Fierce competition among multinational parts giants

On January 25, 2016, Weibo launched a series of intelligent after-sales accessories of provia brand. At the end of last year, varta battery, the after-sales brand of Johnson Controls' energy power business, launched a brand reconstruction plan in China. At the end of 2014, Bosch opened the franchise car service business in China through Bosch car service. This series of actions shows that multinational parts enterprises are planning strategies, "the next after-sales game".

After sales market ushers in a good opportunity for development

"China's automotive aftermarket ushered in a period of rapid growth." On January 27, Xu Haidong, Secretary General of the post Market Committee of China Association of automobile industry, told reporters that in 2016, China's car ownership will reach 170 million, and the huge after-sales market space will undoubtedly attract parts enterprises from all countries to accelerate their entry.

Since 2014, all ministries and commissions of the state have strengthened efforts to break the horizontal and vertical monopoly of auto parts. Mao Limin, President of Greater China of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket, said in an interview that the attention of the government and industry associations to the automotive aftermarket is gradually increasing, and a series of policies aimed at breaking monopoly are promoting the industry to a healthier, more transparent and more open direction. "The openness of automobile maintenance information means the intensification of competition," he said. For example, auto parts enterprises must launch all kinds of positioning quality parts to meet the needs of 4S stores and end-users. "

At present, the management and pricing mechanism of domestic commercial vehicle enterprises for channels is quite different from that of passenger vehicles, so the competition environment of commercial vehicle after-sales market and passenger vehicle market is not exactly the same. Yu Sujie, vice president of Weibo group and President of Asia Pacific and China business, told reporters that in recent years, there are still behaviors endangering the rights and interests of users in the domestic after-sales market. The introduction of guidance from ten ministries and commissions will promote the gradual standardization of the after-sales market of commercial vehicles.

Multinational parts enterprises enter the after-sales market of China's automobile, mostly due to the complete vehicle supporting business. However, with the growth of China's car ownership, the expansion of automotive aftermarket scale and the increasingly standardized market environment. For the strategic layout of China's automobile after-sales market, multinational parts enterprises have changed from the initial "secret war" to "bright sword".

Rapid growth of after sales market in China

At the end of 2011, Bosch acquired Taiwan Yanghong group and officially opened the automobile after-sales market business in China. "In the past five years, Bosch's after-sale sales in China have maintained nearly double-digit compound growth." According to Mao Limin, on the independent maintenance station, we have launched the maintenance station service concept to meet various market demands, which is divided into Bosch diesel service station, Bosch diesel service center and Bosch car Union. After more than one year's development, Bosch car service has more than 150 franchisees in China. In the field of main engine supporting, we provide the main engine factory with the dealer's equipment general contracting service solution, and help the 4S shop to carry out the layout of maintenance station, equipment purchase list consultation and staff training, etc. Thanks to the whole product strategy of parts diagnosis service, Bosch Automotive after-sales is in a leading position in the Chinese market.

Not only Bosch, but also huimen, Delphi, Continental, Michelin and other multinational spare parts enterprises are all laying out the automobile after-sales market. It is understood that 40% of huimen's business comes from the after-sales market.

At present, Weibo's spare parts and components sold in the after-sales market are basically in line with the supporting products, including domestic and foreign supporting truck, bus, trailer and car product lines; at the same time, Weibo also provides repair programs and tools for repair shops and motorcades. Yu Sujie said that in the past 10 years, Weibo's annual compound growth rate of sales in China's after-sales market has maintained a double-digit level.

One out of every three filters in the world comes from mahmour. At present, mahmour has two major after-sales brands - man brand filter and Haoye filter. Haoye filter is the middle end after-sale brand launched by mahmour after purchasing Haoye filter Co., Ltd. to meet the needs of different users.

Michelin tire company and continental horse brand already have a high reputation in China's after-sales market, and their development is very stable.

Haila and Marelli, famous for their headlights, have set up the after-sales market in China as early as 10 years ago. At last year's Frankfurt exhibition, Gong Xiaoxia, general manager of Asia Pacific after sales market of Marilyn International Trade Co., Ltd., told our reporter that in 2014, the sales volume of Marilyn in China's after-sales market was 60 million yuan, and in 2015, the sales volume doubled. Johnson Controls also exhibited its high-end seat brand in the after-sales market of European countries in Shanghai auto show last year.

Xu Haidong believes that multinational parts enterprises have their own advantages in the development of after-sales market. For example, first, the parts enterprises that come to China for deep cultivation have certain brand awareness; second, the automobile after-sales market in European and American countries is more standardized, and they all have relatively mature development mode; third, in European and American countries, some enterprises have a large proportion of after-sales business, so enterprises naturally attach importance to it.

Accelerate the layout of independent after-sales market

The after-sales business of auto parts enterprises includes complete vehicle after-sales market and independent after-sales market. In the past few years, the rapid development of automobile production and marketing has brought a lot of business opportunities to the after-sales business of complete vehicle. However, with the slow development of China's automobile industry and the loose sales channels of automobile enterprises, this after-sales market space is limited. At present, the independent after-sales market has become a new growth point of the after-sales business of multinational parts enterprises.

Experts said that with the supporting of automobile enterprises, automobile parts enterprises are greatly affected by the economic cycle, but the after-sales market is not sensitive to the economic cycle. When the economic environment is in a weak economic cycle, the automobile after-sales market is of great importance to the development of automobile parts enterprises.

At the same time, opportunities and competition coexist. Foreign brands are also facing increasingly fierce competition, just like other foreign brands supporting the whole vehicle and the homogeneous parts focusing on the after-sales market. Maolimin told reporters that in the independent after-sales market, faster access to model data means that the corresponding diagnostic equipment and accessories products can be launched to the market more quickly. This puts forward higher requirements for the product R & D efficiency and strength of each brand, and who can launch products that meet the market demand more quickly will be more likely to win the market favor.

Multinational parts companies have increased their investment in the independent after-sales market. It is reported that Bosch will gradually transform from a pure parts and equipment supplier to a system service solution supplier. In 2014, the Greater China division of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket was established.

At present, Weibo has 11 sales offices, 102 dealers and 105 service partners in China. With the growth of domestic after-sales volume and demand for Weibo, the after-sales market and service network will continue to expand. Yu Sujie said that with the technical upgrading of domestic vehicles and the introduction of high-end products of veburco, veburco plans to build a service and sales network with more than 200 outlets within five years to provide full life-cycle services and parts supply for Chinese car owners and motorcades. In 2015, WeChat released the official account of the public, setting up a new channel to communicate with customers and markets, which will help customers understand the products and value of web and help users provide online services and interaction. In 2016, Weibo will further increase the development and promotion of the after-sales market in order to be closer to the market demand and provide more complete and rich services and products for the after-sales market.

"Marelli will further expand the after-sales market through OEM support, and will also increase the number of sales outlets and expand product coverage through cooperation with Chinese partners." Gong Xiaoxia told reporters that in the future, the after-sales business of Marelli will focus on China and gradually expand to the Asia Pacific region.

In China, Johnson Controls is one of the most important original battery suppliers of Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi brands. Varta is the after-sales brand of Johnson auto control battery business. In 2016, Valta increased investment, made full use of the digital information dissemination platform in the Internet era, and strengthened the emotional link between Valta and consumers.