There are many criticisms on the monopolization in Chinese auto repair industry. Here comes the good news. It might have been improved by the time when the long awaited Guidance on Accelerating Transformation and Upgrading in AutomotiveRepair and Maintenance ServicesIndustry and Service Quality Improvement comes into official enforcement on January first of 2016, according to the current plan.
The Guidance is expected to be released in September, taking effect at the beginning of next year, according to Meng Qiu, a director in Chinese Ministry of Transport. This amounts to announcing probable improvement in the situation that maintenance technology is monopolized by 4S dealerships authorized by automakers thus keeping the service price rather high in China.
In September last year, public opinions were sought for the Guidance draft by the Ministry of Transport and National Development and Reform Commission of the country, some of which were added into the draft in February this year. The final draft states that automakers should make vehicle maintenance and technical information publicized equally to all the maintenance operators as well as consumers without prejudice or delay. It will accelerate the widening of circulation channels in vehicle maintenance and spare parts. Original accessories manufactures will be encouraged to offer original accessories and other after-sales accessories of independent brands to automotive after-sales market. It will allow spare parts distributors and maintenance and repair enterprises, authorized by automakers, to resale original accessories to those unauthorized maintenance operators and consumers.
By then, authorized 4S dealers will have been acutely affected in status decrease as other maintenance enterprises have equal access to high-quality spare parts. Additionally, consumers will gain more initiative in choosing maintenance service as well as enjoying lower expense.
