This week, what are the major events in the domestic and foreign automotive industries?
Midea enters the field of automotive chips
On January 10, according to the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" report, the relevant person in charge of the Midea Group said that the company aims to ship 80 million chips in 2022, in addition to MCU chips, the future plans to cover power chips, power chips, IoT chips and other home appliances chips, and plans to lay out automotive chips.
Relevant market sources revealed that at present, Midea's self-developed MCUs are entry-level products, mainly used for their own home appliances, which are different from the types of automotive chips. For vehicle-grade chips, the group may not be able to reach mass production in 2024.
Gaz comments: Although the shortage of automotive chips is still continuing, many views believe that in 2023, there is a high probability that automotive chips will be oversupplied, and from this point of view, the time for the United States to enter the field of automotive chips seems to be late.
Evergrande Automobile Hengchi 5 officially rolled off the production line
On January 12, Hengchi Automobile officially released the official off-line promotional video of Hengchi 5, which showed the entire process flow of Hengchi 5 from stamping, welding, painting to final assembly.
Hengchi 5 offline; image source: Hengchi official Weibo screenshot
Hengchi 5 is the first model launched by Evergrande Automobile, and in November last year, Hengchi 5 LX appeared in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It is reported that Hengchi 5 LX is equipped with a motor produced by United Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd., with a maximum power of 150kW, a body size of 4725 * 1925 * 1688mm, a wheelbase of 2780mm, positioned in an A-class SUV, which will compete with Audi Q3, BMW X1 and other models after listing, and is expected to be priced below 200,000 yuan.
Gaz comments: The first car off the production line means that Hengchi has entered the countdown stage of mass production, which is of great significance to Evergrande Automobile, but the capital market seems to have a flat response to this, which may be because there is still uncertainty about whether the new car can successfully achieve mass production at a time when the entire group is in a deep liquidity crisis.
Aptiv announced the acquisition of Wind River for $4.3 billion
On Jan. 11, Aptiv announced that it had agreed to acquire Wind River from private equity firm TPG Capital for $4.3 billion in cash to help it establish its unique position in key software areas across multiple industries, continue its intelligent transformation, and move toward a edge-enabled, software-defined future.
Aptiv announces a $4.3 billion acquisition of Wind River; Image: Aptiv
It is reported that Wind River provides software for the intelligent edge, and its software has been used on more than 2 billion edge devices in more than 1,700 customers around the world, enabling the safe development, deployment, operation and service of key intelligent systems. This edge-to-cloud software portfolio is based on Wind River Studio and spans aerospace, defense, telecommunications, industrial, and automotive markets. Wind River Studio is a versatile, comprehensive, cloud-native intelligent systems software platform that provides complete product lifecycle management for edge-to-cloud application projects.
Gaz Comment: Through the acquisition of Aptiv, we can see that with the continuous improvement of the value of automotive software in the overall value of the car, both vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers are aiming at this new "increment" to expand the layout.
BorgWarner completes its investment in Qnovo
On January 11, BorgWarner announced its participation as a major investor in a million-dollar Series C funding round for Silicon Valley Qnovo. Qnovo is a privately held software and management company headquartered in Newark, California.
According to the data, Qnovo has been focusing on battery health measurement and fast charging. Enhancing battery chemistry through proprietary battery management intelligence, Qnovo enhances battery safety, enables fast charging, extends life, and improves capacity utilization. When combined with fleet monitoring, the software provides a trusted solution for adaptive charging and advanced battery pack diagnostics.
Gaz Comment: With the rapid development of new energy vehicles and the continuous improvement of related product and technical capabilities, BorgWarner will further improve its battery solution portfolio capabilities and improve the company's competitiveness through this investment.
Ewell Lithium Energy won 49% of the equity of Schmidt Lithium Salt for 200 million
On January 12, Ewell Lithium Energy issued an announcement that the board of directors of the company held on October 21, 2021 deliberated and passed the "Proposal on The Proposed Bid for 35.2857% of the Equity of Xinghua Lithium Salt", and agreed that the company used its own funds to participate in the bidding of 35.2857% of the equity of Qinghai Qaidam Xinghua Lithium Salt Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xinghua Lithium Salt") within the scope of the approval authority of the board of directors.
Ewell Lithium Energy won 49% of the equity of Schmidt Lithium Salt; image source: Ewell Lithium Energy announcement screenshot
Recently, Ewell Lithium Energy received the "Notice of Bidding Results" and signed the "Property Rights Transaction Contract" with Qinghai Qaidam Development and Construction Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Chai Jiantou"), and successfully acquired 35.2857% of the equity of Xinghua Lithium Salt held by Chai Jiantou, with a final transaction price of RMB 144 million (excluding auction service fees). At the same time, the Company signed the Equity Transfer Agreement with Mr. Zhai Yanhong, the shareholder of Xinghua Lithium Salt, and referred to the above-mentioned auction transaction amount of the Company, and transferred 13.7143% of the equity of Xinghua Lithium Salt held by Mr. Zhai Yanhong for 56.0158 million yuan. This means that after the completion of the above transaction, Ewell Lithium Energy will directly hold 49% of the equity of Schmidt Lithium Salt.
Gaz comments: It is proposed to acquire the equity of Jinkunlun Lithium, establish a strategic cooperation with Lanxiao Technology, and take 49% of the equity of Xinghua Lithium Salt... Yiwei Lithium Energy is stepping up to improve its own industrial chain layout, of course, the "opponent" Ningde era, Guoxuan Hi-Tech and other actions are not small, and the "war situation" of the power battery industry chain is becoming more and more intense.
The joint venture between Brose and Volkswagen for seating systems is operational
Recently, Brose China said that Brose Sitech, a joint venture between Brose and Volkswagen, has been fully operational in early 2022, and Brose Sitech has officially entered the global market as an independent supplier of automotive seating systems.
It is reported that Brose Sitech plans to further deepen its business cooperation with Volkswagen and provide seating systems to other automakers. In addition to R&D and production sites in Eastern Europe, Germany and China, the two companies are planning to expand their business in Europe, the Americas and Asia. In the long term, the new joint venture's product range will be expanded to include a wide range of innovative solutions for the entire automotive interior.
The news shows that the joint venture, which is 50% owned by Brose, is expected to make the Brose Group's sales and employment rate higher than average after it is put into operation. Brose's revenue is expected to rise to €7.4 billion in 2022 and €9.2 billion in 2024.
Gaz comments: Nowadays, the car cockpit is entering a rapid stage of intelligent development, and a considerable incremental market has been born, and the incremental market of Brose and Volkswagen jointly nuggets should not be small.