JD.com Sells "National Favorite Cars" and Revitalizes Car 4S Stores Along the Way

In recent years, it has become a common scenario for tech giants like Huawei and Xiaomi to enter the automotive industry, leveraging their advantages in traffic, technology, and supply chains to reshape the automotive landscape. Now, the strong entry of JD Auto into the market means that the automotive distribution sector has welcomed another internet giant that has the potential to rewrite the rules of the game.

JD Auto has been making a flurry of moves recently. On October 27th, JD launched a national recruitment program for the "National Good Cars" delivery centers. It plans to collaborate with 4S stores, automotive delivery centers, and comprehensive service centers to build a one-stop service network covering sales, delivery, and after-sales services. Meanwhile, JD Car Care is investing billions of yuan in a "one store per county" recruitment program and offering franchise support. These two measures are aimed at improving the automotive service layout.

Previously, at the JD 11.11 press conference, JD announced that it would collaborate with GAC and CATL to launch a "National Good Car." It clarified that it would not be involved in car manufacturing but would be responsible for user insight and exclusive sales. The "National Good Car," the Aion UT super, will go on sale during the JD 11.11 shopping festival, with a clear implementation plan.

According to 36Kr, JD Auto has ambitious plans. Not only has it obtained exclusive sales rights for several popular new energy vehicles online, but it is also in talks with some well - known new - energy vehicle startups about sales cooperation.

More importantly, the "National Good Cars" delivery center program of JD Auto aims to build up to 10,000 stores nationwide, forming a cross - brand comprehensive automotive sales, delivery, and service network covering the entire country. "It can be understood as a multi - brand automotive 4S store," a person familiar with the matter commented.

Based on its clear positioning of "not manufacturing cars," JD Auto focuses on providing differentiated support to "help car manufacturers sell cars better." In today's volatile automotive market, what is JD Auto's "silver bullet"?

Supply Chain Development: JD's Automotive Ecosystem

Automotive e - commerce in China is not new. Platforms like Autohome and Tmall tried it in 2013. Over the past decade, some projects supported by capital have also shut down. From 2018 to 2024, the market size grew from 0.86 trillion yuan to 1.41 trillion yuan. However, "pure online car sales" have not changed the traditional distribution logic and have not achieved large - scale breakthroughs.

There are many real - world challenges behind this.

Firstly, the offline link cannot be replaced. Cars are high - value products, and key steps such as test drives, vehicle inspections, and license plate registration cannot be done online. Early platforms could only provide information display. Data shows that in 2024, 56.3% of users who wanted to buy new energy vehicles ultimately gave up online transactions due to the lack of offline experience.

Secondly, dealers are under great pressure. According to a report released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, in most months of 2024, the dealer inventory coefficient exceeded the warning line of 1.5 (the industry safety line is 1.2). However, e - commerce platforms lack the ability to handle vehicle warehousing and logistics and cannot participate in the manufacturers' production scheduling. As a result, most of them have become mere online promotion channels for manufacturers.

In addition, service integration is difficult. Car buying involves finance, insurance, and license plate registration, which are handled by different institutions. It is difficult for platforms to integrate these resources, resulting in users having to deal with multiple service providers on average when buying a car, leading to a poor user experience.

The core of these problems is the lack of a set of infrastructure that can cover the entire process of "car selection, purchase, and use" in the industry.

With the penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeding 50%, the industry has undergone structural changes. JD Auto, which has been in the automotive market for many years, sees an opportunity to leverage greater influence.

Specifically, in 2024, China's automotive production and sales exceeded 31 million vehicles, with new energy vehicles accounting for nearly 44%. By 2025, this proportion had exceeded 50%. This change has also altered the needs of car manufacturers, 4S stores, and users in the industry.

For new energy vehicle manufacturers, they are eager to expand their sales channels. However, building their own stores is costly and requires a large investment per store. Most new brands' offline outlets can only cover first - and second - tier cities. As they look to penetrate lower - tier markets, the "shared channels" through authorization or agency have gradually become a necessity in the industry.

Traditional 4S stores are limited to selling only one brand. They cannot make up for low sales by selling other brands and have to bear high inventory costs. Many brand 4S stores have closed down under operational pressure and are in urgent need of new business models to break the deadlock.

Users' needs are also changing. With the rapid development of new energy vehicles in recent years, users have accepted the model of "online car viewing + offline experience." The concept of a one - stop service for "car viewing, test driving, insurance purchase, and vehicle pickup" is a service philosophy brought about by the new wave of car manufacturing.

JD's accumulated consumption data of hundreds of millions of active users can meet these needs. The interactive page of its "National Good Cars" project has received feedback from over 300,000 users.

Meanwhile, the trend of increasingly transparent car prices has also presented an opportunity for JD Auto.

With transparent prices, JD can directly negotiate with manufacturers for exclusive sales channels. Coupled with its traffic base, it has more confidence in expanding its online scale.

JD has nearly 800 million active users, of which over 60% are 3C and home appliance users. According to research, the overlap between this group of users and "potential buyers of 100,000 - 250,000 yuan family cars" is 45%, indicating high potential for cross - conversion. The idea of "using traffic to drive large - scale transactions" is feasible.

Currently, JD has leveraged user data and high - quality traffic to secure more brand partnerships. The "National Good Cars" project is a result of strong - to - strong cooperation.

According to JD, the "National Good Cars" are a series of high - quality models jointly developed by JD Auto, vehicle manufacturers, and battery suppliers. The GAC Aion UT super is just one of the many models.

