After a year of running-in, the various stakeholders on the automobile industry chain reached a consensus on the openness of vehicle maintenance technical information. On September 29, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and other eight ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Administrative Measures for the Disclosure of Automobile Maintenance Technology Information" (referred to as the "Measures").
"We have already convened many companies on the industrial chain to conduct many rounds of discussions and listened to many opinions. The officially released version of the day has been fully discussed and some adjustments have been made." October 10, China's auto repair industry Wang Kaiming, director of the Association of Experts Committee, told the 21st Century Business Herald.
The disclosure of automobile maintenance information, as an important part of automobile anti-monopoly, involves the reconstruction of the interests of various parts such as parts factory, main engine factory, 4S shop, and independent maintenance factory. The entire process of formulating the "Measures" is actually a process of confrontation between the parties.
The automobile enterprise is in an absolutely strong position in the whole chain. In the process of formulating the "Measures", two core viewpoints were proposed: first, to what extent the vehicle maintenance technical information is disclosed, how to protect trade secrets; second, the information disclosure and spare parts market. Let go, the wide-scale entry of independent repair shops will lead to a decline in the quality of maintenance in the aftermarket.
“Automobiles can understand their own demands from their own perspectives. But they should not only consider their own profits, but also consider the health of the entire market.†The principle of the policy-making department is that it does not favor the interests of any party, the purpose of the policy. It is to maintain market order and fair competition. The ultimate goal is to protect the rights and interests of consumers, so that owners can no longer be forced to enter 4S shop maintenance.
There is no need for car companies to worry about leaking secrets. In September last year, the ten ministries and commissions issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Transformation and Upgrading of the Automobile Maintenance Industry and Improving the Quality of Service" (referred to as "Guiding Opinions"), which mentioned the disclosure of automobile maintenance technology information and opened the policy. Reconstruction of the post-market order of the car.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Transport issued the "Administrative Measures for the Implementation of the Disclosure of Vehicle Maintenance Technology Information" (draft for comments) to listen to the sounds from the main engine factory and maintenance companies.
Car companies are the biggest drivers of interest, and the voices of interest claims are also the biggest. The car companies believe that the formulation of the "Measures" should fully consider which should be made public and which should not be made public. The rules should be specific and should not be too broad.
“The car companies think so, but also want to know what can and can't be done. But in fact, the information involved in the car is very wide, it is impossible to write all the words. If you can do it without writing, then the policy is very Difficult to achieve the desired results, the regulations can only be moderately broad," said an expert involved in the drafting of the "Measures."
Another question for car companies is that car maintenance information disclosure may involve disclosure of trade secrets such as core technologies and how to protect intellectual property rights. "Which belongs to the intellectual property rights of the whole vehicle or parts factory, this should also be clear, that is, it is necessary to protect the intellectual property rights of others and prevent him from abusing intellectual property rights," said the insider of the car company.
The concern of car companies about the disclosure of intellectual property rights and trade secrets is actually to know what information can be made public. There are four aspects of information in the "Measures" that can be undisclosed, including anti-theft system programming, powertrain design, etc. The most important one is related to trade secrets and protection of intellectual property rights, and may not be disclosed.
The question is how to define "involving trade secrets." "The "Measures" require disclosure, it will not be the bottom of the matter, does not involve technical principles, but some parameters and operation manuals." Qu Hua, vice president of the Automobile Aftermarket Association, said. In other words, information on technical principles, design, etc. is a trade secret.
For example, all car brands currently give maintenance manuals for this model to 4S stores. Many of the information required to be disclosed comes from the maintenance manual. “The maintenance manual is not a trade secret. The information required to be disclosed only relates to after-sales and does not involve pre-sales,†said Wang Kaiming.
In fact, auto maintenance technical information has been published in Europe and the United States for more than a decade, and the policy is very mature. "This is analogy, and then based on technical characteristics to do a specific analysis. The principle of intellectual property protection is very clear, and then the analysis of specific cases is not a problem." Qu Hua said.
According to the "Measures", automobile manufacturers should disclose the technical information of maintenance mainly including 9 categories, namely: the coding principle of vehicle identification code; vehicle maintenance manual, including circuit wiring diagram, electronic control system fault representative code, emission control system Information, body size map, standard range of wheel positioning parameters and adjustment methods; parts catalogue, including original parts name, trademark and serial number provided by the automobile manufacturer for after-sales service, parts change, upgrade, replacement information Etc.; software and hardware version identification number for the specific vehicle electronic control system; information that needs to be reprogrammed for the vehicle electronic control system; special diagnostic, inspection, maintenance tools and equipment and related software information; vehicle certification information; technical service notice; Car recall information and defect elimination measures.
"It is okay to explore the boundary of the problems that arise in the future, but the implementation of the "Measures" itself cannot be hindered." Qu Hua said.
Independent maintenance workshops will compete on an equal footing. Relevant national authorities require that vehicle maintenance technical information be disclosed. The original intention is actually to consider the social effects, that is, to control vehicle exhaust emissions. This is also the original intention of promoting the disclosure of automobile maintenance technology information in Europe and America.
"The car maintenance technology is backward, resulting in the problem of excessive emissions in the car engine, gearbox, etc.. The repair shop maintenance technology is backward, has not been able to do it, the reason behind this is the car company's monopoly on the after-sales chain." Qu Hua said .
In the aftermarket, car companies have monopolized two aspects: one is the original factory parts; the other is the vehicle maintenance technical information. At present, there are about 20,000 domestic 4S stores, and the maintenance resources of the corresponding automobile brands can be obtained. There are about 380,000 independent maintenance factories, so there is no corresponding resources.
After the correct name of the homogenizer and the technical information of the vehicle maintenance are disclosed, the independent repair shop will obtain the same resources from the authorized store, and the market will pull the competition to the same starting line. However, the automakers have thrown a point: independent repair shops are inferior to 4S shops in terms of maintenance technology and talents, and have not been certified by car companies. Once released, the overall quality of maintenance may decline, and consumers are at a loss.
However, people in the maintenance industry believe that the existing monopoly is the main culprit in the prevalence of counterfeit and inferior and independent maintenance shops. "Without these resources, these repair shops can only obtain maintenance materials from other sources, or use counterfeit and shoddy accessories." Qu Hua said.
Qu Hua believes that in an equal competition market, the market will spontaneously eliminate the repair shops with poor technology and services, while another part of the more powerful repair plants will be bigger. The market itself will be purified through full competition.
In order to regulate the operation of an independent repair shop, the relevant supporting policies establish who can repair and who is responsible for the traceability system. This system will prompt the repair shop to comprehensively upgrade its technology and service level.
At present, consumers are ambivalent about 4S stores. It is not only trusted by the identity of its car companies, but also disappointed by its opacity such as excessive maintenance. Last year, the overall customer turnover of 4S stores nationwide reached 41%. "Even if the order is not reconstructed, the 4S shop model is difficult to maintain." Wang Kaiming said.
Selling cars that don't make money and relying on profitable 4S stores will dramatically change their development model in the future. After the automobile maintenance technical information is released, a brand's 4S shop can also be used as a brand-name model in the after-sales service. The 4S shop may be a comprehensive maintenance service factory. At present, some dealers have begun to open chain repair shops, sinking services.
Car companies may still be the most important part of the chain, but their control of the chain will be greatly weakened. “In the long run, because many core components come from spare parts companies, OEMs may become more and more inclined to an assembly plant.†Wang Kaiming said.
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