Chinese vehicle exports · digitalizing the overseas dealer network
Suanshu Haiyuan
A standard DMS for overseas 4S retail and auto distribution of Chinese vehicle exports
One thread connects the cross-border import chain with overseas 4S retail and after-sales: group HQ places and ships the order, overseas stores sell it to the end customer, service and parts follow. HQ sees everything, the store works in it every day, the distributor orders through a portal.
One threadTraceable from group HQ to the overseas store
Role-based controlRoles, permission points and data scope
Multi-currencyCNY / USD / BRL accounting in parallel
Multi-devicePC, mobile, distributor portal, group wallboard
Selling overseas is not the hard part
A long cross-border chain, many roles and mismatched numbers. Spreadsheets and chat groups do not scale.
🧭
HQ and overseas run apart
HQ reads reports from email, stores report in spreadsheets, and the numbers never reconcile. One master data set and one definition let HQ and the store read the same book.
📦
The import chain lives in spreadsheets
Ordering, booking, loading, clearance and duty payments involve many steps and scattered documents. The system turns them into a stateful document flow: no certificate, no shipment; no file, no clearance.
％
Import tax allocation is a black box
How duty and surcharges land on each vehicle, and what a vehicle really costs, is the most painful number in export business. The system allocates by VIN and feeds unit cost and margin.
💱
Multi-currency, multi-definition
Purchasing in CNY or USD, selling in BRL - every FX move changes the margin. Both definitions and the rate parameters are stored side by side, so cost and price never fight each other.
🏢
Distributors coordinate by chat group
Orders, credit usage, deliveries, receipts and payment terms end up in chat history. The portal lets distributors order and reconcile themselves, while HQ controls the money through one receivables aging view.
🔧
After-sales and parts lack structure
Warranty claims, parts stock and customer follow-up leave no trace, so retention and reputation stay random. Appointment, intake, work order, parts, claim and revisit form one closed loop on the same VIN.
One chain: from group HQ to the overseas customer
Eight steps, one document flow. From order to delivery to repair, every vehicle has a single source of truth.
01
Group purchasing
Order from the Chinese OEM: models, quantities, trade terms and settlement currency, with approvals on record.
Purchase orderModels and trimsPrice approval
02
Export shipping
Booking, container loading, VIN list and arrival forecast. Shipping requires a complete document set - one missing paper stops the shipment.
Knowledge base by role (policies, processes, scripts)
Announcements (recalls, campaigns, notices)
Document folders and library with download log
Work reminders raised automatically on due dates
⚙System administration
Users, roles, permission points, data scope
Data dictionaries maintained by the customer
Custom fields without changing the schema
Data port: templates, export, bulk import
Print templates, layout, global parameters, audit log
Four core strengths
These four decide whether an export business can count its money - and where a generic ERP differs from a localized system.
01
Cross-border tax allocation
Duty, surcharges, freight and insurance are allocated to unit cost by VIN, so prices hold and margins are provable.
Allocated by VIN, not averaged by batch
One unit cost card across quotation and margin
Allocation traceable back to clearance and purchase
02
Multi-currency and FX
Purchasing in CNY/USD, selling in BRL. Rates and tax parameters are maintained centrally, and cost never fights price.
CNY / USD / BRL in parallel
Parameterized FX rates applied system-wide
Tax configuration switches with the region pack
03
Overseas warehouse and inventory
One vehicle, one file on the VIN. From arrival, PDI and inbound to store transfer and delivery, the state has one truth.
Full VIN lifecycle record
Reservation lock and release (quote, order, wholesale)
Aging alerts and visible capital tied up
04
Distributor collaboration
Distributors get their own portal: self-service ordering, credit and terms, delivery confirmation, stock reporting. HQ controls them with credit, deposits, aging and rebates.
Self-service ordering and reconciliation
Credit, deposit and payment-term control
Receipts written off against multiple invoices
Cross-territory and price undercutting audit
Who uses it, and on which device
Roles, permission points and data scope: each person sees only the stores, amounts and actions that belong to them.
Top management
Group-wide KPIs and the management cockpit; every number opens into the underlying document and owner.
HQ functions (import, warehouse, finance)
Shipping and clearance, tax allocation and unit cost, inventory and transfers, receivables and distributor reconciliation.
Store (manager, sales, handover, cashier, service)
The full 4S journey from lead to handover, service intake and work orders, store stock and performance.
Import, inventory, sales, service, finance and system administration with full desktop operations and approvals.
📱
Mobile
Sales follow-up, scan-based stock moves, work order progress and approvals - usable on the floor.
🏢
Distributor portal
B2B ordering platform: place orders, confirm delivery, report stock, check terms and reconcile.
📺
Group wallboard
Cockpit metrics on the wall; click a number to drill into the result set during the morning meeting.
🌐
Brand website
Public site for models, stores and lead capture, feeding the lead pool with automatic assignment.
Region packs: a new country is a new pack, not new code
A region pack defines which licences and customs documents a market needs, which language and currency it uses, and how tax is calculated.
Business code knows packs, not countries. Entering a new market means adding a pack, with no change to business logic - this is why a standard product can be delivered quickly.
Region packpack_br (Brazil)
Languagespt-BR / English / Chinese
CurrencyBRL (CNY and USD kept in parallel)
LicencesINMETRO, ANATEL, IBAMA, ANVISA, MAPA
Customs documentsDI, LI, DUIMP
Shipping documentsINVOICE, PACKING, BL, CO
E-invoiceNF-e (issue, cancel, DANFE)
WarehousesSao Paulo, Campinas, Santos transit
Completeness rules live in the pack too: which documents are mandatory before shipping, before clearance and before registration. Completeness rates and reminder rules follow the pack.
