JP7526625B2 - Vehicle management device and vehicle management method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle management device and a vehicle management method for managing used vehicles that can be sold or rented.

A device of this type is known that allows used vehicles traded in by car dealerships to be put up for auction at car auctions through a simple user interface operation (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-94643 A

However, when a used vehicle is put up for auction at an automobile auction site, the profits may be lower than when the used vehicle is sold or rented in a store. In such a situation, it is preferable to sell or rent the used vehicle in a store, but it is difficult to determine whether to sell or rent the vehicle in a store.

A vehicle management device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a price acquisition unit that acquires the purchase price of a used vehicle purchased by a vehicle dealer, a price setting unit that sets a first selling price of the used vehicle at the present time, a selling price calculation unit that calculates a second selling price of the used vehicle at a predetermined time when the used vehicle is rented out from the present time to a predetermined time in the future, a rental price calculation unit that calculates a rental price when the used vehicle is rented out to a user from the present time to the predetermined time, and an output unit that outputs information including the rental price calculated by the rental price calculation unit. The selling price calculation unit calculates the second selling price based on the user's reliability based on the user's manner of use of rental vehicles that the user has rented in the past. The rental price calculation unit calculates the rental price based on the first selling price set by the price setting unit and the second selling price calculated by the selling price calculation unit.

A vehicle management method according to another aspect of the present invention includes a computer-implemented acquisition step of acquiring a purchase price of a used vehicle purchased by a vehicle dealer, a setting step of setting a first selling price of the used vehicle at the present time, a first calculation step of calculating a second selling price of the used vehicle at a predetermined time when the used vehicle is rented from the present time to a predetermined time in the future, a second calculation step of calculating a rental price when the used vehicle is rented to a user from the present time to the predetermined time, and an output step of outputting information including the calculated rental price. In the first calculation step, the second selling price is calculated based on the user's reliability based on the manner of use of a rental vehicle rented by the user in the past. In the second calculation step, the rental price is calculated based on the set first selling price and the calculated second selling price.

The present invention makes it easy to decide whether to sell or rent a used vehicle.

1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle management system including a vehicle management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a vehicle management system including a vehicle management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the rental period of a used vehicle and the post-rental sales price. A diagram to explain the relationship between the current selling price, the selling price after lending, and the profit from lending. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a rental price calculation process executed by the server device. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a corrected expected sales price curve.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 6. A vehicle management device according to an embodiment of the present invention constitutes part of a vehicle management system that manages vehicles traded in by vehicle dealers, such as automobile dealerships.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle management system including a vehicle management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle management system 100 according to this embodiment includes a first dealer terminal 10 owned by a first dealer 1, a second dealer terminal 20 owned by a second dealer 2, and a server device 30 owned by an entity 3 that provides vehicle management services. The vehicle management device according to this embodiment is mainly composed of the server device 30. The vehicle management system 100 further includes an auction operator terminal 40 owned by an auction operator 4 that operates and manages automobile auctions. Automobile auctions include vehicle auctions held between vehicle dealers as well as vehicle auctions held between vehicle dealers and individuals.

The first dealer 1 and the second dealer 2 are vehicle dealers, for example, vehicle dealerships. In addition to selling vehicles, the first dealer 1 and the second dealer 2 provide vehicle rental services. Vehicle rental services include car leasing, car sharing, and rental car services. Car leasing is a service in which a user can rent a vehicle for a long period of time, such as one or several years, by paying a usage fee at predetermined intervals, such as monthly. On the other hand, car sharing and rental car services are services in which a vehicle is rented to a user on an hourly or daily basis. Car sharing involves unmanned vehicle rental using a pre-registered IC card or the like, and charges the user according to the time and distance of use (mileage) of the vehicle when the vehicle is returned. Rental car services differ from car sharing in that the vehicle is rented in person by a store clerk.

The business entity 3 may be an automobile manufacturer that manufactures and sells automobiles, or an affiliated company that manages the sales of used vehicles manufactured by the automobile manufacturer, and provides a vehicle management service that manages the sales and rental of inventory vehicles owned by the first dealer 1 and the second dealer 2. The vehicle management service according to this embodiment can be applied to any of car leasing, car sharing, rental car services, etc., but an example of application to car leasing will be described below.

