(Yicai) June 5 -- Cash-strapped electronics retail giant Gome Holdings Group has been considering making a foray into the automotive retail business to improve its operating situation.

Gome’s vehicle experience pavilion project, operated by an auto sales unit in Tianjin, has received several partnership intentions from over 10 Chinese and foreign carmakers since its launch in mid-May, Yicai learned from an insider at the Beijing-based company. The project has no direct relation to Gome’s listed unit Gome Retail Holdings.

The pavilion will sell new energy vehicles, established luxury brands and fossil fuel-powered cars from Chinese marques and joint ventures between Chinese and foreign carmakers, the insider noted. Gome has already completed the design of the pavilion and developed an e-commerce system for car dealers.

Gome is seeking to hire franchisers nationwide to get the pavilion project started, the insider said, adding that franchisers will receive various rights and interests, including accessing the supply chains of Gome’s car business partners and livestreaming sales broadcasting channels.

There are opportunities for Gome to seize in the automotive retail business, mainly because traditional sales, spare parts, service, and survey stores are no longer car buyers’ only choice, as NEVs changed user consumption habits, Xu Chenhua, co-founder of Youche Yihou Information Technology, told Yicai.

However, Gome will face fierce competition in the automotive retail business because of relatively saturated NEV sales channels and the arrival of new rivals, such as the innovative retail channels of Xiaomi Auto and Huawei Technologies’ Aito, Xu said.

NEVs will likely be sold in supermarkets in the next stage, just like it happened to home appliances, Xu noted. After all, NEVs do not need as many after-sales maintenance services as fuel cars, he added.

Gome was once a leading Chinese offline retailer of home appliances, which prompted its actual controller to become the richest man in China at the time. The company’s market share started squeezing with the gradual rise of e-commerce.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione