Recently, Goodyear Tire, one of the world’s top 500 companies, set off a storm due to the cancellation of the qualifications of agents throughout China. It is understood that due to the unilaterally disqualified agents, provincial agents in Shanghai, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, and Xinjiang have accumulated a large number of tires. They are preparing to jointly prosecute Goodyear, demanding the withdrawal of stocks and compensation for various losses.
â– Torn the contract
Goodyear Tire Chongqing agent Mr. Zhou Benxue, chairman of Humin Auto Service Co., Ltd., told the media that Goodyear doesn’t return more than 6,000 tires currently stocked by the company, and the company “can no longer use Goodyearâ€. The equipment invested for the sale of Goodyear Tire was also self-digested by Humin Auto. Prepayments for goods, gift tires with a value of RMB 250,000, and rebates of more than RMB 180,000 were not refunded and paid.
According to Zhou Benxue's introduction, as the sole agent of Goodyear Tire Chongqing, it has been a full 6 years, and the annual sales volume is over 10 million yuan. From the beginning of September, Goodyear began to clean up the provincial distributors. On September 27, he received Goodyear's “Distribution Authorization Termination Notice Letterâ€, stating that since the sales mission from January to September this year, only 86% of the sales were completed. Termination of the distribution contract, the company can no longer use the Goodyear trademark, sales of Goodyear tires.
"The 6610 Goodyear tires currently in stock are worth more than 5 million yuan. According to Goodyear's sales agreement, these tires have been deemed sold, which means that they have already sold to dealers and have no obligation to recover. Digest yourself, and it will cost tens of thousands of yuan each month for inventory and storage.†Zhou Benxue said with great angrily.
Former Goodyear Greater China marketing director and current Henan dealer Cai Nan, the general manager of Henan Yijia Automobile Service Co., Ltd., also suffered the same fate. He said that there are still a large number of stockpiled tires worth more than RMB 4.1 million, but Goodyear has been left unattended. At the same time, from January to June this year, the rebates amounted to more than 110,000 yuan, and so far it has refused to pay. "Now I have sealed the inventory of tires, the monthly storage, management and other costs will be more than 30,000 yuan." Cai Tong said.
In general, contract distributors and distributors generally have the following situations: business scope spans brands; business scope spans regions; sales tasks cannot be completed. It is understood that Dalian Goodyear requires local distributors to complete more than 70% of sales tasks. At present, Chongqing, Shanghai and Anhui automobile has reached more than 80%, and Henan Yijia Automobile Service Company has also reached 76%.
According to Cai Tong, if the dealer's sales task is not completed well, Goodyear will communicate with the dealer 1 to 2 months in advance, and it will never abruptly cancel the qualification of the dealer. According to the usual practice, a dealer may be added locally. Even if the dealer is replaced, all the dealer’s inventory will be recovered and the new dealer will be dealt with to ensure that no disputes or troubles will occur.
It is understood that Goodyear has replaced provincial-level agents in Shanghai, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Xinjiang, Henan, etc. These agents generally stock more than 5,000 tires.
â– Passing on Crisis Overlord Clause
Why does Goodyear, one of the world's top 500 companies, make such an arbitrary decision? Originally, this was the "sequel" of the Sino-American tire special security case.
From September 26 this year, the United States imposed a three-year punitive tariff on all imported cars and light truck tires imported from China. According to the China Rubber Industry Association, about 40% of China’s tires are exported, while the US market accounts for one-third of China’s tire exports.
According to a number of domestic tire companies, the special security case affected the export of Chinese tire companies, and there was a price war in the domestic tire industry. Goodyear’s sales have also declined, and Goodyear’s replacement of distributors has been seen by the industry as “transfer pressureâ€.
At the same time, Goodyear tires were also forced to change prices in disguise. Wholesalers from the previous distributors were ex-factory wholesalers. They were changed to 10, 1, 8 or 1, or even 6, 1 for distributors. At the same time, in order to complete the sales task, they also desperately press the dealers. At present, in the terminal market, the price of Goodyear tires has dropped by more than 20%.
Zhou Benxue said that Goodyear discontinued the contract on the ground that the dealer did not complete the sales task, with obvious signs of premeditated plan. He recalled that on September 15th, Goodyear had sent a letter asking him to “acquire the goods on September 16.†At that time, the inventory was already quite large, and this task was almost impossible to complete. Through "over-signaling", it is required to increase the purchase volume, which in turn causes the fact that the agent cannot complete the sales task, and uses this as an excuse to dismiss the agent contract.
Cai Tong also believes that in order to shift operational pressures, Goodyear has resorted to "killing chickens and eggs." Dealers who lose 6,000 to 7,000 tires in stock, lose their “digestive power,†and change their sales in disguised form.
Li Jingren, a lawyer of Chongqing Yanding Law Firm, believes that the "Dealer Agreement" signed between Chongqing agents and Goodyear is a typical format contract. Goodyear’s unilateral early termination of the agreement eliminated its own responsibilities and obligations, exacerbated the other’s responsibilities, and at the same time excluded the other party’s main rights. It did not give any economic compensation and compensation, seriously infringed the legitimate rights and interests of the distributors, and was a typical violation of the law. "Overlord Terms". In accordance with the relevant provisions of China's "Contract Law", it is an invalid clause.
According to Goodyear's logic, after the distributors have purchased the goods, they will be regarded as sales actions. If they look for an excuse for a new agent, they will be able to press the warehousing once again, and they will be able to complete the sale of thousands of tires. This is essentially the intentional eviction of the original. Agents have seriously violated the interests of agents.
In response to questions from agents, Goodyear's sole proprietor in China, Dalian Goodyear Tire Co., Ltd. issued a statement stating that the contract version signed between Goodyear and the agent is in compliance with relevant laws and regulations; The processing method of the cooperation contract is in full compliance with the contractual provisions of both parties.
View related topics: China and the United States tire special security case
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