The butterfly effect in the auto market driven by new energy is entering the depths. According to data from the Ministry of Public Security and the Passenger Passenger Association, in the first half of 2023, new registrations of new energy vehicles have accounted for 26.6% of the total new registrations of vehicles, and the penetration rate has reached 32.4%.
The reason why it is called a butterfly effect is because with the major changes in the structure of the automobile market, upstream and downstream OEMs, dealers, automobile platforms, etc. are all facing the challenge of self-reform. Full-link digitalization once became the key to breaking the situation, but the complexity of digital tools and rapid technological progress have brought resistance to industry transformation.
The Internet platform has always been an important driving force for the digitization of the large industries to which it belongs. On July 12, high-level executives held a symposium on platform companies, and specifically pointed out the engine and supporting role of platform companies in promoting development. In the automotive ecological chain, the automotive platform is becoming the main force to take on this important task.
On July 27, Autohome, the industry's core platform, released its results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023. In this financial report, Autohome’s revenue increased by 5.8% year-on-year to 1.83 billion yuan, behind the active auto ecosystem: highly sticky users, data products that improve dealers’ operating results, and Autohome’s efforts to improve the quality of development A series of strategic measures.
This is not only a semi-annual report of an automotive platform, but also a nodal summary of changes in the automotive industry. Starting from solving problems for dealers, what role can the platform play in improving the growth environment of the industry? How to maintain the balance of self-development? We dismantled a contingency "outline" from the report card of Autohome.
1. Distributors have prominent pain points in digitalization, and generative AI broadens the thinking of breaking the game
In the financial report, among the three major revenue sources of Autohome, in addition to media services and lead services, the online market and other revenues have achieved a year-on-year impressive growth of nearly 100 million yuan, and one of the reasons for the growth in the official summary is data product.
Reflected in more data, in the second quarter, the number of customers of Autohome dealer data products exceeded 21,000. In the first half of the year, core indicators such as the number of cooperative products per store and per store revenue continued to maintain double-digit year-on-year growth.
These products have become the "just needs" for dealers to seek innovation and change. In general, the market is forcing the reform of the traditional distribution model and the implementation of digital thinking.
First, it is a human-driven business model. Manpower is exhausted to deal with repetitive operations such as telemarketing, and the return on input and output is not good, resulting in a waste of business opportunities. But from the perspective of digitalization, the problem-solving method actually refers to manual replacement, that is, to hand over repetitive links and elements to machines for processing.
In this regard, Autohome's thinking is very precise - cooperate with technical products and solutions, save repetitive resources to reduce costs, and improve human access capabilities to increase efficiency.
For example, in order to obtain intended users, it is extremely inefficient to rely on manpower to reach them one by one. Autohome’s clue management products such as "Smart Outcall" and "Qixintong" not only expand the use The scope of clues is still based on the integration of IM channels, relying on AI components to gain insights into user needs, improve the depth of conversations, and increase customers' intentions to enter the store and retain funds. Improve the efficiency of employees to reach potential customers through multiple channels.
On the other hand, another major problem that dealers generally worry about is that they are difficult to use data, and rely more on market intuition and life experience to guide decision-making.
In this regard, Autohome is helping dealers accumulate and disassemble business data, improve customer portraits, and deduce decision-making directions. Taking Autohome's "Cloud Smart Selection" product as an example, relying on user insight to carry out layered and long-term operations, and implementing policies based on people, it has greatly improved the performance of tapping customer value, and achieved a reduction in store-to-store costs in terms of operating results42 %, and the store arrival rate increased by 1.6 times.
Furthermore, Autohome has brought into full play the potential of generative AI, creatively introducing it into store management based on the GPT model. The "Business Manager" product developed by Autohome, as a digital employee of a business manager, can automatically integrate the above-mentioned series of store-side business data according to instructions, quickly generate comprehensive analysis and suggestions, and make data analysis and use more convenient.
AI products fit perfectly with the original smart product matrix, making full-link digitalization start from the market, finally manage, and feed back the business, forming a complete cycle.
Long Quan, chairman and CEO of Autohome, mentioned in the earnings conference call that Autohome has provided more than a dozen dealer products to help them develop their core competitiveness in many ways. In the second quarter, Autohome invested 313 million yuan in research and development and other related expenses for product development.
