China Brands Step Up Global Race To Seize Opportunities Against Weakened Japan

[xizhimen]

Brands Step Up Global Race To Seize Opportunities Against Weakened Japan​

July. 11 2022

Cars ready for export in Yantai, East China’s Shandong Province Photo: VCG

As Southeast Asian countries seek to seize the opportunity provided by the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry with a series of favorable policies to attract foreign investment, Chinese NEV manufacturers are leading the pack when it comes to driving a new growth. With advanced technologies and complete industrial chains, the entry of more Chinese NEV brands in Southeast Asia will provide more choices for local consumers with more cutting-edge vehicles entering the market, experts said.

On Friday, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD unveiled its ATTO 3 electric vehicle in Singapore.

“BYD has introduced NEVs, including taxis, buses and trucks, in Singapore since entering the market nearly 10 years ago… and will introduce more vehicles in the ‘garden city,'” said Liu Xueliang, managing director of BYD Asia Pacific, in a press release. launch on the company’s WeChat account.

With Singapore seen as an important market, BYD will gradually enter the Southeast Asian market to provide more environmentally friendly vehicles, Liu said.

Meanwhile, Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor (GWM) announced last week the creation of a subsidiary in Malaysia, strengthening its presence in the region.

GWM will continue to expand its operation in the Malaysian market by increasing investment in the country and carrying out localized assemblies through cooperation with domestic companies, according to a company statement.

Additionally, a handful of other Chinese automakers have increased investment in Southeast Asia in recent years, including electric vehicle startup WM Motor, Chery Automobile Co and SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile.

Strong demand in Southeast Asia also boosted China’s auto exports. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China’s electric passenger vehicle exports rose 123.6 percent year on year to 41.83 billion yuan ($6.23 billion) in the first five months of 2022.

While auto production in countries such as the US and Japan has declined due to global shortages of chips and raw materials, China has made up for this global shortfall with increased product competitiveness, according to Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association. of China Passenger Cars. .

Chart: Tang Tengfei/GT

Policy Support

The NEV market in Southeast Asia is still in a nascent phase of innovation, with the government playing a key role in driving market growth, for example through subsidies and tax rebates, said Mei Songlin, an analyst at Shanghai-based auto industry.

In recent years, Southeast Asian countries have implemented a series of policies to boost the development of the NEV sector and relevant facilities, building a solid foundation for local market development.

In order to attract investment to maintain its status as a car production hub in the region, Thailand has proposed a goal of ensuring that 30 percent of its total car production is electric vehicles by 2030 and that all new cars are electric vehicles. electricity by 2035, according to a statement issued by the country’s Investment Board in November 2021.

In April, the investment promotion agency further expanded incentives to boost the development of the sector by announcing that smaller charging stations will be eligible for three years of tax benefits, in addition to a five-year corporate income tax exemption. years for charging stations with at least 40 chargers.

According to a forecast by the International Renewable Energy Agency, the NEV market will grow to around 10 million units in Southeast Asia by 2025, media reported.

Industrial design

Competition for the emerging market is currently fierce, with Japanese car brands dominating the Southeast Asian combustion vehicle market with a share of around 90 percent, while US electric car maker Tesla has also gained popularity. in the region.

Amid mounting challenges, Chinese NEV brands should adjust their strategies from two aspects, Mei said. “On the one hand, Chinese enterprises should build a unified brand image, such as stylish design, advanced smart technologies, and good value for money. On the other hand, they should strive to become one of the NEV technology leaders.” like Tesla to gain recognition from local consumers through superior quality,” he said.

To seize the opportunity created by Japan’s lagging NEV sector, Chinese brands have started to accelerate their industrial layout in Southeast Asia, including raw material sourcing, research and development, production and after-sales services.

CATL, one of China’s leading electric vehicle battery makers, said in April that one of its units will partner with PT Aneka Tambang and PT Industri Baterai Indonesia on a nearly $6 billion project ranging from nickel mining to battery materials and recycling in Indonesia.

Experts pointed out that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest trade pact, which came into effect in January, will further strengthen cooperation in the auto industry and supply chain between the members, creating great opportunities for Chinese automakers to compete in the Southeast Asian market.

Brands step up global race to seize opportunities against weakened Japan - en-business.psychic-live.club

en-business.psychic-live.club

 

[xizhimen]

I remember barely a decade ago China was still a net car importer and almost every car running on the roads was foreign. Fast forward to the present, China has already become the world 3rd biggest car exporter edging towards the 2nd. This is indeed a fast changing world at a fast changing time.

 

[AWP]

I tried some of Changan cars , without a doubt Changan will be a big name in cars in the coming years . the issue is some of the vital Changan parts are imported from japan and germany . it will be hard for china to match german and japanese car quality , but who knows !

