Car exports, what hold up your future?

Since the beginning of this year, the domestic market of self-owned brand automakers has been poor, but overseas markets have made repeated gains.

According to data from the China Automobile Association, China’s auto exports reached 546,000 vehicles in the first eight months, an increase of 54% year-on-year. It can be predicted that China's auto exports will hit a record high this year.

The problem is as prominent as the performance. At the "Global Automotive Forum" held in Chengdu recently, many people in the automotive industry believe that the export of self-owned brands is still in its infancy, and it is also facing a gradual loss of cost advantage in overseas markets. The low level of export products, the large number of exporters, and the fact that companies and products are operating in the same room are increasingly becoming major problems that plagued the development of independent brands overseas. If these problems are not resolved, it will certainly affect the strategy and pace of the "going out" of the Chinese automobile industry.

It is still in its infancy. In 2001, China joined the WTO. The number of cars exported this year was 20,000. In the following years, although the total volume of Chinese auto exports was small, it always maintained rapid growth. By 2008, the annual auto exports reached 640,000 vehicles. But since then, affected by the global financial crisis, China’s auto exports have had little bright spots, and exports have also fallen sharply.

In 2009, when China’s production and sales volume reached more than 13 million units, it became the world’s largest auto market. Due to the sluggish demand in overseas markets and the increase in policy thresholds for exporting countries, auto exports have fallen sharply, with export volumes of only 370,000 units. , a year-on-year decrease of 45%. Chery, Great Wall, Geely and other export volumes all fell into the historical lows. Although 2010 has recovered from 2009, only 580,000 vehicles have been exported.

Originally thought that this year is still not good, from the export data of the first 8 months, China's auto exports seem to have come out of the trough. In the first 8 months, the cumulative export volume of domestic automobiles reached 546,000 vehicles, and it is no surprise that record highs were achieved throughout the year.

The relevant experts of China Automobile Association indicated that this year's rapid growth in China’s auto exports has been due to two reasons: First, several major foreign economies and emerging markets have been in a turn for the better; second is the active efforts of domestic car companies. In particular, the latter, this year, Chery, Geely, the Great Wall and other domestic companies actively deployed in overseas markets, built new factories, expanded the dealer network and a series of measures, which actually promoted the export business of these companies.

Some experts pointed out that China's auto exports have a very large room for growth in the future. Germany currently accounts for 75% of the total output, 65% in Japan, 50% in South Korea, and even more than 20% in Brazil. Our country exported 580,000 vehicles last year, accounting for only about 3% of total production.

At the same time, industry experts believe that although local Chinese companies have opened up markets overseas faster, they are not yet optimistic. The overseas expansion of Chinese companies is still in its infancy and there is still a long way to go.

The three major problems restricting the "low-cost competitive advantage of the Chinese auto industry in overseas markets are gradually weakening. In particular, the appreciation of the RMB exchange rate, rising labor and raw material costs, and environmental constraints are all undermining the competitive advantage of independent brands. But the most fundamental The reason is still from within, "said Lu Luxun, deputy director of the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Industry of the Ministry of Commerce.

“Excessive and excessively exporting subjects are the primary problems in the export of automobiles.” Lu Lun pointed out that China’s export of US$32 billion worth of automotive products was completed by 20,000 business entities last year. The total vehicle export volume is 580,000 and there are as many as 500 export companies. According to reports, in order to compete for orders in overseas markets, Chinese auto companies often “combat each other” and lower prices each other, which has greatly damaged the overall image of “Made in China”. Lu Jianhui, deputy general manager of Chery Automobile, put it more directly at the Global Automotive Forum: "As long as there is a car product that sells well in a certain country, other car products will come on stream. Only a few months will be made in China. The same type of product, and the price competition is extremely serious." Wang Xia, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Automobile Industry Committee, said that this vicious competition has seriously affected the brand image of Chinese cars in overseas markets and standardized the export order, which has become a major issue that China's auto overseas development strategy must solve.

Second, most of the overseas strategies of China's auto companies still remain at the stage of general trade. The majority of auto exports go through a single-goods trade. There are very few automakers that set up factories overseas to conduct localized R&D, production, and sales. In addition, most of the overseas marketing networks rely exclusively on overseas distributors, and most of the autonomous car companies have not yet participated in the construction of marketing networks overseas.

In addition, although the quality of export products of autonomous vehicle enterprises has improved in recent years, compared with multinational companies, it still remains at a low-end and low-cost level. This can be seen from the crash test of many domestic car companies in developed countries such as Europe and the United States. After analyzing the Brazilian market, GlobeOne, an analysis agency, also found that the quality of Chinese automotive products exported to Brazil is not very high, but its price advantage meets the needs of some consumers. The research report further pointed out that the brand's influence is weak and the quality of its products is flawed. It is easy to smash its own brand.

How to solve the problem of "under the premise of meeting the WTO rules, the country needs to implement a strategic international trade policy, optimize the main players in competition, increase subsidies for export tax rebates, and strengthen investment and financing support, and improve China's automobile industry as soon as possible. The situation in the competition.” Wang Xia, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Automobile Industry Committee, suggested that the government should increase its policy support for “going global” in the automotive industry.

At the "Global Automotive Forum" held in Chengdu, Dr. Ludson revealed that next year, related departments may start to improve the export qualification standards of independent brands, strengthen the standards and requirements for the construction of overseas marketing networks, accelerate the merger and reorganization of auto companies, and optimize auto export competition. The main body regulates and promotes automobile exports. Lu Luxun said that first of all, it may raise the threshold for export volume. If there are vicious competitions outside the enterprise, they will cancel their qualifications in the next year. Secondly, on the basis of existing qualifications, the standards and requirements for the construction of overseas marketing networks for autonomous vehicle enterprises are strengthened. At the same time, Lu Lun also hopes to speed up the pace of mergers and reorganizations through market forces in order to optimize the main players of overseas competition. “In Germany, there were more than 100 vehicle manufacturers in the 1960s. After more than 20 years of development, more than a dozen companies have slowly settled down. In Japan, too, there are a large number of automotive production entities, which are also constantly Mergers and reorganizations to form the current few."

In addition, many automotive experts emphasized that independent automakers must fundamentally upgrade their brands and products, increase the localization of overseas markets, and develop differentiated products in order to achieve rapid export growth. Wang Xia said that the development of domestic joint ventures in recent years is worth learning from independent car companies. Volkswagen, General Motors, Nissan, and Toyota continue to invest in the Chinese market throughout the years, and continue to increase the breadth and depth of localized research and development in China, and models tailored for Chinese consumers are emerging in an endless stream. This year, many multinational car companies have even shifted the research and development of core technologies to China. General Motors said recently that it will collaborate with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, Shanghai General Motors, and the Pan-Asian Automotive Technology Center to design and develop a new generation of EcoTec petrol engines with small displacements. .