In less than five years, shared motorcycles have penetrated about half of the county cities in China. An industry report shows that the proportion of large county-level cities with shared electric vehicles in China has soared from 2.5% in 2018 to 49.2% in October 2021, accumulating more than 1400 county-level cities. The industry estimates that the annual trading scale of shared motorcycles in large county markets may eventually exceed 60billion.
↑ in Xuanwei, Yunnan, pinecone shared electric vehicle idling scene
The other side of the rapid development is the accusation of "disorderly delivery". Last year, various counties and cities issued management measures one after another to implement strong supervision on the shared motorcycles industry, and the market-oriented auction of the right to use public resources by the city government became the norm.
Observers said that another attribute of sharing is shared management. However, the management and cognitive level of shared motorcycles vary greatly from place to place. How to avoid "disorderly management and death" and achieve a balance between management and release is still a long way to go.
State owned enterprises crowd into the shared Market
Wangjuan, a citizen of Xuanwei, Yunnan Province, recently found that nearly 10000 shared electric vehicles that have provided them with four years' service since May 25 have disappeared from the streets. "I'm used to riding a shared motorcycle to work and buy vegetables. Now I suddenly don't have one. It's very inconvenient." Wang Juan said.
Xuanwei has three shared motorcycle enterprises, namely Hello, pinecone and Guoer. Wang Qiang, a representative of a household appliance bicycle enterprise, said that during the outage, these shared motorcycles were placed in the centralized storage area required by the government.
↑ Xuanwei, Yunnan, Hello, sharing the idle scene of electric vehicles
This change was caused by a local bidding document.
On May 18, Xuanwei housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau issued a bidding announcement. According to the announcement, the transfer fee for the 6-year franchise right of sharing motorcycles in nine streets in Xuanwei City is 70million yuan. Fanxuedong, director of Xuanwei housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau, said that the local "only choose one".
Xuanwei Development Investment Group Co., Ltd. is a wholly state-owned company invested and established by Xuanwei SASAC. It was established in November 2021. Zhang Yi, the legal person of the company, told Red Star news that the company did not share the operating experience of electric vehicles, but did participate in the bidding. If the bidding was successful, "it may hire a third party to operate."
Xuanwei is a county-level city in Yunnan with a population second only to Zhenxiong County, with a permanent urban population of 450000. Such a large population county is exactly the "big county" favored by major motorcycle sharing enterprises in recent years.
According to the report "insight into China's large county shared motorcycle market 2021" made by Analysys analysis, "large county" is "delineated according to the unified standard of dividing county-level administrative regions by the country, including county-level cities and other county-level administrative regions". According to the official data of the National Bureau of statistics, the report identifies a total of 2856 large county-level cities in China. Relevant data show that the number of large counties with electric shared bicycles in China has soared from 2.5% (70 cities) in 2018 to 49.2% (1400 cities) in October 2021.
Penglan, a professional who has long studied the sharing travel industry, told Red Star news that although there is no updated data, it is estimated that more than half of the large counties in China have shared electric vehicles. The advantage of large counties is that "downward, they can be compatible with large towns; upward, they can radiate some prefecture level cities."
It is a new phenomenon that state-owned enterprises join the competition in the sharing field in recent years. Penglan believes that according to the previous announcement, once Xuanwei Development Investment Group Co., Ltd. succeeds in bidding, it may be suspected of monopoly. "If it entrusts another party to operate, it is actually adding a link to the business link and increasing the cost for no reason."
Xushaofa, the mayor of Xuanwei City, told Red Star News on May 30 that the purpose of the public bidding for the franchise right of shared motorcycles in Xuanwei City is to fair competition. He said that a new platform company was indeed set up locally to participate in the bidding. "We believe that as long as the procedures are open and transparent, they are in line with the market principles."
According to xushaofa, previously, the local shared motorcycles were in a "disorderly competition" state. "Shared motorcycles are a new business form, which facilitates people's travel. If you manage them well, they are the scenic spot of the city. If you don't manage them well, they will become a burden to the city."
Wang Qiang said that hello, pinecone and Guo'er, the three sharing motorcycle enterprises, had previously signed an access agreement with relevant departments when entering Xuanwei for operation. "In the process of operation, we strictly abide by the relevant regulations of the government and closely communicate with the urban management, public security and other departments. As long as the regulatory authorities put forward requirements, we will respond immediately."
↑ in Xuanwei, Yunnan, pinecone shared electric vehicle idling scene
Competition intensifies and the industry sinks
Lixiaoguo entered the shared motorcycles industry in November, 2018. In the past three and a half years, through communication and docking with local authorities, he has expanded the number of cities in which shared motorcycles are put into service by dozens of units.
"When I entered this industry, the industry was still in the 'embryonic stage', and I was sure to make a point when I talked about it." He told the Red Star News reporter that as long as the sharing of motorcycles is emphasized as a benefit project for the local people, the local government will generally accept it.
Publicity materials from all parties show that in the promotion, enterprises have not forgotten to emphasize that shared motorcycles are a "new mode of travel with lower carbon and environmental protection", and can be integrated into a "safe, convenient and green" modern comprehensive transportation system.
The core of the "explosion" of shared motorcycles in large counties lies in the matching of product attributes with urban demand.
On May 31, meituan and the China Institute of regional coordinated development and rural construction of Sun Yat sen University jointly released the report on county travel in the context of new urbanization - County shared motorcycles travel. It is believed that the county is relatively weak in the public transport system due to the constraints of terrain, spatial layout, economic scale, population density and other factors, and shared motorcycles can play a capillary role in the urban travel system.
Penglan introduced that the daily high-frequency travel distance of users of shared motorcycles is mainly 2-10 kilometers, which is equivalent to the urban area of the county. The urban activity range of citizens in large counties is small, and the travel of people can be realized by a single means of transportation. Shared motorcycles serve more "point-to-point" travel needs. Citizens can do something and ride a car.
She explained that another reason for the shift of the shared motorcycles battlefield into the county is that the shared motorcycles enterprises have been fighting in the first and second tier cities for many years, resulting in the city being overwhelmed and having to raise the entry threshold. However, the defeat of moBay and ofo has proved that the shared motorcycles mode can not work, and there are still many possibilities for shared motorcycles.
In 2020, Changsha will intensively renovate 500000 shared motorcycles in the city, and there were more than 40 shared bicycle "cemeteries" in Changsha. This landmark event became a watershed for automobile enterprises to move to the county, and the shared motorcycles in Changsha urban area flowed into the surrounding small cities.
It was in the second half of 2020 that Li Xiaoguo suddenly felt the pressure of competition. He told Red Star news that in the second half of that year, the number of travel enterprises flocking to the large county market increased significantly, and the attitude of local governments also changed subtly. "The government has multiple choices, and our market promotion becomes more difficult."
In Yunnan, more than 100 large counties have launched shared motorcycles. "Southern cities are our main market. When the competition is fierce, a city may have 20 or 30 brands to bid, while northern cities may have only 34." Lixiaoguo introduced that the target large county requires that the resident population should not be less than 50000, and the number of shared motorcycles that can be put into a small city with a 50000 resident population is about 500 based on the industry ratio of 100:1.
Before this bidding, the relevant departments of Xuanwei City specially went to learn about the operation of shared motorcycles in other third and fourth tier cities. "We found that the competent departments of some cities did not know how shared motorcycles came in." Xuanwei mayor xushaofa said.
The industrial chain of shared motorcycles is relatively complex, posing challenges to county appearance management, traffic order control and public travel safety guarantee. Lixiaoguo said that since 2021, all regions have begun to auction the franchise rights of shared motorcycles, regulate and restrict shared motorcycles from the source, and the expansion of shared motorcycles in large counties has slowed down.
Red Star News found that in 2021, local governments in China passed the operation projects, and the shared motorcycles began to be put into use one after another. However, at the same time, the competent authorities put forward more specifications for the operation of enterprises. For example, Zhangjiajie, Hunan, Fuding, Fujian and other places have issued Bidding Schemes for the franchise rights of shared motorcycles, and some places require the exit of unlicensed enterprises.
Lixin, a lawyer from Beijing contemporary law firm, said that public parking spots belong to the public resources of the city. The city government conducts market-based auction of the right to use public resources. The transaction itself has no problem, but we should consider the rationality of the auction price. The excessively high transaction price is bound to increase the burden on enterprises. Enterprises may transfer the operating costs to consumers, which is not conducive to the long-term stable operation of the project.
