Interview with Baturu Zeng Wangui: Completing the cycle of transformation. An automotive parts "master" discovers a new rhythm for digitalized procurement

[Original Content by Ebrun] The trillion-dollar Chinese automotive aftermarket is never short of problems - low standardization of parts, long distribution chain, high trust costs. Despite the influx of internet players over the years, no perfect business model has been successfully implemented. Founded in 2013, Baturu entered the industry chain through the "Auto Parts Store" platform for all vehicle parts, and has accumulated nearly 1 billion yuan in financing. Investors include leading capital such as Warburg Pincus, Zhongding, and China International Capital Corporation. However, behind the high revenue is the huge pressure of heavy asset self-operation. Based on in-depth analysis of the trends in the automotive aftermarket and years of business accumulation, Baturu took the initiative to make a strategic upgrade in 2020 - an automotive parts digital infrastructure platform. It has transformed the data, systems, supply chain, and operations accumulated through self-operation over the years into a "SaaS + Supply Chain" solution to serve all entities in the automotive aftermarket. The transaction scale has increased by 30% in the past two years.

During the Spring Guangzhou Fair in 2026, Zheng Min, the chairman of Ebrun Power and the director of Ebrun Think Tank, led a team to visit Zeng Wangui, the founder of Baturu, and further discussed the exploration of the pioneer of the automotive parts industry internet.

The following is a summary of the conversation, edited and organized.

Ebrun Think Tank: What is the core business of Baturu at present? How is it different from the "auto parts store" it was in the early days?

Baturu: The core business now can be summed up in one sentence: "SaaS + Supply Chain Management Services". For example, the 4S group business that has grown very rapidly in the past two years. We help large B customers such as 4S groups and large repair chains manage their after-sales supply chain - parts, oil and electricity, maintenance, premium products, workshop auxiliary materials, all connected in a complete chain. But we do not get involved in transactions. The other business segments are the same. We mainly focus on outputting capabilities and providing solutions.

The "auto parts store" in the early days was different. Although the revenue was very high, it was based on self-manufacturing, warehouse construction, and capital investment. Our own affairs were too heavy. Later, after we made adjustments, although the revenue compared to before slightly decreased, the health level was completely different from before, and the transaction scale grew rapidly.

Ebrun Think Tank: Why did you abandon the "sales" model that you were most familiar with and shift to "supply chain management services"?

Baturu Zeng Wangui: It's not that we gave up selling goods; rather, we are doing supply chain management in a different way. There are two reasons. The first is accounting. Operating a business on our own seems to have higher gross profit, but you need to stock up, have a 前置 warehouse， and with a low turnover rate， the capital cost and inventory loss quickly eat up the profits. No matter how you calculate， it's not profitable. Another approach is not to stock up ourselves, which has higher cost and operational efficiency， but then the platform's control power would be weakened. And this can only proceed smoothly if your suppliers can make money.

The second reason is the nature. We were able to build such a complex accessory platform. The fundamental thing is that we established standardization， including data standards， platform operation standards， etc. With these experiences， the large B customers in the market also have strong pain points and demands for their own supply chain management.

So shifting to management services means outputting our standardization capabilities and data capabilities. Customers use our solutions to manage the supply chain， and we charge service fees. At the same time， we can integrate the most high-quality and concentrated traffic in the industrial chain and conduct reverse centralized procurement from the upstream to gain supply chain advantages.

Ebrun Think Tank: Why is the ice layer so thick in the Internetization of the auto parts industry?

Baturu Zeng Wangui: The standardization level is insufficient, there are too many differences, and the scale effect cannot be accumulated. This is the fundamental reason.

But the more direct bottleneck is the cost of trust. China's auto parts supply chain is very strong, there is no shortage of high-quality parts, but what is lacking is a trust mechanism that makes users dare to use. My friend in Wuhan had a Crown car, the lifting motor broke down. The original Toyota part cost over 1700 yuan, I helped him find a matching factory and it cost only 100 yuan, with excellent quality. His first reaction was "Can this thing work?" I said then you should buy an 800 yuan one, he really bought the more expensive one. If you trust me, then you dare to use products that cost several hundred yuan. If you don't trust me, then I can sell you a 3000 yuan product and you won't dare to use it.

