The country’s largest second-hand car trading market is facing disruption. Where is the ultimate destination for physical e-commerce?

A few days ago, a car dealer friend went to the Beijing Used Motor Vehicle Trading Market (the famous "Huaxiang Second-hand Car Market"), the largest second-hand car trading market in the country, to inquire about entry matters. The strange thing is that even though he met the conditions for moving in, this car dealer friend was still told that the current market "can only be exited but not entered". It seems that it is impossible to open an offline second-hand car store in Huaxiang at present. Something happened.

In fact, the actual situation is far more than just restricting the entry of car dealers.

As early as the beginning of 2011, Zhang Yuxi, a representative of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress and chairman of Xinfadi Company, brought a "Recommendation on the Relocation of Beijing's Used Motor Vehicle Trading Market" to the conference; Later, at the Beijing Municipal People's Congress for two consecutive years, representatives put forward relevant suggestions.

As early as 2018, the Municipal Commerce Bureau, the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and other departments have started the relocation and site selection of the used car market. Xianglong Company has specially established a leading group for the relocation and adjustment of the used car market, specifically responsible for research. A layout adjustment plan and a comprehensive utilization plan for the original site after the relocation were formulated, but the relocation work has not progressed.

Recently, some citizens asked about the relocation of the Huaxiang second-hand car market through Beijing Citizen Complaints Acceptance Platform 12345. In response to this, the official response stated: "We are currently working with relevant municipal departments and relevant districts and counties to select a site. The specific relocation time of the market will not be determined until the new site is determined."

The picture comes from the People's Daily Leaders Message Board

It can be seen that the relocation of the Huaxiang second-hand car market is not only concerned by practitioners in the second-hand car industry, but also many citizens are trying to understand the progress of the relevant work.

So, why are so many people paying attention to the relocation of the Huaxiang second-hand car market?

1

The largest second-hand car trading market in the country has been ordered to expel customers

The main entrance of Beijing Used Car Market (Huaxiang Second-hand Car Market)

As relevant departments put the relocation of the Huaxiang second-hand car market on the agenda, there were divergent opinions on the matter in the industry.

Some people even define it as a "black swan event." It is believed that even the largest second-hand car trading market in the country is facing disruption, and it must be because of problems in the entire second-hand car industry behind it that it has led to such a result.

In fact, the relevant departments will issue a "customer expulsion order" from the Huaxiang second-hand car market, not for the entire second-hand car industry. There are two main reasons why the relevant departments plan to decentralize the market:

01

The market land will have an adverse impact on the lives of local residents

If we talk about Huaxiang It is a paradise for used car dealers, but it is also a hell for surrounding residents. Many residents have long reported the traffic congestion and environmental pollution problems caused by the Huaxiang second-hand car market. Among them, situations such as market personnel occupying the road and the overlap of merchant traffic and social vehicles often cause serious traffic congestion; and behaviors such as car washing everywhere will also cause a certain degree of environmental pollution.

02

The market positioning is inconsistent with the economic development requirements of Fengtai District

Beijing’s new master plan adjusts Fengtai District from an “urban functional expansion area” to a “central urban area” ”, which represents that Fengtai District must implement the central idea of ??“stepping up” in terms of development requirements. Therefore, alleviating non-capital functions has become a top priority. The Huaxiang second-hand car market itself does not have the function of a capital, so it is also among the areas to be decentralized.

Based on the above two reasons, the relocation of the Huaxiang second-hand car market is actually the inevitable result of a series of long-standing associated problems and the adjustment of the functional positioning of the urban area by the Fengtai District Government.

Although the news of relocation has not stopped, because the relevant departments have not taken any substantive action, people are still in a wait-and-see state. Recently, the official media's statements have become clearer than before, which has caused many "melon-eating people" in the car circle to become nervous. This can be seen from the fact that the Huaxiang second-hand car market no longer accepts merchants to enter.

2

Once the main force in the real economy of second-hand car trading

Need to put down its "posture" and reflect on its own problems

Huaxiang second-hand cars Shops in the market

The relocation is about to happen at any time. Car dealers are obviously the group of people most affected by the policy. If you go to Huaxiang now, you will find that although most car dealers are still operating normally, some stores have been vacated one after another.

