A few days ago, the enterprise name declaration and registration announcement released by the State Administration for Market Regulation showed that Tesla Insurance Brokerage (China) Co., Ltd. appeared in the list, which means that Tesla may apply to register an insurance brokerage company in China again. It is understood that Tesla Insurance Brokerage (China) Co., Ltd. has a registered capital of 50 million RMB, and the business scope is insurance brokerage business. Shareholder information shows that the company is wholly-owned by Tesla Insurance Services Co., Ltd., and the legal representative and chairman are both Zhu Xiaotong.
Tesla is the first pioneer in the new energy vehicle industry to carry out insurance business. As early as 2016, Tesla launched the InsureMyTesla plan in Australia and Hong Kong, China. In 2017, the business expanded to North America. In August 2019, Tesla officially launched the insurance business in California, the United States. In August 2020, Tesla registered and established Tesla Insurance Services Co., Ltd. in China, which is wholly-owned by Tesla Motors Hong Kong Co., Ltd. The legal representative, chairman and general manager are all Zhu Xiaotong, who was then the global vice president and head of Greater China of Tesla. The business scope is insurance brokerage business, and the registered address of the company is on the second floor of 5000 Jiangshan Road, Lingang New Area, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, that is, the location of Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory. However, due to the delay in the approval of its insurance brokerage business license, the company issued a simple cancellation notice in March this year, and then the enterprise status changed from existence to cancellation.
In addition to Tesla, domestic new energy vehicle enterprises are also frequently making moves in the layout of the auto insurance market. On May 6, the National Financial Regulatory Administration made a public reply to the request of Shenzhen BYD Property Insurance Co., Ltd. on the approval of the terms and rates of compulsory traffic accident liability insurance for motor vehicles, agreeing that BYD Property Insurance can use the national unified terms of compulsory traffic accident liability insurance, basic insurance rates and corresponding rate floating coefficients in Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong (excluding Qingdao), Henan, Hunan, Guangdong, Shaanxi and Shenzhen areas.
The launch of auto insurance business by BYD Insurance marks that the first property insurance company wholly-owned by a vehicle enterprise has officially stepped into the new energy auto insurance market. On May 13, the first policy of BYD Insurance was issued, involving the 24-model Dolphin Glory Edition 420km Free Edition, and the official guide price is 112,800 RMB. Currently, the total premium is 3,900 RMB.
The greatest significance of new energy vehicle enterprises establishing insurance brokerage companies is that they can develop customized products for the vehicles they produce, and at the same time, the money from selling insurance products also “keeps the benefits within their own hands”. In addition, in terms of the difficulty of license approval and operation difficulty, establishing an intermediary institution is also a relatively simple and easy path for vehicle enterprises.
In the US market, the insurance products launched by Tesla are often strongly bound to the users’ driving data, and the premiums will be calculated according to the users’ driving behavior scores. It is understood that this safety system will be evaluated according to the owner’s driving habits. After the first launch, it will have a “90-point” basic safety score. When the owner’s score is higher than this score, the monthly premium will decrease. Musk has publicly stated that the owners who score above the average in the safety scoring system can get a 20%-40% premium savings, and the owners with the highest score can get a 30%-60% premium savings.
