ByteDance’s Used Car Business Project Under Long-Term Preparation

According to sources close to ByteDance, the company’s used car project has been initiated internally following a long period of preparation, Tmtpost reported on Tuesday. The name of the project is likely to be “Dongdong Haoche,” so as to distinguish it from the company’s car information app Dongchedi.

According to domestic business information inquiry platform, in April 2021, Chongqing Wanxiang Youche Technology Co., Ltd. completed its registration in the Jiangbei District of Chongqing. In addition, Li Fei, the legal representative, is also responsible for Beijing Dongchedi Technology Co., Ltd. The business scope of the former includes the “sales of new cars and used cars and distribution of used cars.” Its final beneficiary includes Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance.

Six months later, ByteDance added foreign investment through its affiliated company Beijing Youzhuju Network Technology Co., Ltd., and wholly owned the Yuechi Qianlu Youche Automobile Sales & Service Co., Ltd., which was registered in Guang’an, Sichuan province.

This company, whose business scope covers “new cars and used car sales, used car distribution and second-hand economy,” has a registered capital of 1 million yuan ($156,774). Its legal representative, Li Han, is associated with 12 enterprises. He also serves as the legal representative of Beijing Guagualong Technology Co., Ltd., ByteDance’s top business venture within the K12 education industry.

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In January this year, Li Han once again became the legal representative of Chongqing Kongjian Bianhua Technology Co., Ltd., and its business scope appeared the same as that of a company called Yuechi Qianlu.

In 2021, ByteDance’s total revenue totaled about $58 billion. However, Zhang Yiming seems to have been unsatisfied. The year-on-year growth rate of its revenue in 2021 was only 70%, which is slightly inferior to the rate of 111% in 2020. Chen Duye, Vice President of Marketing at ByteDance’s marketing service brand Ocean Engine, once revealed: “We want to shift from traffic-driven to business-driven.”

ByteDance’s investment in education, real estate and the used car industry in recent years seems to confirm the internet company’s pursuit of physical business.