What are the management methods of distribution channels in the automobile industry at present? What are the organizational forms and functions?

Evolution of Automobile Distribution Channels in China

Before 1985, the automobile circulation channels in China were basically controlled by the state. As a national unified distribution of materials, automobiles are distributed in a planned way, so the national materials department plays the role of a circulation channel. However, around 1995, with the improvement of China's marketization, the planned allocation ratio of automobiles has been very low. More than 95% cars directly enter the market. Under the unique national conditions of China, the automobile distribution channel model of China has experienced the development process from non-selection channel to selection channel, and from single channel model to multi-channel model, and gradually matured in the market competition. To sum up, China's automobile distribution channel model is divided into four stages, as follows:

(1) Comprehensive planned distribution channels

The time period is 1953- 1979, and the mandatory automobile plan is issued by the state. After the production of automobile manufacturers, all of them are distributed by the national material department according to the distribution plan issued by the State Planning Commission, and their users are all units of the national government and the military and police system. Take Tianqi Group as an example. At that time, Tianjin Automobile Factory only produced jeeps and tractors. The products produced are basically distributed by Tianjin Materials Bureau.

Its characteristics: there is no market concept, and there is no car distribution channel in the usual sense. Cars are only an important means of production for the country. The management of the automobile market is highly centralized, and the state allocates automobile resources in a centralized and unified way. Its production and circulation channels are separated. Compared with the marketing stage, it should be in the concept of production and products.

(2) the planning and distribution stage of dual-track channels

The time is 1979- 1985. Cars will continue to be produced by automobile manufacturers under the guidance of the mandatory plan issued by the State Planning Commission, and most of the cars produced will be distributed by the state materials department as planned; At the same time, China's reform and opening up has stimulated the demand for automobiles, which is far greater than the supply. Although government consumption is still the mainstream, some enterprises and institutions have obtained unplanned indicators through various "relationships" without allocating planned indicators, thus buying some cars, that is, automobile enterprises produce some cars outside the plan and sell or pay tribute to some key units or departments. Taking Tianjin Automobile Factory as an example, a certain number of cars will be produced unplanned for the relevant departments of Tianjin Municipal Government and other important related units to purchase under the premise of completing the national mandatory planned production tasks.

Its characteristics are: the planned distribution channels are gradually loosened, but the planned distribution channels are still absolutely dominant, and a small number of cars are sold through various "relationship" channels. The right to operate automobile production and marketing has been transformed into an operation system combining guiding planning with market regulation, and the mode of "the state regulates the market and the market guides enterprises" has been implemented in resource allocation.

(3) Automobile trade and distribution channels of mechanical and electrical equipment.

The time is 1985- 1997. With the further deepening of China's reform and opening up, the automobile distribution channels in China have also undergone profound changes. At this stage, China also gradually transited from planned economy to market economy. During this transitional period, some institutions that were originally state material management departments have gradually evolved into companies with independent legal personality belonging to the central government and provinces and cities. The times require that the systems of China Automobile Trading Corporation and China Electromechanical Equipment Corporation are examples. With the monopoly power of some planned distribution indicators, strong financial strength, full support of government departments, the inextricable relationship between employees and the real power departments of the national government, and the sales network system all over the country, it occupies an absolute leading position in China's automobile distribution channels, belongs to the category of channel leaders, and undertakes the sales tasks of most domestic and imported cars. This stage; The market concept of automobile production enterprises is still not strong, and their own distribution channels have not been established, so production and circulation are still separated.

Its characteristics are: a single distribution channel dominates the whole country, and the relationship between manufacturers and channels is only mutual utilization, semi-commercial and semi-administrative, without brand management, especially in the market-oriented period, there are many dealers, the market is chaotic, and layers of wholesale, and when the market is strong, it will grab resources; When the market is weak, compete at low prices.

(4) The stage of coexistence, trade-off and mixed development of various channel modes.

The period is after 1997. Due to the rapid development of market economy in China and the gradual deepening of automobile marketization in China, the automobile distribution channels in China are undergoing tremendous changes. Especially under the guidance of the industrial policy of the national automobile industry, automobile production enterprises are vigorously developing their respective production capacity and pursuing economies of scale, which leads to the over-speed development of production capacity and seriously exceeds the total scale of market demand, which makes the inventory of some enterprises continue to be high and the whole social environment has also undergone tremendous changes. There are many modes of automobile distribution channels in China automobile market, such as China automobile trade and electromechanical equipment distribution channels, enterprise self-operated channels, agency channels, automobile trading market-oriented channels, specialty store distribution channels, Beijing Yafei automobile chain headquarters and other automobile chain operation networks. , showing a mixed situation of various channel models, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, and being carved up by the group.

