On July 19, Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC, disclosed in Shenzhen that it will launch five cars and an SUV by 2010. A week later, Dongfeng Motor’s Passenger Vehicle Division was quietly established in Wuhan. Dongfeng Auto’s self-owned car base with a total investment of RMB 7.6 billion and Dongfeng Motor’s own brand car R&D Center with an investment of RMB 600 million will also be launched later this year and next year. Construction.
With the joining of Beiqi and Dongfeng, more than 80% of the core auto joint ventures have established specialized R&D centers or announced their own independent R&D plans. This means that it will be possible for the joint venture to provide products to the Chinese side, and once China can provide its own products (own brands), the shift in the right to speak will become possible.
"The state's thinking for the development of the automobile industry is already very clear. The first step is localization. The second step is the joint venture to establish independent research and development, the third step is the real independent brand." An expert who did not want to be named believed that The Chinese auto industry is standing at the turning point of the second step.
"Realization of Technology Hollowing"
"A lot of people predict that before and after 2012, China's automobile production will exceed Japan and become the largest automotive manufacturer. Before and after 2015, China is likely to surpass the United States to become the largest automotive market." Senior Engineer, China Automotive Technology and Research Center Wu Songquan said.
According to the national production and sales data in 2006, the national automobile production and sales volume exceeded 7.2 million vehicles, making it one of the top 10 producers and sellers in the world. However, compared with the ever-increasing market size, the "hollowing out of technology" of automobiles has become an indisputable fact.
A group of officials and entrepreneurs, including Mei Yonghong, director of the Department of Policy, Regulation, and System Reform of the Ministry of Science and Technology, could not find a "feeling of solidity" in front of 7.2 million yuan in production and sales. "Although many people are delighted by the status quo of China's auto industry today. Encouraged, although relevant organizations can come up with a lot of data to illustrate the vigorous development of the Chinese auto industry, more people are not satisfied with the status quo of the Chinese auto industry. This is an interesting fallacy."
This public opinion is not easy to understand in Mei’s opinion. Judging from the characteristics of the auto industry itself, the correlation between the auto industry and investment, consumption, trade, employment, etc. is very high. The upgrading of the manufacturing industry in the entire country, the improvement of the level of science and technology, the improvement of the lives of ordinary people, and even the overall development of the country The improvement of the level has a great influence. For large countries, the auto industry is an indisputable fact for the strategic industry. "According to my observation, there are still many people in our country who do not regard the auto industry as a strategic industry. This is demonstrated by our The development of the automobile industry lacks long-term strategic considerations and lacks a summary and understanding of the development laws of the automobile industry.
The lack of long-term strategic considerations leads to the fact that China's auto industry is "large but not strong."
One evidence of "big but not strong" is that in the pyramid of car sales, domestic brands are at the base of more profit. Last year, domestic sales of passenger cars including cars, SUVs and MPVs reached 5.18 million, including 3.83 million cars. What foreign manufacturers have won is more high-end vehicles that cost hundreds of thousands to over a million yuan. The self-owned brand sold 980,000 vehicles, accounting for nearly 1/4, and more than 70% of them were Xiali, Geely, and Chery's mini-vehicles and economical low-margin sedan.
Another evidence of "big but not strong" is the lack of core competence. Mei Yonghong remembers a foreign executive who once commented: "In our joint ventures, the Chinese people's contribution to operation and management is almost equal to zero, apart from providing cheap labor and sales channels." And let Mei worry more. What is fundamental is that the ability to form this scale does not belong to us. At present, the basic capabilities for the development of China's auto industry are not endogenous, relying mainly on the capital, technology, management, and brand transfer of others. In this process The core competencies will never be transferred naturally."
In the face of the status quo of "technology hollowing out," the original established program, "Market for Technology," has attracted countless questions and criticisms.
"Market for Technology" Difficulties
"The market for technology" was derived from the "combination of technology and trade" proposed by the automotive industry in the early 1980s. At that time, based on economic development and official needs, the state approved the foreign trade department to import a batch of cars and light trucks. Rao Bin, who was then the chairman of China National Automobile Industry Corporation, proposed that at the same time when huge amounts of money were invested in importing automobiles, foreign parties should be required to provide relevant technologies free of charge to promote the development and manufacturing of the Chinese auto industry. With central support and coordination, this vision was realized on the light truck and Audi 100 official vehicle project.
