The technical monopoly of 4S stores in the field of automobile after-sales maintenance may be broken. On February 26, 2015, the Ministry of Transport released the Administrative Measures for the Implementation of Automobile Maintenance Technical Information Disclosure (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") on its official website. The Measures explicitly stipulates that "the monopoly of maintenance accessories channel shall be broken", and requires auto enterprises to disclose auto maintenance technology information to maintenance operators and consumers from 2015.
This means that China's automobile after-sales market will undergo a great transformation, and the maintenance monopoly dominated by automobile OEMs and authorized dealers is expected to be broken.
The new car needs to disclose the maintenance technical information within 6 months
"Automobile manufacturers shall disclose automobile maintenance technology information to all maintenance operators and consumers without discrimination, discrimination and delay in the form of available information, convenient information channels and reasonable information prices." The Measures clearly stipulates in Article 5 of the General Provisions.
In the detailed rules, the Measures stipulate that automobile manufacturers should establish and improve the disclosure system of maintenance technology information, disclose the maintenance technology information of their own automobile models that have obtained the national CCC certification and have been listed for sale in accordance with the law, and record the basic information of automobile manufacturers, sales of their own brands, information disclosure methods and other relevant information.
For passenger cars and buses defined in the national standard Terminology and Definitions of Vehicle and Trailer Types, the automobile manufacturer shall disclose the maintenance technology information within 6 months from the date of listing of the vehicle type that has obtained CCC certification since the date of promulgation of the Measures, and indicate the date of listing of the vehicle type on the information disclosure website. Passenger cars and buses that have obtained CCC certification and been put on the market since July 1, 2008 shall disclose the maintenance technical information before January 1, 2017.
Moreover, the Measures also stipulate that the automobile maintenance technology information disclosed by automobile manufacturers can provide paid services to operators and users directly used for maintenance, and automobile manufacturers can independently price the maintenance technology information in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Price Law.
Promote fair competition in the automotive aftermarket
According to relevant media reports, there are more than 440000 automobile maintenance enterprises in China, of which only 20000 are 4S stores. However, because of the non-public status of automobile maintenance information, 4S stores, which account for less than 5% of the total number of the industry, account for 60% of the industry's maintenance resources. Other maintenance enterprises cannot obtain maintenance information and accessories from formal channels, so it is difficult to carry out maintenance services, and the maintenance quality cannot be guaranteed, which increases the maintenance burden of consumers to a certain extent.
The Measures, to a certain extent, allow to break this unfair phenomenon. The Measures encourage relevant operators to actively use these public information. "Manufacturers of maintenance diagnostic tools and equipment, parts manufacturers and other relevant operators should actively use the maintenance technology information provided by automobile manufacturers to research and develop, produce various special vehicle maintenance diagnostic tools and equipment, and homogeneous accessories suitable for various models, so as to provide various maintenance operators and consumers with sufficient market choices."
This means that the technical information of automobile maintenance that has been firmly monopolized by automobile main engine manufacturers and authorized dealers can be used by more independent maintenance enterprise operators outside 4S stores, and consumers will have more independent choices in the field of automobile maintenance. On the other hand, 4S stores can no longer be subject to the control of automobile OEMs, and their use of technical information and market choices will be more diversified, thus improving their market competitiveness.
