AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)11/06 Report--

On October 30th, Guangzhou Auto Toyota's new MPV Sena was officially launched, with a total of six models, with an official recommended price range of 30.98-405800 yuan. As soon as the new car went on sale, there was a heated discussion in the market, not about whether Sina could hoist Buick GL8, Kia Jiahua and other MPV models, but the official recommended price range, which was really just a "suggestion".

In GAC Toyota's official APP "Fengyun Line", the suggested retail price of Sena is marked with "the transaction price is subject to the agreement reached between you and the dealer", which means that the final landing price is still subject to the dealer's negotiation.

During this period, a quotation for a GAC Toyota 4S store in Beijing circulated online, showing that compared with the official suggested price, the GAC Toyota Sina market retail price has all increased by 70, 000 yuan, that is, the actual price is 379800-475800 yuan. Of course, the price of cars varies from region to region, but it's just a matter of more and less.

Recently, some media visited several Guangzhou Automobile Toyota 4S stores in Guangzhou to inquire about the true price and pick-up time of Saina in Guangzhou. It is understood that Sena does not have to increase the price to buy a car in the terminal market, consumers can choose to buy at a low price, but the pick-up cycle will be very long, and the specific pick-up time is uncertain, which may be half a year or a year. Of course, if consumers are willing to increase the price to buy, then try to let customers pick up the car smoothly before the Spring Festival. It is not difficult to see that the pick-up order has nothing to do with the fixed time order.

On November 4, in response to Sena's price increase in the terminal market, some media called GAC Toyota's official customer service. A staff member of GAC Toyota said: "the manufacturer's suggested retail price does not participate in the sales link, nor does it have the right to interfere with the final transaction price of the vehicle." In terms of orders, manufacturers only produce according to the demand provided by dealers, and cannot view and interfere with specific order delivery orders and policies. "

Some netizens believe that this is a signal that GAC Toyota officially acquiesced in the price increase of dealers. However, GAC and Toyota have never promised that online booking is equal to official direct sales. In fact, "Fengyun Line" APP is just a platform connecting customers and dealers. Users can choose dealers to order cars on APP, inquire about dealers' available vehicles and estimated production time, but the final arrival price still depends on dealers. GAC Toyota customer service also said in response to the media that the fourth generation Hanlanda and Sena also need to go through the order procedure on the official APP, but the actual transaction prices need to be negotiated with dealers, and APP can facilitate customers to check the production of our vehicles.

Perhaps, for Chinese consumers, "price-increase sales" is not strange, but in fact "price-increase sales" is also explicitly prohibited in China. In February 2017, the Ministry of Commerce examined and adopted the measures for the Administration of Automobile sales (hereinafter referred to as the measures), which shall enter into force as of July 1, 2017. Article 10 of the measures clearly stipulates: "the dealer shall clearly state in the place of business the price of selling automobiles, accessories and other related products and the charging standards for various services, and shall not sell or charge additional fees in addition to the marked price." In addition, according to Article 12 of the Anti-unfair Competition Law, operators shall not sell goods against the wishes of buyers (bundled sales) or attach unreasonable conditions.

There is also a precedent for car dealers to be fined for selling at higher prices. On December 27, 2019, Toyota violated Article 14 of the Anti-monopoly Law by unifying dealer network quotations and limiting the minimum price for resale goods by dealers. According to articles 46 and 49 of the Anti-monopoly Law, the Jiangsu Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau made an administrative penalty decision on the case, ordering the party concerned to stop the illegal act, and decided to impose a fine of 2% of the sales of the previous year (2016), that is, 87.6131 million yuan.

It has been found out that Toyota China has the following illegal facts: first, Toyota China has reached an agreement with its dealers to limit the dealer network quotation and the resale price of some models; second, Toyota China has implemented an agreement to limit the dealer network quotation and the resale price of some models. Toyota China responded: "this is the first time Toyota China has received a ticket. Toyota China accepts this fact and will not review it." We accept this punishment because it is true and we have corrected the relevant problems that have arisen. "

Some industry insiders pointed out that investigations such as Toyota's price monopoly in China are long and complicated, and the above-mentioned cases took two years from the former Jiangsu Price Bureau to the State Administration of Market Supervision to issue a "decision".

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