In fact, the evacuation of the second-hand car market in Huaxiang may not be an accidental phenomenon. In addition to the influence of policies, defects in the offline second-hand car trading market, such as Huaxiang, also catalyzed the evacuation to some extent.

Generally speaking, the offline second-hand car trading market has the following flaws:

01

Lack of standardized and unified management

As mentioned earlier, many residents have reported negative impacts caused by market chaos. The fundamental reason is the lack of standardized and unified management in the market. This has led to car dealers occupying the road and operating in violation of standards. Sewage causes environmental pollution and other situations. Over the years, people have labeled the used car trading market, and even the entire used car industry, as "dirty and messy."

02

Lack of services

The second-hand car trading market lacks necessary service functions, service facilities and service means, especially there is almost no after-sales service, resulting in a There is no guarantee in the transaction, and the interests of consumers are not protected.

At the same time, due to the lack of service-related training, car dealers generally have insufficient service capabilities, resulting in poor user experience.

03

Information asymmetry and opacity

The second-hand car trading market is still in the "seller first" stage. The vehicle condition information and vehicle source price are all decided by the seller. For consumers who lack automotive expertise, the threshold for buying a car is very high.

For example, a few days ago, we had an in-depth experience of the service level of car dealers in the Huaxiang second-hand car trading market. At that time, we saw an Audi A4L, and the car dealer said: "Even though this car has traveled 200,000 kilometers, the tires are still original tires!"? "My car is almost new. You can tell by looking at it. At this age, I can’t lie to you!”

The actual situation is that our inspectors can see at a glance that the engine of this car has obvious signs of being dismantled. This phenomenon of coming out of your mouth is very common in the second-hand car trading market. People have to be afraid of second-hand cars.

The implementation of the policy is based on urban planning and the interests of the masses. The shortcomings of the offline second-hand car trading market are the fundamental reasons for the implementation of the policy.

Policy pressure coupled with the inherent shortcomings of the second-hand car trading market seems destined to bring this traditional offline transaction model to an end. It can be said that if the offline market cannot be upgraded, the Huaxiang second-hand car market will no longer be an exception.

3

Traditional offline trading market? vs.? Online e-commerce brands

A battle around innovation

Although my country's second-hand car trading market has accumulated a large number of physical car dealers after years of practice and formed a certain scale effect, in the face of the rising online e-commerce brands, the trading market that has not been updated seems to be on the road of second-hand cars. Walking became increasingly difficult.

Looking at my country’s second-hand car online e-commerce brands. From the earliest second-hand car information release platform, to vertical second-hand car websites, to professional second-hand car trading service platforms, the continuous optimization and upgrading of second-hand car e-commerce not only brings second-hand cars into people's field of vision, but also empowers people. The second-hand car industry makes second-hand car transactions more convenient.

In addition to optimizing the car purchase process, major used car e-commerce brands are also constantly optimizing supporting services. From car returns and repairs within the warranty scope to rescue, replacement, and owner activities within the scope of after-sales services, used car e-commerce brands are constantly optimizing their own products and breaking down the barriers between used car transactions and consumers one by one. barrier.

It can be found that whether it is products or services, there is currently a large gap between my country's offline trading market and online e-commerce brands.

On the other hand, like most retail industries, current used car brands still need to deploy at the offline level.

After all, viewing cars online is not as intuitive as viewing cars offline, and Confirmation of specific car payment, vehicle delivery and related procedures must also be resolved offline.

But in fact, these offline-dependent links can be solved through the continuous development and application of technology. We can see that some brands have launched live broadcast car viewing, VR car viewing and other functions, so that users can see the quality of vehicles without going to the store in person. Here we boldly speculate that in the future, more mature technical means may be used to gradually realize online transactions and transfers of second-hand cars. From then on, consumers can buy their own dream cars more conveniently and efficiently.

Here, we cannot say whether the traditional offline trading market or the online e-commerce brand is the right way, but it is obvious that markets or brands that lack innovation will eventually be eliminated by the times. .

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.