Exploring New Blue Ocean: Second-hand Commercial Vehicles Enter the Fast Lane of Development

Used commercial vehicles are a very crucial link in the commercial vehicle industry chain. Due to the combined negative impacts of low freight rates and rising oil prices, the development of the commercial vehicle market has been hindered. The commercial vehicle market has fully transitioned to a mature market. Both vehicle manufacturers and dealers are vigorously promoting the business of used commercial vehicles.

In recent years, under the encouragement and guidance of national policies, China's used commercial vehicle industry has developed rapidly and its scale has continued to expand. Especially as the commercial vehicle market has shifted from incremental competition to a stage of stock competition, the used vehicle market has become a vast new blue ocean, and developing used vehicle business has become a new path for major manufacturers and dealers to break through and increase profits. "As an important part of the commercial vehicle industry chain, used commercial vehicles are one of the most promising businesses in the future of automotive finance, an important source of profit for whole vehicle dealers, and the most important channel for new car customers in the stock market," said Yang Yang, founder and CEO of Ant Auto, in an interview with China Automotive News.

In his view, under the current market conditions, for commercial vehicle enterprises and dealers, venturing into the used car business may no longer be a trend but a necessary choice.

With the continuous increase in the number of commercial vehicles in China, the domestic commercial vehicle market has gradually become a mature market, and the used car market has huge development potential. Especially in terms of exports, with the continuous introduction of guiding policies at the national level to reduce fees and taxes, break down circulation barriers, standardize the consumption environment, and support the export of used cars, the consumption potential of the used car market has been further released. Used commercial vehicles are attracting the world's attention in another way.

At present, our business covers over 90 countries and regions, with an annual sales volume of more than 2,000 vehicles. Among them, engineering vehicles, tractors and special-purpose vehicles are the main products.

The future development potential of second-hand commercial vehicles is huge.

However, due to the late start of the domestic used commercial vehicle market and the insufficient coordination, systematicness and scientificity of the system construction, there are a series of industry problems in the used commercial vehicle transactions, such as opaque vehicle information, lack of integrity, no guarantee for after-sales service, and the absence or non-standardization of assessment and certification standards. All these obstacles are stumbling blocks to the leapfrog development of the domestic used commercial vehicle industry.

Zhong Weiping, secretary-general of the Commercial Vehicle Professional Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, also said that compared with developed countries and some developing countries, the used commercial vehicle business in China is still in its infancy and has many problems. For instance, there are "high charges" and "low sales prices", weak comprehensive service capabilities, low retention value of used commercial vehicles, and serious information asymmetry between buyers and sellers.

Yang Yang told the reporter that to invigorate the circulation of second-hand commercial vehicles, the hurdle of credibility needs to be overcome. How to ensure the quality of second-hand trucks, who to turn to if there are any problems with the vehicles, and whether there is an extended warranty service are all practical concerns of users and have long been the crux hindering the development of the industry.

It is understood that China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has taken the lead in the industry by launching a used commercial vehicle manufacturer certification system. By integrating the full life cycle data of vehicles and establishing a rigorous and standardized vehicle inspection and certification process, it provides high-quality and efficient after-sales service guarantee plans specifically for used vehicles. This has completely solved the industry problems of opacity, poor credibility, and lack of guarantee in used vehicle transactions, creating a brand-certified used vehicle that truly allows users to "buy with confidence and use with peace of mind".

The current second-hand commercial vehicle market has witnessed a significant development opportunity, especially as the sales of new vehicles have declined, which has led to a considerable growth in the second-hand commercial vehicle market. Yang Yang stated that with the continuous improvement of the market environment and policy guidance and support, as well as the scientific certification made by market entities for the transparency of vehicle sources, all these have promoted the transparent and standardized development of the second-hand commercial vehicle market. The second-hand commercial vehicle market will enter a fast lane of development.