Photo/Han Yang (NBD)

JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce retailer, is making a big push into the automotive market.

On February 1st, JD.com announced that it will be giving away 100 cars during this year's Spring Festival Gala, following the news that it will be returning to the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

Not long ago, JD.com gave away a Tesla at the Hunan Satellite TV New Year's Eve Gala. At that time, JD.com found Richard Liu also added his own car, a Dongfeng Mengshi M50 off-road vehicle, as a gift. Dongfeng Motor also announced that it will provide 6 Mengshi 917s as New Year's Eve gifts.

That night, Hunan Satellite TV won the "first place among satellite TV" with a rating of 2.17%. The upcoming Spring Festival Gala of CCTV will be even more popular.

JD.com has been giving away cars at the New Year's Eve Gala and the Spring Festival Gala. What kind of game is JD.com playing?

On February 1st, an insider from JD.com exclusively responded to NBD: "In 2024, JD.com will accelerate its layout in the automotive market."

The so-called layout of the automotive market mainly matches the upgrade of JD.com's three major automotive business segments.

First, it will increase its layout in the whole vehicle selection business, including online and offline car sales.

According to JD.com, JD.com's whole vehicle business started in 2018. During the 2023 Double 11 period, it sold nearly 30 Dongfeng New Energy vehicles online in one day. In 2024, it will focus on expanding the scale of its business and further increasing the number of cooperative car companies and manufacturers.

On January 29th, JD.com Automobile and Voyah Automobile officially announced that they have reached a strategic cooperation, under which they will build a full-online user experience sales platform. In addition, JD.com Automobile New Energy Experience Center has opened 5 stores in Shenyang, Shijiazhuang, Dongguan, Wuhan and Ningbo, integrating car display, test drive, service and retail into a full-scene service.

Second, it will increase the sales of auto parts and other car products. Whole vehicle sales and car product sales complement each other. During the New Year's Eve period, the overall transaction volume of JD.com's automobile business increased by more than three times year-on-year. In particular, the transaction volume of Tesla stores increased by 340% month-on-month, which also increased Tesla's order clues and test drive orders.

Third, it will increase the maintenance of automobiles, namely the after-sales market of automobiles. This layout is very mature in JD.com's automobile business line. According to the data, JD.com Automobile has now opened more than 1,500 JD.com Auto Service stores in more than 160 cities across the country, and has cooperated with more than 40,000 stores.

In the future, JD.com Automobile will focus on the after-sales market of new energy vehicles, including maintenance, washing and beauty, and add battery-related maintenance and repair services.

In September last year, Tuhu Car Service landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. JD.com Car Service announced that the "Zhenhu Price" will be upgraded again, and all "Zhenhu Price" products will be 5% lower than those of competitors.

The automotive aftermarket has a huge space. According to a report by China Insights Consultancy, in 2022, the size of China's automotive service market will be 1.24 trillion yuan. It is estimated that by 2027, the market size will reach 1.93 trillion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.3%.