How long can the banner of national industry in China's passenger car industry stay?

On the afternoon of March 10th, Beijing International Exhibition Center. 2004 International Commercial Vehicle and Parts Exhibition.

In a passenger bus exhibiting, a small press conference is being held. The host who stood in front of the car was Zhou Bin, vice president of Jiangsu Zhongda Group.


Different from other conferences, at the press conference, Zhou Bin did not introduce the new models displayed by CUHK at this auto show, nor did he introduce the successful experience of CUHK. When he opened his mouth, he threw several questions to reporters present:

"In the future bus industry, who will be the mainstream? Private, state-owned or joint venture?"

"Are the national flag of the bus industry still able to survive? How far can it be?"

"Do some of the national brands nowadays also follow the road of joint ventures with foreign countries just like a car?"

National bus brands face a crisis of survival?

The national industry is a word that the bus industry has become very popular in recent years. Some people even use the “proud of the Chinese auto industry” to describe the phenomenon that the national bus brands occupy an absolute advantage. Several questions raised by Zhou Bin do not seem to meet the needs of some industry players. So, what are the reasons for the CEO of a private company to think of such a seemingly sharp problem?

"It is the status quo of the car industry, and it is a reminder of the market environment." Zhou Bin answered directly.

"For a while now, I have been in charge of sales work. I found in my work that paying too much attention to the sales of coaches means that the road will narrower and narrower, and the market will go further and further."

Jumping out of the circle of sales, Zhou Bin suddenly found that the main customer transportation companies of passenger cars have gradually become more rational in their consumption from the initial blind choice. In the previous years, they were higher than (higher level), longer (length), and more than foreign (foreign brands). As a result, some companies purchased buses of 2 million yuan, which took 7 years to recover costs; now, transport companies After the overall restructuring, the main body became a private enterprise. The standard for selecting products is "enough, durable, easy to use, and inexpensive." Therefore, transport companies now hope that manufacturers can develop suitable products to help them lower operating costs.

"However, because the competition in the passenger car industry is not complete enough, the management costs remain high, and even become one of the mainstream industries with higher income in recent years. In the course of competing with foreign brands, we must exert our own comparative advantages. Where is the comparative advantage of China's bus industry? At present, there are not many people in the industry thinking about this issue."

"This reminds me that with the gradual entry of international brands into China, the national brand of the passenger car industry may face the same crisis as the car."

Is it necessary for China's bus industry to promote self-development?

Is Zhou Bin's words a little alarmist? In an interview, the reporter found that some people in the passenger car industry were very disapproving of this. They believe that after China's accession to the WTO, there has not been a large number of foreign passenger cars imported. The national brand passenger cars now occupy almost all markets with excellent price/performance ratio. Foreign brands do not dominate. While the sales of some models of passenger cars are hot, it even hides this sense of crisis.

However, some industry players have issued warnings from a long-term perspective.

"Actually, China's passenger car industry will soon face a drop in gross profit and competition, and the industrial structure may experience major changes." Facing the prosperous bus industry, an expert who has studied the bus industry has his own calm thinking.

"The homogeneity of China's passenger car products is more serious. In the face of limited market space, enterprises can only lower prices each other to obtain orders." An industry insider is worried about this.

"In the past few years, the domestic automobile industry was overprotected by the country, with its own development and poor ability to innovate. In the situation where foreign brands have flooded into China, only the immediate interests are considered, there is less consideration for long-term interests, and the introduction of product technology is emphasized, but not The emphasis on digestion, improvement, and absorption has led to a heavy reliance on foreign brands and formed a weak state for the domestic auto industry's own brands, said Tang Yuxiang, chairman of the Tenth National People's Congress and chairman of Yutong Bus.

Under such circumstances, the phenomenon of "copying, buying, and moving" of domestic bus companies is very serious. The reporter discovered at the commercial vehicle show that some of the products were replaced with trademarks, and they only imitated foreign countries in appearance, and some products were completely copied from foreign products. Even glass was used as it was.

It is understood that so far, the domestic passenger car industry has not yet had a systematic and comprehensive technical research and development center. From the engine power configuration, the selection of the disk components, from the body structure, to the vehicle manufacturing process, the manufacturers are working on each one. There is no integration of resources and no resources are shared. Because passenger cars are small businesses, the country’s access system is relatively loose. As a result, there are many manufacturers, but there are very few domestic brands that really have weight.

According to the representative of the 10th National People's Congress and Chairman of the Dandong Shuguang Axle Co., Ltd., Li Jinzhen introduced that the current domestic passenger car products are imitation except for the introduction of their own real brand vehicles. In addition, China's more than 2,000 large and medium-sized bus products, regardless of the types of varieties, performance indicators, structural matching, there are duplication, single and other issues.

He said: "As China's bus industry is decentralized, R&D investment costs are low, and technical talents are lacking, enterprises are pushing their products to the market, imitating each other, and chasing each other, making the company's weak self-development capabilities vulnerable and lacking. Technological innovation."

How many opportunities do national bus brands have?

"The development direction of the computer processor is Ben 4, Ben 5, Ben 6. Our direction is Ben 6, Ben 5, Ben 4." Zhou Bin, vice president of the University of China, vividly compared the bus price war provoked by Zhongda. At this commercial auto show, China University clearly stated that all products should be reduced by 20%, which surprised some companies.

"Only price war, I am afraid it is not a long-term plan, right?" An unnamed bus company executives expressed different views. "Our national bus industry will face an increasingly strong international rival. I want to master the core technology of R&D."

"Utilizing international resources, integrating strengths, and using foreign advanced technology for our own purposes can catch up with the development level of the world bus industry as soon as possible." Said Shen Wei, General Manager of Xiamen Jinlong United Automobile Industry Co., Ltd., "Mastering the core of the passenger car. Technology, body assembly technology, and vehicle design and R&D capabilities will firmly lift the national brand banner."

It should be acknowledged that passenger cars produced by domestic passenger cars and world-class companies still have a large gap in terms of performance, longevity, and reliability. The product grades are very low. This is the biggest flaw in the national bus brands' entry into international competition. At present, some passenger cars are Companies mimicking technology, process, and configuration, and the result of making a big fuss about the trial cost of new product trials, is to make self-owned brands that look like the same thing, once they face up against foreign competitors, they become so weak. Powerless.

Today's automobile industry has shifted its strategic focus from the original manufacturing link to the development and sales service link. However, some domestic passenger car companies have neglected the two major links of product development and sales services.

"Joint ventures must not lose themselves," said Qin Yuanjian, professor of management at Wuhan University of Technology.

Li Jinhuan also believes: "At this stage, auto companies concentrate their manpower and financial resources on establishing R&D centers, or jointly designing and developing new products, learning from and learning from foreign advanced technologies, and digesting and absorbing them. This is a way of thinking to improve the autonomy development capability of China's auto industry. "."

Only with a strong independent development capability, the independent brand of the passenger car industry will have vitality, and bus companies will be able to maintain their “fancy mood”.