 

[Ryder]

Japanese cars are still better.

Now way China can compete with Japanese and SK brands.

 

[xizhimen]

Japanese cars are still better.

Now way China can compete with Japanese and SK brands.

Chinese car makers were unheard of a decade ago and now they are everywhere in China and making inroads in foreign market, especially in next generation EVs. 20 years ago, Chinese phones were unheard of even in China, now they take the biggest share of the world market, don't be so confident and never say never.

 

[xizhimen]

I tried some of Changan cars , without a doubt Changan will be a big name in cars in the coming years . the issue is some of the vital Changan parts are imported from japan and germany . it will be hard for china to match german and japanese car quality , but who knows !

Chang'an imports parts from Japan and Germany? Do you mean Chang'an Ford? that is a joint venture, not really a Chinese domestic car, all global car brands have their factories in China, Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota...but we don't really count them as Chinese domestic cars.

 

[Ryder]

Chinese car makers were unheard of a decade ago and now they are everywhere in China and making inroads in foreign market, especially in next generation EVs. 20 years ago, Chinese phones were unheard of even in China, now they take the biggest share of the world market, don't be so confident and never say never.

Card brands also prove themselves in motorsport too. No Chinese car ever races in top flight motorsports.

Even SK brands race like Hyundai in the WRC.

 

[xizhimen]

Card brands also prove themselves in motorsport too. No Chinese car ever races in top flight motorsports.

Even SK brands race like Hyundai in the WRC.

I don't know about that part, but I think Chinese car makers only care about selling more cars in the world market, they especially focus on future next generation EVs.

 

[Jagdflieger]

Japanese cars are still better.

Now way China can compete with Japanese and SK brands.

All OEM's worldwide are bound to international and national quality standards incl. crash-tests etc.
There is no such thing anymore as better then .... Aside from OEM's that do not fullfill international norms and therefore only sell in their own home market.
It all simply comes down to Brand-reputation, personal liking/design and price-quality-relation.

The world market for "high-priced cars" (Rmb 1,000,000+) is a niche market - which in e.g. China's OEM case is not attractive enough in regards to numbers. But even this will change in the years to come.

My next car to come will either be a BMW L535e (personal liking) price around 600,000 Rmb, or a BYD HAN Hybrid price around 250,000 Rmb
And keep in mind that China just as the vast majority of countries has a speed limit of 120km/h - so the actual characteristic or advantage of a BMW (it's engine) - high-speed handling and crash-safety (whereby the latter is on par with the BYD HAN) simply doesn't come into play anymore.

 

[xizhimen]

All OEM's worldwide are bound to international and national quality standards incl. crash-tests etc.
There is no such thing anymore as better then .... Aside from OEM's that do not fullfill international norms and therefore only sell in their own home market.
It all simply comes down to Brand-reputation, personal liking/design and price-quality-relation.

The world market for "high-priced cars" (Rmb 1,000,000+) is a niche market - which in e.g. China's OEM case is not attractive enough in regards to numbers. But even this will change in the years to come.

My next car to come will either be a BMW L535e (personal liking) price around 600,000 Rmb, or a BYD HAN Hybrid price around 250,000 Rmb
And keep in mind that China just as the vast majority of countries has a speed limit of 120km/h - so the actual characteristic or advantage of a BMW (it's engine) - high-speed handling and crash-safety (whereby the latter is on par with the BYD HAN) simply doesn't come into play anymore.

Prestigous global car makers now are actually increasingly rely on Chinese tech and renovations

China may be the future for Mercedes-Benz​

Partnership with Tencent is the latest sign automaker sees Middle Kingdom innovation as key to its success​

Brandon Vigliarolo
Tue 12 Jul 2022 // 05:02 UTC


Autonomous driving research in China is getting a boost from Mercedes-Benz and Tencent, who on Monday announced a partnership that will include construction of a joint autonomous driving research lab.

In a statement released on WeChat, Tencent announced the pair would be exploring autonomous driving toolchains, verification services and other autonomous vehicle tech. Tencent said it has a "rich experience and resource accumulation in autonomous driving," and that it will also help Mercedes-Benz through cloud computing, big data, AI and safety technology.

According to Dr Hans Georg Engel, senior EVP at Daimler Greater China Investment Co, Mercedes-Benz has already been "intensively developing and testing current and next-generation autonomous driving systems" in China.

In its WeChat post, Tencent quoted Engel as saying that Daimler's future success in China relies on "in-depth insight into local complex traffic conditions and market demands." That language closely echoes the phrasing used by BMW Group when it announced a partnership with Tencent in 2019.


"The BMW Group will use [Tencent's] platform to develop automated driving technologies and products which suit the complex local traffic conditions and meet local customer demands," BMW said at the time.

