Car manufacturers purchase afterburner local parts

[Xindi.com] Recently, foreign auto giants have announced high-profile announcements that they will increase their procurement of parts and components in China. German Volkswagen has stated that it will purchase about US$1 billion in spare parts in China. Dai-ke plans to increase its purchases in China by 8 times in 2008 to RMB 6.7 billion. These actions on the one hand have brought a "gravity" to the domestic component manufacturers to "hand in hand" international auto manufacturers and enter their global procurement system; on the other hand, how to meet the strict cost and quality certification requirements of auto manufacturers and obtain "passes" , Become a test for the competitiveness of domestic parts manufacturers.

Local procurement is intended to reduce costs

Today, multinational automobile companies have basically completed their production layout in China and moved the international competition landscape to the Chinese market. Competition has caused market share to constantly change, and the market performance of the European car has been difficult to “beat” with the rhythm of the expansion of the overall automobile market. According to people in the industry, the over-control of technology and product improvement in European companies has caused the European-based auto companies' joint ventures in China to have insufficient operational flexibility. At the same time, the localization of its parts and components is lagging behind. Its parts and components certification is in Europe and the certification cycle is long. As a result, the production costs of a considerable number of European cars are high, and the prices are generally higher than those of Japanese, Korean and American brand cars. In the face of new models emerging in the Chinese automobile market, where price competition continues to emerge one after another, European auto companies have apparently realized the importance of liberalizing purchase restrictions.

Henning Eckel, Director of Purchasing at Volkswagen AG, Germany, said that today's auto market is fierce and the average cost of parts is about 40% lower than the market to maintain success. This requires a change in procurement strategy. The focus of the general public has shifted to cooperation with auto parts companies. , to significantly reduce costs. Beitin Lin, chairman of Dai-Ke Northeast Asia and chairman of the China Executive Board, also said that he plans to solve the problem of excessive costs by expanding the scale and increasing procurement in China.

Although in absolute terms, $1 billion is not a "big figure." However, the degree of openness of European manufacturers is large, and there are still opportunities for domestic companies. This is not only a car manufacturer seeking a breakthrough in procurement costs, but also provides an opportunity for domestic component manufacturers to participate in global competition.

To enter the procurement system to be excessive

How is the public's $1 billion allocated? Henning Eckel pointed out that the public's $1 billion procurement program includes components, raw materials, and molds. The requirements for suppliers are: First, the price must have advantages, the average product is about 20% lower than the market average price; the second is to meet the public's technical and quality requirements. He also stated that the objectives of domestic joint ventures FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen are to develop a common new procurement plan, including mold development and production, etc.; secondly, to purchase according to the model before, it will not be purchased in accordance with the model but the overall procurement, with emphasis on procurement. Localization. He also said that Volkswagen will also strengthen its procurement of metal, engine and power in the future.

For non-original suppliers, are there opportunities? Roman Magalle Kieblr, general manager of the technical department of Volkswagen AG, Germany, said that the public valued product quality. The current public certification began to take the "convenience" line, Roman Magalle Kieblr said that if the Chinese suppliers' products are exported to Europe, they must go to Germany to verify, and FAW-Volkswagen, Shanghai Volkswagen's certification can be carried out in China.

The entry into the auto parts cycle is relatively long, and parts and components companies should make preparations as early as possible. The relevant person of Wanxiang Group stated that it is generally three years to enter the supporting system of international automobile manufacturers according to the international practice to go through the stages of drawing confirmation, product development, trial production, inspection, small-scale assembly and then mass production. In short, there are many crossing points to pass. However, compared with Japanese and Korean auto companies, there is no easy way to enter the supporting system of European auto companies. The important thing is to form an advantage in quality and price, but the trend of auto demand in the future will continue to be a test for domestic auto parts companies.

Test the strength of domestic parts and components companies

The procurement scope of foreign auto manufacturers indirectly reflects the strength of the domestic component industry. Zhejiang Wanxiang Group sources pointed out that foreign automakers focus on Chinese products with cost advantages in China, including products with large labor ratios and large environmental impacts, mainly concentrated on piston rings, universal joint bearings, brake pads, and small and medium-sized vehicles. Stamping parts, etc., a large proportion of procurement in this area. In areas where domestic and foreign competitiveness are close to the competition, such as generators, starters, motors, shock absorbers, brakes, etc., the purchase volume in this area is small. There are not many opportunities in the field of weakly competitive products. He also pointed out that domestic companies have a relatively large scale and opportunities in the field of car entertainment and audio.

HC Auto Research Institute Zhang Feng said that matching is mainly to see the level of technology and industry types. Such as car alarms as electronic products, the current global production base in mainland China and Taiwan, because the technology has matured, the advantages in the low cost. For products such as EBD, there is no local company that can produce, and naturally it is impossible to enter the procurement system. Domestic joint ventures have greater opportunities, while local companies are more difficult to enter. And different types of business opportunities are different, such as Fuyao Glass is the world's largest supplier of automotive glass, Zhejiang Wanxiang Group to stay ahead of the universal joint assembly. He also pointed out that supporting the vehicle is not the only one, and it is possible to provide first-class component manufacturers with complementary products and gradually enter the global procurement system. This allows local companies to learn more subdivided and more specific product production technologies and to accumulate technical experience for future integrated production components.

On the other hand, a joint venture is also a choice. Qu Guangjia, the import and export manager of Dongfeng Fuji Thomson Thermostat Co., Ltd.'s marketing department, said that it is easier for Chinese parts joint ventures to pass certification than other Chinese suppliers. The key is that the parent company passes the certification of the vehicle manufacturer. After the products produced by the joint venture pass the quality certification and assessment, the sample can be supplied to the vehicle manufacturer after passing the certification of the parent company. However, this also depends on the parent company. Support efforts. China's spare parts manufacturers must improve their competitiveness: First, they must first raise the quality of their products; second, they must have an advantage over their existing suppliers in terms of price; Chinese parts and components exports are generally about 40% lower than the original suppliers; The development should be synchronized with the development of automotive manufacturers. In this regard, the joint venture company will be more dominant. Of course, if there is a "unique weapon", there will be opportunities, otherwise it will be difficult to enter. At present, the level of China's auto electronics industry is lagging behind, and there is still a long way to go to the auto makers' supporting systems.