Another example. When we were operating on our own, we had very strict quality control and the return rate was extremely low, but the speed of scale expansion was very slow. Later, we realized that the inertia of perception is sometimes more difficult to break than the facts. A person has been very proficient in a "false" environment for a long time, and when facing "truth", they will instinctively doubt. This is not a product problem, but a cognitive problem.

Therefore, the Internetization of the auto parts industry, technology, logistics, and data construction are difficult, but the more difficult part is how to establish trust at an extremely low cost. If this bottleneck is not broken, all models will be difficult.

Ebrun Think Tank: Is there any opportunity for cross-border e-commerce and overseas expansion in the auto parts industry?

Baturu Zeng Wangui: Definitely. Because we are currently in a period of global supply chain restructuring. China's supply chain is very strong, while the infrastructure for the overseas aftermarket is generally lagging behind, presenting clear opportunities. Our overseas business has been well-planned and considered from the very beginning. We started operating in Southeast Asia in 2018, and at that time, the form was more like a single-point trial of platform capabilities. Now, it is still driven by overall solutions, but the infrastructure has been fully AI-ized, dataized, and systematized. What we are doing now is using China's digitalization capabilities and supply chain capabilities to restructure and connect with the global aftermarket. On one hand, we provide digital solutions to overseas local enterprises - from AI prediction, intelligent scheduling, to data-driven decision-making engines. This is not just a simple tool; it helps local industries complete the transition from "experience-driven" to "data and algorithm-driven". On the other hand, China has the most complete and fastest response aftermarket supply chain system in the world, but it has long lacked efficient overseas expansion carriers. We are that carrier. We integrate high-quality factories and channel partners, not through scattered exports, but in a "packaging of capabilities, integration of services" manner to go out together, allowing Chinese manufacturing to move from "selling goods" to "establishing roots". Therefore, we have connected the two ends of overseas expansion through digital infrastructure. One end enables the world to use China's digital capabilities, and the other end enables China to use the growth opportunities of the global aftermarket.

Ebrun Think Tank: Has Batulru made any attempts in the field of AI? What are the future exploration directions?

Baturu Zeng Wangui: Yes. Although I myself come from the industry that deals with basic tasks (accessories), I am an extremely curious person who enjoys learning new things. Even when I first started Baturu, the positioning was very clear. We are not simply doing "accessory trading", but using the Internet and technology to reshape the transaction and service efficiency of the industry. Currently, the platform's transactions, operations, etc. have fully applied AI. Additionally, we are upgrading AI from a "efficiency enhancement tool" to an industry-wide cognitive engine. By combining our accumulation and understanding of accessories, vehicle models, and repair logic, we extend the inclusive nature of the technology from the B-end to the C-end. For example, we integrate our decoding capabilities with the diagnostic capabilities of AI. When a vehicle has a problem, AI not only decodes and diagnoses, but also automatically generates a complete repair plan including labor costs and accessory prices. From the inspection at the dealership to the purchase of spare parts, and finally to completing the repair, this complex repair chain becomes as simple, fast, and predictable as ordering takeout. Behind this is the "post-market accessory large model" we are building and a series of intelligent entities such as sales, procurement, and operations. Combined with the latest reasoning, Agent, etc. technologies, we enable AI to go from being "usable" to providing "deep empowerment" to the industry, generating quantifiable industrial value at each transaction and service node.

Ebrun Think Tank's viewpoint: Baturu has been engaged in the automotive parts industry's internet business for ten years. "Old Master" Zeng Wangui provided the industry with a new solution for digitalized procurement services. Deep value chain, overseas industrial expansion, industrial AI - after undergoing a complete cycle, Baturu has found the value rhythm for the industrial internet and has once again led the way in the direction of automotive parts digitalized supply chain procurement platform. At home, it has adjusted to become a procurement manager for large B enterprises, avoiding dealing with goods and not providing advance funds, relying on supply chain management capabilities, procurement platforms, and supply chain data to earn service fees; overseas, Baturu uses the advantages of the Chinese supply chain and platform infrastructure to directly launch attacks. AI exploration: He began to use AI to connect the diagnosis, working hours, and parts price chains, making "fast but not urgent" preparations to capture the opportunities of C-end AI transformation.