ByteDance Enters Automobile Maintenance Business in China

220 Trillion Won Scale Maintenance and Management Market
‘Dongdongyangcheo’ Store Opens in Chongqing City

Chinese ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is entering the automobile maintenance business. Targeting the Chinese automobile maintenance market worth 1.2 trillion yuan (approximately 219.6 trillion KRW), it has even launched a specialized maintenance brand.

According to China's Daily Economic News on the 4th, ByteDance recently launched an offline automobile maintenance brand called 'Dongdongyangcheo' and opened a store in Yubei District, Chongqing City. This store opened in collaboration with local shops and offers services such as maintenance, vehicle cleaning, and glass coating.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to corporate investigation data, 'Dongdongyangcheo' has a capital of about 100 million USD (approximately 131.28 billion KRW), and the trademark was filed by Beijing Youzhouju, a wholly owned subsidiary of Douyin. Youzhouju also filed for an automobile maintenance brand called 'Dongcheodiyangcheo' last October.

However, specific business development plans have not yet been disclosed. A representative of the Yubei District store explained, "Currently, Dongdongyangcheo is not announcing any cooperation details with external parties," adding, "Specific plans are expected to be revealed next year." Regarding management rules or approximate franchise fees, they also stated, "Nothing has been decided yet."

Daily Economic News evaluated, "ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming once said in an interview that he 'does not set boundaries for work,'" and added, "This can now be interpreted as a logic for expanding business areas." They further elaborated, "Entering the offline automobile service industry shows the prospects of this market."

According to the 'Post-Auto Service Industry White Paper after 2023' published by F6 Big Data Research Institute, the number of passenger cars in China is expected to exceed 300 million this year. With the continuous increase in after-service demand, the related industry size last year was estimated to reach 1.2 trillion yuan. It is also expected to maintain a growth rate of over 10% until next year.

According to an investment report by Tuhu, a Chinese automobile maintenance service company, as of 2021, about 29,000 authorized automobile dealers are active in China, and independent maintenance shops number 746,000. Tuhu cooperates with about 36,500 stores, which is 4.7% of the total. Daily Economic News diagnosed, "This means that Dongdongyangcheo has sufficient market growth potential."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.