It's been a month since the outbreak of novel coronavirus, during which our lives have undergone tremendous changes. Frankly speaking, this epidemic made me feel scared for the first time, and even made me feel the impact of changes on our lives for the first time. In fact, I also experienced SARS in 2113, but the economic structure of the society in that year was completely different from that of now, so there were not many industries that ultimately affected me. In addition to the daily changes in the number of infections, my life was the freedom and happiness brought by not going to school for half a year.

Of course, SARS has become a thing of the past, and today my job is also a handyman around the automobile industry. After reading countless articles about the automobile industry these days, I think it is necessary to let you know how much influence COVID-19 has on automobile terminals, that is, dealers. Therefore, I interviewed several people I know about automobile dealers, especially the sales staff who are in direct contact with C-end customers, so that you can understand the impact of the current epidemic on dealers from various angles.

Because the epidemic situation was serious before the press release, we strictly called for working from home in the corresponding countries, so the following understanding process was completed by telephone or WeChat to avoid cross-infection. And I also specially selected relevant personnel from seven dealers in Beijing to visit. The brands include several brands that are common in our lives and have excellent sales before the epidemic, including mid-range brands, luxury brands and ultra-luxury brands.

in the interview, we mainly focus on the following issues, including sales volume during the epidemic, employees' going to work, after-sales service guarantee and inventory, which can best reflect the health status of dealers. At the same time, I also try to find the sales and after-sales personnel who are usually responsible for specific work.

# Dongfeng Honda Yizhuang Store

I once saw cars in this store, so my first thought was to help me choose the car for sale. Back then, when I went to this Dongfeng Honda, it was crowded, and there were a lot of transactions every day, especially the main models Civic and Odyssey. But when I asked about the actual sales during the epidemic, the sales were very bleak.

According to Mr. W, the sales manager of Dongfeng Honda, he hasn't sold a car since the outbreak, that is, after the first-class response was issued in Beijing, all the staff in 4S shop who didn't leave Beijing began to arrange AB shifts, in other words, only two sales people were arranged to be on duty in the store every day. After-sales, there are people on duty at present, but if customers need maintenance, they should make an appointment in advance to come to the door. At present, the inventory pressure is relatively general, counting the exhibition cars, there are more than 31 cars, and the number of customers who mainly go to the store for consultation is much less. On the contrary, the number of customers who consult online on some big platforms has increased, which shows that everyone has a desire to buy.

# Guangqi Honda Tongzhou Store

Compared with Dongfeng Honda Yizhuang Store, Guangqi Honda Tongzhou Store can only be regarded as a little better. According to Mr. W, a staff member, Guangben completed the sales of more than 111 units in January, and Tongzhou Store started the shift system from February 11, and only two salesmen and one manager were guaranteed to stay in the store every day to reduce the possibility of centralized office. In terms of after-sales service, there is no problem with normal maintenance, but renewal and decoration cannot be carried out at this stage. At present, there are almost more than 31 cars in stock in the store, and in order to cope with the decrease of car-watching users affected by the epidemic, the store provides IDCC to book cars through online invitation, which reduces the possibility of direct contact with customers.

# Dongfeng Nissan Huilongguan Store

After interviewing two Honda stores in Beijing, I called Nissan dealers in Beijing Huilongguan area. According to a rough understanding, almost no one has bought a car in this store since the festival, and the existing cars in stock are also saturated and most of them are models from years ago. There are some people who come to the store for consultation now, but the conversion rate is relatively low, and the market is very depressed compared with the past. In terms of personnel arrangement, Nissan Huilongguan Store has no personnel scheduling plan, but all employees return to work in the store.

# Summary

The brands represented by the above three stores can almost be said to be full of brands in Beijing before the outbreak, but with the deepening of the visit, we can also understand how much the epidemic has affected their sales. You might as well think about it. In the past, a store could trade several or dozens of cars a day, and the best-selling models were even hard to find. Now it is difficult to trade one car a month. Behind this, dealers have to bear the store rent, water and electricity, personnel expenses and inventory expenses, which shows how far-reaching the impact of the epidemic on these brands.

# luxury brand

In addition to getting to know the people-friendly mid-range brand dealers, I also interviewed the staff of two luxury brand dealers whose sales were booming before the outbreak, so what impact did the epidemic have on them?

# Yizhuang BMW /MINI authorized dealer

A salesperson of Yizhuang Yanbao accepted a simple interview with us. It said that the sales volume in the last month was rather bleak, and the inventory pressure at this stage was quite great. Although the company has 21 people coming to the store for office every day, the number of people who have no choice but to look after the car is still sparse, and the sales conversion rate is extremely low. However, for some customers who just need or have already decided to buy a car, they still don't need to look at the car. Last week, there were two customers who booked the car by remittance. However, under the double pressure of huge inventory and huge in-store expenses, although there are occasional orders, it is only a drop in the bucket.