A person familiar with the matter revealed that for the recently launched popular model, the Aion UT super, JD provided a large amount of data on users' car - using habits to help the product precisely highlight the core high - frequency functions that meet users' essential needs during the product definition stage, achieving efficient cost reduction.

In addition, in traditional car sales, dealers usually set the terminal selling price 8% - 15% higher than the manufacturer's suggested retail price. However, after JD directly negotiates with car manufacturers for exclusive rights, it can offer a "fixed online price," making the price completely transparent and eliminating the dealer link. As a result, the average cost for users to purchase a car is significantly reduced.

At the same time, JD is also promoting diversified cooperation models. For example, authorization cooperation without upfront payment requirements will surely become one of the options.

In the offline aspect, which users value more when buying a car, JD has also taken powerful measures. Under the traditional model, if users want to compare three or more brands, they usually have to visit 4 - 6 single - brand 4S stores and spend 2 - 3 weeks. However, JD's "National Good Cars" delivery centers can operate across multiple brands, allowing users to compare multiple car brands in one store and reducing the car - selection period to 3 - 5 days, greatly improving efficiency.

In terms of after - sales service, relying on JD Auto's supply chain capabilities, a national service network has been developed. As of October 2025, JD has over 3,000 car - care stores and more than 46,000 partner stores. This scale is attributed to JD's long - term accumulation of professional supply chain capabilities, tens of thousands of professional staff, and the participation of hundreds of brands.

In addition to having a dense network of after - sales service points across the country, JD has also integrated after - sales service into the entire car - buying process. Now, after users select and purchase a car on JD, they can also complete subsequent car - care services within the same system, without having to look for other channels. This has alleviated many users' concerns about buying cars online.

Therefore, JD's comprehensive layout in aspects such as price system, traffic conversion, offline stores, supply chain support, and after - sales guarantee essentially aims to build an ecological system that covers the entire automotive transaction process and effectively connects the needs of car manufacturers, dealers, and users.

A "New Way of Life" for Struggling 4S Stores

Traditional 4S stores have been facing a wave of closures for many years due to poor profitability. The direct - sales model of new energy vehicles has also put pressure on dealers, leaving them in a dilemma. Large groups that want to undergo digital transformation face high costs for building their own systems, thin profits, and a lack of funds, making it difficult for most of them to continue.

Facing the multiple challenges in the automotive distribution industry, JD is not just simply helping car manufacturers sell cars. Instead, relying on its full - chain capabilities from online to offline, it has launched a national cooperation plan for the "National Good Cars" delivery centers. This plan can be flexibly adapted to small stores still struggling, large groups seeking breakthroughs, and new entrants to the industry.

Firstly, JD's more than 3,000 car - care stores across the country can provide a transformation path starting from after - sales service for the partners of the delivery centers. With stable operating income as a guarantee, they don't have to worry about the risks of starting from scratch.

Secondly, JD's insights into its over 800 million users and high - quality traffic are attracting more and more brands to participate in cooperation, which is a strong support for the delivery centers. Moreover, JD is promoting flexible cooperation models. Authorization cooperation without upfront payment requirements has become an option, which can further reduce the operating pressure on partners.

In addition, JD has opened nearly 30 JD MALLs in core business districts across the country. These locations are usually prime areas that brand stores compete fiercely for at high costs. JD will further integrate its offline resources to achieve synergy between JD Auto and other JD MALL businesses, attracting traffic to the malls and driving conversions for the stores.

Overall, JD has tens of millions of users with car - buying needs, ensuring a stable online customer source. In terms of funds, the no - inventory - pressure policy and the "nationwide fixed price" can accelerate inventory turnover and reduce capital occupation. Stores can also join the JD Car Care network, using after - sales income to make up for the shortfall in new car sales and stabilizing cash flow.

In other words, the supply chain capabilities that JD has built over the years will be a solid support for small and large dealers to achieve new energy transformation and digital upgrading.

According to the plan, JD Auto's project to build over ten thousand delivery centers will exceed the single - channel plans of most car manufacturers, forming a capillary - level channel network covering the entire country. Coupled with JD's online traffic, marketing, offline car - care services, logistics, warehousing, and supply chain capabilities, it will undoubtedly be a game - changer in the current new energy vehicle sales market.

The industry has never stopped exploring automotive distribution models. From the earliest 4S stores to the direct - sales model led by Tesla, and then to the trend followed by Chinese new - energy vehicle startups.

However, no model can be a one - size - fits - all solution. As the product portfolios of new - energy vehicle startups continue to expand, with an increasing number of models and price ranges, the direct - sales model is also starting to face significant bottlenecks, giving rise to the authorization or agency system.

Regardless of how the sales channels evolve, achieving deep integration of online and offline, continuously providing high - standard, full - process service quality, and constantly improving users' car - buying efficiency will be important development directions for automotive distribution models in the future.

From this perspective, JD Auto is leading this trend. According to 36Kr, the cooperation quotas for the core cities or business districts of JD Auto's "National Good Cars" delivery centers have become highly sought - after resources in the industry.

Looking at JD Auto's overall layout, its core is not simply selling cars online. Instead, it aims to build an open ecosystem that integrates car manufacturers, industry partners, dealers, and users. It does not intend to be a disruptor but rather a "wind - maker without building cars." By leveraging its supply chain, traffic, and service network resources and capabilities, it injects new vitality into traditional channels such as 4S stores and explores new growth paths with the industry. As the "National Good Cars" hit the streets one by one, it may drive a win - win situation where car manufacturers can sell easily, dealers can thrive, and users can buy conveniently.