On March 18, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "2022 Automotive Standardization Work Points" (hereinafter referred to as: work points). It can be seen from the release content that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, based on the technology trends of the automobile industry and the current real situation of the automobile industry, explained the standardization points of new energy vehicles and intelligent networked vehicles in all aspects. Among them, accelerating the construction of the automotive chip standard system is a major core point, which has aroused widespread concern and discussion in the industry.
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology official website
What is the significance of the introduction of the work points?
Under the influence of various complex factors, the current automobile market can be described as full of variables.
On the one hand, the sales of new energy vehicles are constantly reaching new highs, and the world's well-known car companies have all stepped into this new track; on the other hand, it is the dilemma that automobile manufacturers have to reduce production due to the lack of cores. AutoForecast Solutions (AFS), an internationally renowned automotive industry research company, pointed out in the latest report that since 2022, the lack of core has led to a reduction in global automobile production by about 527,400 units, and in the whole of 2021, the lack of cores has led to a reduction in automobile production of up to 10.2 million units.
So, why did the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology release this work point at this time? Just after the document was released, Aijiwei conducted an interview with relevant companies in the field of automotive chips for the first time.
In this interview, the heads of major enterprises are highly consistent in their judgment on this matter.
Xiong Haifeng, founder and CEO of Taisi Micro, believes that automotive chips are listed separately in the key points of the ministry of industry and information technology's annual standardization work of automobiles as key work, which is an unprecedented situation, and this adjustment is related to the unprecedented lack of cores in automobiles in 2021.
Dr. Wang Kai, director and CEO of Core Engine Technology, also expressed similar views, believing that the proposal of the main points of work reflects the determination to promote the complete solution of the neck and supply chain risks of the car chip card from the national level, and at the same time, the development of the local automotive chip industry will also usher in excellent opportunities.
Shan Jizhang, founder and CEO of Black Sesame Intelligence, said that the development of the intelligent new energy automobile industry is an important opportunity for China's automotive industry to change lanes and overtake and reach the global leader. Overall, the heads of various enterprises believe that the main points of work have a very positive significance and will effectively promote the development of the domestic automobile industry.
Automobile standardization requires the coordinated efforts of the industrial chain
Compared with consumer semiconductors, due to the large differences in the working environment, there are more related elements in terms of safety, the requirements for automotive chips are more demanding, and the standards in terms of safety, reliability, electromagnetic compatibility and other aspects are much higher than those of general industrial and civilian chips.
In addition to strict standards, there are many types of automotive chips, including MCU chips, sensing chips, communication chips, memory chips, security chips, computing chips, etc., which need to carry out corresponding standard research and project approval work. In the process of formulating specific standards, it is necessary to take into account the requirements of automotive chips in terms of functional safety, information security, environmental reliability, and electromagnetic compatibility.
Xiong Haifeng said that among all kinds of automotive chips, the vehicle regulation MCU chip ranks first in the key breakthroughs, and the strategic importance is self-evident. The demand for vehicle regulation MCUs is huge and diverse, and the special and general need to be developed at the same time, and there is an urgent need for powerful enterprises and teams to stand out.
In addition, due to the wide involvement of the automotive industry chain, the high density of technology involved, the number and types of enterprises are very complex, which also brings great challenges to the standardization work. In this regard, the main points clearly point out that automobile standardization requires a high degree of coordination between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and it is necessary to pay special attention to cross-integration and promote the establishment of a cross-industry and cross-field work collaboration mechanism.
In this regard, Shan Jizhang believes that the implementation of the standardization of automotive chip technology is the key to promoting the localization of automotive chips and opening up the cognition of car companies and automotive chip companies.
Wang Kai also pointed out that the research and formulation of the automotive chip standard system will be carried out around the needs of car companies and the technical capabilities of chip research and development enterprises, which can connect and open up the related industries of the entire automotive electronics industry chain, which will effectively enhance efficiency and synergy, and enhance the overall product competitiveness of domestic automotive semiconductors.
In order to seize the major opportunities of cross-border integration and accelerated reconstruction of the automotive industry chain, supply chain and value chain, the domestic industry, academia and research community attaches great importance to the standardization of automotive chips. In June 2021, the China Automotive Chip Industry Innovation Strategic Alliance launched the construction of the automotive chip team standard system, and 14 group standards have been released so far. In October 2021, the pure electric passenger car vehicle specification chip series group standard jointly compiled by the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center and the industry was released. As can be seen from these events, the pace of the industry in the standardization of automobiles has accelerated significantly.
However, from the overall point of view, the current mainland automobile standardization work is still facing problems such as untimely response to industry demand, lack of cross-border integration, and insufficient publicity, and there is still a lot of work to be done.
According to the statistics previously released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2021, the cumulative sales volume of new energy vehicles in mainland China was 3.521 million units, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years. Among them, domestic brands sold 2.476 million new energy vehicles, accounting for 74.3%. It can be seen that with the development of automobiles in the direction of new energy, electronics and intelligence, the situation of the automobile market has been significantly reversed.
Strong standards are strong industries. With the advancement of domestic automobile standardization work, it will help the automobile industry to achieve more orderly and rapid development. In the short term, it can promote the improvement of the domestic automobile industry chain system and achieve a higher degree of industrial chain autonomy and controllability. In the longer term, China's auto industry will thus gain the strength to participate deeply in international competition. (Proofreader/Li Xiaoyan)