Analysis Report on Automotive Products: Understanding the Car Emperor

1. IntroductionThis week, we will analyze automotive-related products, focusing on competitive products from forums and used cars.2. AutomotiveUnderstanding the Car EmperorNext, we will break down the features of Understanding the Car Emperor and summarize its users and usage scenarios.| 1 ConclusionTo begin with, the positioning and scenarios of Tmall Car Maintenance:

Positioning

Target Users and Scenarios

A one-stop automotive information and service platform under ByteDance, with a “content + transaction” closed loop, focusing on full lifecycle services for automobiles.

Core users: First-time car buyers with limited budgets seeking cost-effectiveness, new energy vehicle enthusiasts (53% of new energy users) needing maintenance, repairs, and community engagement, as well as enthusiasts interested in car reviews and technical interpretations. Typical scenarios: Browsing personalized automotive news, short videos (such as “Winter and Summer Tests”, “Fuel Consumption Challenges”), participating in community discussions, sharing driving experiences, and solving car maintenance issues. Key features: Community productsEstimated revenue: 7 billion

| 2 Development History

Time Period	Details
2017-2018	Key events: In August 2017, the Understanding the Car Emperor APP was officially launched, featuring 3D car viewing and automotive short video functions. In 2018, the automotive channels of Toutiao and Xigua Video were rebranded as Understanding the Car Emperor channels, and the Understanding the Car Number and real test features were launched. Development characteristics: Primarily focused on automotive information and basic content, relying on ByteDance products for traffic, gradually building its own content ecosystem. Major changes: Transitioned from a pure automotive information APP to a platform that allows creators to join and features real test content, laying the foundation for future content explosion.
2019-2021	Key events: In October 2019, the automotive live streaming business was launched. In 2020, the brand was upgraded, the slogan changed to “Honestly, you need to understand the Car Emperor”, and features like Understanding the Car Score and exclusive reviews were launched, along with a live car festival. In 2021, the used car channel and Sell Car APP were launched, and automotive performance testing events were held. Development characteristics: Content became increasingly diverse, with live streaming, reviews, and car selection tools, leading to a surge in user and dealer registrations, moving towards a “viewing + buying” direction. Major changes: Transformed from a pure content platform to a prototype of “content + transaction”, becoming the largest automotive live streaming platform in the country within 10 months, and established connections with Douyin and Toutiao.
2022-2023	Key events: In 2022, the first offline used car store was opened in Chongqing, and a new energy vehicle owner range query was launched, changing the dealer payment model to a commission-based system (CPS). In 2023, the used car business was integrated with Douyin, providing 5 billion in traffic support, and Understanding the Car Emperor was spun off from ByteDance, upgrading its used car services. Development characteristics: Combining online and offline efforts, focusing on new energy and used cars, managing community spam, and shifting the business model towards actual transactions. Major changes: Completed the closed loop of “online content + offline transactions”, transitioning from a subsidiary product of ByteDance to an independently operated platform, with used car services covering over 350 cities.
2024-2025	Key events: In 2024, the scale of automotive performance testing will be expanded, adding off-road and track tests, and releasing an active safety testing system. In 2025, a national intelligent service platform for vehicle trade-in will be launched, with over 300,000 used car sources. Development characteristics: Focusing on performance data and user services, with continuous growth in new energy content and used car business, and increasingly standardized testing criteria. Major changes: Expanded the testing system from conventional tests to multi-dimensional scenarios, launching intelligent testing equipment, and streamlining the entire trade-in process.

| 3 User DemographicsUnderstanding the Car Emperor primarily attracts male users, with the main age group being 30-39 years old, who are interested in automotive-related information.| 4 Core Function ModulesThe core functions of the software best reflect who the target users and scenarios are, who it is designed for, and what problems it solves. Here, we only count the core functions to analyze the target users.Function Module Diagram

Primary Function	Secondary Function
Home	Recommended information flow (images/text/videos/live), owner transaction price inquiry, local dealer discounts, popular model rankings, special events (car show live)
Car Friends Circle	Circles divided by brand/model/region, post interactions (text/images/videos), Q&A section, offline event registration, hot topic discussions
Car Selection	Model database (data for all brands), model comparison (size/power/configuration), AI intelligent car selection, parameter configuration inquiry, 3D/VR panoramic car viewing, car purchase calculator, photo recognition for cars
Used Cars	Source filtering (brand/price/mileage/age), vehicle inspection reports (maintenance/accidents), online price inquiries, used car comparisons, local source recommendations
My Profile	Personal information management, saved content (models/articles/videos), creation center, message notifications, settings and account management

| 5 Function AnalysisWe will mainly look at the APP side of Understanding the Car Emperor.| 5.1 HomeThe home page displays popular news and other content.Highlights of the home page design:

• The exclusive name is not particularly well chosen,placed in a relatively important secondary position,users may not immediately understand what it is,and the difference from recommendations, exclusives, and hot topics,is not as clear as popular car reviews.

• As an information platform, popular car-relatednews can be made into a tag style.

• The home page is more about PGC content, with dedicatedexperts sharing well-produced content, soit uses a waterfall flow to display content.

| 5.2 Car Friends CircleDiscussion content related to cars among friends.Highlights of the Car Friends Circle design:

• Similar naming issues as the home page, userscannot clearly distinguish the differencesbetween them.

• The Car Friends Circle contains more UGC content,with many users posting pure text content,similar to a forum, unlike the more image and video-optimized PGC content on the home page.

| 5.3 Car SelectionCar selection mall.Highlights of the car selection design:

• Still the previous issue, the title requiresuser thought, and users cannot immediatelysee what the difference is.

| 5.4 Used CarsAll content related to used cars, including the mall and inquiries.Highlights of the used car design:

• This section features used car news, while the top is aselling mall, which may confuse users about themodule’s positioning: is it a mall ornews?It would be better to design a dedicated mall module for car selectionand keep this as a news recommendation.

| 5.5 My ProfileThe My Profile module is for basic information display.Highlights of the My Profile design:

• Mixing news content and e-commerce contentcould be improved by learning from Xiaohongshu,integrating e-commerce content into news,or if aiming to develop e-commerce content,it would be better to consolidate it into a separate module.

| 6 Revenue Model and Payment PointsUnderstanding the Car Emperor primarily relies on advertising revenue and used car transaction fees.Estimated revenue:Based on publicly available financial reports and broker predictions, the annual revenue is projected to be around 7 billion.| 7 User FeedbackFrom comments on social media, users are primarily concerned about the pricing of used cars on Understanding the Car Emperor.In conclusion, this analysis report on Understanding the Car Emperor’s products ends here. If you find it helpful, please follow, like, and share!