The first dealer 1 owns a number of vehicles, including vehicle 1a, as stock vehicles. Vehicle 1a is a used vehicle procured by and owned by the first dealer 1. The second dealer 2 similarly owns a number of vehicles, including used vehicles, as stock vehicles.

For convenience, FIG. 1 illustrates two dealer terminals, the first dealer terminal 10 of the first dealer 1 and the second dealer terminal 20 of the second dealer 2, but the vehicle management system may include any number of dealer terminals. For example, the vehicle management system may include dealer terminals owned by dealers other than the first dealer 1 and the second dealer 2. For convenience, FIG. 1 illustrates one auction operator terminal 40, but the vehicle management system may include any number of auction operator terminals. For example, the vehicle management system may include an auction operator terminal owned by an auction operator other than the auction operator 4.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a vehicle management system 100 equipped with a vehicle management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, a first dealer terminal 10, a second dealer terminal 20, a server device 30, and an auction operator terminal 40 are connected to a communication network 5 such as a wireless communication network, an Internet network, or a telephone communication line. The first dealer terminal 10, the second dealer terminal 20, the server device 30, and the auction operator terminal 40 can communicate with each other via the communication network 5.

The first dealer terminal 10 is configured as a wireless communication terminal such as a personal computer or tablet terminal, which is operated by an employee or customer of the first dealer 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the first dealer terminal 10 includes a computer having an arithmetic unit 11 such as a CPU, a storage unit 12 such as a ROM or RAM, and other peripheral circuits (not shown) such as an I/O interface. The first dealer terminal 10 further has an input/output unit 13 and a communication unit 14.

The input/output unit 13 is a general term for devices that input and output various commands and information, and is configured to include a keyboard, mouse, monitor, touch panel, etc. The communication unit 14 is configured to be capable of wireless communication with the server device 30, etc. via the communication network 5.

The calculation unit 11 functions as an information transmission unit 111 and an information display unit 112 by executing a program stored in the memory unit 12.

The information transmission unit 111 transmits a registration command for the vehicle 1a to the server device 30 via the communication unit 14 in response to a registration operation for the vehicle 1a performed by an employee of the first dealer 1 or the like via the input/output unit 13. At this time, the information transmission unit 111 transmits the vehicle information for the vehicle 1a entered in the registration operation together with the registration command for the vehicle 1a. The registration operation for the vehicle 1a is performed when the vehicle 1a is purchased by the first dealer 1, and this registration operation causes the vehicle 1a to be registered with the business entity 3 that provides vehicle management services. Specifically, a vehicle ID for the vehicle 1a is issued, and the vehicle information for the vehicle 1a is registered together with the vehicle ID in the database of the server device 30 (the vehicle database 321 described below).

The vehicle information includes the purchase price, selling price, and characteristic information of the vehicle 1a. The selling price is the current selling price of the vehicle 1a being sold at the store of the first dealer 1. If the vehicle 1a has not yet been sold at the store of the first dealer 1, the vehicle information of the vehicle 1a does not include the selling price. The characteristic information includes information such as the model, year, displacement, engine type, mileage, body color, whether or not there is a maintenance history, and the sales status of the vehicle 1a. The sales status is information indicating whether the vehicle 1a is on sale at the store, on loan, sold at the store, sold at auction, or sold at the store after being loaned. The characteristic information may also include image data showing images of the interior and exterior of the vehicle.

When the information display unit 112 receives price information (described later) from the server device 30 via the communication unit 14, it displays the price information on a touch panel or the like of the input/output unit 13.

The storage unit 12 has a volatile or non-volatile memory (not shown). The storage unit 12 stores various programs executed by the calculation unit 11, various data, etc.

The second dealer terminal 20 is configured as a wireless communication terminal such as a personal computer or tablet terminal operated by an employee or customer of the second dealer 2. The configuration of the second dealer terminal 20 is similar to the configuration of the first dealer terminal 10, so illustrations and explanations are omitted.