How much is the bidding base price reasonable
"From the city business we have contacted and observed, the operation of shared motorcycles is strongly linked to the KPIs of law enforcement departments, such as urban management, traffic police and fire control. Shared motorcycles may affect 'building a city', and the auction of shared motorcycles occupying urban public resources is also for the purpose of management." Penglan said that the sharing of electricity bills among large counties has developed to the stage of joint management and governance, or the stage of strong government intervention.
Xushaofa told Red Star news that "the government hasn't charged any management fees" for sharing motorcycles. Peng LAN analyzed that, judging from the precedents of other cities in Yunnan, the overall financial situation of various cities in Yunnan is "tight", and the shared motorcycle industry is a new open source field. "If the management is not good, the industry may be disordered and die if it is managed."
On May 18, 2021, Ruili Municipal Bureau of housing and urban rural development auctioned and transferred the five-year franchise rights of shared motorcycles in the urban area, Jiegao and wanting of Ruili City. Hello travel and Yunnan sanrenhang Technology Co., Ltd. won the bid of 65million and 32million respectively, and the two companies can invest 2500 and 2300 vehicles respectively.
Wang Qiang calculated an account on the basis of 2500 harrow bicycles: according to the previous operation data of Yunnan market, the average daily income of a vehicle is 10 yuan, the annual income of 2500 vehicles is 9.12 million, and the income of four years is 36.5 million. According to the estimation, a vehicle can ride four times a day under normal conditions, and the price of each time is 2.5 yuan. In this way, the annual income of 2500 vehicles is 9.12 million, and the income of four years is 36.5 million. "The bid winning fee can not be recovered in four years."
According to the staff of Ruili Bangmin Auction Co., Ltd., which was responsible for the auction, one year later, the winner did not pay the relevant money, so the auction company had to seize the deposits of the two companies and Sue the two companies to the court.
It is reported that hello, pinecone and Guo'er, the three motorcycle sharing enterprises, have not participated in the bidding of Xuanwei so far. According to Wang Qiang, if the base price of the bidding base is 70million yuan in six years, it will be at least 11.67 million yuan per year. According to the market conditions of Xuanwei, the annual income is about 20million yuan based on the 10000 vehicles of the bidding object. After removing the annual average share of 11.67 million yuan, and then removing the vehicle depreciation, labor, tax and other expenses, it means that even under ideal conditions, Xuanwei will lose about 3million yuan in one year of operation.
↑ on the evening of September 9, a total of 3000 shared motorcycles were allowed to be put back into Xuanwei City until the end of June
On June 8, Xuanwei Municipal Bureau of housing and urban rural development announced that the deadline for bidding was postponed from June 10 to June 27. The base price for bidding remained unchanged at 70million, but 100% of the original target market, i.e. 10000 vehicles, was changed to 50% of the market, i.e. 5000 vehicles. At the same time, the announcement will change the number of candidates recommended by the bid evaluation committee from 3 to 5.
Penglan said that the scale of the bidding object will be reduced by half, which means that the winning enterprises can eliminate the suspicion of "monopoly". According to the bidding law, the new scheme means that at least two enterprises can win the bid.
"It is not clear how many stages the development of shared motorcycles will be divided into. However, another attribute of sharing is shared management and sharing. All parties should communicate more. Enterprises should make profits, promote models, and manage cities well." Penglan said.
"No matter how the bidding is conducted, no matter which enterprise is operating, for consumers, we certainly welcome the new green and convenient travel mode." Wangjuan, a citizen, said that if the operating cost of an enterprise is too high, it will raise prices or reduce service quality.
Red Star News learned that while the documents of Xuanwei shared motorcycles procurement project were changed and postponed, the three enterprises previously operating in the local area had obtained the permission of the local competent authorities and had started to put the vehicles into operation and transport again in the evening of June 9.
Wang Qiang said that only 1000 vehicles are allowed to be put into operation this time, and the operation time is up to the end of this month. Although the time allowed for operation is short at present, after this battle, "the three enterprises all seem to be in a hurry".
Red Star News reporter liumumu intern Peng yehongfa from Yunnan
Trainee editor zhujieying