Its characteristics are: numerous automobile brands, uneven channels, various channel models emerging one after another, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, and no one channel model occupies a dominant position, which has undergone great changes.

The development and evolution of automobile distribution channels in China has experienced the above four stages, so why did these four stages appear in China?

This is mainly because of China's special national conditions and the unbalanced development of China's automobile industry. China is a socialist country, and its national economy has undergone a transformation from a completely planned economy to a market economy. China's automobile industry has experienced a process from scratch, and in a short period of 50 years, it has experienced many turning points. In addition, China's transformation from a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society brought about a vast country, unbalanced regional economic development and the influence of local protectionism, which also led to the unbalanced development of China's automobile industry. Therefore, the development of China's automobile distribution channels has gone through four stages.

2.2.2 Several domestic mainstream automobile distribution channel models

In the process of economic marketization in China, logistics enterprises have encountered severe challenges from the market, and their survival has also encountered problems. The main reason is not market factors, but great changes have taken place in sales channels. In the period of planned economy, traditional dealers have the monopoly of resources and can underwrite the products of enterprises. Nowadays, the degree of marketization of automobile circulation has been greatly improved, and automobile resources have become very tight under the new situation. After the buyout of large circulation enterprises, the traditional form of wholesale sales has not adapted to the changed situation, and the multi-brand mixed sales form has been hit harder and harder. However, it is becoming a new model of manufacturer relationship for brand monopoly enterprises to order car sales through contracts.

After years of evolution, the current automobile distribution channels in China can be summarized into the following five modes:

(1) direct sales. Automobile manufacturers and their local sales organizations sell cars directly to end users.

(2) General agent system. The channel model can be expressed as manufacturer → general agent → regional agent → subordinate agent → customer. Imported cars mainly adopt this mode.

(3) Regional agency system. The channel model can be expressed as manufacturer → regional general agent → subordinate agents → customers. This is the earliest model adopted in auto channel, and there are few manufacturers using this model at present.

(4) Franchise distribution system. The channel model can be expressed as manufacturer → franchisee → customer. After the implementation of regional agency system for a period of time, automobile manufacturers gradually found it difficult to standardize the distribution behavior of dealers and the market price system was chaotic. After 1996, the automobile channel gradually changed to franchise system.

(5) Brand monopoly system. The channel model can be expressed as manufacturer → specialty store → end user. Brand monopoly system is a channel model developed from 65438 to 0999. Mainly in the form of trinity stores (including vehicle sales, spare parts supply and after-sales service) and quaternity stores (vehicle sales, spare parts supply, after-sales service and information feedback).

At present, the mainstream models of automobile channels are franchise system and brand monopoly system, and the differences between them are mainly as follows:

(1) The requirements for dealers are different: under the franchise system, manufacturers can generally only examine the geographical location and sales ability of dealers, and can't have too many software and hardware requirements for agents who apply to join, such as store size, decoration level and after-sales service. Under the brand monopoly system, manufacturers not only attach importance to the location and sales of specialty stores, but also have strict regulations on the hardware of specialty stores, and some even have clear regulations on the procurement location of decoration materials.

(2) Different management efforts: manufacturers have less support for franchisees' sales management and training, while under the brand monopoly system, manufacturers have strict management of specialty stores and unified management measures in store management, sales management and employee training.

(3) The displayed image is different: under the franchise system, the dealer can't play the brand image of the manufacturer; Under the brand monopoly system, specialty stores can play the brand of manufacturers and pay attention to displaying the image of manufacturers.

(4) The number of brands operated by franchisees is different: the number of brands operated by franchisees is not unique, and manufacturers can't control it, while brand stores can only operate a single automobile brand.

From the perspective of customer-oriented channel terminals, automobile sales channels are manifested in large automobile trading markets (such as Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile Trading Market, Guangdong Automobile Trading Market, Sanying Automobile City, Guangzhou Automobile Expo Center, South China Automobile Trading City, Zhejiang Kangqiao Automobile Sales Group, etc.). ), brand stores established by automobile manufacturing enterprises, direct stores of non-automobile manufacturing enterprises outside the automobile trading market (such as authorized sales service centers and special sales service stores, etc.). ), and engaged in single car service.