Using half a lifetime's savings at a 4S store to buy a new car, only to be told at home that 'the boss has run away with the money' — this is not a scene from a TV drama, but a surreal experience recently faced by BYD car owners in multiple locations in Shandong and Liaoning. The Qiancheng Group, once regarded as a golden partner, has suddenly 'disappeared', leaving thousands of car owners either unable to pick up their cars or without after-sales support, even the 38 yuan car wash voucher has become worthless.

This sudden collapse of trust has lifted the last veil over the automotive dealership industry's murky underbelly. Over the years, we have become accustomed to the shiny floors and rich freshly brewed coffee at 4S stores, but little did we expect that beneath the gloss lies a bumper made of paper — in 2023, the national automotive dealership closure rate exceeded 70%, with an average of 4 stores disappearing every day; it turns out that the dealers' tough days are harder to endure than consumers' loan bills.

The unexpected blow BYD has faced exposes a harsh side of the new energy vehicle market. Behind the price wars is not only a technical battle but also the fragile funding chain of dealers betting their lives. When car manufacturers frantically push inventory to boost sales, some dealers are forced to treat customer deposits as working capital. This business model, which treats consumers as human cash dispensers, is doomed to crash sooner or later.

But do the ordinary people whose hard-earned money has gone down the drain really deserve to be unlucky? Some have noticed a puzzling detail: several 4S stores under Qiancheng Group were still frantically collecting deposits just two weeks before they ran away. Is this bizarre operation a result of mismanagement or deliberate fraud? Lawyers suggest this could violate laws against illegal public deposit collection, but the rights-protecting car owners are faced with a vicious cycle where manufacturers pass the buck to dealers, and dealers blame the market.

This incident has indeed forced car manufacturers to show their will to survive — BYD announced overnight that they would cover losses for affected customers. However, merely mopping up the mess is not enough; it is time to rebuild the dealership system. The direct sales model of neighboring Tesla may be eye-catching, but at least no one worries about sudden store closures. While traditional car manufacturers continue to use dealers as a buffer for sales, this wave of closures may become the catalyst for disrupting the century-old automotive sales model.

Standing in a muddy parking lot filled with rights-protecting car owners, one suddenly realizes a fact: it turns out that 4S stores are even more afraid of price drops than we are. As the elimination race for new energy vehicles enters a hand-to-hand combat stage, who is footing the bill for this extravagant feast?