The auction operator terminal 40 is composed of a communication terminal such as a personal computer operated by an employee of the auction operator 4 who manages the automobile auction. As shown in FIG. 2, the auction operator terminal 40 includes a computer having an operation unit 41 such as a CPU, a storage unit 42 such as a ROM or RAM, and other peripheral circuits (not shown) such as an I/O interface. The auction operator terminal 40 further has an input/output unit 43 and a communication unit 44.

The input/output unit 43 is a general term for devices that input and output various commands and information, and includes a keyboard, mouse, monitor, touch panel, etc. The communication unit 44 is configured to be capable of wireless communication with the server device 30, etc., via the communication network 5.

The storage unit 42 has an auction information database (auction information D/B) 421 as a functional configuration carried out by the memory. The auction information D/B 421 stores vehicle information and winning bid prices of vehicles that have been sold in the past at automobile auctions operated by the auction operator 4.

The calculation unit 41 functions as an information receiving unit 411 and an information transmitting unit 412 by executing a program stored in the memory unit 42.

The information receiving unit 411 receives a winning bid price transmission command from the server device 30 via the communication unit 44. The winning bid price transmission command is a command requesting information on the auction winning bid price (hereinafter simply referred to as the winning bid price) of a vehicle with specified characteristics (model type, year, etc.). When the information receiving unit 411 receives the winning bid price transmission command, the information transmitting unit 412 obtains from the auction information DB 421 the winning bid price of a vehicle with characteristics that match or nearly match the characteristics indicated by the characteristic information accompanying the winning bid price transmission command. The information transmitting unit 412 transmits information including the obtained winning bid price (hereinafter referred to as the winning bid price information) to the server device 30. Note that vehicles with nearly matching characteristics are, for example, vehicles with the same model type, year, and engine displacement.

The server device 30 includes a computer having a calculation unit 31 such as a CPU, a storage unit 32 such as a ROM or RAM, and other peripheral circuits (not shown) such as an I/O interface. The server device 30 further includes an input/output unit 33 and a communication unit 34.

The input/output unit 33 includes, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a monitor, a touch panel, etc. The communication unit 34 is configured to be capable of wireless communication with the first dealer terminal 10, the second dealer terminal 20, and the auction operator terminal 40 via the communication network 5.

The memory unit 32 has a vehicle database (vehicle D/B) 321 and a rental history database (rental history D/B) 322 as functional components carried out by the memory.

Vehicle D/B 321 stores vehicle information for vehicles registered with business entity 3. Vehicle D/B 321 stores vehicle information for vehicles registered with business entity 3 together with a vehicle ID that identifies the vehicle and a dealer ID that identifies the dealer that purchased the vehicle, i.e., the dealer that registered the vehicle with business entity 3.

The rental history D/B 322 stores rental history information of vehicles registered in the business entity 3 together with the vehicle ID. The rental history information includes the rental period and rental price when the vehicle was rented out, and information on the user who rented the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as user information). The user information includes a user ID for identifying the user, as well as information indicating the reliability of the user determined from the degree of dirtiness of the interior and exterior of the rented vehicle when it is returned (hereinafter referred to as reliability information). Here, the reliability of the user is an index indicating that the user has good manners when using a rented vehicle, such as being a user who does not soil the rented vehicle. The user ID is issued by the server device 30 (calculation unit 31) when the vehicle is rented out to the user, and is stored in the rental history information (user information) of the corresponding vehicle.

By executing the program stored in the memory unit 32, the calculation unit 31 functions as a purchase price acquisition unit 311, a sales price setting unit 312, a sales price calculation unit 313, a lending price calculation unit 314, a successful bid price calculation unit 315, and a price information output unit 316.

The purchase price acquisition unit 311 acquires the purchase price of the vehicle 1a purchased by the first dealer 1. More specifically, when the purchase price acquisition unit 311 receives a registration command for the vehicle 1a from the first dealer terminal 10 via the communication unit 34, it acquires the purchase price of the vehicle 1a contained in the vehicle information of the vehicle 1a accompanying the registration command. The vehicle information of the vehicle 1a accompanying the registration command is stored in the vehicle DB 321.

The selling price setting unit 312 sets the current selling price of the vehicle 1a. If the selling price is included in the vehicle information accompanying the registration command for the vehicle 1a, the selling price setting unit 312 sets the selling price as the current selling price of the vehicle 1a.

