· Internet finance involved in the second-hand car market O2O closed loop is still difficult to achieve

At the beginning of August, the number of people coming and going in the Yuqiao used car market in Shanghai was not increasing.
A salesman of a 4S shop in Yuqiao told reporters that in the first half of the year, the trading situation of used cars was not good. "Now there are not many cars in our showroom."
The after-sales manager of another car brand 4S shop told reporters that overall, the sales of used cars this year were not as good as last year. “Maybe the situation in July is better than in the previous April and May. Now we basically sell 100 new cars in our store every month, but the used cars can only sell 3 or 4 cars.”
In mature markets such as Europe and the United States, the size of second-hand car transactions is about 20% of car ownership, and the ratio of sales to new cars is about 2:1~2.5:1, while the current transaction volume of used cars in China is only four points for new car transactions. One or so. The used car market has broad prospects.
However, due to qualifications and assessment issues, and the policy environment is not smooth, the industry lacks large-scale leading enterprises, and the development of the used car market is greatly restricted.
Taking the financing of used car dealers as an example, China's used car market has strong financing demand in the procurement and warehousing sectors. However, the financing business provided in the auto finance market has not yet used the second-hand car dealers as general small and medium-sized enterprises for comprehensive credit, second-hand It is difficult for car dealers to obtain bank credits collateralized by cars for sale.
At the moment, under the impact of the Internet accelerating the “invasion” of the new car market, some Internet e-commerce companies have “pointed” to the used car market, and online trading platforms have joined the channel of used cars. At the same time, more financial products are integrated into it, and companies are arguing that the O2O model will be closed to the second-hand car transaction.
However, in the eyes of the industry, it is difficult to transform the entire used car ecosystem through the forced intervention of the Internet. In the absence of successful cases, the industry is hard to be subverted.
The second-hand car market is constrained The data of the first car network of the used car information platform shows that the activity of the used car market in the country rose sharply in July, and the price of used cars rose slightly. According to data previously released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, in the first half of 2014, the number of used cars in the country reached 2.82 million, a year-on-year increase of 12.8%, and the transaction amount reached 170.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.88%.
In addition to the "Technical Specifications for Used Vehicle Appraisal and Evaluation" issued in early June, the industry believes that while the industry policy is moving toward regulation, the used car market may explode in the past year or two.
Despite the broad prospects, the used car market continues to grow steadily, but many problems, including second-hand car dealer financing, are constraining the development of the used car market.
Automotive industry analyst Zhang Zhiyong told reporters that at present, the profits of many auto companies are still supported by the new car market, and some big dealers do not pay attention to used cars. “There are some small-scale companies doing second-hand car transactions, which leads to their financial and technical strength, and even the judgment of the overall market will be limited.”
Zhang Zhiyong said that the evaluation system of the used car market is relatively lacking and there is no uniform standard. The inability to make a precise assessment of a product can increase the risk of investment. “It is difficult for second-hand car companies to grasp the specific conditions of vehicles, and there is no third-party organization recognized by the society to accurately evaluate vehicles. Therefore, the value of products is very vague.”
A person who has been engaged in used car trading for a long time told reporters that at present, based on the understanding of vehicles, some dealers are also doing old-fashioned replacement of used cars. In addition, the 4S shop relies on a larger production enterprise, and the technical means for detecting the condition of the vehicle is relatively advanced, and the used car sold is highly credible. But overall, professional used car trading companies are still lacking.
Zhang Junyi, a partner of Roland Berger Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., pointed out that the identification and technical talents associated with used cars are also very lacking.
The aforementioned 4S shop sales staff also said that the transaction of used cars was also affected by the new car. In addition, the policy on used car trading has been constantly changing, and anti-monopoly incidents have also had a lot of impact on used car transactions. "The owner does not buy a new car, and the car in his hand does not shoot."
The opaque market price and vehicle detection, the lack of large-scale leading enterprises in the industry, and the inconsistency of policies and regulations are always present, which greatly restricts the development of the used car market.
The drawbacks of the traditional financing model show the existence of the above factors, so that the financing of used car dealers mostly has the double difficulty of high interest and high threshold. Even due to the lack of vehicle certification and evaluation systems, it is difficult for second-hand car dealers to finance loans from financial institutions such as banks and guarantee companies.
