[Abstract] The dispute over whether to “block” is not clear. One conclusion that is not difficult to come to is that dealers are explicitly and secretly launching a vote of no confidence in Auto Home, and the trend of “fleeing” Auto Home is becoming clear.

Zijinshanfu, special author of Tencent Finance's “Insights” (senior auto media personality)

The stock price is as thin as a cicada, and no one can afford to break it.

On January 14, after the market, Auto Home's stock price plummeted 13.82%, and its market value fell below 8 billion US dollars. The direct trigger for this “escape movement” in the secondary market is undoubtedly the media's revelation that Auto Home has been “blocked” by several major dealer groups.

Why “block” it? According to reports, Auto Home's intention to increase the annual cooperation fees for members was boycotted by many partner dealers. Following the promotion and delivery, Pang Da and Yongda also joined the “suspension of cooperation with Auto Home” camp.

In an interview with the media, Auto Home denied the “blocking” claims spread on the Internet. Wu Tao, vice president of the company, said that the contract renewal cooperation between Auto Home and dealers is stable. Currently, it has signed new cooperation agreements with more than 23,000 dealers across the country, and there is no blocking problem spread online.

In fact, leaving aside public opinion and self-defense, the dispute over whether to “block” is not expressed, one conclusion that is not difficult to come to is that dealers are openly and secretly launching a vote of no confidence in Auto Home, and the trend of “fleeing” the Auto Home is becoming clear.

Price increases are the trigger

Objectively speaking, the current influence of Auto Home is still greater than that of other vertical car websites. In particular, its various forums still have a relatively high level of activity. This makes car companies that focus on brand building not fail to pay attention to it.

Based on this, the previous subsidy method given to dealers by car companies was a bundled advertisement placement subsidy. Furthermore, a communication meeting held by the Automobile Dealers Chamber of Commerce of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce also revealed the business logic of the Auto Home — to a large extent, it still has strong traces of TOB, which confirms that the Auto Home has at least shown signs that dealers are trying to “flee.”

In fact, this is no longer in line with the market's new rules of the game. People familiar with Auto Home know that it is essentially a medium, but now there are many channels for consumers to learn about cars, vertical automotive apps, and aggregation information platforms. In fact, any vertical website has become an option for dealers rather than a required option.

Prior to that, there were also unpleasant incidents between dealers and Auto Home. The reason is that Auto Home tried to “intervene in transactions” to activate incremental value. However, due to traffic monetization to no avail, the business model of “media advertising service+promotion service (sales leads) +self-operated business” suddenly returned to the essence of media attributes — this period of trial and error did not prevent dealers from becoming disgusted with car homes.

Influenced by the macroeconomy, in the context of the downturn in the car market, dealers considering real pressure are of course unable to be as “farsighted” as car companies. Price increases have become a trigger for dealers to “flee” the automobile home.

The clue is by no means a moat

According to media reports, in 2018, the number of leads provided by Auto Home reached 110 million, and the average number of leads obtained by stores increased by 11%, helping dealers sell more than 6 million vehicles.

This means that the sales volume of 28.08 million vehicles in the Chinese auto market in 2018 reached about 22% of the sales volume directly or indirectly contributed by Auto Home. On average, in other words, a 4S store that sells 1,000 units a year, about 220 cars benefited from Auto Home.

Afterwards, the relevant personnel of Auto Home also settled an account for the dealer, believing that the increase in cooperation fees was reasonable.

In terms of public opinion, an affirmative logic has also emerged, “Why was Auto House blocked instead of iCard, Pacific, or Easy Car? Because what everyone is most inseparable from is a car house.”

Frankly speaking, if it is true that there are effects described, dealers who are currently in a state of hardship will most likely not choose to “break their own arms.”

The reason for this is none other than people's lack of confidence. Some dealers from different regions reported that in the past two years, leads from vertical websites have been drastically reduced, effectiveness has also been reduced to varying degrees, and data sharing and falsification have occurred from time to time. Some sales calls have even reached 4S store staff.

At this point, the “blockade” of Auto Home spread on the Internet has naturally evolved into a big discussion on the question of “whether the clue is real or not, and what are the effects.”

For car owners, is the clue still your moat?

At least judging from the phenomenon of dealers trying to “escape” from car homes, vertical car websites, including Auto Home, are facing a tough battle to be fought, and there are still many tough battles to be fought in the future.