The change is still going on, and businesses must always face new propositions constantly raised by the market, and new capabilities must be continuously injected. Starting from data and technology, Autohome is still thinking about which applications can specifically improve the efficiency of customer acquisition, follow-up, after-sales and other links from the perspective of merchants, or stimulate users' willingness to consume. The growth achieved by Autohome shows that merchants have also recognized the value and method of Autohome in providing digital capabilities.
2. Looking back at the omni-channel from the B side, the car ecology has comprehensively changed and tortured the platform capabilities
Looking back at the process from generation to solution of dealers' problems, Autohome's product creation and capacity building are essentially based on changes in the actual operating conditions of dealers. Therefore, the core that really moves the market obviously lies in the change of the core factor of "car" behind it. The evolution of the car ecology means that changes in car products have driven a series of changes in consumer awareness, OEM production models, dealer business models, and platform business strategies.
Financial report data show that in the second quarter, Autohome achieved media service revenue of 532.0 million yuan and clue service revenue of 759.6 million yuan, and the revenue of Tiantian Paiche is also growing. At the same time, these growths correspond to the proactive strategies adopted by Autohome to develop new products and launch new operations.
Obviously, Autohome's enhancement of dealership capabilities is only part of the evolution of the industry, and the platform itself is also "evolving" with the industry.
From the perspective of enabling objects, Autohome is responding to the needs of niche roles such as OEMs. For example, in the first quarter of this year, in order to meet the needs of OEMs for new energy, Autohome launched the digital product "EV Smart Cloud" for OEMs, providing manufacturers with integrated data solutions for new energy vehicles, and solving the problem of high initial investment and limited investment. produce contradictions. In addition, Autohome also opened its first store in the energy space station in the second quarter, further helping new energy brands expand their exposure.
According to the financial report data, the 3D holographic modeling of the energy space station has covered more than 40 mainstream models. In the second quarter, Autohome's revenue from new energy brands also increased simultaneously, with a year-on-year increase of 60%.
From the perspective of platform attributes, Autohome has a large number of core users in the industry, and the platform can extract user needs from user insights and use this as a basis to empower dealers. According to data from QuestMobile, the average daily mobile users of Autohome in June increased by 31.7% year-on-year to 62.71 million. Behind this is a series of explorations to expand the value of the platform by Autohome.
Based on the GPT model, Autohome has developed the "Car Selection Assistant", which aggregates and quickly refines platform content, compares models and recommends cars according to user preferences, needs and budgets, and helps users improve decision-making efficiency and decision-making level.
In response to the needs of users for second-hand car transactions, Autohome has also moved the second-hand car sales, replacement and testing business into the offline stores of Energy Space Station, opening up the closed loop of online and offline second-hand cars. In the second quarter, it affected about 24.7% of the country's Used passenger car transaction volume.
In June this year, Autohome also innovated and created the blockbuster IP "Future City New Energy Technology Festival", trying to form new breakthroughs at the level of new energy car owners. The achievement of 100 million also played a warm-up role for the upcoming 818 Auto Festival.
An overview of Autohome’s approach to market changes, including making festivals, creating content, improving transaction experience, and reducing costs and increasing efficiency for the industry. Its proactive approach truly combines software ecology with platform services and industry capabilities to build a B-end Both the mobile phone and the C-end have strong perceived car ecological advantages.
What is more noteworthy is that as of the release of the financial report, Autohome has cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of 23.34 billion yuan, and the net cash inflow from operating activities in the second quarter was 522.0 million yuan. That is to say, Autohome has maintained the healthy development of the platform while actively exploring the path of industry upgrading, and has the ability to be a good connector and breaker for a long time.
In the final analysis, the market changes caused by new energy are far-reaching, and whether they can continue to grasp and follow up the main line of car ecological transformation has become an important criterion for judging the long-term value of the platform. This requires the platform to have both strategic awareness and a benign business model.
3. Conclusion
At this special moment, the rise of new energy is still causing the industry order and player mentality to undergo a process of breaking and reorganizing.
At the "2023 China Auto Dealer Conference" in May this year, Autohome shared, "The user experience of new power brands in pre-sales, especially the energy efficiency of brand cues, including retention rate, store arrival rate, The test drive rate is slightly better than that of traditional 4S stores.” This undoubtedly puts pressure on traditional players, but it also accelerates their pace of embracing full-link digitalization and completing iterative upgrades of business models as soon as possible.
The more new kinetic energy is needed to shift gears in the auto industry, the more important the support capabilities provided by platforms such as Autohome. On the road of industrial upgrading, a solid foundation of capabilities and solid partnerships will push the platform to stand out from the market after another test.
Source: US Stock Research Institute