For some dealers, in order to obtain high profits, a large amount of car hoarding is required, which requires a large amount of cash flow. Used car dealers must ensure that there is sufficient funds to meet the daily business model of collecting and paying.
Mr. Liu, a second-hand car dealer, told reporters that with the increasing expansion of the used car market, in addition to the used car buying and selling intermediary services, the distribution business has also increased. But the first problem with hoarding vehicles is the need for financial support.
Mr. Liu said that the road to loans for banks, small loan companies and other institutions is not smooth. The bank procedures are cumbersome and the cost of small loan companies is too high. When dealing with some mortgage loans, it is not feasible because of the lack of mortgages for fixed assets such as houses.
In the new car loan, since the vehicle vendor's vehicle certificate can be mortgaged in the bank and used as a risk guarantee, the new car loan often has low interest or even zero interest. However, used cars do not have a vehicle certification. According to industry insiders, because financial service companies are unfamiliar with the performance of used cars, for the sake of risk management and control, whether they are banks or guarantee institutions, they generally do not dare to lend money to used car dealers.
“If second-hand car dealers are willing to provide repurchase services, it is not difficult to finance leasing, but how big is the residual value of used cars? Are second-hand car dealers willing to pay such a cost?” Zhang Yonghui, a partner in consulting, said. A big problem with financial leasing for used cars is the value assessment. Second-hand cars need to be less risky, and the cost of the car is relatively high.
According to industry insiders, at present, there are several financing channels in the used car market: mortgage loans, small loan companies, loan cards, peer lending, pawn financing, and private lending. However, although these financing channels have their own advantages, to some extent, the used car dealers have solved the financing problem, but the drawbacks are also very obvious.
In the case of a mortgage, the dealer needs to secure a loan with the bank with certain collateral as an item. It is reported that the advantage of this method is that the loan amount is higher and a lower loan interest rate can be obtained. In addition, during the mortgage period, the property owner can still use all of its assets normally. However, its drawbacks are also significant. Mortgage loans have higher requirements for dealer qualifications, fixed assets, etc., and the approval is troublesome and the flexibility is poor. This is difficult for small-scale used car dealers who lack real estate mortgages and are still in the development stage.
In addition, in the form of private lending, such as mutual lending between peers, interest costs are high, channels are unstable, and quotas are limited.
Zhang Zhiyong said that the biggest problem with traditional financing channels is the high cost. However, at present, second-hand car dealers are increasingly inclined to raise funds through the Internet channel, the cost is relatively low, and the existence of the Internet, the situation will be more accurate.
According to industry sources, the traditional used car circulation channel itself has a series of drawbacks. First of all, the information is opaque, and there is a certain unfairness in the transactions between consumers and car dealers. Secondly, the transaction efficiency is low. In addition, there are few channels, and the number of vehicles is relatively small in the local area. Due to problems involving transfer and transfer, cross-regional purchase is also very difficult.
The Internet "invasion" of the used car market based on the business model derived from the Internet and technology means that the drawbacks of the traditional method can be weakened, and the third-party professional institution between the car dealer and the consumer, that is, the "second-hand car e-commerce enterprise" was born. . In contrast, many institutions have focused on the second-hand car financing cake with Internet finance as a cut.
Under the impact of the Internet accelerating the "invasion" of the new car market, the used car market is also experiencing tremendous changes. The used car market, which is on the verge of a trillion, has been "pointed" by some Internet e-commerce companies. Second-hand car transactions have also changed from the C2C model to the C2B, B2B, and B2C models, and have gradually extended from physical stores to used car online trading platforms and used car intermediaries.
Auntie.com, CEO of the company, told reporters that supply chain finance and consumer finance around used cars can not only provide loans for consumers to buy cars, but also provide stable financial support for the operation of car dealers.
Just recently, Ping An Good Car of Ping An Group announced that it will invest 5 billion yuan in three years to launch a financing product called “Safe Car Commercial Loan”. It pointed out that the purpose of this move is to help some dealers solve the financing problem and expand the used car financing market. It is understood that the "safe and good car" established with an investment of 1 billion has 100 test standards for used cars. In addition, it also has "transparency" and "standardization" of transaction information.
