eHi Car Services Enters Strategic Partnership with Anji Logistics to Provide Door-to-door Vehicle Delivery Service in China

SHANGHAI, Sept. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- eHi Car Services, the largest directly operated car rental chain in China, enters into a strategic partnership with Anji Logistics, the largest automobile logistics company in the world which will transport 6 million vehicles this year, and a subsidiary of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporate (SAIC Motor) Group, on September 15, 2014. Both parties will collaborate in the areas of new vehicle B2C logistic services, used-car logistic services and other automobile post-market business opportunities.

According to the agreement, eHi and Anji will work closely to provide a nationwide logistic coverage to serve the booming online automobile e-commerce market for both new as well as used vehicles by leveraging Anji's high capacity, long distance vehicle transportation network and eHi's 'last mile' vehicle delivery capability and service locations.

Mr. Ray Zhang, eHi's founder and CEO, commented that eHi's service offerings are becoming more comprehensive along with the fast development of China's car rental market. Vehicle transportations and logistics become important factors of eHi's corporate strategy while the company is growing rapidly.

Mr. Zhang said, "Our partnership with Anji, the largest automotive logistic company globally, will improve our capacity in vehicle transportation, dispatch and other operational areas. It is beneficial for us not only to grow our business nationwide to provide more service offerings but also to explore new collaborations, creating a more efficient O2O platform."

Some industry experts' research shows that eHi and Anji are leaders in their own industry. Both companies have massive service network in China with years of investment and build-up of IT infrastructure, industry know-how and service standards. Industry experts stressed that "this cooperation between two industry leaders will help both companies further develop their businesses. More importantly, this partnership can possibly turn into innovative business models combining latest technologies and vehicle telematics."

China has been the largest new vehicles sales volume country in the past few years, with 22 million new vehicles sold in 2013. While used-car sales volume is still smaller than new car sales volume in China, in the U.S., a more mature automobile country, annual used car sales volume is three times new car sales volume.

Anji Logistics will be expanding their business from B2B to a B2C arena. Mr. De Yu, Anji's general manager, stated that eHi's nationwide network coverage can help solve the 'last-mile' problem for Anji's new logistics business opportunity such as used-car transport service. eHi's O2O platform will help Anji establish its B2C business network, completing its transportation service coverage with door-to-door vehicle delivery capability.

As Chinese consumers will soon be able to purchase cars online directly, eHi and Anji's collaboration will enable a more efficient and reliable vehicle delivery process. Anji will provide long distance service in the transportation process while eHi will provide the 'last mile' service with nationwide service locations and vehicle handover with consumer. eHi shall be able to provide more post-sale services including replacement vehicle rental, auto services and other ancillary services.

As eHi Car Services and Anji Logistics work together further, they will have an opportunity to bring innovations to the current automobile post-market service industries in China in the Mobile Internet era.

About eHi

eHi is the leading car rental and car service provider in the fast growing market in China. Founded in January 2006 with the goal of providing comprehensive mobility services to both consumer and corporate clients, eHi is the first car rental company utilizes the latest information technology to achieve a complete service delivery and vehicle management system in China. With its headquarter based in Shanghai, eHi offers car rental and car service nation-wide with more than 700 eHi outlets located in more than 90 cities. eHi's fleet consists of more than 100 different vehicle types. During the past eight years since its establishment, eHi has experienced a steady and rapid growth while achieving industry leading vehicle utilization rate and brand-name recognition. Today, eHi has become the designated car service provider for most of the Fortune 500 companies that have operations in China.

About Anji Logistics

Anji Logistics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation. The company is engaged in such services as finished vehicle logistics, spare parts logistics, port logistics as well as relevant logistics planning, logistic technology consulting, planning and management training based on "Servicing Product Technicalization" concept so as to provide the logistic supply chain service for integrated, technical, transparent and reliable unique solution. Anji Automotive Logistics Co., Ltd. currently is the largest provider in the world for automobile logistics services, with 10,300 employees. There are 10 specialized passenger car transport companies covering shipping, railway and highway transportation and 50 warehouse distribution center inland, with nearly 3,700,000 square meter for warehouse area and over 5 million automobiles for annual transport and throughput capacity.

SOURCE eHi