Suning Auto to open 20 car supermarkets in 2018
Shanghai (ZXZC)- On December 19, Zhang Jindong, president of Suning Commerce Group Co.,ltd (Suning Commerce) announced that the group plans to expand its physical stores to over 20 thousand in the following three years with more than 20 million square meters.
Sun Weiming, vice president of Suning Commerce, elucidates the next three years' development planning in some key businesses. Specifically, it will open 20 automobile supermarkets in 2018, 40 stores in 2019 and 2020 respectively. By the end of 2020, the total will reach 101.
At the opening ceremony of the first automobile supermarket, Liu Donghao, president of Suning.com Auto Company (Suning Auto), said, “This is just a beginning. Next, we will plan to open over 100 automobile supermarkets across the country.” Like he said, Suning Auto has put this plan on the agenda.
A source said that the second automobile supermarket will be opened before the Spring Festival of 2018 in Jinan. Besides, preparations in other cities, like Xi'an, Chongqing, Chengdu, Tianjin, are in full swing. As the operation of auto supermarkets becoming increasingly mature, the one-hundred-stores plan may be accomplished ahead of schedule.
Sun Weiming also revealed other directions that Suning Auto will head for in future. He said, “On one hand, we will devote more energy on electric vehicles. on the other hand, we need do a better job in automobile service ."
Suning Auto has built a cooperative relationship with BYTON. Reportedly, the first concept vehicle and drivable prototype vehicle are expected to show up in January, 2018. In the business of automotive finance, Suning Financial Service works with E-charger to step into the field of vehicle-sharing .
According to Liu Donghai, 2018 is a crucial year for Suning Auto to expand its businesses. In addition to the expansion of automobile supermarkets, Suning Auto still has new plans on the second-hand vehicle market, automotive service market and automotive finance. This may affect the transformation and advancement of the whole industry to some degree.