Yang Hao, Chairman and CEO of Ping An Good Car, once said that Ping An Good Car hopes to build an online and offline closed loop system (O2O), from planners to car buyers, car owners, car manufacturers, dealers, spare parts suppliers and maintenance manufacturers. And a variety of supporting facilities suppliers to form a complete car trading ecosystem.
Zhang Zhiyong said that a model like a safe and good car is not a special case. Many companies are doing it. "Now they are using the intervention of the Internet situation to achieve the completion of second-hand car transactions."
The reporter noted that at present, only domestic automakers have Geely Automobile, Jianghuai Automobile, Shanghai General Motors and other e-commerce platforms such as Taobao Tmall to sell cars. SAIC also registered its own e-commerce platform to provide new car and auto finance services.
It is worth noting that according to Hong Kong's "Oriental Daily" quoted sources on August 18, Alibaba will announce cooperation with Guanghui Auto, the largest auto dealer group in China, to operate a used car trading platform.
Zhang Zhiyong told reporters that the transaction through the e-commerce platform is more efficient. Under the constraints of poor communication of used car information and local restrictions, the e-commerce platform can allow more consumers to understand the information and increase the trading volume of used cars.
The above-mentioned automobile 4S shop sales staff also told reporters that these e-commerce platforms will indeed have an impact on the trading of used cars in traditional 4S stores. However, he said that many platforms only send information on the vehicle to the Internet, and the transaction is still online.
The mode of business is still immature. Many e-commerce platforms have mushroomed into the used car trading market. Can they subvert the current status of the industry?
“Resellers are pursuing high-efficiency, low-cost and convenient financing methods, and even hope that financial institutions can provide some suitable services.” Zhang Junyi said that at the request of dealers, there are many used car e-commerce platforms, but There are no examples. "The current business model and operation mode of used cars are different, and the business model is still in an immature stage."
However, Zhang Yonghui told reporters that these platforms are a future development direction, but the problems still exist: First, big data, from the perspective of customers, it is necessary to collect the credit rating, financial and financial status of consumers; Personal ability; third is related laws and regulations.
Zhang Zhiyong pointed out that the most promising second-hand car transaction is mainly 4S shop, the traditional offline channel is the main, compared with the new car, the used car transaction needs to be completed by word of mouth, the Internet has not yet formed a climate .
In the eyes of the industry, the Internet platform is difficult to solve problems such as information asymmetry and transaction opacity. "A lot of new platforms developed cannot solve the current problems in the used car market. Internet finance solves the problem of financing efficiency, but the used car evaluation system cannot be completed. The biggest difficulty is not the platform and channels, but the evaluation system. Perfect." Zhang Zhiyong pointed out.
Even based on the current numerous platforms and supporting financial services, it is difficult for the above-mentioned analysts to see that the used car transaction enters a closed loop. And the current Internet intervention has not subverted the used car industry.
Zhang Zhiyong pointed out that although the Technical Specification for the Appraisal and Evaluation of Used Vehicles has been officially implemented, he said that in the final analysis, it is still the power of the market. When the used car market is large enough, it can promote various interests to establish this system. a process.
In fact, in response to the lack of standards and related regulations for used car policy, in July, Tianjin used car turnover index was launched in the airport used car trading market. It is reported that according to this new policy, the owner can sell the vehicle to a used car brokerage company that holds the turnover index of used car transactions. After the buyer is not found, the transfer procedure of the old car is completed, and the owner sells the used car. Can get the updated vehicle indicators in the first time, thus speeding up the sale of used cars.
After the favorable second-hand car policy in Tianjin, Jin Lin, deputy director of the Policy and Regulation Department of Hangzhou Transportation Bureau, also revealed that the general framework for the second-hand car circulation policy in Hangzhou has been released and is currently being revised and improved.
The industry is optimistic about the role of the turnover index in unfreezing the used car market, and believes that this policy may have a certain demonstration effect in the country. However, analysts pointed out that the turnover indicator does not fundamentally solve the separation of ownership and management rights required in the process of used car transfer, and used cars need to restore their commodity attributes.
“It is difficult or even unrealistic to change the entire ecosystem through a simple business model, but it can carry out some destructive innovations and solve the problem.” Zhang Junyi said.