Couple rolls with auto industry boom
By Feng Jianmin |
September 2, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SOME people marvel at cars, other people malign them. But there's no doubt that the proliferation of automobiles on the streets of Shanghai is a boon for people who maintain them.
Wu Yi and her husband are among those making a living off a car boom that has made China the biggest car market in the world. The couple, both 30, operates a street-side repair garage and car wash in a city that has an estimated 2.5 million vehicles.
Their little business doesn't try to compete with sophisticated car maintenance shops and fancy modern car washes. Rather, their enterprise functions more as a low-cost handyman where car owners can have their vehicles washed, their tires changed or their brakes adjusted.
Wu doesn't have the funds to buy sophisticated equipment, such as automatic car washers that recycle water or substitute chemical cleaners for water. As a result, shops like theirs often draw criticism for excess water consumption in a city committed to become greener.
The shop may not be environmentally friendly, but it's a friendly haven for motorists needing some quick maintenance at a low price.
Hard struggle
It is a mid-summer day. Rain is splashing in from the shop's street front. Wu, standing in the entrance, watches two workers replacing a flat tire in the rain.
She and her husband don't own a car. They are migrants still struggling to move up Shanghai's economic food chain.
They came to Shanghai 13 years ago from a small town in the poorer inland province of Anhui. They looked at the big city as the ticket to their dreams but admit it's been a hard struggle.
"My husband's father ran a small factory making construction materials," Wu said. "He chose to leave the factory and seek his own future in Shanghai."
Wu's husband has worked in a tire factory for two years. Then, borrowing some 50,000 yuan (US$7,342) from his father, he opened a small car maintenance shop.
Wu quit her job in a radio assembly factory to manage the new shop.
"I was earning a good salary at the time," she said of her factory work. "But as a family, we decided to work together."
Their shop now comprises two rooms - one for storing tires and other equipment; the other a small garage for drive-in services. The couple employs six people who can adjust brakes, change tires and check on basic engine functions.
Wu, her husband and their son live in a small room in an old and shabby neighborhood nearby. The rent costs them 300 yuan a month.
For the business, they pay 8,000 yuan a month to rent the shop, and another 20,000 yuan on salaries, equipment and other overhead costs. Some months the business loses money, especially during the period when the roads were blocked for construction of a nearby Metro station. But sometimes their net profit reaches 8,000 yuan a month, when the weather is fair.
Changing whims
Small neighborhood businesses like theirs are subject to the changing whims of authorities, especially when city officials receive complaints about their operations from residents. During the World Expo period, many neighborhood car washes were forced to close in the name of city tidiness.
Due to the high costs and lack of public profile, more eco-friendly car-washing methods that use chemical washes - sometimes known as "waterless car washes" - are few in Shanghai.
Chemicals used to clean a car may cost as much as 3 yuan. At the same time, many customers are wary about the safety of the chemicals, according to one person in the industry.
The government has not yet taken any active role in regulating the industry or encouraging the use of more water-saving technologies.
"We solve people's urgent problems at lower prices," Wu said. "People visit professional car shops for regular maintenance anyway."
Small profits, quick returns. That's Wu's business motto.
Neighborhood shops like Wu's usually charge between 10 yuan and 15 yuan to wash a car, and between 20 yuan and 30 yuan for a wax polish. That compares with a fee of 30 yuan for a wash at one of the "waterless" cleaners and as much as 500 yuan for a top-quality polish.
Business is not an impersonal matter for Wu. She said she knows almost all of their customers by name and much of their business comes from word of mouth.
The couple is aware that a small business can seem disruptive to neighborhood residents, so they try to keep the noise down and their presence subdued.
"We think it's important to be helpful and friendly to people, no matter whether it's our neighbors, our customers, our friends or our employees," Wu said.
"My husband is a very nice person. He is willing to mend tires even when customers call him at midnight," she said. "I think that's why we have stayed in business here for 11 years."
In summer, they work 10 hours a day. Sometimes their customers are pretty well-heeled.
"Some drive expensive cars," Wu said. "Well, they earn it, so they deserve it. Sometimes we see customers returning from their offices at 10pm and then setting off back to work at 7 in the morning. They have money, but don't have time to enjoy. Wealth doesn't always make people happy."
Wu said she and her husband are content to lead simple lives. They have a son in primary school in Shanghai and parents back in Anhui that they still help support by sending home 10,000 yuan a year.
Looking to the future, Wu wants to expand their working space to accommodate more cars.
