Car brand management measures will be modified

Recently, Shen Danyang, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, publicly stated his position when answering a reporter's question. With the increase in the number of auto complaint cases, the Ministry of Commerce is actively studying the revision of the "Implementation Measures for Automobile Brand Sales Management" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures").

"The "Measures" published in 2005 put forward the internationally-accepted model for the authorized operation of automobile brands. Overall, the implementation of this approach has played a positive role in accelerating the building of automobile brands and improving the level of automobile marketing and service." Shen Danyang said. In recent years, the relationship between some auto suppliers and brand distributors has been inconsistent, and the contradictions and problems that forced the dealers to operate, collect deposit guarantees, force warehouses, and tying up sales have become increasingly prominent. “At present, we are actively studying the revision method. First, we must give top priority to the effective safeguarding of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, refine the relevant provisions, and further standardize the conduct of business operations. Second, we must collect fees for building stores, tying contracts, and so on. The supplier will carry out the necessary restrictions, promote the establishment of a stable relationship between suppliers and dealers, guide the construction of a conservation-oriented automobile distribution network, and promote the healthy development of automobile brand sales."

Shen Danyang believes that the issue of auto suppliers gaining market dominance depends on the specific situation. "Although the "Anti-Monopoly Law" does not prohibit operators from naturally forming or gaining a dominant market position through legitimate competition, the "Anti-Monopoly Law" strictly prohibits operators from abusing their dominant position in the market and eliminating restrictions on competition. At the same time, the "Anti-Monopoly Law" ”It is forbidden for suppliers and distributors to reach an agreement to fix the retail price of the product or to fix the minimum retail price. Therefore, if the car supplier has the above illegal activities, it will be punished according to law.”

Industry insiders believe that Shen Danyang's position shows that the high price of imported vehicles has indeed caused the attention of the relevant state departments. Not long ago, some media reported that following the gold and milk powder, the National Development and Reform Commission will regard the car as the next anti-monopoly target.

It is reported that the "People's Republic of China Anti-Monopoly Law" came into effect on August 1, 2008, and the State Council's anti-monopoly committee was established under Article 9. The committee has three law enforcement agencies, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. The National Development and Reform Commission is responsible for formulating policies and directions. The Ministry of Commerce is responsible for the order of transactions. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce is the law enforcement agency. According to the division of labor, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce are respectively responsible for the anti-monopoly review of concentration of operators, monopoly of prices, and abuse of market dominance.

Luo Lei, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said in an interview with the media that since last year, the Automobile Circulation Association has cooperated with the National Development and Reform Commission to investigate whether there is a monopoly in the auto industry and set up a special investigation and discussion group. Submit a periodic report of the investigation to the NDRC. However, when the reporter once again interviewed him on this issue recently, he refused to express his position again with “the problem is too sensitive”.

Luo Lei told reporters that the anti-monopoly investigation aimed at whether the car dealers had set a minimum retail price for their dealers, instead of focusing on the problem of excessive profits from imported cars. The high price of imported cars is only a commercial activity and does not constitute a monopoly. This, coincides with Shen Danyang's position.

It is reported that the "Measures" clearly stipulates that automobile suppliers should provide auto brands and dealers with authorized auto brand dealers with their own service marks and implement network planning. Automobile suppliers should strengthen the management of brand sales and service networks, standardize sales and after-sales services, and promptly announce to the public their list of authorized and cancelled auto brand sales and service companies. Enterprises that are not authorized to sell automobile brands or do not have operating conditions must not provide automobile resources. This means that automobile suppliers have direct restrictions on the distributors of terminal circulation.

In fact, as early as in 2008, many times the "Measures" were announced to be revised, but there was no delay. Over the years, many people in the industry have called for the “exclusive authorization and distribution” of the “Measures” to be the monopoly. The general distributors have strengthened their brand monopoly, imposed pricing and price limits on imported cars, and abused market dominance to earn excessive profits. Seriously infringed the rights and interests of Chinese consumers. "The current competition in the imported car market is mainly the competition between different brands. In the same brand system, sufficient competition or punishment from the general distributors will be imposed, so this regulation actually inhibits the free development of the market, resulting in a de facto price monopoly."

Under this circumstance, after the high price of imported vehicles was fully exposed by the media, the Ministry of Commerce finally decided to open the knife to the "Measures." People in the industry believe that to amend the Measures, first of all, it is necessary to strengthen the market environment for fair competition in the automobile circulation field, and should not encourage monopoly with exclusive agency “tokens”. Secondly, parallel imports should be encouraged, allowing qualified import car dealers to directly import cars from foreign automobile companies or authorized dealers, breaking the monopoly of the distributors' import channels, and creating a free-competition market environment.

Li Yanwei, director of the National Business Department of Sina Motors who has long tracked the development of dealers, said that if the "approach" is revised, it should first stipulate that manufacturers cannot collect deposit guarantees for dealers; secondly, manufacturers cannot use sales subsidy to disguise dealers' sales of cars in disguised form. Going to the field; allowing dealers to set up secondary sales stores; manufacturers and distributors should be on an equal footing and not be able to suppress dealers.

Senior automotive analyst Jia Xinguang even believes that after years of development in the Chinese market, the environment has undergone great changes, and the "measures" are no longer needed. "This approach does not bring any good effect to the automotive market. From the current automotive market, the most important thing is that car manufacturers do a good job of safety, energy conservation, environmental protection, in the car sales, manage after-sales service and consumers' Three bags' can be."