On the other hand, if the vehicle information accompanying the registration command for vehicle 1a does not include a sales price, the sales price setting unit 312 acquires vehicle information from the vehicle DB 321 for vehicles whose characteristics match or nearly match those of vehicle 1a and whose sales status is "on sale at store" or "sold at store". Furthermore, the sales price setting unit 312 sets the current sales price of vehicle 1a based on the sales price included in the acquired vehicle information. For example, the sales price setting unit 312 sets the average value of the acquired sales prices of each vehicle as the current sales price of vehicle 1a. After setting the current sales price of vehicle 1a, the sales price setting unit 312 stores the sales price in the vehicle DB 321. Note that, hereinafter, the current sales price set by the sales price setting unit 312 may be referred to as the pre-rental sales price.

The sales price calculation unit 313 calculates the post-rental sales price of the vehicle 1a, i.e., the sales price of the vehicle 1a at a specified time when the vehicle 1a is rented out from the present time to a specified time in the future (e.g., one year from now). The sales price calculation unit 313 stores the calculated post-rental sales price in the vehicle DB 321.

Now, we will explain how to calculate the selling price. Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the rental period of vehicle 1a and the post-rental selling price. Since the post-rental selling price of rented vehicle 1a decreases the longer the rental period, the expected selling price of rented vehicle 1a at a given time in the future has the characteristic P1 shown in Figure 3 and is represented by a curve (hereinafter referred to as the expected selling price curve).

Therefore, the sales price calculation unit 313 first derives the expected sales price curve of the vehicle 1a by referring to the vehicle D/B 321 and the rental history D/B 322. More specifically, the sales price calculation unit 313 extracts vehicles whose characteristics match or nearly match those of the vehicle 1a and whose sales status is "sold in store after rental" from the vehicle D/B 321. The sales price calculation unit 313 also acquires the vehicle ID and sales price (sales price before rental and sales price after rental) of the extracted vehicle from the vehicle D/B 321. Furthermore, the sales price calculation unit 313 acquires rental history information corresponding to the acquired vehicle ID from the rental history D/B 322. The sales price calculation unit 313 derives the expected sales price curve of the vehicle 1a based on the sales price acquired from the vehicle D/B 321 and the rental period included in the rental history information acquired from the rental history D/B 322. The expected sales price curve may be derived using the least squares method, machine learning, or other methods.

The sales price calculation unit 313 calculates the sales price (post-rental sales price) at a specified time when the vehicle 1a is rented out from the present time to a specified time in the future based on the derived predicted sales price curve of the vehicle 1a.

The rental price calculation unit 314 calculates the rental price of the vehicle 1a based on the post-rental sales price calculated by the sales price calculation unit 313 and the sales price set by the sales price setting unit 312. The rental price is the price per specified period (e.g., one month) when the vehicle 1a is rented out from the present time to a specified time. In addition, hereinafter, the profit amount calculated based on the rental price and the rental period is referred to as the rental profit amount.

Figure 4 is a diagram to explain the relationship between the current selling price, the post-rental selling price, and the rental profit amount. In Figure 4, PP represents the purchase price of vehicle 1a, CP represents the current selling price of vehicle 1a, RP represents the rental price of vehicle 1a, and AP represents the post-rental selling price of vehicle 1a after it has been rented for n months and then returned.

As described above, the post-rental sales price AP of vehicle 1a is lower than the current selling price CP of vehicle 1a. Therefore, in order to make more profit when selling vehicle 1a after lending it out than when selling vehicle 1a without lending it out (selling vehicle 1a at the present time), it is necessary to calculate the lending price RP so that the sum (AP + (RP x n)) of the post-rental sales price AP and the lending profit amount (RP x n) is greater than the current selling price CP. Therefore, the lending price calculation unit 314 calculates the lending price of vehicle 1a so that the sum of the post-rental sales price calculated by the selling price calculation unit 313 and the lending profit amount exceeds the selling price set by the selling price setting unit 312.

