Recently, at the State Council policy routine briefing, the Ministry of Commerce once again stated that it will accelerate the pilot of parallel imports of automobiles. With the strong support of the government, at present, in addition to the earliest pilot Shanghai Free Trade Zone, the free trade zones in Shenzhen, Tianjin, Guangdong, Fujian and other places have also joined the pilot of parallel imported cars. The pilot of parallel imported cars across the country looks prosperous. hand sewing Decorative pendant NINGBO JINCHEN CRAFTS GIFTS CO.LT , https://www.jinchenlovecrafts.com
However, the high-profile entry into the public view, and the high-profile parallel imported cars, in the terminal market is "satisfaction is not a seat" - not only did not rely on price advantage to spur the high price of domestic luxury cars, the short-term after-sales service has not yet made up, The improvement of the policy system is still slow. Such a kind, so that parallel imported cars are facing the "ideal fullness, realistic skinny".
It looks very beautiful. Parallel imported cars have price advantage, category advantage, time advantage, but...
Last year, when parallel imported cars obtained legal status, they were favored by many insiders. After all, parallel imported cars have many competitive advantages compared to traditional imported cars.
The price advantage is undoubtedly the most prominent. Since parallel imported cars skip the intermediate multiple profit link, their prices are generally 15%-20% lower than the price of normal imported cars. Take the imported Toyota Prado as an example. The guide price in the Toyota 4S store is 489,000 yuan, and in some parallel imported car dealers, the price is about 400,000 yuan. Another example is Maserati Jiboli, which sells for 1.38 million yuan in 4S stores, but only 980,000 yuan in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
In addition, the choice of parallel imported cars is more diverse, and many models that have not yet entered the domestic market can be purchased. Take the imported BMW X5 as an example. The manufacturers have released 8 models worldwide, but only 5 models are available in the Chinese market. The other 3 models can only be purchased through parallel import. According to a parallel import car dealer who runs a number of luxury car brands, the speed of picking up parallel imported cars is relatively faster. "If you want to buy imported Toyota Elfa, you can pick up the car when you arrive at the store." In the store, the reporter learned that the purchase of Toyota Elfa not only has to increase the price by about 100,000 yuan, but usually it takes 3-6 months to pick up the car.
The parallel imported cars under the policy support seem to have developed smoothly. Not only have many pilot projects been carried out in succession, but many e-commerce platforms have also started to sell parallel imported cars online. The online shopping platform built by Shanghai Free Trade Zone and Ali will also be launched soon.
Unfortunately, reality is sometimes far from being as good as imagined. The Shanghai Free Trade Zone, which has been implementing parallel imported cars for half a year, is not gratifying. According to media reports, only 20 vehicles were sold in the first month after the pilot of the parallel import vehicle business in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. After half a year has passed, the number of parallel imported cars from 17 companies in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is still less than 100, and the actual number of delivery is only a few dozen. In Shenzhen, which was piloted three months later than Shanghai, the results were slightly stronger than Shanghai, and the sales in June exceeded 150. However, by browsing the parallel imported cars that are sold online, you will find that the monthly sales record of most models is non-zero.
The troubles of growing up all the results are all due to the fact that the parallel imported cars that are "not deeply involved" are facing many problems.
The price advantage is not prominent In recent years, affected by the overall slowdown in the growth rate of the automobile market and the intensification of competition, the preferential strength of the domestic luxury brand car companies has been not small, and is constantly increasing, and this year is especially true. In the 4S store, it is not uncommon for luxury brand imported models to offer 100,000 yuan or even hundreds of thousands of yuan. Therefore, the price advantage of parallel imported cars, 4S shop through the price cuts have also done, making the gap between the two is not obvious. It is understood that the current price of the Audi Q7 35TFSI Middle East in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is 640,000 yuan, while the official guide price of the Audi Q7 35TFSI sports type in the 4S store is 897,000 yuan, but the market price after the discount is about 680,000 yuan. The difference between the two is only 40,000 yuan.
Moreover, with the increasing number of imported hot-selling models made by multinational automakers, the models available for consumers to choose are more diverse, the prices are more close to the people, and the market space for parallel imported cars has been repeatedly squeezed.
At the same time, some media have reported that in order to protect the interests of domestic general agents and 4S stores, a luxury multinational car company has clearly stated that it will punish foreign car dealers who sell vehicles to parallel import car dealers. In addition, more luxury brand car companies directly increased the displacement of the US market sales models, resulting in a significant increase in tariffs on the model, so that the price advantage of parallel imported cars disappeared.