# Lexus in Beijing West Third Ring Road.

Speaking of Lexus, this brand can be regarded as a BUG last year. When the national car companies were struggling with a not-so-good economic environment, Lexus actually achieved sales growth against the market, and its best-selling models still managed to sell cars with little or no profit, which was the envy of all car companies. So now that the epidemic is coming, can Lexus and its dealers continue this brilliant achievement? For this reason, I interviewed my friends who worked in Lexus, Garden Bridge, West Third Ring Road, Beijing, and got a special understanding of the sales situation during this period.

my friend Mr. y said; In recent months, the sales volume in the store was very bad, that is, about 11% of the monthly sales volume before the epidemic. At present, the 4S store also adopts a shift system, with a day off the previous day, and there are not many salespeople in the left-behind store, but it is enough to cope with the crowd of people watching cars under the epidemic. In terms of after-sales, the store is relatively normal and unaffected at present, and the inventory pressure of Lexus West Third Ring Store is relatively small, which makes it unnecessary to put too much cost into inventory. Although the lack of inventory has always been a major criticism of Lexus, this criticism has helped Lexus during the epidemic. In addition, Mr. Y also told us that due to the background of dealers and state-owned enterprises, he felt that the epidemic had only a short-term impact on sales, and relying on strong background, it should not have any impact on him after the epidemic.

Summary:

Compared with mid-range brands that are close to the people, these high-end brands, even those that have never been able to shake their sales, have had a hard time before the current epidemic, and their sales can barely maintain at the level of 11% ~ 21% in previous months, so "carrying" is the most important goal of these stores at present.

# Super luxury brand;

Middle-end and high-end brand dealers are having a hard time, so for some ultra-luxury brands, has this epidemic affected them? After all, in normal times, these brands hardly rely on volume sales, but rely more on brand value and consumer loyalty. More consumers don't need to go to the store to know the details of the vehicle, or even shop around. As it happens, I happened to have two friends who work in an ultra-luxury brand dealership, and I interviewed them by the way.

# Beijing Jinbao Street McLaren Exhibition Hall

Mr. Y from Beijing Jinbao Street McLaren Exhibition Hall told me; In February, due to the impact of the Spring Festival holiday and epidemic, the number of cars booked was not large, which was basically the same as that of the same period of last year, but the number of people who came to the store to see cars decreased significantly, but even so, there was a deal on the first day of returning to work. For the epidemic situation, the store has also adjusted its operating hours. Most employees work from home as much as possible, while the front-line sales staff go to work at the wrong peak, while the after-sales department has no influence, which can ensure the normal maintenance and car demand of users. On the basis of off-peak and working from home, the sales staff of McLaren Exhibition Hall in Jinbao Street focused on obtaining customer resources on platforms similar to those in Tik Tok and Weibo, and strengthened the goal of online communication and online sales conversion.

# Rolls-Royce showroom in Sanlitun, Beijing:

One of the salespeople in the Rolls-Royce showroom accepted our interview. He said that there was no order during the epidemic, only a deposit with an earlier intention was received, and the number of people actually watching the car was greatly reduced. In order to cope with the epidemic situation, at present, the exhibition hall adopts 1 to 2 salespeople to the store for standby every day to cope with the reduced flow of people. In terms of inventory, because it is order production, there is no existing car inventory, and all the cars are made according to the deposit. However, although there are few people watching the car, the previous orders are still tightly completed, and Cullinan, who was scheduled earlier, will come to the store to pick up the car next week. Regarding future sales, the salesperson is still quite confident.

Summary:

Although this epidemic has obvious impact on ultra-luxury brand dealers, the specific impact is only superficial, and there is no further impact on sales. As long as the epidemic does not last too long, it will not cause too much anxiety in the minds of consumers of such models or redistribute assets, then it will not affect the domestic sales of these brands too much.

# The epidemic has dealt a huge blow to dealers:

Several families are happy and worried. The epidemic has dealt a huge blow to car dealers, not only the sales commission has become unknown, but also some capital chains may become problems under the huge pressure of store rent and inventory, and living has become the only goal of these dealers at present. For ordinary consumers, at present, more people choose to reserve funds to tide over the difficulties and reduce all kinds of unnecessary demand, which has become a key factor to resist the "cold winter". In other words, in this special period, it is the time when ordinary people like us fight for their money. No one will allocate more than 51% of family assets to buy real estate such as real estate or cars on this day.

# The dawn is ahead, and you can only see it if you are alive

Before writing this article, I also specially looked at the economic changes of various industries after the SARS epidemic in 2113. At that time, catering and tourism were the hardest hit, but after the epidemic in June, these industries ushered in a wave of surge, and the retaliatory consumption psychology was displayed, and there were also different degrees of driving growth in other industries, which quickly pulled the economic growth rate back to the normal level. At that time, some enterprises gained experience from the epidemic, including enterprises such as Taobao and JD.COM, which determined the development direction.

On the other hand, as long as the epidemic situation in COVID-19 is properly controlled and can be ended in a short time, a wave of consumption climax will be ushered in for enterprises seriously affected at this stage, including automobiles, so it is not difficult to see how important "resistance" is for these automobile dealers. After all, the dawn is ahead, and it can only be seen if you are alive.

This article comes from the author of Chejia, car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.