The successful bid price calculation unit 315 transmits a successful bid price transmission command together with the characteristic information of vehicle 1a to the auction operator terminal 40 via the communication unit 34. The successful bid price calculation unit 315 receives successful bid price information of vehicles whose characteristics match or nearly match those of vehicle 1a, which is transmitted from the auction operator terminal 40 in response to the successful bid price transmission command. The successful bid price calculation unit 315 calculates the expected successful bid price of vehicle 1a at the current time based on the received successful bid price information. For example, if the received successful bid price information includes the successful bid prices of multiple vehicles, the successful bid price calculation unit 315 calculates the average of the successful bid prices of each vehicle as the expected successful bid price of vehicle 1a at the current time. The successful bid price calculation unit 315 stores the calculated expected successful bid price of vehicle 1a in the vehicle DB 321.

The price information output unit 316 outputs information (hereinafter referred to as price information) including the current selling price of the vehicle 1a set by the selling price setting unit 312, the expected successful bid price calculated by the successful bid price calculation unit 315, and the rental price calculated by the rental price calculation unit 314 to the first dealer terminal 10 of the first dealer 1 via the communication unit 34.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a rental price calculation process executed by the server device 30. The process shown in Figure 5 is started, for example, when the server device 30 receives a registration command for the vehicle 1a transmitted from the first dealer terminal 10.

As shown in FIG. 5, first, in step S11, vehicle information accompanying the registration command for vehicle 1a is obtained. In step S12, the current expected successful bid price for vehicle 1a is calculated. Specifically, a successful bid price transmission command is sent to the auction operator terminal 40, and successful bid price information of vehicles whose characteristics match or nearly match those of vehicle 1a, which is sent from the auction operator terminal 40 in response to the successful bid price transmission command, is received. Then, based on the received successful bid price information, the current expected successful bid price for vehicle 1a is calculated.

In step S13, the current selling price of vehicle 1a is set. More specifically, if the vehicle information of vehicle 1a acquired in step S11 includes a selling price, that selling price is set as the current selling price. On the other hand, if the vehicle information acquired in step S11 does not include a selling price, as described above, vehicle DB 321 is referenced and the current selling price of vehicle 1a is set based on the selling price of a vehicle that matches or nearly matches vehicle 1a and has a sales status of "on sale in store" or "already sold in store".

Next, in step S14, the post-rental sales price of vehicle 1a is calculated. More specifically, the vehicle DB 321 and the rental history DB 322 are referenced to derive the expected sales price curve of vehicle 1a, and the post-rental sales price of vehicle 1a is calculated based on the derived expected sales price curve.

In step S15, the rental price of vehicle 1a is calculated. At that time, the rental price is calculated so that the sum of the post-rental sales price calculated in step S14 and the rental profit amount exceeds the sales price set in step S13.

In step S16, price information including the selling price set in step S13, the rental price calculated in step S15, and the expected successful bid price calculated in step S12 is output to the first dealer terminal 10 of the first dealer 1, which is the sender of the registration command for vehicle 1a.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the following advantageous effects can be obtained.
(1) The server device 30 includes a purchase price acquisition unit 311 that acquires the purchase price of the vehicle 1a purchased by the first dealer 1, a sales price setting unit 312 that sets the selling price of the vehicle 1a at the current time as a first selling price, a sales price calculation unit 313 that calculates the selling price of the vehicle 1a at a specified time when the vehicle 1a is rented out from the present time to a specified time in the future as the post-rental sales price (second selling price), a rental price calculation unit 314 that calculates the rental price when the vehicle 1a is rented out from the present time to a specified time based on the first selling price set by the sales price setting unit 312 and the second selling price calculated by the sales price calculation unit 313, and a price information output unit 316 that outputs information including the rental price calculated by the rental price calculation unit 314.

This configuration allows vehicle dealers to appropriately set rental prices when they purchase used vehicles and then rent out the vehicles without selling them in stores, etc. Therefore, vehicle dealers can easily decide whether to sell or rent out the used vehicles they purchase.

(2) The rental price calculation unit 314 calculates the rental price so that the sum of the post-rental sales price calculated by the sales price calculation unit 313 and the rental profit amount calculated based on the rental price and the period from the present time to a specified time in the future is at least higher than the first sales price set by the sales price setting unit 312. This makes it possible to make a greater profit when renting out a used vehicle without selling it in a store, etc., than when selling a used vehicle.

