On the Chinese Internet, satirizing car joint ventures, especially their electric vehicles, has become a widely accepted view. Whether it is the Mercedes-Benz EQ series or the Toyota QR code (BZ4X and BZ3), they have become the object of ridicule.
In the era of fuel vehicles, it is difficult to imagine such a situation. After all, in Chinese society, which advocates respecting teachers and respecting the way, it is the norm for latecomers to humbly learn from their predecessors.
But today, when electric vehicles dominate the market, when no joint venture electric vehicle can enter the top 25 sales list (Tesla is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise), this argument gradually prevails, it is difficult to refute it.
As the world's largest, highest sales volume and most complete industrial chain of new energy vehicle producer, China's electric vehicles have become the "wind vane" of global development.
Before BYD's strong rise, after "Wei Xiaoli" continued to follow, the transformation of China's traditional car companies caught up, China's electric vehicles have no longer satisfied the Chinese market, began to enter overseas markets, and "Guoxuan Hi-Tech" is one of these overseas export armies.
Many people may not be familiar with Guoxuan Hi-Tech, in the domestic market, Guoxuan Hi-Tech's power battery market share in 2022 is about 4.5%, ranking fourth in the industry, compared with the leading CATL and BYD that is closely behind.
However, in the overseas market, relying on the support of the major shareholder Volkswagen and accumulating many years of overseas experience, Guoxuan Hi-Tech is gradually surpassing competitors and achieving "changing lanes and overtaking".
According to a statement released on the official website of the Illinois government on September 8, local time, Guoxuan Hi-Tech will build a $2 billion electric vehicle battery gigafactory in Manteno, Kankakee County, the state.
The plant plans to produce 10 GWh lithium-ion battery packs and 40 GWh lithium-ion battery cells, and is scheduled to be operational next year.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Guoxuan Hi-Tech's investment will create 2,600 jobs in the state and is the most important new manufacturing investment in decades.
The plant, which will focus on the production of lithium-ion battery cells and packs and research and development of energy storage systems, will also receive $536 million in incentives from the state.
Previously, Guoxuan Hi-Tech had planned to invest US$2.4 billion to build a factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
In addition, earlier this week, U.S. power equipment maker Cummins Corp. announced that it will build a battery factory in the United States in cooperation with Daimler Trucks Holdings, truck manufacturer Paccar and China's Yiwei Lithium Energy.
So why did such a domestic fourth-ranked enterprise go to the United States to build a factory at this time?
The main reason is still in an industrial chain layout problem, China's lithium battery industry chain is leading the world, but there is currently overcapacity!
In the industry of automobiles and their upstream and downstream parts, localized production and sales in larger markets have been practiced for decades, and Japanese and German fuel vehicles have taken the initiative to come to the Chinese market before.
There are so many excellent car companies in China, and it is certainly not a good way out to roll them all in China, so it is only necessary to go overseas to seek new development opportunities.
Considering the restrictions imposed by the United States on Chinese enterprises and investment, being able to invest and set up factories in the United States is a substantial affirmation of China's lithium battery industry.
Building a factory in the United States can not only expand market share, improve brand reputation but also diversify risks. But then again, you can't just see these benefits.
There are also many disadvantages, especially in the current public opinion environment.
The first is investment risk: building and operating a U.S. battery plant requires a huge capital investment, which can increase the company's financial risk. At the same time, changes in the market environment may also affect the company's return on investment.
Supply chain pressures: Building a battery factory in the U.S. requires a stable supply chain, including the procurement of raw materials and components. Managing the supply chain can face some challenges, such as logistics costs, shipping times, etc.
Compared with the above two points, the last point is the most fatal, that is, regulatory and policy risks, don't directly come to the sentence "endangering public safety" at that time, the factory is directly confiscated, then you want to cry without tears.
Now more and more of our battery head companies have begun to go overseas one after another, which is not only the standard for measuring the battery capability level of these enterprises, but also an important embodiment of the globalization strategy.
EVE made it clear when it went to the United States to build battery production capacity that it would focus on the production of batteries with cost and quality advantages, and continue to consolidate and enhance the company's competitiveness and internationalization level, which is an important measure to improve its global industrial layout.
This overseas expansion is also reflected in other aspects.
For example, EVE announced in early September that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Croatian automotive technology solutions provider Rimac to obtain the latter's power battery designation, and is expected to expand the cooperation intention to other projects.
At the same time, the company also announced again that it obtained the 12V lithium battery system designation of General Motors. These can be regarded as important measures for the company to improve the global industrial layout.
Companies such as BYD CATL, Hive Energy, EVE Lithium Energy and Sunwoda have overseas investment plans, and Chinese power battery companies have the opportunity to usher in huge development opportunities in the upstream and downstream of the domestic new energy industry chain.
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the export value of lithium battery products in mainland China in the first half of this year increased by 69% year-on-year, of which power batteries were the mainstay.
A number of battery companies have performed well in overseas markets, for example, CATL's overseas revenue reached 65.684 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 1.9 times, accounting for 35.49% of the total operating income.
The overseas business revenue of Guoxuan Hi-Tech and China Innovation Airlines increased by 296.74% and 115.7% year-on-year; Funeng Technology's overseas customers account for about 70%, and EVE's overseas sales account for about 40%.
According to the Securities Times, the core reason why Chinese battery companies rushed to the United States is that they need to enter the developed country market, and North America has always been an important market for Chinese companies, because North America is a mature commercial market.
In particular, the new energy vehicle market in the United States is regarded as the most potential incremental market in the future.