Next: pack_mx (Mexico), pack_ph (Philippines) and more, on the same interface. Country differences never enter the main code base.
Four kinds of customers, one thread
Different backgrounds, the same problem: the cross-border chain and local retail must become one set of books. Below are typical scenarios by customer type, and what changes once the system is in place.
🚢
Chinese vehicle export group
HQ in China · stores overseas
Once volumes grow, the hard part is no longer selling but explaining how much was sold and what each vehicle earned: overseas receipts lag, and customs declarations, freight and duty sit with colleagues in different countries, so the monthly review depends on what each region reports.
Shipping, clearance, tax allocation, inbound, deal and handover form one VIN-linked chain instead of hand-carried spreadsheets
Duty and surcharges are allocated to unit cost by VIN, so margin is known at quotation time
The group cockpit drills from store / model / channel / salesperson down to the document and its owner
🏬
Overseas Chinese-brand 4S chain
Multiple stores · multiple shareholders · one standard
Each store keeps its own spreadsheets and new staff learn from whoever is around; the same model is quoted differently across stores, service orders and parts do not reconcile, and opening a second store means starting over.
Lead to test drive, quotation, deal, payment, invoice, registration and handover - one standard 4S routine across stores
Roles, permission points and data scope: a store manager sees the store, a region sees the region, shareholders see the group
Service appointments, work orders, parts, warranty claims and CSI leave a trail, so a new store copies the process
🤝
Overseas general agent / distributor
Multiple brands · multiple regions · a channel network
Downstream orders come by phone and chat, while credit, terms, delivery confirmations and rebates live in separate books; cross-territory selling and price undercutting surface late, and bad debt only at year end.
The distributor portal handles self-service ordering, credit and terms, delivery confirmation and stock reporting, cutting reconciliation effort in half
Credit, deposit and payment terms work as three layers of control, and receipts are written off against multiple invoices automatically
Rebates settle by policy, cross-territory and below-price sales can be audited, and channel contribution becomes visible
🧾
Vehicle export trader / integrated trade and industry
Import trading first, moving into local retail
Strong on goods and documents, weak on local retail and service: vehicles are sold, but nobody tracks who the customer is, when service is due or whether parts are available.
The import chain (PO, shipping, clearance, document completeness, tax allocation) shares master data with local 4S sales and service
Start with import and inventory only, then open sales and service - modular go-live does not disturb current operations
Customer records and service follow-up turn "a vehicle sold" into "a customer managed"
Rollout path: prove one chain, then replicate
1
Prove one chain
Pick one import lane and one store, run shipping, clearance and allocation, overseas warehouse and store handover end to end, and get the first trustworthy unit cost.
2
Extend to the group
Open the second and third store with the same role and permission templates; group reports roll up automatically instead of collecting files store by store.
3
Replicate to a new country
A new market only adds a region pack (licences, documents, taxes, currency, language) - business logic and habits stay the same.
Scenarios above are grouped by customer type and do not name specific customers; actual references and engagement scope are subject to commercial discussion. The first market in production is Brazil (pack_br).
Step into the demo and open real documents
The demo environment holds a full data set for an overseas Chinese-brand 4S group: from domestic shipping, clearance and tax allocation, warehouse transfers, to store deals, handover and service work orders - all linked upstream and downstream.
Pick an account by role (one click on the login page)
Top managementManagement cockpit, group reports, cross-module approvals
The questions that come up most often in partner and channel discussions.
Is this a standard product or custom development?
A standard product. Country differences are extracted into pluggable region packs (licences, documents, taxes, currency, language), so delivery means switching a pack rather than changing business code. Customer-specific fields use custom fields and customer-specific options use data dictionaries, both maintained by the customer.
Which languages and currencies are supported?
The interface supports Chinese, English and Portuguese; accounting supports CNY, USD and BRL in parallel with parameterized FX rates. The default language and currency of a market are defined by its region pack.
Can it go down to a single vehicle?
Yes, and the VIN is the thread. Shipping, clearance, allocation, PDI, inbound, transfer, deal, handover, repair and warranty share the same vehicle record, and every step links to its upstream and downstream documents.
How do distributors collaborate?
Distributors get their own portal account: self-service ordering, credit and terms, delivery confirmation and stock reporting. HQ side generates receivables and reconciliation automatically, settles rebates by policy, and can open cases for cross-territory or below-price sales.
Why does after-sales need evidence and CSI?
Parts and warranty disputes are the biggest risk in overseas operations. Evidence at four stages (intake, work, completion, handover), four kinds of sign-off, plus CSI and NPS make every repair traceable, appealable and improvable.
What are the deployment requirements?
PHP 8.0 or newer (8.3 recommended) with SQLite runs it, including subdirectory deployments without URL rewriting and without extra middleware. A single ordinary cloud host is enough for demos and pilots, and a production database can be adopted later without changing the business layer.
Can the demo data be reset?
Yes. The demo environment offers a one-click reset back to factory data, which makes repeated demos for different customers and roles easy.
Book a 30-minute hands-on walkthrough
We will walk this demo environment along the real chain - shipping, clearance and allocation, overseas warehouse, store handover, after-sales - and then calculate taxes and pricing for the country you plan to enter (its region pack).
Scan the QR code or call us directly