(3) The vehicle management device of this embodiment can also be used as a vehicle management method. The vehicle management method includes a step of acquiring the purchase price of the vehicle 1a purchased by the vehicle dealer (S11), a step of setting a first selling price of the vehicle 1a at the current time (S13), a step of calculating the selling price of the vehicle 1a at the specified time when the vehicle 1a is rented out from the current time to a specified time in the future as the post-rental selling price (second selling price) (S14), a step of calculating the rental price when the vehicle 1a is rented out from the current time to the specified time based on the set first selling price and the calculated second selling price (S15), and a step of outputting information including the calculated rental price (S16) by a computer (FIG. 5).

The above embodiment can be modified in various ways. Modifications are described below. In the above embodiment, the vehicle management device is configured by the server device 30, but the vehicle management device may be configured to include the server device 30 and other devices. For example, the vehicle management device may be configured to include the server device 30 and a part of the auction operator terminal 40 (such as the auction information D/B 421).

In the above embodiment, the selling price setting unit 312 sets the current selling price of the vehicle 1a based on the selling price included in the vehicle information accompanying the registration command for the vehicle 1a or the selling price included in the vehicle information acquired from the vehicle D/B 321. However, the selling price setting unit 312 may set the expected winning bid price of the vehicle 1a at the current car auction calculated by the winning bid price calculation unit 315 as the current selling price of the vehicle 1a, i.e., the first selling price. That is, in step S13, the expected winning bid price of the vehicle 1a at the current time calculated in step S12 may be set as the current selling price of the vehicle 1a. Since the winning bid price at a car auction is usually lower than the selling price at the store, it is desirable to avoid putting the vehicle up for sale at a car auction as much as possible. With this configuration, it is easy to determine whether to put a used vehicle up for sale at a car auction or to rent it out. For example, if a used vehicle being sold at a store has not been sold for a long period of time, it is easy to determine whether the used vehicle should be rented out or put up for sale at a car auction. Information for specifying whether or not to set the expected winning bid price of vehicle 1a at the current automobile auction as the first selling price may be input during the registration operation of vehicle 1a. Then, information transmission unit 111 may transmit the information accompanying the registration command, and selling price setting unit 312 may set the current selling price of vehicle 1a according to the information accompanying the registration command.

In the above embodiment, the successful bid price calculation unit 315 obtained the successful bid price of a vehicle having characteristics that match or nearly match the characteristics of vehicle 1a from the auction information D/B 421 of the auction operator terminal 40. However, the successful bid price calculation unit 315 may also obtain vehicle information from the vehicle D/B 321 of a vehicle whose characteristics match or nearly match the characteristics of vehicle 1a and whose sales status is "sold at auction" and obtain the sales price included in the obtained vehicle information, i.e., the successful bid price. The successful bid price calculation unit 315 may then calculate the expected successful bid price at the current time based on the successful bid price obtained from the vehicle D/B 321, or based on the successful bid price obtained from the vehicle D/B 321 and the successful bid price information received from the auction operator terminal 40.

In the above embodiment, the successful bid price calculation unit 315 calculated the current expected successful bid price of the vehicle 1a based on the successful bid price information received from the auction operator terminal 40. However, the information receiving unit 411 of the auction operator terminal 40 may be configured to transmit information including the expected successful bid price of a used vehicle having characteristics specified in the successful bid price transmission command. In that case, the successful bid price calculation unit 315 may obtain the expected successful bid price included in the information, and the selling price setting unit 312 may set the expected successful bid price of the used vehicle obtained by the successful bid price calculation unit 315 as the current selling price of the used vehicle.

In the above embodiment, the rental price calculation process shown in FIG. 5 is started in response to a registration command for the vehicle 1a from the first dealer terminal 10. However, the server device may start the rental price calculation process shown in FIG. 5 in response to a rental price calculation command from the first dealer terminal 10. The rental price calculation command, like the registration command, is sent to the server device 30 via the communication unit 14 in response to a predetermined operation performed by an employee of the first dealer 1 via the input/output unit 13. The rental price calculation command is accompanied by vehicle information of the used vehicle purchased by the first dealer terminal 10. With this configuration, employees of the vehicle dealer can obtain price information for the used vehicle at any time, so that, for example, when a used vehicle on sale at a store has not been sold for a long period of time, it is easy to determine whether to continue selling the used vehicle or rent it out.

