Produced by | Bullet Finance

Designed by | Qianqian

Reviewed by | Songwen

Recently, Tmall Auto Maintenance and SAIC Volkswagen have deepened their cooperation through the "authorized after-sales quick repair and maintenance + accessory product supply cooperation" model. Officially authorized Tmall Auto Maintenance stores are not only able to undertake SAIC Volkswagen's after-sales quick repair and maintenance services, but also enjoy exclusive benefits such as direct supply of original accessories and original maintenance.

So far, SAIC Volkswagen has authorized 14 Tmall Auto Maintenance stores in provinces such as Hebei, Henan, Anhui, Yunnan, and Guizhou to become after-sales maintenance service partners. According to the planning target, the two parties will establish 100 stores nationwide within the year, fully building a nationwide store network system.

(Photo / Authorized stores have been established)

To ensure the professionalism and standardization of after-sales maintenance, many core OEMs basically do not authorize third parties. The main reason is that they fear that third-party channels will damage their brand and affect brand reputation.

So, why is SAIC Volkswagen so confident in entrusting its rear support to an internet auto maintenance chain brand, Tmall Auto Maintenance, which has only been established for 5 years?

1. High-end positioning, brand fit

After decades of野蛮发展 and chaos, China's automotive aftermarket has seen both independent auto repair shops and auto repair chain brands neglecting brand building and reputation maintenance under the drive of profit, leading to consumers' lack of confidence in the entire industry. Therefore, it has been difficult for the industry to gain recognition from core OEMs that emphasize brand, quality, and value.

"If we can make car owners save more money, time, and effort, our business will be valuable to society." Li Yi, General Manager of Tmall Auto Maintenance, once gave a very plain elaboration on the original intention and core philosophy of Tmall Auto Maintenance.

In the automotive aftermarket where everyone is money-driven, Tmall Auto Maintenance's values fully reflect its in-depth thinking about the business, ultimately determining its mid-to-high-end brand positioning.

Most of the car models serviced by Tmall Auto Maintenance are mid-to-high-end models worth more than 200,000 yuan. These car owners have relatively high demands on product quality assurance, service experience, and spatial experience.

Therefore, the average number of workstations in Tmall Auto Maintenance stores is more than 50% higher than that of peer competitors, with an average store area of nearly 500 square meters. The overall decoration quality of the stores is much higher than that of peers, and the customer rest area is even designed and decorated to the standards of four-star or even five-star hotels. The natural genes have also brought inherent advantages to Tmall Auto Maintenance's supply chain, not only fully ensuring the authenticity of parts but also ensuring the timeliness of service.

Tmall Auto Maintenance has rapidly grown and become an industry benchmark in the competitive automotive aftermarket. Countless competitors have imitated not only the store decoration but also the business model.

The emergence of Tmall Auto Maintenance has not only restored consumers' confidence in the auto repair industry but also corrected the backward image of traditional auto aftermarket service providers, elevating the entire industry to a new level and giving traditional core OEMs a new understanding of third-party auto aftermarket service providers.

As a traditional core OEM, SAIC Volkswagen has always been an industry benchmark, positioning itself in the mid-to-high-end segment and adhering to the "value" concept. This perfectly aligns with Tmall Auto Maintenance's brand positioning and core philosophy, leading to a quick agreement on cooperation.

2. High-quality service, no worries

As everyone knows, core OEMs have always had stringent requirements for after-sales maintenance. Technicians must undergo systematic and comprehensive training from the brand, not only requiring them to master professional skills but also to provide personalized maintenance recommendations tailored to the actual needs of different car models. At the same time, there is a standardized operating procedure for every link in the service, from reception, repair, to vehicle delivery.

At the end of 2021, Tmall Auto Maintenance launched Smart Auto Maintenance, completely bidding farewell to traditional auto maintenance and setting standards that are even higher than OEMs' maintenance standards.

Based on years of accumulated practical experience in "smart stores," Tmall Auto Maintenance has formed a complete set of Smart Auto Maintenance operation plans.

With Tmall Auto Maintenance's large database covering accurate maintenance data for 99% of mainstream car models on the market, once a vehicle enters a Tmall Auto Maintenance smart store, the system can automatically match an accurate vehicle maintenance plan for the owner by entering information, achieving "full transparency of vehicle condition." After vehicle inspection, the system will automatically match corresponding service items and prices for consumers, achieving "full transparency of prices."

