Car washing industry: the three main division of the "golden cake"

In recent years, with the continuous expansion of urban extension, the private car consumption market for the purpose of commuting has become increasingly large. The number of private cars in Beijing is basically increasing at an average rate of 1000 per day, and it is very likely to exceed the 4 million mark in 2009. More and more private cars "drive" into the homes of ordinary people, and the number of cars continues to rise. The car wash industry derived from the automobile consumer market has become a "golden cake" due to small investment and low threshold ". However, while gaining opportunities, the car washing industry is also facing an embarrassing dilemma: water consumption has attracted increasing attention, many places have successively introduced water-saving management methods, and traditional car washing methods have been the first to be rolled into the "cusp".
In the past few days, the reporter found during a visit to the southern city of Beijing that whether it is a large residential community represented by Fangzhuang or an urban-rural fringe area outside the South Fourth Ring Road that has not yet been developed on a large scale, although the scale is different, but The car wash shop can always be found within a 5-minute drive. In places such as Xiaohongmen and Chengshou Temple, there has even been a phenomenon of huddled operations, and car washing sites can be described as blooming everywhere.
On a street less than 200 meters long from Chengshou Temple to Xiaocun Bridge on the South 3rd Ring Road, there are 89 car wash shops. The reporter saw that the conditions of these street car washes are very simple, and most of the shops are less than 20 square meters, which is only enough for a small car wash. Although the store area is small, the space outside the store seems to be infinitely extended. Usually one car is rushed in the car wash and three cars are wiped on the side of the road. Vehicles waiting for the car wash often crowd the long and narrow sidewalks. During the visit, the reporter found that almost all car washes make full use of sidewalks and even bicycle lanes, regardless of whether there is a business license or an independent indoor car wash room. Car washing is almost the "hidden rule" of the car washing industry ".
A car owner said in an interview with reporters that it is mainly convenient to wash the car at the car wash shop on the street. It is more cost-effective to wash the car for only 10 yuan once, and to wash the card for 100 yuan for 13 times and give away water wax once. However, the price of washing the body once in 5 yuan has attracted a large number of taxis. The reporter found that some double-shift drivers directly regarded the car wash as a shift change base.
According to a monitoring report issued by the Beijing Municipal Water Affairs Bureau, it takes 200 liters of water to flush a car with a hose and 30 liters with a high-pressure water gun. The annual water consumption for car washing in Beijing exceeds that of Kunming Lake or the equivalent of six North Seas. However, according to the actual "Beijing Water Saving Method", once the car washing station finds out that it is using tap water, it can be fined up to 20000 yuan.
In addition, this kind of manual workshop-style car wash shop generally adopts the form of bucket and rag, and repeatedly uses the same bucket of water to wipe the car body. The mud and sand entrained in the water can easily scratch the car paint and greatly reduce the smoothness of the car body. According to a young man who used to clean the car on the side of the road, in order to make the car brighter after cleaning, they often use alkaline detergents, such as washing powder, when cleaning the car. Although the car paint appears clean and bright in a short period of time after scrubbing, the car paint will become dull and even corrode the car paint after washing several times.
In recent years, after consumers have applied for car wash cards, the phenomenon of "evaporation" in car wash shops has also been reported. These have cast a shadow over the traditional car shop.
Computer car washes survive on star service
Compared to the "high-pressure water gun cloth" type of traditional manual car wash, high-tech computer car wash shop is a lot of professional. However, these computer car washes are not as popular as imagined, and even suffered a "cold reception".
The reporter found in the investigation that the customers of these computer car washing points mainly come from the unit's buses, while family cars are relatively few. Regarding computer car washing, as a private car owner, Ms. Sun expressed her own opinion: manual car washing is less than 10 yuan's money, and sometimes the price can be cheaper in 2 yuan. Although computer car washing is faster, the price is generally 15 yuan. For ordinary families, cars are also medium and low-grade cars, so there is no need to spend a high price to wash a car.
The manager of a fully automatic computer car wash shop believes that the price is only one of the reasons why the computer car wash is "cold reception. In his analysis, the key to the problem is that traditional car washing is still the mainstream and has become a habit of many citizens, which has seized the source of customers for computer car washing. In addition, the upfront investment in computer car washing is relatively high, the equipment generally costs hundreds of thousands of yuan, and the cost of labor and rent is several times higher than that of traditional car washing. Car washing alone does not make much money. The person in charge of a famous car service chain store in Beijing revealed to reporters that although the car washing cost of the chain store is as high as 60 yuan, the chain store is involved in car decoration, beauty, cleaning, maintenance and other businesses, plus a unified store image and service. Standards, guiding prices, etc., also locked a group of car owners who own mid-to-high-end private cars. The reporter learned in the interview that these large chain stores are generally divided into construction factories, supplies sales and other parts, but different stores have different focuses. As far as the service items are concerned, they basically cover all aspects related to vehicle decoration, beauty and maintenance. As far as the price is concerned, regular items such as car washing, waxing, car cleaning, etc. are different from store to store, which is more expensive at a time and is very cost-effective. But generally the same company's chain stores between the service standards are basically the same.
Community parking lot car wash in an awkward situation
Recently, Mr. Zhang, who lives in a residential area in Yizhuang, received a car wash leaflet when parking in the residential area. The leaflet stated that the car was washed once in 10 yuan, and the car could be cleaned and waxed free of charge without leaving the parking space. Mr. Zhang decided to give it a try. After making an appointment call, two young men in blue uniforms came to Mr. Zhang's car. They quickly put the outlet pipe of the computer car wash into a bucket, pressed the electric button, and the water sprayed from the pipe cleaned the car body. The sewage flowed into the reservoir along the drain. After about 15 minutes, the car became spotless. Mr. Zhang looked at it carefully and found that it was quite clean.
Mr. Zhang said: "Since I bought a car, car washing has become a big problem. Car washing will take up a lot of time, morning or weekend to wash will be a long queue, not wash it really embarrassed to drive the car on the street, to talk about a matter very shameless, but also affect their mood. With this mobile car washing machine can be convenient, not out of the community can wash the car, save trouble and money, really good."
Later, the reporter also got through the mobile car wash through the leaflet. The person in charge of the company said: "The car wash machine is a movable car wash equipment. Car owners do not need to drive their cars to car washes. As long as they provide parking locations for their cars, they will bring relevant car wash supplies to their homes and provide waxing and other vehicle maintenance services. The charging method generally adopts the method of handling monthly cards, such as 8 times a month, charging 60 yuan, and waxing once free of charge. In addition, this kind of car washing equipment is very environmentally friendly. Washing a car consumes less than 5 liters of water, which can save a lot of water than ordinary car washing methods. Moreover, the cleaning agent has almost no foam, which will not bring environmental pollution to the community and can wash the car very clean."
The reporter learned during the interview that some car owners are worried that this car washing method is harmful to the car surface, especially when dealing with bird excrement and flying insects left on the car body after driving on the highway. "In summer, the gum stuck to the car body may not be washed clean with warm water repeatedly, so the quick washing method of 3 to 5 minutes is not reassuring." Some people think that although the door-to-door car wash service is more convenient, this kind of door-to-door car wash shop is highly mobile, the quality of service is difficult to rest assured, and it is also difficult to protect rights. For car-free owners in the community, where the car owner parks the car, the car washer will follow where to wash the car. Since not every parking spot has drainage facilities, sewage will flow everywhere. If in the cold season, due to the sewage caused by the freezing of the ground not only pollute the environment and there is a hidden danger of hurting people.