In the above embodiment, the sales price calculation unit 313 calculates the post-rental sales price of the vehicle 1a, that is, the post-rental sales price when the vehicle 1a is rented out from the present time to a predetermined time in the future (one year in the above embodiment). However, the predetermined time in the future when the rental of the used vehicle will end may be specified by an employee of the first dealer 1, etc. For example, in response to a predetermined operation performed by an employee of the first dealer 1, etc. via the input/output unit 13, the registration command and the rental price calculation command may be accompanied by information indicating the rental period of the used vehicle in addition to the vehicle information of the used vehicle. In that case, the sales price calculation unit 313 calculates the sales price at the time when the rental period indicated by the information expires. With such a configuration, not only the rental price of the used vehicle but also the rental period can be appropriately set.

In the above embodiment, the sales price calculation unit 313 calculated the post-rental sales price of the vehicle 1a based on the expected sales price curve having the characteristic P1. However, the sales price calculation unit 313 may correct the expected sales price curve according to the reliability of the user who rents out the vehicle 1a, and calculate the post-rental sales price of the vehicle 1a based on the corrected expected sales price curve.

Specifically, the selling price calculation unit 313 determines whether the user ID of the user requesting the rental of the vehicle 1a is stored in the rental history D/B 322, that is, whether the user has rented a vehicle before. If the user ID is stored in the rental history D/B 322, the selling price calculation unit 313 obtains reliability information corresponding to the user ID from the rental history D/B 322. Then, the selling price calculation unit 313 corrects the expected selling price curve based on the reliability of the user indicated by the user information (reliability information). For example, it is assumed that the higher the reliability of the user, the better the condition of the vehicle 1a at the time of return and the higher the post-rental sales price can be set. Therefore, the selling price calculation unit 313 corrects the expected selling price curve by multiplying the characteristic P1 by a correction coefficient according to the reliability of the user represented by the reliability information. The correction coefficient is set to 1.0 when the reliability of the user is medium, and a larger value is set as the reliability of the user increases. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a corrected expected selling price curve. The characteristic P2 shown in FIG. 6 is an example of the characteristic of the corrected expected selling price when the user's reliability is higher than the medium level. On the other hand, the characteristic P3 is an example of the characteristic of the corrected expected selling price when the user's reliability is lower than the medium level. If the reliability information of the user who rents out the vehicle 1a is not stored in the rental history D/B 322, the sales price calculation unit 313 may set the user's reliability to a value that is medium or slightly lower than the medium level and correct the expected selling price curve. The sales price calculation unit 313 calculates the post-rental selling price of the vehicle 1a based on the corrected expected selling price curve. This makes it possible to calculate the post-rental selling price more accurately.

In the above embodiment, when the sales price calculation unit 313 derives the expected sales price curve of the vehicle 1a, the sales price calculation unit 313 extracts vehicles whose characteristics match or nearly match those of the vehicle 1a from the vehicle DB 321. However, in cases where information on vehicles whose characteristics match or nearly match those of the vehicle 1a is not stored in the vehicle DB 321, the sales price calculation unit 313 may set the degree of match of the characteristics of the vehicle to be extracted with the vehicle 1a to a lower level. For example, instead of vehicles whose model, year, and displacement match those of the vehicle 1a, vehicles whose model and year match those of the vehicle 1a may be extracted from the vehicle DB 321, and information on those vehicles may be obtained from the vehicle DB 321. Similarly, when the sales price setting unit 312 or the successful bid price calculation unit 315 obtains information on vehicles whose characteristics match or nearly match those of the vehicle 1a from the database, the degree of match of the characteristics of the vehicle to be extracted with the vehicle 1a may be set to a lower level. The price information output unit 316 may output the price information including the information indicating the degree of match set by the sales price calculation unit 313 or the like.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the purchase price acquisition unit 311, as a price acquisition unit, is configured to acquire the purchase price of the vehicle 1a purchased by the first dealer 1 from the vehicle DB 321, but the price acquisition unit may be configured in any way as long as it acquires the purchase price of a used vehicle.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the sales price setting unit 312, as a price setting unit, sets the current sales price of the vehicle 1a by referring to the vehicle information accompanying the registration command for the vehicle 1a or the vehicle information stored in the vehicle DB 321, but the price setting unit may be configured in any way as long as it sets the current sales price of a used vehicle.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the price information output unit 316 is configured to output price information as an output unit, but the output unit may have any configuration as long as it outputs at least the information on the rental price calculated by the rental price calculation unit 314.