The after-sales service is not standardized. It is said that the after-sales service system and the imperfect specifications are still the biggest concerns of consumers when they face parallel imported cars, and they are also a prominent problem that restricts the rapid development of parallel imported cars.
In fact, as early as the beginning of the "Notice on the Pilot Project of Parallel Imported Cars in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone," the pilot enterprises and their car dealers registered in the Pilot Free Trade Zone were the quality of parallel imported car products. The responsible person for retrospection shall perform the obligations of product recall, quality assurance, after-sales service, automobile three guarantees, and average fuel consumption accounting according to law. However, the number of auto dealers that build their own maintenance and repair outlets is limited, and the service scope and parts supply system are limited. For consumers distributed throughout the country, maintenance is still a hassle.
It is also known that the warranty coverage of many dealers is inconsistent with China's current three-package regulations. Some parallel imported car dealers purchased commercial after-sales three-package insurance for parallel imported vehicles. In the time and mileage range signed, if the parallel imported car purchased by consumers has problems, the insurance company can be responsible. However, this warranty three-package insurance only provides warranty for some of the core components of the vehicle, and does not provide compensation for some non-core components, and is not the same as the vehicle warranty service provided by the manufacturer. This means that the insurance company is not responsible when the vehicle needs maintenance or when certain non-core components need to be repaired.
It is understood that until June 2nd, the first batch of parallel imported cars in Shanghai completed the on-line inspection. The two Land Rover Range Rover, which tested the nature of the water, completed the declaration procedures at the Shanghai port and obtained a parallel import license. At this point, the parallel import vehicle policy system announced the initial construction. Prior to this, the two vehicles were transported to the port from abroad, and they stopped at the dock for more than two months, waiting for the official import certificate and inspection and quarantine certificate.
Therefore, parallel imported vehicles do not need a set of regulatory processes that are appropriate to them, whether it is customs or inspection and quarantine. And this is undoubtedly a process from scratch, it takes time to work together and perfect.
In addition to the inadequate policy system and regulatory processes, the first batch of 17 parallel imported car traders currently stationed in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone have been criticized for lack of experience. As early as the publication of these 17 parallel import car dealers, some insiders pointed out that "these companies are only traders. They have never engaged in car sales before and do not know how to operate parallel imported cars." It is understood that for car sales, especially for parallel imported car sales, these 17 traders are indeed "non-professional players". Despite the abundant funds, they generally lack experience in the automotive industry and are not familiar with relevant policies and operational procedures. , resulting in unstable vehicle conditions and so on. Those car dealers with parallel import car sales experience are blocked by the regulations of the free trade zone because of their small scale and limited funds.
Saving parallel imports In order to get parallel imported cars out of the current predicament, the parties are also making more efforts.
On May 15 this year, China Automobile Dealers Association issued the "Standards for After-sales Service in Parallel Imported Automobile Markets" and officially implemented them. Among them, strict qualification requirements were put forward for parallel import vehicle quality guarantee service providers and after-sales service enterprises. However, Yan Jinghui, deputy general manager of the Beijing Asian Games Village Auto Trading Market, said: “Because the “Parallel Imported Car After-sales Service Specification†is only an industry standard and there is no legal basis for enforcement, it will be greatly reduced in terms of implementation results.â€
On June 26, the AQSIQ Defective Product Management Center, China Europe Economic and Technical Cooperation Association, and China People's Property Insurance Co., Ltd. jointly issued the "Notice on Launching the Pilot Work of Parallel Imported Automobile Three Guarantees Liability Insurance", and formulated the automobile three. The implementation plan of the package insurance pilot work is specifically responsible for the implementation of the pilot project of the three-package insurance for automobiles.
At the same time, some enterprises engaged in parallel imported cars are also doing their best to find after-sales solutions. It is understood that these car dealers can provide consumers with a series of complete services such as maintenance through self-built after-sales service system; or choose to establish a cooperative relationship with 4S shop or repair shop to ensure that the parallel imported cars purchased by consumers can go. Regular 4S shop for maintenance.
In addition, in order to ensure the stability of its supply and the orderly sales, and to promote the improvement of the parallel import vehicle policy system, in the process of piloting parallel imported cars, Guangzhou has relaxed the access conditions in addition to the entry regulations for Shanghai. It is conducive to the entry of some enterprises that are originally engaged in automobile import and have vehicle sources.