AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)02/03 Report--

Under the influence of pneumonia epidemic caused by new coronavirus infection, several brand 4S stores and dealer groups responded to national regulations and extended the Spring Festival holiday to February 2. Due to the expansion of pneumonia infection, the Spring Festival holiday was extended again, various enterprises in many provinces and cities requested to postpone the resumption of work to 9 days, dealers business hours were postponed again, and Hubei Province extended the Spring Festival to 13 days.

Due to extended holidays, dealers are facing problems of failing to meet sales targets, increasing operating pressure. In view of this situation, many automobile enterprises issued announcements, adjusted dealers 'business policies, gave subsidies, and even cancelled assessments to reduce dealers' pressure.

The new coronavirus not only poses a huge health threat, but also has an impact on the short-term economic situation. The impact of the epidemic on the automobile market also gradually appeared, the store passenger flow declined obviously, a large number of order vehicles were difficult to deliver, and dealers were under great operating pressure.

Dongfeng Yueda Kia today released an official announcement showing that in response to the government's deployment of epidemic prevention and control, it decided that its dealers would resume work on February 10. At the same time, in order to strengthen the dealer's market risk ability and reduce the operating pressure brought by the epidemic situation, the business policy for the first quarter was adjusted accordingly, and the reward strength of advanced dealers was strengthened, so as to encourage the fighting spirit of partners and manufacturers to cope with the immediate difficulties.

In 2019, Dongfeng Yueda Kia sold 289895 units, down 21.6% year-on-year, including 31190 units sold in overseas markets. Dongfeng Yueda Kia faces greater challenges in terms of sales volume and operating pressure.

Volvo Cars 'official announcement shows that in order to reduce the pressure on dealer partners, Volvo Cars has launched a number of dealer care policies, including no February sales target, direct personnel subsidies for dealer employees, special support for many business projects, etc.

The measures include: 1. In order to reduce the pressure on dealers caused by the outbreak, Volvo decided to relax the performance appraisal and did not set sales targets for February. 2. Considering that the income of dealer personnel may be affected by the epidemic situation, in order to reduce the financial pressure of dealers, Volvo Cars directly provides personnel subsidies totaling more than 10 million yuan to dealer staff.

In addition, Volvo said it would step up negotiations with banks to reduce the repayment risk due to a small number of dealers; extend the exemption period on the basis of the agreed opening date for projects such as newly authorized 4S stores under construction; suspend dealer standard audits and other on-site inspection projects.

In the past year, the survival environment of automobile dealers is very unfavorable, the sales decline in the continuous cold automobile market, the loss of terminal price caused by the switching of five countries and six countries, the inability to sell vehicles due to the outbreak of epidemic diseases, etc. In this case, automobile manufacturers actively adjust business policies and give subsidies, which will help reduce the pressure on dealer partners.

Due to the impact of the epidemic, car 4S shops around the country have postponed business hours. According to media statistics, among the top ten auto dealer groups in revenue ranking in 2019, there have been 8 dealer groups with multiple brand 4S stores that have issued a notice to start business on February 10. Because normal sales cannot be restored, dealer sales volume and performance level will be very worrying.

A dealer who operates multiple car brands said in an interview with the media,"Now the direct impact is sales, resulting in a series of impacts, no sales directly affect your after-sales service turnover, such as three months after the after-sales return to the factory." Besides, the turnover of staff in the store will also become unstable." He added,"I think the biggest challenge is funding. From what I know now, many local car dealers are under great pressure because of their poor sales." There is uncertainty about when the epidemic will end, but the pressure on 4S stores with high capital needs is enormous.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Association, believes that the impact of the epidemic on this year's auto market will be long-term and far-reaching, car sales activities in many areas have been seriously affected, sales losses in January and February may not be able to make up for them in the future.

Of course, in addition to the impact of car dealers, manufacturers are also affected by epidemic factors and extended holidays, not yet resumed production. Including Honda, Toyota, Dongfeng, SAIC, Shenlong, BMW, Ford, Tesla, NIO, etc., all extended holidays according to government guidance, most of which resumed production on February 10, while Honda, Shenlong, etc., whose factories are located in Hubei Province, were extended to resume production on February 14.

In mid-February, the automobile industry entered a recovery period, but a series of impacts at the beginning of 2020 will have a greater impact on the sales performance of the whole year. Dongfeng Yueda Kia, Volvo actively adjust business policies, or there will be more brands to follow up.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat