(Yicai Global) Feb. 9 -- Chinese automaker BYD Co. has teamed up with Maodou, a car leasing and sales website run by Beijing-based Chehaoduo Group, to sell its vehicles online.

Maodou will use its consumer data to help the Guangdong-based firm explore New Retail and better understand buyer needs, financial news outlet Securities Daily reported today. Shoppers will be able to start driving their cars after putting down a 10-percent deposit.

New Retail has become a key term in China's progressing consumer economy as of late. E-commerce stalwart Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Chairman Jack Ma coined the term in 2016, and describes it as "the integration of online, offline, logistics and data across a single value chain." Ma has pioneered the strategy and his firm has 'vehicle vending machines' in Shanghai and Nanjing.

China was crowned the world's largest auto market for the ninth straight year in 2017. Its aims to enhance links between makers and distributors led to new vehicle sales climbing 3 percent on the year to almost 28.9 million units, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

Maodou was founded in October and allows customers to lease vehicles with small down payments and then automatically take ownership of the car at the end of the term. More than 30 manufacturers offer 110 models on the platform. Its parent, formerly known as Guazi, is an online marketplace for used cars. It secured USD600 million in B-round funding in October and changed its company name to Chehaoduo, but kept the second-hand sales website under the Guazi brand.