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According to the Interface News, there have been complaints from consumers that a dealer in GAC Honda's Panyu store was in financial difficulties and that the owner ran away so that consumers could not be listed.

A car owner who bought a car at GAC Honda's Panyu store said that he was asked to pay an advance interest when he bought the car at the end of July last year, and the store promised to refund it within six months, but so far he has not got it. Go to the store to look for sales. Unattended phone calls go unanswered. The car owner also said that the store covers a large area, but only two or three display cars, maintenance and sales are in a state of rest.

Another group of car owners who have paid a deposit and full money to buy a car but cannot get a license plate are defending their rights. Mr. he, a car owner who bought the Honda Accord, complained to the Guangdong Civil Voice Hotline that he bought the Honda Accord at Guangzhou Honda Panyu Store (Guangzhou Suitian Automobile sales Co., Ltd.) in December 2022. Only to find that the vehicle certificate of the car has been mortgaged by the 4S store, making it impossible for him to register.

Prior to this, the 4S store had been exposed by the "Guangdong Civil Voice Hotline" about such mortgage vehicle certificates. At that time, some car owners bought Honda Guandao models with a total price of 290000 yuan in the store in December last year, but nearly four months later, car owners are still unable to get the certificate, because the 4S store has taken the certificate to the bank mortgage, so it cannot be licensed so far.

The store sales manager consultant said that since January this year, the store has lost so much that it is really difficult to operate, but it is guaranteed that the problem can be solved by mid-April. In addition, the store sales said that the store has not been paid wages for half a year, another car owner said that due to a number of reports, the local government has intervened, the store promised to be able to license on April 25.

In addition to Guangzhou Auto Honda, Guangzhou Auto Toyota South Village Ruikai store also had a similar problem. A car owner who completed the purchase at the end of January this year said that the car purchase contract agreed to pick up the car within 30 days, but the 4S store has been dragging its feet so far without an accurate pick-up time. The reason is also expected to be unable to hand in the car because there is no money to redeem the certificate. Car owners who booked their cars on National Day last year have not mentioned their cars now, and 30 GAC Toyota owners who bought cars in this store have encountered the same situation.

Tianyan check information shows that the legal representatives of Guangzhou Suitian Automobile sales Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Ruikai Automobile sales and Service Co., Ltd. are Chen Wenqi. Guangzhou Suitian Automobile sales Co., Ltd. is located in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, established in 2000, with a registered capital of 11 million RMB and paid-in capital of 11 million RMB. It is an enterprise mainly engaged in the leasing industry, and the legal representative is Chen Wenqi. Guangzhou Ruikai Automobile sales and Service Co., Ltd. is located in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, established in 2013, with a registered capital of 12 million yuan and paid-in capital of 6 million yuan.

According to data released by the China Automobile Circulation Association on March 30, by the end of 2022, the number of automobile 4S distribution networks was 33594, with an annual channel network growth rate of 6.3 percent, and 3738 new 4S dealerships in 2022, of which independent brands accounted for the majority. There are a total of 1757 4S dealerships in 2022, of which the networks of Korean, French and American brands have shrunk to varying degrees in joint venture brands. In addition, according to a survey by the all-China Federation of Industry and Commerce Automobile Dealers Chamber of Commerce, about 55% of automobile dealer groups have operating losses or serious losses in 2022, and only less than 20% of dealers have made profits.

For a long time in the past, Japanese cars occupied a large share of the domestic market, but in the era of electrification, the past glory of Japanese brands has disappeared. In the domestic market, Japanese joint venture brands include Guangzhou Automobile Toyota, Guangzhou Automobile Honda, Dongfeng Honda, FAW Toyota, Dongfeng Nissan, Dongfeng Infiniti, Guangzhou Automobile Mitsubishi, Changan Mazda and so on. Toyota, Honda and Nissan are larger in the domestic market. According to the data, the market share of Japanese cars in the domestic market was 23.1% and 20.6% respectively from 2020 to 2021, while the market share of Japanese cars fell below 20% again in 2022. Sales of Japanese brands this year were only 4.092 million, down 10.3% from the same period last year.

At present, GAC GROUP has three Japanese joint ventures, namely, Guangzhou Automobile Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou Automobile Honda), Guangzhou Automobile Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou Automobile Toyota) and Guangzhou Automobile Mitsubishi Automobile Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou Auto Mitsubishi). Among them, Guangzhou Automobile Honda and Guangzhou Automobile Toyota are GAC GROUP's two best-selling joint venture car companies. Data show that GAC-Toyota's sales in 2021 and 2022 were 828000 and 1.005 million respectively, up 8.23% and 21.38% respectively over the same period last year. For GAC-Honda, even under the impact of the epidemic, GAC-Honda's 2020 sales increased by 2.65% to 805800 vehicles. But since then, GAC-Honda's sales began to decline, with sales of 780300 in 2021 and 741800 in 2022. It fell 3.17% and 4.93% respectively from the same period last year.

However, in 2023, GAC "Liangtian" encountered a sales "Waterloo". The latest data show that GAC's cumulative sales of "Liangtian" from January to March in 2023 were 369500 vehicles, down 19.58% from the same period last year, with GAC Honda's cumulative sales of 149500 vehicles, down 29.63% from the same period last year, and GAC Toyota's 220000 vehicles, down 10.93% from the same period last year. In contrast, GAC GROUP's own brand sales have seen a sharp increase, with GAC Ean's cumulative sales of 78300 vehicles in the first three months of 2023, an increase of 74.53% over the same period last year.

As for the decline in Japanese car sales, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Federation of passengers, previously said that the decline in sales is mainly related to the future development trend of the car market, and the market share of fuel vehicles is shrinking sharply. Independent brands rely on new energy vehicles to accelerate to seize part of the market share of joint venture brands, while Japanese car companies are slow to transform in the field of new energy vehicles. Under the wave of new energy, Japanese car companies are in a weak position in the market.

Or affected by GAC's "Waterloo" sales of "Liangtian", GAC GROUP's cumulative sales in the first three months of 2023 were only 539900 vehicles, down 11.23% from the same period last year. According to the previous plan, GAC GROUP's annual sales target will achieve 10% year-on-year growth in 2023, which also means that if the sales of GAC GROUP's joint venture brands cannot pick up, more attention may need to be paid to independent brands in order to achieve the goal.

Of course, Automotive Industry concern believes that the decline in Japanese car sales is only a "microcosm". At present, many joint venture brands are facing many challenges, including the rapid rise of independent brands and the weakening of joint venture brand advantages; joint venture car enterprises started late and made slow progress in the electrified transformation.

According to the data released by the China Automobile Circulation Association, less than 80% of the dealers' sales tasks were completed in the first three months of 2023, among which, starting from the Hubei government subsidy in March, many places have joined the ranks of subsidies one after another. the fluctuation of car prices aggravates the wait-and-see mood of consumers holding money. Although the total inventory size of dealers has increased, the inventory coefficient has dropped, and the overall inventory level is still above the warning line. Some dealers predict that if there is no major policy adjustment in the industry in April, car sales will be basically the same as in March, and there will not be much change.

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