It's no surprise that Tencent's partnership announcements with Western automakers involve similar language: it's been trying for a while to become the go-to company for foreign automakers looking to enter China's considerable electric vehicle market, CNBC reported in late June.

Of particular interest to CNBC was Tencent's Intelligent Automobile Cloud (TIAC), which the company announced last month. Features included in TIAC include data storage that optimizes autonomous drive system training, social media interfaces and "all technological aspects of an electric car," CNBC reported.

Mercedes-Benz's partnership with Tencent isn't new, either. The two have been working together since 2015, when the German firm became the first luxury carmaker to partner on Tencent's in-vehicle My Car service.

The pair also partnered last year to improve Mercedes-Benz vehicle security after Tencent security researchers managed to exploit some vulnerabilities in the onboard MBUX infotainment system.

Outside of its partnership with Tencent, Mercedes-Benz launched its own research and development center in China in 2021, with Daimler Auto Group Board of Management member Markus Schäfer saying at the time that China was central to the automaker's plans.

"When it comes to digitization, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, cutting-edge computing, our R&D team in China plays an increasingly important role for us. This goes for technology development, but also for technology sourcing, especially with regard to New Energy Vehicles (NEVs)," Schäfer said.

Mercedes-Benz and Tencent's specific plans remain unknown, but Engel did provide a clue for the curious. "Mercedes-Benz is the first car company in the world to meet the strict legal requirements for Level 3 conditional autonomous driving systems," Engel said.

Mercedes-Benz previously partnered with Bosch to work on Level 4 and 5 of autonomous driving, which it said it wanted to accomplish within the next decade. The automaker has also committed to going completely electric by 2030, and China recorded half the world's EV sales in 2021. No wonder Mercedes-Benz is looking to the East for its future. ®

China may be the future for Mercedes-Benz

Partnership with Tencent is the latest sign automaker sees Middle Kingdom innovation as key to its success

www.theregister.com

 

[Jagdflieger]

Prestigous global car makers now are actually increasingly rely on Chinese tech and renovations

Rely - I think is the wrong word since China still relies onto Western tech and innovations - especially in the OEM sector.

Western OEM's can't ignore the market potential of China in the coming 50 years. As such they need to adapt towards the Chinese consumer's preferences and Chinese existing and upcoming laws - e.g. EV vehicles, autonomous driving systems and infotainment systems that will make future cars more of a boring mobile phone with four wheels. Mercedes hasn't been known or reputed for it's IT-navigation infotainment systems - BMW and AUDI are far more advanced in that regard.

However in regards to the future of "Mobiles on wheels" - many persons incl. me actually fear that this will ultimately be the end for German cars and their reputation - since aside from design and the car-logo, there isn't really much left in regards to competing characteristics.

 

[xizhimen]

Sales of Chinese-brand cars jump 43.1% in June​

July 17, 2022

Sales of Chinese-brand passenger cars continued to rise rapidly in June, surging 43.1 percent year on year, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows.

A total of 994,000 Chinese-brand passenger cars were sold last month, accounting for 44.8 percent of the country's total passenger-car sales in the period, according to the association.

In the first half of the year, the sales of domestic auto brands rose 16.5 percent year on year to top 4.89 million units, making up 47.2 percent of China's total passenger-car sales in the period, up 5.3 percentage points from the same period in 2021.

The association attributed the continuous expansion of the market share of Chinese brands this year to automakers' efforts to increase competence through industrial upgrading, winning more young consumers through accurate market analysis, and getting support from the domestic supply chain.

It put special emphasis on the new-energy vehicle sector, saying that Chinese brands have taken the lead in the market by accelerating the development of intelligent and connected vehicles.

Sales of Chinese-brand cars jump 43.1% in June - China.org.cn

www.china.org.cn

 

[Jagdflieger]

Basically only two Chinese manufacturers contributed to this "sales increase" = EV manufacturers. BYD and Changan Motors. And EV's by FAW, and Toyota
Whilst the others are stagnant or even showing reduced sales figures - but being heavily indebted - not to mention the even far more indebted companies such as BYD and Changan Motors. The value added supplier chain of an EV is at average 30% lower then that of a combustion or hybrid car.

China - Flash report, Automotive sales volume, 2024 - MarkLines Automotive Industry Portal

MarkLines Automotive Information Platform

www.marklines.com

It's just TESLA balance sheet bull... transferred onto Chinese OEM's
Basically - showing off subsidized sales figures whilst ignoring US$ billions of company debt and the ongoing reduction of jobs in the traditional supplier industry that can't be compensated by the EV industry.

In order to promote car sales, (GDP) the government is "subsidizing" car sales - so again the rich are profiting - whilst the poor stay as they are = poor.
The question remains as to what is actually the industrial/manufacturing value of an entirely debt ridden Chinese OEM industry?