mode of manufacturers and are in a weak position. In the past, the important driving force for most dealers to carry out used car business was factory subsidies and rebates, and the driving force for some used car replacement to drive new car sales. In most dealer businesses, used cars are marginalized, and very few dealers regard used cars as their core business.
Now, the relationship between manufacturers and distributors has also changed. The core appeal of dealers is profit. At present, automobile sales continue to decline, competition intensifies, dealers' losses gradually expand, and there are no effective countermeasures to reverse the loss situation for a period of time. Some brand dealers have quit the network, moved to the network, and even defended their rights, especially the relatively weak brand dealers.
In the future, as a manufacturer, while assessing and managing dealers, it is necessary to make forward-looking decisions and support actions, give dealers empowerment, operational guidance and support in all aspects, help dealers effectively solve problems, alleviate contradictions, give continuous business promotion and service improvement, guide dealers to improve their profitability, and help dealers change from "selling cars" thinking to "serving users" thinking, and from "selling goods" thinking to "operating users"
In the end, manufacturers can only reconstruct the relationship between manufacturers and distributors through management system, service system and digital system. Only by abandoning the traditional relationship between manufacturers and distributors in the past and establishing a cooperative relationship of mutual trust and win-win can we maintain the competitiveness of sustainable development in the more intense market in the future. Manufacturers and dealers are the same stakeholders, and the final brand value and service are fed back to the automobile sales data through the market and consumers' behavior of buying cars and services. Therefore, only by adjusting and innovating the relationship between manufacturers and service distributors, establishing a more trusted communication mechanism, establishing a digital management, operation, marketing and service system through a digital platform, building a reliable consumer service system and improving the service level can we maintain the consistency of values and interests of both parties.
(1) Manufacturers and dealers should establish a more perfect communication and consultation mechanism on the sales target of new cars.
(2) Empower dealers, attach importance to the evaluation of manufacturers by dealers, and serve dealers as customers.
(3) Help dealers find new profit growth points.
In the past, the used car business was marginalized at the level of manufacturers and dealers. Manufacturers should help dealers to improve the comprehensive profitability and profitability of derivative businesses such as used cars, finance and insurance through empowerment, guidance and operation.
Because empowerment helps dealers develop, it is actually helping manufacturers develop brands. Only when dealers have sustainable management can manufacturers develop sustainably. Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota and Lexus have done a good job in the service and empowerment of dealers, as well as the relationship between manufacturers and dealers and the concept of sustainable development, which is worth learning and learning from.
Number of stores ranked
Luxury brand
Number of stores nationwide
1
Audi
About 500
2
run for it
About 500
three
German BMW Motor Works (Bavarian Motor Works)
About 500
four
Cadillac
About 200
five
Headquartered in Sweden)
About 200
five
Lexus
Approximately 170
(Some brand store data)
Among luxury brands, the dealer operation of Lexus is the best. In the current luxury brand dealer network, the profitability should be second only to Mercedes-Benz's distribution network.
The development of Lexus distribution network is relatively healthy. At present, the number of Lexus dealers is about 170, which is unmatched by other luxury brands in the number and coverage of dealer outlets.
Judging from the annual sales data of a single store, Lexus dealers are the highest, which has a lot to do with the business philosophy of the manufacturers. Therefore, Lexus has always regarded reasonable dealer investment income as the focus of network development. Only when the distribution network runs healthily can it provide continuous power for brand development and brand market foundation consolidation.
Moreover, Lexus is also at the forefront in the development of used cars and derivative business. Our management team in Che Feng recently visited a Lexus dealer in a second-tier city in Guangdong. For example, in the context of the overall decline of the automobile market, its sales volume and profitability can increase steadily. From the details of management and service, we can feel the further development of Lexus service system. In the exhibition hall, Lexus-certified used cars are not only with new cars, but also placed in the most conspicuous position in the exhibition hall. Regardless of new car customers, used car customers or after-sales maintenance customers, treat them equally. Lexus manufacturers also help dealers improve their profitability and sustainable development capabilities through the creation of various systems.
At the level of supply and demand, Lexus has always maintained a relatively reasonable balance between supply and demand. Since last year, the domestic luxury market has fluctuated greatly, and some luxury brands have started the mode of price reduction and promotion. Lexus brand still maintains a stable price system.
By introducing new products, strengthening brand marketing and accurately judging supply and demand, we withstood the pressure and maintained the strong growth momentum of sales. Maintaining the rationality of supply and demand, on the one hand, can create a tight situation for customers at the terminal marketing level, which is of great benefit to terminal sales; On the other hand, reasonable inventory provides dealers with better capital turnover speed, relieves the capital pressure and plays a more positive role in the healthy development of dealer network.
In short, it is to "reshape" the relationship between manufacturers and distributors. While assessing and managing dealers, automobile manufacturers should make forward-looking decisions and support actions, give dealers empowerment, operational guidance and support in all aspects, help dealers effectively solve problems, alleviate contradictions, give continuous business promotion and service improvement, guide dealers to improve their profitability, and help dealers change their thinking from "selling cars" to "serving users" and from "selling goods" to "operating users".
Empower dealers, attach importance to the development of dealers, help dealers improve their service level, help dealers improve their profitability through derivative services such as used cars, finance and insurance, and build a sustainable and steady development path with the help of digital technology and scientific and technological means.
In terms of used cars, while establishing a "brand-certified used car" system, manufacturers should pay more attention to how brand-certified used cars really land in 4S stores. At this level, it means that manufacturers should help 4S stores to build an overall second-hand car business operation system, including certification system standards, testing standards, inventory management, replacement subsidies, retail business, wholesale sales channels, finance, insurance, extended warranty and other derivative businesses, as well as the second-hand car training system, talent system, customer service system and after-sales service system of 4S stores.
In the past few years, Che Feng has been deeply involved in the used car industry chain, serving many well-known automobile manufacturers, including the world's top 500 enterprises. Provide them with an all-round one-stop service system including second-hand car digital solution, second-hand car certification system, second-hand car strategic consulting service, second-hand car trading and marketing scheme, second-hand car replacement subsidy system and dealer second-hand car training system. Help manufacturers to build digital solutions for used cars and build a business ecosystem with macro strategy.