The global automotive industry is undergoing a period of technological innovation, upgrading and development, and is transforming and upgrading to the “three transformations” of low-carbonization, informationization and intelligence. This will have a profound impact on China's auto industry product structure, production methods, business models, innovation drivers, as well as the value chain, industry chain, innovation chain, etc. The future of the automotive industry will be unprecedented in depth; this also gives the development of the auto parts industry. With a rare historical opportunity, the parts industry will become the main driving force and foundation carrier for the transformation and innovation of China's automobile industry.
From the national level, we are paying more and more attention to the development of China's auto parts industry. Important policies such as the Medium and Long-Term Development Plan for the Automotive Industry have clarified the development direction of energy-saving and new energy vehicles and intelligent network-linked vehicles, and have repeatedly proposed to break through key component technologies, such as power batteries, automotive sensors, and vehicle-mounted chips. Electronic control systems, lightweight materials and other engineering and industrial bottlenecks, encourage the development of advanced models such as modular supply and high-value-added, knowledge-intensive and other high-end components; support the advantages of featured parts and components enterprises to become stronger and stronger, and cultivate An internationally competitive component leader. The Medium- and Long-Term Development Plan for the Automotive Industry proposes that by 2020, a number of auto parts enterprise groups with strong international competitiveness in some key core technology fields will be formed; by 2025, a number of auto parts companies entering the top ten in the world will be formed. . It can be said that improving the competitiveness of the parts industry is the only way for China to realize the strategy of strengthening the country by automobile.
China's auto parts industry transformation and upgrading is imperative
1. The auto parts industry under the new normal is in the critical period of transformation and upgrading
In 2017, China's automobile production and sales completed 29.02 million and 28.88 million, respectively, an increase of 3.2% and 3% respectively. China's auto market has entered a new normal of low-speed and steady growth and increased competition. China's auto industry is in a critical period of development from large to strong, and the auto parts industry is facing opportunities and challenges brought about by transformation and upgrading. Component companies should develop forward-looking strategies to comprehensively improve product quality, strengthen technical capacity reserves, and enhance market competitiveness.
2. Internet technology triggers consumer demand transformation and business model innovation
With the development of science and technology and social progress, consumers' pursuit of quality of automobiles is constantly improving. Traveling requirements such as fashion technology, energy saving and environmental protection, comfort and intelligence bring new challenges to the research and design of future auto parts products. Parts suppliers must master young consumption. Personalized demand, using product experiential marketing to seek new profit growth points, using Internet thinking to create a new business model.
3. Low carbonization, informationization and intelligence are the main directions of technological innovation
Low carbonization, informationization and intelligence are the main goals of contemporary automotive technology innovation, and are an important breakthrough in addressing energy consumption, environmental pollution, traffic safety and traffic congestion. Low carbonization tends to save energy and reduce emissions, mainly in the fields of power and transmission systems, new energy vehicle technology, and light weight development; informatization mainly reflects enterprise system management, product R&D and design, manufacturing process optimization, logistics distribution system upgrade, and customers. The relationship maintains maintenance and other content; intelligence is mainly the extensive application of intelligent manufacturing and intelligent networked vehicles, which in turn promotes the transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry ecology to the manufacturing service industry.
The future of automobiles and their parts and components will be the product of multi-field integration and cross-industry collaboration. The complete transformation of the industry is the general trend. This trend provides enterprises with a platform and carrier for innovation and upgrading, but also brings challenges and opportunities.
Four measures to help parts and components companies become bigger and stronger
The competition in the automobile industry is largely the comprehensive competition of parts and components technology, scale, type, quality, cost and service. The advanced technology of parts and components promotes the upgrading of vehicle technology, which is an important driving force for the improvement of industrial independent innovation capability. The technological advancement of the future car will increasingly rely on innovation and application development in the field of emerging components. As an important component of the upstream core industry and back-end of the industrial chain, its development trend determines the direction of the automotive industry. As the main support for China's auto industry to become bigger and stronger, the competition in the parts and components industry will become more intense in the future, and the development of Chinese brand auto parts is facing a severe test. The author suggests that Chinese auto parts companies should work hard in the following four aspects.