"We want to stay in Shanghai," Wu said. "It promises a better future for our son. We need to earn more to have a stable life here."
Wu Yi and her husband are among those making a living off a car boom that has made China the biggest car market in the world. The couple, both 30, operates a street-side repair garage and car wash in a city that has an estimated 2.5 million vehicles.
Their little business doesn't try to compete with sophisticated car maintenance shops and fancy modern car washes. Rather, their enterprise functions more as a low-cost handyman where car owners can have their vehicles washed, their tires changed or their brakes adjusted.
Wu doesn't have the funds to buy sophisticated equipment, such as automatic car washers that recycle water or substitute chemical cleaners for water. As a result, shops like theirs often draw criticism for excess water consumption in a city committed to become greener.
The shop may not be environmentally friendly, but it's a friendly haven for motorists needing some quick maintenance at a low price.
Hard struggle
It is a mid-summer day. Rain is splashing in from the shop's street front. Wu, standing in the entrance, watches two workers replacing a flat tire in the rain.
She and her husband don't own a car. They are migrants still struggling to move up Shanghai's economic food chain.
They came to Shanghai 13 years ago from a small town in the poorer inland province of Anhui. They looked at the big city as the ticket to their dreams but admit it's been a hard struggle.
"My husband's father ran a small factory making construction materials," Wu said. "He chose to leave the factory and seek his own future in Shanghai."
Wu's husband has worked in a tire factory for two years. Then, borrowing some 50,000 yuan (US$7,342) from his father, he opened a small car maintenance shop.
Wu quit her job in a radio assembly factory to manage the new shop.
"I was earning a good salary at the time," she said of her factory work. "But as a family, we decided to work together."
Their shop now comprises two rooms - one for storing tires and other equipment; the other a small garage for drive-in services. The couple employs six people who can adjust brakes, change tires and check on basic engine functions.
Wu, her husband and their son live in a small room in an old and shabby neighborhood nearby. The rent costs them 300 yuan a month.
For the business, they pay 8,000 yuan a month to rent the shop, and another 20,000 yuan on salaries, equipment and other overhead costs. Some months the business loses money, especially during the period when the roads were blocked for construction of a nearby Metro station. But sometimes their net profit reaches 8,000 yuan a month, when the weather is fair.
Changing whims
Small neighborhood businesses like theirs are subject to the changing whims of authorities, especially when city officials receive complaints about their operations from residents. During the World Expo period, many neighborhood car washes were forced to close in the name of city tidiness.
Due to the high costs and lack of public profile, more eco-friendly car-washing methods that use chemical washes - sometimes known as "waterless car washes" - are few in Shanghai.
Chemicals used to clean a car may cost as much as 3 yuan. At the same time, many customers are wary about the safety of the chemicals, according to one person in the industry.
The government has not yet taken any active role in regulating the industry or encouraging the use of more water-saving technologies.
"We solve people's urgent problems at lower prices," Wu said. "People visit professional car shops for regular maintenance anyway."
Small profits, quick returns. That's Wu's business motto.
Neighborhood shops like Wu's usually charge between 10 yuan and 15 yuan to wash a car, and between 20 yuan and 30 yuan for a wax polish. That compares with a fee of 30 yuan for a wash at one of the "waterless" cleaners and as much as 500 yuan for a top-quality polish.
Business is not an impersonal matter for Wu. She said she knows almost all of their customers by name and much of their business comes from word of mouth.
The couple is aware that a small business can seem disruptive to neighborhood residents, so they try to keep the noise down and their presence subdued.
"We think it's important to be helpful and friendly to people, no matter whether it's our neighbors, our customers, our friends or our employees," Wu said.
"My husband is a very nice person. He is willing to mend tires even when customers call him at midnight," she said. "I think that's why we have stayed in business here for 11 years."
In summer, they work 10 hours a day. Sometimes their customers are pretty well-heeled.
"Some drive expensive cars," Wu said. "Well, they earn it, so they deserve it. Sometimes we see customers returning from their offices at 10pm and then setting off back to work at 7 in the morning. They have money, but don't have time to enjoy. Wealth doesn't always make people happy."
Wu said she and her husband are content to lead simple lives. They have a son in primary school in Shanghai and parents back in Anhui that they still help support by sending home 10,000 yuan a year.
Looking to the future, Wu wants to expand their working space to accommodate more cars.
"We want to stay in Shanghai," Wu said. "It promises a better future for our son. We need to earn more to have a stable life here."
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