Since then, a few Sino-foreign car joint ventures have been established until China's accession to the WTO, allowing the world's major automotive multinationals to set up joint ventures in China to carry out local production. Former Minister of Commerce Lv Fuyuan believes that the essence of "market-for-technology" is that China must have its own backbone enterprises, and joint ventures must be built on a win-win basis and engage in the long-term interests of China. We give up a huge market, and we are qualified for technology and profit.
In order to achieve the goal of market-for-technical change and at the same time safeguard China’s right to speak, China first introduced the “Automotive Industry Development Policy†in 1994. For the first time, it explicitly stated that the state encourages the auto industry to use foreign capital to develop China’s auto industry, but at the same time stipulates joint ventures. The proportion of Chinese-Chinese shares can not be less than 50%.
The 50% threshold did not block the footsteps of multinational corporations. As Professor Li Xianjun, deputy director of the Automotive Engineering Department of Tsinghua University, said: "The profits of multinational corporations are not in cross-border profits, not in dividends, but in the integrated profits of technology and industry chain, such as equipment procurement." Li analyst said that at the initial stage of joint venture companies, The company has already withdrawn its investment through procurement. Since then, "by controlling the core technology, multinational corporations have controlled the autonomy of China's automobile joint ventures."
Dr. Bai Rangrang, a lecturer and professor of economics at the School of Management at Fudan University, believes that “under the “Chinese-Chinese and foreign†model (ie, new joint ventures established by local companies, joint ventures, and foreign companies) that have a significant impact on corporate governance structures. , Local mainstream companies attempted to exchange the dilution of equity for technical support or products of multinational corporations, but the strengthening of the latter’s control in the board of directors led to further deprivation of the limited “speaking power†of local companies.â€
In 2003, the then Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn was shocked: "China's auto joint venture has zero contribution from the Chinese side." Although this phrase was repeatedly explained by relevant parties, China's status in the joint venture is evident.
"Market for technology" eventually led to "hollowing out technology," and it was therefore highly censured. In 2005, at the Boao Forum for Asia, the former Minister of Machinery Industry He Guangyuan took the lead in bringing about a difficult strategy for the "market-for-technology" strategy of the automotive industry. He had a diametrically opposed debate with the forum's secretary-general, Long Yongtu, on China's auto brand topic.
Yin Tongyao, chairman of the Chery Automobile Group, also learned a lot about the two roads. The joint venture and cooperation are likened to the “Southern Slopeâ€, which is not steep and sunny. The independent brand is compared to the infinite scenery on the steep north slope of Xianfeng, Yin said: “ On the southern slope, I didn't think it was interesting because climbing to the top of the hill was not a red flag. It was the national flag of others. We are willing to climb from the north slope and climb up and insert the national flag of China."
The last line of defense
Today, joint ventures have developed independent research and development has become the last line of defense to save the "market for technology" program. After the first step in increasing the localization rate of the automobile joint venture company has basically taken shape, the "market-for-technology" has reached the key second step: the joint venture has independently developed.
In the second phase, the independent R&D plans of the automobile joint ventures are all linked to their own brands. The joint venture’s own brand will become the entity of the “Market for Technology†program and it will be a strong testimony to the success of the “Market for Technologyâ€.
Li Xianjun, deputy director of the Automotive Development Research Center at Tsinghua University, believes: "The key issues in the development of China's manufacturing industry are, first of all, not industrial foundation, technical and managerial capabilities and factors, but lack of awareness of the industry. There is recognition of the development of China's manufacturing industry. Misunderstandings and traps have distorted industrial policies and industrial development processes, and have made it impossible to cultivate independent innovation capabilities after half a century."
On December 26 last year, after the National Development and Reform Commission issued a "Circular on the Structural Adjustment Opinions of the Automotive Industry" (hereinafter referred to as "Notifications"), the various automobile joint ventures started their activities and set up an R&D center.
"On the second step, it is divided into three small steps: First, set up an R&D center. The main purpose is to do research on the localization of vehicles. Second is to develop independent brands. Third, to establish a joint venture company's own brand and establish mass production. "The above experts said.
At present, even the largest Shanghai GM Pan Asia Center is only limited to the improvement of domestic models. In addition to the Southeast lioncel and Dongfeng "Fengshen", the joint venture company's own brand models are few. He said: "The only worry is that the joint venture company's R&D center ends at the first small step, or on the surface, it does the second small step, but it neglects to bring its own brand to the market."
"Markets and technologies must form positive interactions, whether it is the joint venture's own brands or other brands' own brands. Otherwise, everything will be on paper," said the expert.
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