The above description is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and modified examples as long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired. It is also possible to arbitrarily combine one or more of the above-mentioned embodiment and modified examples, and it is also possible to combine modified examples together.

1a vehicle, 10 first dealer terminal, 20 second dealer terminal, 30 server device, 31 calculation unit, 311 purchase price acquisition unit, 312 selling price setting unit, 313 selling price calculation unit, 314 rental price calculation unit, 315 successful bid price calculation unit, 316 price information output unit, 40 auction operator terminal

Claims (6)

a price acquisition unit that acquires the purchase price of a used vehicle purchased by a vehicle dealer;
a price setting unit that sets a first selling price of the used vehicle at a current time;
a sales price calculation unit that calculates a second sales price of the used vehicle at a predetermined time point in the future when the used vehicle is rented from the present time point to the predetermined time point in the future;
a rental price calculation unit that calculates a rental price when the used vehicle is rented to a user from the current time to the predetermined time;
an output unit that outputs information including the lending price calculated by the lending price calculation unit;
The selling price calculation unit calculates the second selling price based on a trustworthiness of the user based on a manner of use of a rental vehicle previously rented by the user,
A vehicle management device characterized in that the rental price calculation unit calculates the rental price based on the first selling price set by the price setting unit and the second selling price calculated by the selling price calculation unit. 2. The vehicle management device according to claim 1,
The vehicle management device is characterized in that the sales price calculation unit derives a predicted sales price curve of the used vehicle based on past rental periods and sales prices before and after the rental period of vehicles whose characteristics are the same or approximately the same as those of the used vehicle, corrects the predicted sales price curve based on the trust level of the user, and further calculates the second sales price of the used vehicle based on the first sales price set by the price setting unit and the corrected predicted sales price curve. The vehicle management device according to claim 2,
The reliability is determined based on the degree of dirtiness of the interior and exterior of the rental vehicle when the rental vehicle is returned by the user who has previously rented the vehicle;
A vehicle management device characterized in that the sales price calculation unit corrects the predicted sales price curve so that the second sales price becomes higher as the reliability becomes higher. The vehicle management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The vehicle management device is characterized in that the rental price calculation unit calculates the rental price so that the sum of the second selling price calculated by the selling price calculation unit and the rental profit amount calculated based on the rental price and the period from the current time to the specified time is at least greater than the first selling price set by the price setting unit. The vehicle management device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A database that stores the winning bid prices of used vehicles that have been sold in past vehicle auctions;
a successful bid calculation unit that predicts and calculates a current successful bid price at a vehicle auction of a used vehicle procured by the vehicle dealer based on the successful bid prices of the used vehicles stored in the database,
The vehicle management device according to claim 1, wherein the price setting unit sets the successful bid price calculated by the successful bid price calculation unit as the first selling price. An acquisition step of acquiring a purchase price of a used vehicle purchased by a vehicle dealer;
A setting step of setting a first selling price of the used vehicle at a current time;
a first calculation step of calculating a second selling price of the used vehicle at a predetermined time in the future when the used vehicle is rented from the present time to the predetermined time in the future;
A second calculation step of calculating a rental price when the used vehicle is rented to a user from the current time to the predetermined time;
and an output step of outputting information including the calculated lending price ,
In the first calculation step, the second selling price is calculated based on the reliability of the user based on the manner of use of rental vehicles previously rented by the user,
A vehicle management method characterized in that , in the second calculation step, the rental price is calculated based on the set first selling price and the calculated second selling price .

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