The TOP200 Competitiveness Index of China Automobile Dealers Group (hereinafter referred to as “TOP200 Competitiveness Index”), jointly compiled by the Tongji SEM and Shanghai Haistand Management Consulting, was officially released on May 25th.

The TOP200 Competitiveness Index takes the competitiveness of the automobile dealer group as the research object, and comprehensively covers the sales ability, service ability, management ability, network ability and innovation ability of the dealer group. The index takes the passenger car business unit of the dealer group as the research object, and selects 200 representative dealer groups as the research sample of the competitiveness index.

According to the research, the TOP200 Competitiveness Index in 2020 is 600.70, which is slightly lower than that in 2019. Among them, there are 26 groups with high comprehensive competitiveness (more than 700), the same as in 2019, but 12 groups with low comprehensive competitiveness (below 500), an increase of 9 over 2019.

ZHENG Xin, who is in charge of the TOP200 Competitiveness Index and Associate Professor from Tongji SEM, said that Chinese auto market continued to decline in 2019, with more than half of dealers losing money, inventory overstocking and some dealers in trouble. According to the overall performance of dealer groups in the TOP200 Competitiveness Index, they found that more than 40 per cent of dealers had deficits in 2019, the highest level in nearly five years. Superimposing the impact of COVID-19 ‘s epidemic, the revenue pressure of dealers this year will be further increased.

In terms of the number of dealer groups, the number of more than 10 billion dealer groups has decreased from 50 to 47, and the number of 20 billion groups has increased from 20 to 24. Although the data still maintain a positive growth signal, dealer inventory has been at a high level, and the flexible space for manufacturers to press the warehouse has shrunk. With the continuous decline in sales, and the increase in the number of entrants, the pressure of competition in the industry is still high, coupled with the comprehensive popularity of “Internet +”, car sales prices become more transparent, profit margins are gradually compressed, the trend of losses may be inevitable.

However, the latest research from the TOP200 Competitiveness Index shows that although the market shuffle is accelerating and entering a period of deep adjustment, car companies and dealers are actively adjusting their strategies, improving their management capabilities, adapting to the new retail situation driven by the Internet economy, exploring new models of online car purchase, reshaping the new retail system, and data-driven group operation, thus blazing a new path for enterprises.

ZHENG said that with the vigorous development of the new energy automobile industry in 2019, the new business model under the Internet economy and the marketing innovation of new car manufacturers are promoting the changes of the automobile circulation industry. Many traditional automobile enterprises have been eager to start the slimming of automobile retail, abandoning the traditional 4S store model and adopting a retail network of brand flagship stores, authorized franchise stores and authorized retail outlets to launch a new automobile retail platform.

In addition, affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the offline activities of automobile retail stopped completely. The pandemic made online car sales from a relatively blank field into the overall exploratory stage of the industry, exploring the live format of online marketing has almost become a common phenomenon in the industry. From the tracking of the live broadcast results of some car brands, the current clue conversion rate of some live shows is no less than the traditional methods, this trend will bring new ideas for reshaping the new retail system of car companies.

The TOP200 Competitiveness Index has been released for the sixth year since 2015 through big data’s method, relying on the scientific research strength Tongji SEM and the industry insight of Haistand Management Consulting. Comprehensive and objective data structure provides value reference for the development of the automobile industry and financial institutions.