Consumers Benefit Few from Decreased Prices of Auto Parts
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Since the anti-monopoly investigation on automobile industry, several enterprises have announced to decrease the price of new cars and their accessories. These companies include Chrysler, Jaguar Land Rover, Audi, Benz, BMW, GAC-Toyota, GAC-Honda, etc. Most of them have adjusted the price of accessories for nearly one month. How they have affected the consumers and dealers?
First. For the consumers, it is cheaper to get cars repaired, but the change is little.
One staff from the 4S store of a big joint venture company said that, it cost less than 1400 RMB now for replacing a bumper. The price is actually decreased compared with about 1600-1700 RMB last month.
The after sales personnel of BMW, Audi and other brands also stated that the price of automobile accessories have been adjusted. However, according to the disclosed price lists of several brands, the most commonly used maintenance spare parts were not listed in.
A staff explained that the accessories that have adjusted prices are all big parts. Nevertheless, it is not often for consumers to change big parts like engines and transmissions of their cars in daily maintenance. Wearing parts like air filter, oil, spark plug, oil filter, brake pads and others are the accessories that need to be changed often.
Su Hui, the vice president of CADA (Short for China Automobile Dealers Association) Tangible Market Branch said that, as automobile suppliers, the auto companies remain to be peremptory to the dealers and consumers. At present, it is forbidden for the individual third parties to sell auto accessories in China. Thus, the consumers have to burden heavy cost for repairing and the declining ranges of accessory prices are limited.
Second. For the dealers, the profits are greatly influenced in spite of slightly increasing customers.
After the anti-monopoly storm, automobile after-sales have been affected in varying degrees. Brands that have proclaimed the declining prices have slightly increasing consumers that require after-sale services.
The changes attracted some of the customers that repairing cars at individual stores before. After all, the accessories provided by 4S stores are qualified. However, automobiles that need to be repaired are not so much. This makes the increasing unapparent.
Managers of after-sales from several 4S stores exposed that the after-sale department have increasing pressures because of the adjustment prices. An anonymous manager said that, the output value has decreased at leased 10%. “The profits of 4S stores mainly come from after-sale service. The changes of accessory prices greatly influence our profits.”
An insider man of a brand revealed that the declining price this time make most of 4S stores suffer from great losses. The wholesale prices are declined less than the published declining price. The profits of factories do not change great while the dealers stuck in plight.
