The Yangtze River Delta automotive industry chain is experiencing a moment of lip and tooth dependence.
Affected by the epidemic in Shanghai, since March, the production of a number of domestic automobile companies has stagnated. In mid-April, Shanghai released the first batch of "white list" of enterprises that resumed work, of which nearly 40% were related to the automobile industry.
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huwan is the highland of the national automobile industry chain. According to data released by Capital Securities, Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui) are important bases for the mainland automobile industry. In 2021, Shanghai and Yangtze River Delta automobile production will account for about 11% and 23% of the country, respectively.
How does the Wheel restart? What role do Zhejiang enterprises play in the chain, and what development opportunities and challenges do they face? Yong Jinjun launched an investigation.
1
The industrial chain in recovery
Zhejiang enterprises are contributing to the resumption of work and production of the automobile industry in the Yangtze River Delta.
On April 18, under the vigorous promotion of the national joint prevention and control mechanism, the Yangtze River Delta important material emergency supply transfer station was officially put into operation. The first batch of 6 transit stations, including 2 in Zhejiang, are located in Hangzhou and Ningbo.
Analysts at Caitong Securities analyzed that the main purpose of the transfer station is to make the yangtze river delta important production materials circulate rapidly and realize the rapid interconnection of important materials in the supply chain across provinces, of which the emergency supply guarantee of the automobile industry chain is an important content.
According to relevant reports, after the auto parts from all over Zhejiang are transported to the transfer transfer station, the goods are unloaded by special personnel, and then the goods are loaded into trucks from Shanghai, and the terminal warehouses transferred to Shanghai are uniformly transferred to supply to major car companies.
Yong Jinjun learned that after the transfer station in Hangzhou is put into use, it can carry the transportation loading and unloading capacity of 20 to 25 trucks per day; according to the plan, the Qianwan New Area of Ningbo can guarantee the transfer demand of 80 trucks per day, and the total loading and unloading capacity can reach 600 cubic meters.
Compared with the logistics end, Zhejiang automobile enterprises are more relaxed in their response to the production end.
As a major automobile manufacturing province, Zhejiang Hangzhou, Ningbo, Taizhou and other places have obvious advantages in industrial clusters. Including power system, body system, chassis, electronic appliances and new energy components, Zhejiang enterprises are involved.
There are many spare parts suppliers to choose from in the province, which greatly alleviates the pressure on the industrial chain. After communicating with a number of Zhejiang enterprises related to the automotive industry, Yong Jinjun also learned that many enterprises have been limited in the impact of the production end, and it also stems from the full preparation before.
The person in charge of a listed company mainly engaged in the production of transmissions told Yong Jinjun that the arrival delay of purchased parts has indeed been encountered recently, and production efficiency has been affected to a certain extent. Fortunately, the company has a strong self-control ability for some parts, including transmission gears.
"In recent years, we have been laying out intelligent production, which is to extend the upstream industrial chain and improve our ability to resist risks." The person in charge revealed that in response to the uncertainty caused by the epidemic, companies have consciously extended the inventory preparation cycle since two years ago.
The relevant person in charge of Wanxiang Qianchao also said that the company has been in the rolling stockpiling, and the production materials have basically been in full of a month's advance volume, and since March, the emergency plan has been launched according to the inventory situation.
The operating conditions of some Zhejiang vehicle manufacturers also reflect this advantage. Geely Automobile told Yong Jinjun that the company has established a mature and stable supply chain system, and although manufacturing and sales have been affected in the short term, the overall situation is still controllable.
An automotive industry analyst said that although many vehicle companies have stopped work before, Zhejiang has maintained a stable production rhythm and high safety inventory in the production and manufacture of parts, and once the logistics "obstruction" in the Yangtze River Delta region is opened, the acceleration effect of later production capacity will be very obvious.
02
AB side under the challenge of the epidemic
Under the challenge of the epidemic, Shanghai's important position in the automotive industry chain has been further highlighted. For Zhejiang enterprises that have contributed to the supply of power, another problem has also surfaced: we still have a long way to go to become the "core player" of the automotive industry chain.
"Why is Shanghai so important to the automotive industry chain? Because it is not only the location of many vehicle manufacturers, but also the production place of many key core spare parts. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Market Information Association, told Yong Jinjun that although auto parts products from Zhejiang occupy a certain market, they are strongly substituted, and the future competitive advantage is not sufficient.
"Objectively speaking, most of the core key spare parts products from Shanghai are invested and produced by multinational enterprises, which has a strong technical advantage." Cui Dongshu believes that zhejiang auto parts products to achieve the realm of "no you can, no lack of me" realm, but also need to continue to attack the investment, in the key areas to achieve breakthroughs.
This is a common problem faced by Auto Parts Manufacturing Enterprises in Zhejiang. The "Zhejiang Automobile Industry Annual Development Report (2021 Edition)" pointed out that Zhejiang auto parts manufacturing enterprises have weak independent innovation and collaborative innovation capabilities, and most enterprises' R&D innovation is mainly followed and imitative innovation, lacking core competitiveness, and it is difficult to integrate into the core supply chain system of mainstream vehicle enterprises at home and abroad.
From "all but not strong" to "full and strong", how should Zhejiang's automobile supporting industry achieve a magnificent turnaround?
Yong Jinjun noted that cultivating "hidden champions" and specialized new "little giant" enterprises in key areas of the key automobile industry is an important starting point of Zhejiang's automobile industry.
In terms of tackling tough areas, the "Zhejiang Automobile Industry Annual Development Report (2021 Edition)" mentions that it is necessary to cultivate a group of internationally renowned enterprises with independent intellectual property rights and a number of "invisible small giant" enterprises in the field of high-efficiency and energy-saving internal combustion engine technology, efficient transmission system assembly, lightweight components and other related fields.
The "14th Five-Year Plan" for the development of the new energy automobile industry in Zhejiang Province also makes it clear that enterprises should be encouraged to build high-level technical centers and engineering centers, provide policy support and financial support for the core components of intelligent new energy vehicles with high investment in product research and development, core competitiveness and certain technical barriers, and form a group of "little giants" and "hidden champions" enterprises with innovative vitality and growth potential.