【Core intelligent driving】Behind the recall and fermentation of domestic Tesla: Tuopu Group has quality defects but talks about "performance first"

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Set micro network news, recently, due to the front and rear steering knuckle strength may not meet the design requirements, Tesla recalled more than 20,000 domestic Model Y electric vehicles, the incident has continued to ferment since the disclosure, as a Tesla steering knuckle supplier, Tuopu Group was pushed to the cusp. Affected by this, the share price of Tuopu Group fell for 3 consecutive days, and the deviation value reached 20%.

What is chilling is that when Tuopu Group responds to the impact of the incident and the crisis public relations, it mainly cuts from the perspective of its own economic interests, believing that Tesla's recall of cars with safety hazards is only a "non-major event", and perhaps in the values of Tuopu Group, life can also "have such and such problems".

Tesla: The reason for the recall is that Ningbo Tuopu products are defective

Recently, Tesla filed a recall plan with the State Administration for Market Regulation: from now on, some domestic Model Y electric vehicles with production dates from February 4, 2021 to October 30, 2021, will be recalled, totaling 21,599 units. At the same time, the reason for the recall was revealed, "Due to the supplier's manufacturing reasons, the strength of the front and rear knuckles may not meet the design requirements." In the process of vehicle use, the steering knuckle may be deformed or broken, and the suspension linkage may be detached from the knuckle under extreme stress conditions, affecting the driving control of the vehicle, increasing the risk of collision accidents, and there are potential safety hazards. ”

As soon as the news came out, the market was in an uproar, and the stock price of Tesla's steering knuckle supplier Tuopu Group fell in response, and Tesla also rarely named the supplier involved as Ningbo Tuopu in response to a media interview. By December 7, Tuopu Group had accumulated a cumulative deviation of 20% in the daily closing price decline in three consecutive trading days.

In fact, this is not the first time Tesla has recalled a car, and this year alone has launched a number of car recalls in China.

On February 5 this year, Tesla China launched a recall of 20,400 Model S and 15,700 Model Xs, the reason for the recall is that the eMMC multimedia memory card life cycle is exhausted, there is a possibility of indirect security risks, and for the same reason, Tesla also recalled 135,000 Model S and Model X in the United States. On June 26, Tesla China recalled another 56,800 Model 3s and 38,600 Model Ys due to active cruise control problems, which could lead to vehicle collisions in extreme cases, and there are safety hazards.

On December 5, just after naming Tuopu Group, Tesla launched a recall of 91 Model 3s in China because the lateral linkage fixing bolts on the front subframe assembly may not be tightened according to the standard torque, resulting in safety hazards.

The analysis found that Tesla's previous recalls this year were caused by safety hazards, but the scope of these incidents was much smaller and did not directly affect suppliers. Only this time Tesla directly named suppliers, resulting in Tuopu Group being pushed to the cusp. It can be seen that Tesla has spoken out about the supply of unqualified products to Tuopu Group and caused losses.

It should be pointed out that at the beginning of this year, when Tesla fell into the whirlpool of rights protection, Wu Jianshu, chairman of Tuopu Group, publicly stated, "In the process of cooperation with customers, I deeply realized that everything that a company does is correct, including product positioning, research and development, manufacturing, supplier management, quality, marketing, etc. are very correct." The emergence and growth of a new species, the emergence of one kind of problem, is also short-lived. ”

This remark is not known whether Tuopu Group is overconfident in its own products or extremely trusting its customers. Nowadays, Tesla's "correct" practice of naming defective products supplied by Tuopu Group has made it passive. At this moment, I don't know how Tuopu Group feels, but Wu Jianshu has publicly stated in an internal meeting, "This recall will not affect the company's development plan, and all the company's projects are progressing normally." ”

Tuopu Group: This recall is a non-major event

It is understood that the main business of Tuopu Group is the research and development and manufacturing of automotive power chassis systems, trim systems, intelligent driving control systems and other fields, and it became a designated supplier of Tesla in August 2016. Up to now, the two sides have cooperated for more than 5 years, according to CITIC Securities data, Tuopu Group's bicycle supporting value for Tesla has increased from the initial 1,000 yuan / vehicle to the highest 9,000 yuan / vehicle, and has become an important driving force for Tuopu Group's revenue in the first three quarters of this year to increase by 81.14% year-on-year.

