In August 2014, 8 parts companies including Japan's Sumitomo were fined 8 million yuan by the National Development and Reform Commission for price monopoly behavior, and 8.3196 bearing companies including Japan's Seiko were punished by the National Development and Reform Commission for 4 million yuan due to price monopoly behavior, with a total fine of 4.0344 billion yuan. Yuan, the first anti-monopoly shot of my country's automobile industry chain was fired in the field of parts and components.In this regard, CCID Consulting Equipment Industry Research Center believes that the field of auto parts is the cornerstone of the development of the vehicle field. This anti-monopoly reflects my country's weakness in the field of auto parts. Most of the core technologies are monopolized by foreign companies. It also serves as a warning for the future development of my country's auto industry. In the wave of future development of the auto industry, my country needs to actively increase the investment in research and development of independent intellectual property rights and core auto parts manufacturing technology, improve the competitiveness of enterprises, and truly realize the development of the automobile industry. Transformation from a big country to an automobile powerhouse.
XNUMX. There are obvious weaknesses in the core parts and components of my country's automobile industry chain
(XNUMX) Lack of domestic core component technology and low productivity
In 2013, my country's automobile production and sales have exceeded 2000 million, indicating that my country's automobile industry has entered a period of rapid development. However, the long-term lack of core technologies in the field of auto parts has not been alleviated.Seven of the 12 key components such as automobile bearings and oil seals still need to rely on foreign technology.Taking bearings as an example, in terms of production technology: at present, there are about 7 varieties and specifications of bearing products in the world, but only more than 15 kinds can be produced in my country, and most of them are general-purpose products with low technical content, which are not suitable for vibration, noise, etc. In terms of core technology, the vibration extreme level of bearings produced in China is more than 2 decibels different from those made by top Japanese bearing manufacturers, and other factors such as service life and reliability are also far from the world's top level.In terms of output: Although there are more than 10 enterprises, which is 2000 or 5 times the total number of enterprises in other bearing producing countries, the output is extremely low. Last year's total output value was not even as good as the annual output value of Sweden's SKF company, which ranked first in the world ( about 6 billion yuan).
(XNUMX) Foreign leading companies still monopolize the field of parts and components
From the 2013 Top 23 Auto Parts Companies in the World, we can see that the traditional powerhouses of auto parts are still strong. For example, the United States has 21 companies including Johnson Controls, Cummins, Delphi, etc., and Germany has Bosch, Continental, ZF, etc. A total of 26 companies were shortlisted. Japan has a total of 70 companies including Denso, Aisin Seiki, and JTEKT. The sum of the three countries has accounted for 4% of the list. As the world's largest automobile production and sales country, China has only Weichai Power, Zhongce Rubber, Linglong Tire and CITIC Dicastal were shortlisted, with a huge gap.At the same time, most of the foreign companies in the top 4 auto parts companies in the world produce high value-added core parts and components such as powertrains and automotive electronics, while the four shortlisted companies in my country mostly produce tires and wheels. , glass and other low value-added auto parts products.In addition to the obvious gap in the number of leading companies and product types, foreign companies are also far ahead in terms of market share. In the domestic market, auto parts companies with a foreign background account for as high as 75%, and some multinational auto parts companies in the domestic market. Create a wholly-owned factory or acquire Chinese shares in a joint venture factory to form a complete industrial chain from R&D, production, sales to service, which will help it occupy the domestic market share.XNUMX. The market returns to orderly competition after anti-monopoly, but the weak position of domestic enterprises in competition still exists
(XNUMX) Channel factor: Auto companies have too much right to speak, which indirectly contributes to the monopoly of foreign companies
The price of domestic auto parts is extremely high. The main reason is that auto manufacturers have too much right to speak. They require all parts in 4S stores to be obtained from manufacturers. As a result, manufacturers limit the purchase channels of parts in 4S stores. The pricing power of parts and components, so that selected foreign products can get rid of competition with other brands, giving birth to the formation of monopoly positions.At the same time, the domestic after-sales service model is single, with 4S stores as the main after-sales maintenance, and consumers lack the freedom to choose the use of spare parts during maintenance, which further aggravates the monopoly of leading companies in the spare parts industry.Although the malicious monopoly of Japanese companies has been broken, with the improvement of marketization, the competitive advantages brought by the monopoly position of foreign companies will become more prominent, and leading companies such as Europe and the United States will also strive to seize the market share that Japan has occupied for many years due to malicious monopoly. .
(XNUMX) Technical factors: the lack of core technology leads to the continuous downturn in the competitiveness of domestic enterprises
In the current price segment, my country's domestic auto parts field is subject to the lack of core technologies, and is in a state of scattered, weak and low.In the core fields of engine management system, power matching system, safety electronic control system, fuel injection system, automatic transmission, etc., Chinese enterprises have little mastery of core technologies, and are basically monopolized by foreign leading enterprises.According to the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce, foreign capital controls most of the market share of auto parts sales. Last year, the sales revenue of domestic parts only accounted for 20%-25% of the industry, and auto parts manufacturers with foreign background accounted for 75% of the industry. Among these foreign suppliers, wholly-owned enterprises account for 55% and Sino-foreign joint ventures account for 45%.Taking transmissions as an example, the annual sales volume of automatic transmissions in China is nearly 10 million units, but the supply of local parts factories in China is less than XNUMX units. The number of automatic transmissions independently developed in China is basically zero. Manufacturers basically only stay at the relatively low-end level of producing manual transmissions.Due to the lack of independent research and development capabilities and core technologies, China's own brand components can only use resources and cheap labor to gain market share. However, with the continuous rise of labor costs, the international resource market prices continue to rise, and the competition that my country's independent enterprises rely on. The advantages are gradually being eroded, and the problem of lack of independent intellectual property rights and core manufacturing technology is also being amplified.