1. Keep up with the trend of automobile development and accelerate industrial transformation and upgrading
The transformation and upgrading of the auto parts industry is imperative. Component companies must undertake the transformation and upgrading of energy-saving vehicles, new energy vehicles and intelligent networked vehicles. Only by consolidating the safety and controllable parts and components technology can we achieve safer, more environmentally friendly, convenient and comfortable vehicles.
At present, the world's leading auto parts companies are actively adjusting their business and accelerating the optimization of asset allocation in order to keep up with and even lead the trend of change. Foreign giants such as Bosch are busy divesting and selling traditional businesses, focusing on areas with high profits and high growth prospects, focusing on electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology-related businesses, focusing on safety, environmental protection and interconnection. Similarly, Chinese component companies should also accelerate the pace of transformation and upgrading, actively deploy emerging areas such as new energy vehicles, autonomous driving, and car networking, solidly promote new technology research and development, improve products and services, adjust and optimize existing production capacity, and increase automation. Production capacity and use of robots.
2. Strengthen cross-border cooperation, innovation and integration
In the face of rapid changes in the automotive market, cross-border integration and development can achieve a win-win situation. At present, the automobile industry has become an important carrier of many innovative technologies. Traditional parts and components enterprises must have a cross-industry vision, learn to conduct cross-industry competition and cooperation, and fully absorb and utilize the advantages of Internet resources to make up for their shortcomings. At the same time, to improve internationalization capabilities, a new generation of Chinese auto parts leaders must have a global vision and penetrating forward-looking thinking, as well as the ability to integrate resources across borders. Companies must develop clear overseas M&A strategies, understand global market trends and changes in industrial policies, avoid blind acquisitions, and develop rapid integration capabilities after mergers and acquisitions.
Only by technical cooperation and capital cooperation, Chinese component companies can master core technologies and intellectual property rights, expand marketing networks and strategic customer resources, and acquire valuable compound talents in order to go further in the new era of automobile ecological boundaries that quickly transcend traditional thinking.
3. Continuously improve the competitiveness of enterprises and implement brand strategy
During the automotive industry transformation period, component companies must continuously improve their competitiveness and strive to maximize their brand value. With the intelligent development of automotive technology itself and the innovation of new business models, component suppliers must not only meet the basic capabilities required by OEMs for quality, cost, delivery, R&D capabilities, and management capabilities, but also digitize and Information processing capabilities will become another essential element of a company's competitiveness. Auto parts companies can only reduce costs and improve quality from the whole process of design, manufacturing and service, and produce products with high cost performance. Together with the OEMs, they will be in an invincible position.
Faced with the continuous improvement of product quality, consistency and safety requirements, auto parts companies should pay more attention to building brands while improving their competitiveness. At present, China's own brands are under the attack of many strong foreign brands, and it is still difficult to survive. Therefore, it is very important to enhance brand value and influence.
4. Constantly innovating the zero-cooperation mode and rectifying the development of zero
Both the vehicle and parts companies must strengthen mutual trust, improve the synergy efficiency of the supply chain and the competitive advantage of products, and form a community of interests. Component companies should deeply participate in the whole process development of new vehicle models, and actively integrate into the whole process of vehicle R&D, procurement, production, sales, etc., becoming a co-developer of participants and even rules, and achieving win-win with vehicle manufacturers.
In addition, component companies must also strengthen their technical capabilities, maintain the systemic and forward-looking technology, in order to adapt to new market development in the process of technological change, keep up with the demand and rhythm of vehicle manufacturers, and give technical support to vehicle companies. The automobile industry base integrating the four platforms of R&D, manufacturing, sales and capital will be established around the vehicle enterprise to realize the benefit sharing.
In short, in order to build a car power, China must firmly grasp the current rare strategic opportunities, actively respond to challenges, strengthen overall planning, strengthen innovation drive, promote cross-border integration, improve institutional mechanisms, and promote structural adjustment and transformation and upgrading. Auto parts companies should seize the opportunity to adapt to the needs of the global automotive industry adjustment, identify the market positioning, establish their own development strategies, lay the foundation for the development of China's automobile industry, and contribute to the realization of China's automobile power.