In response to the Tesla recall, Tuopu Group responded on December 5 that due to the insufficient water level of the quenching tank in a heat treatment production line, individual products were not completely immersed in the quenching fluid, resulting in the strength of the steering knuckle may not meet the design requirements. At the same time, it also gives a set of data that "the probability of defective suspicious products is about 0.2% to 1.0%", and infers from this that "this recall is a non-major event and will not have an impact on the annual operating performance, and this event will not have an impact on the company's business".

From the perspective of direct economic losses, the value of a single car steering knuckle is indeed not high, Tmall authorized dealerships show that the model Y steering knuckle retail price is only 200 yuan / pair, an industry insider said that the agreed unit price of the main engine factory can be dozens of yuan. Based on this analysis, compared with the revenue scale of nearly 8 billion yuan in the first three quarters of Tuopu Group, the losses caused by the recall event are indeed "not affecting the company's business".

However, chairman A of an automobile group with a market value of more than 200 billion yuan once said that the standard of a good car is to watch over life. The consequences of a problem knuckle will not be only a few tens of dollars in value, improper handling, may cost the lives of drivers and passengers, not to mention the recall is behind the 21599 families.

For Tesla's courage to recall potentially risky vehicles, netizens praised "Tesla has the responsibility, which is the attitude that a conscientious enterprise should have." However, Tuopu Group's response to the crisis is "no impact on annual operating performance", which has to make people question its corporate values. "The current response of Tuopu Group, the intention of making big things small is obvious." Industry insiders said.

In fact, in order to ensure that every vehicle meets the factory and delivery requirements, Tesla's requirements for suppliers are very strict, "once a supplier has a problem, there is a possibility of being replaced." A Tesla supply chain person said, "In order to meet Tesla's requirements, we are under a lot of pressure." Obviously, the understatement of Tuopu Group's "non-major event" and "will not be affected" is obviously different from the views of other companies in the same Tesla supply chain.

At the same time, the domestic aluminum alloy lightweight parts production technology has matured, and the life cycle of the steering knuckle product can exceed the service life cycle of the car. However, the domestic production time of Tesla's recalled vehicles is 2021, and it may be that some owners have just picked up the car, and they have been notified to "rebuild", which has to make people question the advanced nature of the steering knuckle technology of Tuopu Group and the rigor of manufacturing, and Tesla as a brand side, its brand image will be seriously and far-reachingly negatively affected.

In addition, the knuckle product that has been defective is not a core component. Among local companies, Bethel and Shanghai Huizhong are important manufacturers in this field, among which Bethel is the leader of domestic lightweight steering knuckles, and it said at the beginning of this year: "Tesla is an important target customer of the company." "Tesla is affected by this incident, if it is interested in supporting other suppliers, alternative suppliers will receive greater order support, and potential companies will also get more opportunities to enter Tesla's supply chain." As for whether Tuopu Group will withdraw from Tesla's supply chain system, an industry insider said that "it will not be in the short term, but in the long run, it is difficult to say; I believe Tesla will be more cautious about adjusting its supplier strategy." ”

When analyzing the incident, Huachuang Securities also pointed out that "the market's expectation that Tesla will continue to choose a single supplier to supply exclusively is not in line with the business model (risk management and control) of the automotive industry." And on the product of the steering knuckle, he stated that "the value of the Tuopu Group does not lie in the 'single champion' or Tesla, but in the 'expansion ability' of the integrated parts group." Another industry insider disclosed that Tesla is increasing and improving the supply chain system of two and three supplies, and the occurrence of the Tuopu Group incident will accelerate the establishment of the system.

The impact of the Tuopu Group's problem steering knuckle incident will not be limited to Tesla, and the statement that "it does not involve other Tesla models, nor does it involve other customers' models" will only allow the OEMs to increase the inspection and inspection of the Tuopu Group products adopted. It is understood that in addition to Tesla, Tuopu Group also supplies products to Many car companies such as Weilai Automobile, Xiaopeng Automobile, WM Motor, BYD, General Motors, Audi, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Geely, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volkswagen, etc. The outbreak of the Tuopu Group's problem steering knuckle incident and the disposal performance of Tuopu Group will also cause other car companies to re-examine Tuopu Group, in order to prevent problems, it may gradually increase support for other suppliers. (Proofreader/James)