On 18 september last year, the ministry of transport and communications network issued its guidance on promoting the transformational upgrading of the car maintenance industry and improving the quality of services. It was pointed out that “the country has made great strides in the development of its automotive industry”, but also “there are problems of poor market structures, irregularities in development, non-transparent consumption and bad faith”。
The high monopoly on channels and spare parts by automobile manufacturers has not only led to malformations in the entire chinese automobile maintenance industry, but also to the suffering of the owners。
On 26 august this year, the ministry of transport issued two “heavy messages”: first, the regulation of motor vehicle maintenance, which has been in use for 10 years, has now been revised, and second, the guidance on promoting the transformation and upgrading of the quality of services in the automobile maintenance industry, which was led by 10 ministries last year, is about to be implemented。
As a result, there is a stronger umbrella for after-sale maintenance of cars。
Force 4s store maintenance
It will be considered a violation
Last week, the ministry of transport and communications officially issued a decision to amend the motor vehicle maintenance management regulations, proposing 10 amendments to the motor vehicle maintenance management regulations issued in 2005, of which the mandatory designation of 4s stores for maintenance, repair and replacement of spare parts only was considered a violation。
The first of the 10 modifications was of greater significance, with the owner being free to choose where to repair the vehicle. Article 5, paragraph 2, states: “the entrustant has the right to choose the maintenance operator for the maintenance. Except for car manufacturers who perform defective car products recall, car quality in addition to the three packages of `responsibility', no unit or individual may make the designation of a maintenance operator compulsory or disguised.”
This means that in the future it would be an absolute violation if the other party stated at the time of repairing the car that “it would not have been responsible for the quality problems if it had not been maintained by me”。
In response, wei towei, deputy director of the working committee on automobile repairs and spare parts of the chinese association of automobile maintenance industries, stated: “the authorized 4s store and mainframe plant cannot restrict (consumer) access to the community to repair cars, nor can it say that you can do so when you arrive at the workshop”
As for the use of accessories, the new regulation also provides that the consumer may choose either “original plant” or “same package” — a new paragraph to be added to article 31 as article 31 (3). The text reads: “teacher and maintenance operator may use homogeneous parts to repair motor vehicles. Equivalent accessories are those which are of the same quality or higher than the standard requirements for loading parts and which have good load performance.”
For their part, industry believes that the emergence of homogenous accessories has created a new pattern in the circulation of chinese auto parts in the context of the era of breaking the monopoly and transformation. However, there is still much work to be done in the promotion of homogenous parts, which is closely linked to the safety of vehicles, in the form of old-age new, less expensive, unremoved and unreceived items, etc。
Maintenance companies should make technical information publicly available
Otherwise, you will be punished
The new regulation amends article 26, paragraph 4, to read: “a motor vehicle manufacturer is obliged to disclose to the public, within six months of the new model being put on the market, its maintenance technology information and working hours quotas. Specific requirements are to be implemented in accordance with the requirements for disclosure of information on vehicle maintenance technology by the relevant state authorities.”
This means that when new models are on the market, producers are required to disclose technical information on vehicle maintenance and working hours quotas, which, on the one hand, break the information monopoly and, on the other hand, contribute to price transparency, and 4s stores are required to charge the corresponding fees according to the working hours quotas. In addition, the new regulations require that the relevant maintenance history of the client be made compulsory for uploading on the national platform and that the client have access to it。
“as of 1 january 2015, auto-producing enterprises (including those importing automobile products from outside china for sale in china) are required to make available to the authorized repair enterprises and independent operators (including independent maintenance enterprises, repair equipment manufacturing enterprises, repair technology information publishers, repair technology training institutes, etc.) technical information on vehicle maintenance in the form of available information, convenient information channels, reasonable information prices, without discrimination or delay”. This also means that, as of 1 january next year, auto manufacturers will be required to disclose technical information on maintenance to 4s shops and auto workshops。
By 31 december 2015, auto-producing enterprises are required to make public all information on the national vehicle model that has been entered in the vehicle production enterprise and products proclamation, as well as on the vehicle maintenance technology for the national production and imported vehicle types certified in ccc。
The opinion specifies the penalties for the violation of this principle by the enterprise, i. E. The fact that the new model was listed for a period of three months without effective disclosure of technical information on the maintenance of the model will be withdrawn from the relevant proclamation and 3c certification. This means that the model will not continue to be sold。
This policy will allow automobile repair plants to stand on the same line as shop 4s in order to obtain information on maintenance technologies, and the market competitiveness of automobile repair plants will be significantly enhanced and consumer choices will be enriched。
4s will be under greater pressure
It'll be spring if you adapt to change
Since 2015, the automobile market has been under considerable downward pressure. The ministry's two “heavy news” will also begin to be tested for dealers。
Under the newly revised motor vehicle maintenance regulations, the original plant spare parts producers are encouraged to supply to the vehicle market the original plant spare parts and independent after-sale spare parts with their own brand, trademark or logo, as well as to authorize the repair enterprise to resell and supply the original plant spare parts to non-authorized repair enterprises。
This means that, without going to shop 4s, the likelihood of consumers buying spare parts from the original plant at the car repair plant will increase considerably. Automobile parts producers supply directly to the car repair plant, can bypass the factory and shop 4s and reduce the circulation chain, and spare parts prices will tend to be reasonable。
Together, there are pessimists who believe that 4s would be under greater pressure and could even trigger the retreat of some distributors。
However, it seems to jacob, a well-known car mediaman and editor-in-chief of the automobile business review, that it is certain that the spring will come when the dealers are able to make changes and hold on. Of course, it is normal, but not the collapse of the industry, to phase out unadapted and poorly qualified distributors in the process。
