Last month, I had dinner with a brother who worked on the African line, and he said something that impressed me deeply: "What I was most afraid of before was not having customers, but having customers without cars. The customer asked for ten Haval H6s, and I only had three in my hand. The remaining seven were searched in the market. After finding the price, they were raised by my peers." This is the most real dilemma for small and medium-sized car dealers when exporting-you have overseas buyers on the demand side, but you have no stable source of cars on the supply side. When collecting a car, we rely on luck, the price depends on grabbing, and the condition of the car depends on gambling. The unstable source of vehicles is changing from "whether we can earn more" to "whether we can survive".

Why did the car source suddenly become the line between life and death?

After the 180-day registration threshold was implemented, the road for zero-kilometer new cars was blocked. In the past, many small and medium-sized car dealers relied on connections to get a new car approved and sell it immediately. Although the source of the car was unstable, the profits were thick enough. Now this road is no longer accessible, and real used cars have become the only option. However, the source of real used cars is highly scattered in the country. Individual car owners, 4S shop replacements, leasing companies refunds, peer transfers-the volume in each channel is not small, but each channel has a threshold. For individual car owners, you collect one by one, which is too inefficient; most of the replacement vehicles in 4S shops are taken away by large platforms and dealer groups; there are large batches of rentals, refunds, and cars, but the conditions of the vehicles are uneven. Small and medium-sized car dealers have small individual purchases and weak bargaining power, making it difficult to obtain competitive car source prices. There is a popular saying in the industry: big car dealers compete for capital, and small car dealers share the source. But the current situation is that small car dealers can't even compete for the source of the car.

Auction platforms are becoming a "distribution hub" for export vehicle sources

The turning point comes this year. Several head auction platforms have successively launched export-oriented vehicle source zones, concentrating vehicle sources scattered across the country into an entrance where batch screening, bidding, and purchasing can be carried out. Youcha Technology took the lead in launching the "Export Vehicle Source Zone" in June, relying on AI intelligent algorithms to complete vehicle source screening and adapt to the vehicle access standards of different countries. After being launched, it has become an important platform for export service providers to purchase export vehicle sources in bulk. Vehicle sources cover luxury, joint ventures, and independent full-brand echelons, with more than 7000 cooperative vehicle sources entrusting parties. The export zone relies on a standardized vehicle source system and intelligent algorithms to help exporters reduce cross-border vehicle search and verification costs. Youxinpai launched its overseas official website in July, officially taking the first step of "auction export", relying on domestic vehicle source reserves to meet the purchasing needs of global used car dealers in real time. The action on the bus street is even bigger. They have formed a joint venture with Marhaba Auctions, a leading auction company in the Middle East, to launch an international auction platform for global buyers. Marhaba has 5 auction venues in the United Arab Emirates, builds an auction center and Tema Port Bonded Warehouse in Ghana, and builds an auction center in Lagos, Nigeria, forming a regional network covering major markets in West Africa. Auto Street has also established a joint venture with Hangzhou Shuai Automobile. Shuai Automobile Export, a subsidiary of Shuai Automobile, is one of the first batch of used car export pilot enterprises in the country, covering major markets such as Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. For small and medium-sized car dealers, the significance of these platforms is very direct: you no longer have to fill the market looking for cars. Vehicle sources are concentrated on the platform, with standardized inspection reports, and can be auctioned online or purchased directly.

How to use auction car sources in practical operations

But "having a platform" and "knowing how to use a platform" are two different things. I visited the export areas of several platforms and chatted with several car dealers who are already using them. There are several practical experiences worth sharing. First, transparency in vehicle conditions is the greatest value, but we must learn to read reports. Some Yoliang SmartCheck intelligent detection system can detect core risk points such as mortgages, accidents, and meter adjustments. What overseas buyers see are standardized English vehicle condition files and complete real shots. For exports, this means that you don't need to hire your own inspector to inspect cars one by one. The platform's test reports can be directly used as the basis for communication with overseas buyers. But we must develop a habit-focus on structural parts testing items and mileage authenticity verification, which are the two places where complaints from overseas customers are most concentrated. Second, a budget ceiling must be set for competitive procurement. The advantage of auctions is that prices are transparent, but the disadvantage is that they are easy to go to the top. If a popular model is favored by several buyers at the same time, the price can easily be raised beyond your export profit line. It is recommended to first calculate the taxes and logistics costs in the target market before participating in the auction, and push the upper limit of the car collection price backwards. If it exceeds it, give up and don't follow. Third, pay attention to changes in the platform's vehicle source structure. The entrusting parties with vehicles with platforms include large dealer groups such as Zhongsheng Group, Yongda Group, and Lixing Group. The characteristics of these groups replacing vehicles are short vehicle age, low mileage, and clean procedures, making them suitable for markets with high requirements for vehicle conditions. However, leasing companies have large batches of refunds and low prices, making them suitable for operating export markets. First find out what cars your target market needs, and then go to the platform to screen the car sources from the corresponding channels. Fourth, pay attention to the difference between the export area and the ordinary auction area. For vehicles in the export vehicle source area, the platform has undergone export adaptability screening-such as left rudder, emission standards, vehicle age limits and other conditions. But this does not mean that all cars are suitable for your target market. For example, a Euro-5 emission car will be fine in Africa, but it will not be admitted if it is sent to the Czech Republic. The policy threshold of the target country must be checked before collecting the car.

From "looking for a car" to "booking a car", the idea needs to be changed

In the past, when making export vehicle sources, the logic was to "issue whatever car you received." Now that there is a car source pool for the auction platform, the logic is reversed-"Whatever car overseas customers want, I will go to the platform to find any car." This transition may seem simple, but it will vary greatly in execution. The former is to passively clear inventory, while the latter is to actively match demand. There are car dealers in Jining, Shandong Province that have exported 7003 vehicles to Africa in half a year, and the Guiyang base has steadily shipped 50 vehicles to Africa every month. These car dealers who have come out have one thing in common-they first find out the model preferences of overseas markets, and then lock in the source of vehicles at home. What the auction platform provides to small and medium-sized car dealers is this channel to reverse lock the source of the car. You don't have to build your own car collection team or build a car collection network across the country. You can also take photos of a car from the platform. Barriers have been lowered and efficiency has been improved.

But there is one thing the platform cannot help you

Auction platforms solve the problem of "where does the car come from" and cannot solve the problem of "where does the car go?" Through the platform, you get stable vehicle sources, transparent vehicle conditions, and competitive prices, but overseas buyer development, logistics arrangements, customs clearance compliance, and after-sales supporting facilities-these still have to be done by yourself. The reason why the joint venture model between Auto Street and Marhaba is worthy of attention is that they have also connected the "overseas landing" link. Overseas buyers can see, bid and deliver cars at the local auction house. Small and medium-sized car dealers do not need to build channels overseas to sell cars. However, such services are still in their infancy and cover limited markets. For most small and medium-sized car dealers, a more pragmatic path is to use auction platforms to solve the problems of vehicle source stability and vehicle condition transparency, and invest the saved time and energy into overseas customer development and after-sales system construction. Stable vehicle source is a prerequisite for survival, but long-term survival still depends on services. The auction platform helps you solve the first problem, but you can only solve the second problem yourself.

Source: Digital automobile export Xingchen

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