Teng Bole: Four major problems of Chinese auto parts

According to the latest statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first four months of 2009, compared with the situation of the same period of last year, auto vehicle manufacturers’ auto export vehicles experienced a decline of more than 50% each month, and the auto industry’s export situation is still very grim.

However, the customs statistics compiled by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that in March 2009, the export of engines and parts and components and other commodities rebounded, and the increase was significantly higher than the same period of the same period. Among them, the number of engine exports was 161,200 units, an increase of 37.55% over the previous period. Exports, accessories and body exports amounted to US$1.048 billion, a month-on-month increase of 59.92%.

When interviewed by People's Daily reporters, Teng Bole, secretary general of the China Automobile Industry Advisory Committee, said: “In recent years, China’s auto parts companies have continued to develop rapidly and have achieved very good results. The annual sales of Chinese auto parts and components have been achieved. And the significant increase in exports has become the fourth largest producer and exporter of auto parts in the world after the United States, Japan and Germany."

However, some of the issues exposed by the growth data are worthy of attention:

First, most of the key auto parts (especially cars) are produced in foreign-owned foreign companies and Sino-foreign joint ventures in China. For example, the top six hydraulic ABS domestic production are foreign-funded enterprises, and the annual output accounts for 83% of the total domestic output; the top four EMS domestic production are also foreign-funded enterprises, and the annual output accounts for 80% of the total domestic amount; there is automatic transmission. Boxes and airbags.

The second is the export of Chinese auto parts. There are foreign-funded backgrounds (wholly foreign-owned and Chinese-foreign joint ventures) accounting for 60.8% of the total export volume. Domestic auto parts and spare parts are not even imported into overseas OEMs, and low-end and medium-end companies enter the maintenance market.

Third, investment in product R&D accounted for annual operating income. The average proportion of domestic auto parts industry was 12 to 16 times lower than that of multinational auto parts companies (calculated in U.S. dollars, with a greater gap).

Fourth, the shortage of high-quality professional and technical personnel, the influence of independent brands, the lack of research and innovation, and the lack of original innovation.

In general, the current core strengths and international competitiveness of China's auto parts and components are not strong enough. Auto parts companies are more likely to speed up structural adjustment, scientific development, and innovation leapfrogging than auto auto parts companies. It is not only a development strategy but also an inevitable trend that China's auto parts and components industries go out into the international division of labor and participate in international competition.

Teng Bole believes: “The overall thinking from the development strategy of China's auto industry, China's auto vehicle companies (including private cars, passenger car companies) and auto parts companies (including automotive-related industrial companies, auto supplies companies, including automotive aftermarket) It is not appropriate for a single company to go it alone. This is true of state-owned companies, stocks, and private enterprises. In particular, the structural adjustment of China's auto parts companies is lagging behind. In the long run, auto parts companies that produce social maintenance parts simply move their lands. It is not advisable to copy and build new production sites."

In particular, he emphasized that it is worthy of everyone's attention that from the statistics of customs statistics, the main countries and regions for the export of Chinese automobile vehicles are different from the main countries and regions for Chinese auto parts exports, and they cannot correspond to each other. This kind of situation cannot but be worrying. For a foreign vehicle company, when it comes to overseas expansion, it is necessary to arrange maintenance points (including repair parts supply). Many Chinese vehicle companies are still weak in this area, and some companies are even blank. The issue of overseas exports to China's auto vehicle companies as automakers and auto parts companies as spare parts is a worrying issue. Why is it that everyone is now concerned about the marginalization and hollowing out of Chinese auto parts companies? The “zero-to-zero relationship” in the Chinese auto industry has been spoken for many years. Although it has improved, it still needs to be highly regarded. This common issue in the Chinese automotive industry requires the industry to jointly explore.