According to data released by the China Automobile Dealers Association on September 9, from the market performance in the previous two weeks, it is expected that the second-hand car trading volume in September will be about 21.9 million units, an increase of 160.2% month-on-month and a month-on-month increase of 5.7% year-on-year.

The recovery and development of the second-hand car industry is related to the successive introduction of a series of policies for the large-scale circulation of second-hand cars. In July this year, the Notice of the General Office of the State Council Transmitting the National Development and Reform Commission on Measures to Restore and Expand Consumption made it clear that efforts should be made to promote the comprehensive cancellation of second-hand car relocation restrictions, facilitate second-hand car transaction registration and other policies that have been introduced to achieve results, promote automobile renewal consumption, and encourage trade-in.

In August this year, Xiao Zhengsan, vice president and secretary general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said at the 8 China Second-hand Car Conference that from value-added tax reduction to lifting restrictions to establishing the attributes of second-hand car goods, a series of new policies for second-hand cars in recent years have promoted the industry to enter a stage of high-quality development.

Although the used car market has great potential, some consumer pain points are still there. According to the latest data released by the Market and Media Research Center of Peking University, consumers are most concerned about the condition of the car (accounting for 77.3%), followed by after-sales guarantee (accounting for 64.2%) and price transparency (accounting for 42.1%). This shows that price is no longer the biggest pain point for consumers, and the "water depth" and "many routines" in terms of car conditions are.

This is because for a long time, the transparency of second-hand car market transactions has been low, such as some car dealers deliberately concealing the true mileage, maintenance records, accident records and other information of the vehicle or failing to fulfill the verification obligation, so that consumer rights and interests have been repeatedly damaged. These problems affect the consumer confidence of second-hand car consumers and adversely affect the development of the second-hand car industry.

In this regard, the industry is also exploring how to make used car transactions more transparent. Recently, Guazi Second-hand Car launched the "try 7 days before buying a car" service, that is, to provide a test drive experience of up to 7 kilometers in 450 days, during the test drive, the platform intermediates the car model, and then calls the car to the merchant and handles the transfer after the test drive is satisfied.

In the eyes of industry insiders, "try 7 days before buying a car" helps solve the pain points of the second-hand car industry. On the one hand, offline test drive for 7 days, consumers can fully grasp the condition of the car before deciding whether to buy, avoiding the situation of finding out that there is something wrong with the vehicle after buying the car.

On the other hand, the implementation of "try for 7 days before buying a car" also tests the quality control ability of the platform. Only by strict testing, careful investigation of potential hidden dangers, and ensuring that the condition of the car is good enough can the occurrence of large-scale car returns be avoided. "Try 7 days before buying a car" also requires the platform to have sufficient scale to support the operation of the logistics system, only if the logistics system is efficient enough, can we further promote the cost of "7-day test" and let this service model operate.

For car dealers, instead of letting the car be parked in the store for 7 days and not selling, it is better to provide consumers with a 7-day test drive. Even if individual cars are returned, the cost is acceptable. Because most vehicles can be sold, the overall turnover efficiency will increase, thus entering a virtuous circle.

Used cars are an important part of the whole life cycle of a car. The smooth circulation of the second-hand car market can accelerate the replacement of fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles, and can also drive the continuous growth of new car consumption, which plays an important role in promoting automobile consumption. People expect more platforms and car dealers in the second-hand car industry to adopt the "try 7 days before buying a car" model, so that consumers dare to buy second-hand cars and are willing to buy second-hand cars, thereby promoting the healthy development of the industry.

Yang Zhaokui (Source: Workers' Daily)

Yang Zhaokui