Chinese Auto Lessor Expands Reach to 1,700 Dealerships

Chinese car retail website SouChe has expanded its auto financing product called TanGeChe to more than 200 cities to reach 1,700 car dealers after launching earlier last year, parent company SouChe announced in a press release.

SouChe launched TanGeChe in conjunction with fintech company Ant Financial. In addition to building up its dealer network over the past year, TanGeChe also works with more than 20 mainstream auto manufacturers.

TanGeChe was the first brand to run a native-in-video marketing campaign from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Mirriad, an advertising technology company, according to a press release. Native-in-video is when an ad for a product plays in the background — such as on a TV — during a television program. The Chinese auto lessor’s brand mascot was integrated into ad units across 300-500 episodes of a variety of dramas and variety/reality shows.

SouChe (meaning “Search Car” in Chinese) sells used cars from dealers across the country and provides leasing on new vehicles for a year, which the borrower can then purchase outright, trade in for a new model, or return after the term. The company serves over 60% of car dealerships in the country and was named as one of the the “2017 Top 50 Chinese Leading Automotive Technological Companies” by service company KPMG last week.

Alibaba previously led a $335 million Series E funding round for SouChe in November 2017. SouChe is working with Ant Financial on new car financing to develop financing products and services.