(XNUMX) Market factors: foreign companies control the market and will take this opportunity to accelerate their expansion in China
This time, my country's anti-monopoly issued a sky-high fine of 12 billion, which is a heavy blow in the eyes of many outsiders, but the reality is not the case. Of the 12 Japanese parts companies, 2 were exempted from punishment for voluntarily reporting and providing evidence. , among the other 10 companies, the lowest fine is 4% of the previous year’s sales, and the highest is 8%. The amount of fine is almost the same as the profit of these companies in the Chinese market in one year, which reflects the market share of Japanese companies in China. Big, huge profits.It is precisely because of the large degree of market freedom in the field of parts and components that foreign-funded enterprises can deploy at will, not only without restrictions, but also enjoy preferential treatment for the introduction of foreign capital by governments at all levels, and more and more foreign enterprises are entering the Chinese market.In the early years, some foreign companies were looking for Chinese partners for joint ventures, but later they turned to sole proprietorships to build factories. In recent years, joint venture vehicles and self-owned brand vehicles have also purchased a large number of foreign brand components in recent years. The monopoly of the high-end market extends to the erosion of the low-end market.It is the operation of this model that enables many foreign companies, including Bosch, DeFore, and Faurecia, to aim at the elimination of the malicious monopoly of Japanese companies, and put forward the performance goal of accelerating business growth in China, and actively seize the market. share.XNUMX. The government and enterprises reasonably promote the development of the core auto parts industry
(XNUMX) Improve the relevant laws and regulations system of my country's automobile industry
Taking this anti-monopoly opportunity as an opportunity to improve the legal and regulatory system of my country's auto industry, and to comply with the current situation of my country's auto market, and complement each other with my country's "Anti-Monopoly Law" to jointly protect and help the development of my country's auto industry.The suggestions are as follows: 1. Moderately open my country's auto market, loosen the "exclusive authorization" of auto manufacturers, break the manufacturer's control over the parts purchase channel, enable auto dealers and dealers to form an equal cooperative relationship, and get rid of this abnormality at this stage. Subordinate control relationship. 2. Introduce powerful and credible retailers, e-commerce, etc. into the sales system of original parts. For some non-safe and replaceable parts, encourage more supporting manufacturers to participate in the competition and allow entry 4S store sales allow consumers to independently choose their favorite brands, thereby encouraging the market expansion of domestic independent brands and enabling their products to enter the range of consumers' choices.
(XNUMX) Strengthen the research and development of core auto parts technology by domestic enterprises and the introduction and cultivation of professional talents
In recent years, domestic enterprises have struggled in the research and development of core technologies. Driven by profits, most parts manufacturers produce entirely according to the needs of vehicle manufacturers. , In the face of the high demand for new models, new varieties, new technologies and fast-paced OEMs, many independent parts companies can only cope with R&D tasks and have no time to improve their basic R&D level and supporting capabilities.
At the same time, the construction of my country's auto talent gradient is extremely lacking, and there is "no connection between the green and the yellow". The older generation of automakers has experience and little theory, and the new generation of automakers has more theory and lacks practice.The phenomenon of industry-university-research institutions still exists, lack of close connection with each other, and asymmetric demand. The professional talents cultivated in colleges and universities are seriously disconnected from the theory and practice of enterprises.In this regard, the state should encourage domestic enterprises to conduct in-depth cooperation with colleges and universities and research institutions, create a positive interaction between theory and practice, and increase investment in research and development, strengthen the introduction and cultivation of professional talents, and prevent large-scale talents from spreading. When losing to foreign-funded enterprises, the senior management of the enterprise should not only focus on the immediate interests, but should make a long-term plan for the development of the enterprise.
(XNUMX) The government's macro guidance, enterprises focus on scientific research, and aim at the future development of the core parts industry
The reason for the current technological monopoly in the auto parts industry is that the development idea of ​​"reorganizing vehicles and light parts" proposed in the early stage of the development of my country's auto industry is compared with the state's 50:50 investment in the construction of complete vehicles. Red line, the state's investment policy for auto parts does not limit the shareholding ratio of joint ventures, which also leads to the fact that in the late stage of the joint venture, foreign parties who master product technology continue to weaken the Chinese party's right to speak during the negotiation process for the introduction of new products and new technologies. Diluted its equity, so that more and more foreign companies choose to build factories in China.In recent years, the state has gradually realized the existence and seriousness of this problem, and has introduced some policies for foreign-funded manufacturers, which require their products to be exported to reduce the occupation of the domestic market. However, with the localization of foreign-funded enterprises, this move has little effect. .
In this regard, CCID Consulting suggested: First, the government should establish incentive measures for OEMs to use domestic new energy vehicle parts, and give incentives according to the number of parts and components companies that have entered the encouraged catalogue recognized by the state, so as to promote the use of domestic independent brands. develop and expand its influence.Learning from the development of the traditional auto parts industry, my country should strive to cultivate leading enterprises, speed up the adjustment of industrial structure to achieve resource integration, and take mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures as the first measure to defend against the impact of multinational auto parts enterprises to ensure a stable market share of enterprises; secondly , enterprises should aim at the future, especially in the field of new energy vehicles, which has become more and more popular in recent years, focus on the field of new energy vehicle parts, respond to the national "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", actively expand the market, organize special research, and carry out in-depth research, Put forward systematic ideas, strategies and methods for supporting the new energy auto parts industry, gradually become stronger and bigger, enhance the competitiveness of enterprises, master the right to speak, and avoid repeating the mistakes of the traditional auto parts industry in the future.