Tmall Auto Maintenance stores have equipped each workstation with smart cameras. Once a vehicle enters the store, the smart camera can automatically recognize and track it to the construction workstation. The entire maintenance process can be live-streamed to users through the Tmall Auto Maintenance APP, achieving "full transparency of service." All construction videos can be retained online for 30 days, supporting owners to review and trace the source, ensuring "guaranteed after-sales service."

(Photo / Authorized stores have special identification on the Tmall Auto Maintenance APP)

At the 2024 Tmall Auto Maintenance franchisee conference, Li Yi, General Manager of Tmall Auto Maintenance, said that Tmall Auto Maintenance's NPS index is 67%, the highest in the industry.

NPS stands for Net Promoter Score, an index that measures the likelihood of a customer recommending a company or service to others. It can intuitively show how a company performs in terms of user relations.

For comparison, Hema, which is highly praised for its shopping experience, has an NPS value between 63% and 65%. This clearly demonstrates the trust and support that Tmall Auto Maintenance has received.

For OEMs that attach great importance to brand reputation and service quality, cooperating with Tmall Auto Maintenance is completely worry-free. This is also one of the main reasons why SAIC Volkswagen dares to entrust its rear support to Tmall Auto Maintenance.

3. Profitable: Strong scale effect, new ideas for cost reduction and efficiency enhancement

Currently, the "price war" in the automotive market is intensifying, with leading automakers, new forces, joint ventures, and independent brands all announcing price reductions. It is inevitable that the price war will lead to a decline in automakers' profits, making cost reduction and efficiency enhancement essential for automakers to maintain competitiveness.

However, it is easier said than done to reduce costs and enhance efficiency.

With little room for improvement in supply chains, production processes, technology, and channels, it may be a good idea to switch thinking and explore new channels in the automotive aftermarket to gain more profit margins.

Currently, traditional 4S stores are struggling to operate. Although OEMs invest a lot of effort in traditional 4S store channels, the results are often less than satisfactory.

Known for its efficiency, Tmall Auto Maintenance has now established over 2,000 stores nationwide, boasting a strong scale effect. It can effectively supplement the maintenance services of traditional OEMs, reducing the cost of OEMs' own layout, while also providing broader sales channels for OEMs' genuine parts sales, thus bringing more profit margins to OEMs.

From the broader context of the entire automotive industry's transition to new energy, OEMs facing tremendous transformation pressure by partnering with Tmall Auto Maintenance also receive strong support in reducing transformation costs and achieving strategic transformation to new energy sooner.

4. Testing the waters with fuel vehicles, grand finale for new energy

Tmall Auto Maintenance, which has long been aware of the development trend of new energy vehicles, is the earliest chain brand in the industry to start layout in new energy vehicle after-sales maintenance.

Tmall Auto Maintenance started helping stores retrofit new energy workstations early on, providing technician certification training. More and more Tmall Auto Maintenance stores are capable of undertaking new energy maintenance services.

In 2024, Tmall Auto Maintenance began to more actively adjust its new energy business structure, accelerating layout in three areas: store models, talent certification systems, and OEM authorization. It plans to build 300 personalized networks within the year, aiming to become the "first stop for new energy."

(Photo / Tmall Auto Maintenance cooperates with TotalEnergies to assist stores in retrofitting new energy workstations)

This year, Tmall Auto Maintenance began exploring new energy vehicle urban maintenance centers and will conduct pilot projects in key cities, providing services such as new energy three-electricity, vehicle, and accident repair.

With its early layout in the new energy automotive aftermarket, Tmall Auto Maintenance has formed a very mature service system that can seamlessly undertake OEMs' new energy after-sales maintenance services. Currently, Tmall Auto Maintenance has established cooperation with many mainstream new energy OEMs and obtained local service authorization from automakers.

The development of new energy vehicles in China is an inevitable trend. In the face of transformation, traditional core OEMs, which have relied mainly on fuel vehicles in the past, face higher cost pressures during this process, which is one of the reasons why many traditional OEMs have been slow to transform. They need to focus on products and technology first and cannot allocate more resources and energy to after-sales maintenance services.

However, new energy vehicle after-sales maintenance services are gradually being rolled out, and the future automotive aftermarket will inevitably revolve around new energy vehicles. For traditional OEMs, traditional fuel vehicle maintenance services are already very mature and can be safely opened up to reliable third parties. At the same time, through testing the waters with fuel vehicles, they can ultimately achieve a grand finale for new energy.