Editor's note: This year, accelerating the development of new quality productive forces is the primary task. The automobile industry is an important pillar and backbone of the national economy, and in the process of innovation-driven high-quality development, the new advantages and new vitality formed by the industry have injected abundant "new automotive kinetic energy" into accelerating the development of new quality productivity.
From scale growth to open innovation, from global competition to transformation and upgrading, in the process of accelerating the formation of new quality productivity, what are the characteristics and advantages of China's automobile industry, and what are the pressures and challenges? Based on the automobile industry, China Automotive News has launched the column "Decoding China's New Automobile Productivity" through a comprehensive visit to typical enterprises, panoramic dialysis and excavation of China's new quality productivity, and the first stop is Changan Automobile.
In the first quarter of this year, Changan Automobile's total sales, self-owned brand new energy vehicle sales and overseas sales of its own brand all achieved year-on-year growth. Among them, the sales of self-owned brand new energy vehicles increased by 52.4% year-on-year, and the overseas sales of self-owned brands increased by more than 80% year-on-year. Driven by innovation, Changan Automobile's high-quality and efficient transformation into an intelligent low-carbon travel technology company is the "Changan model" of "China's new automotive productivity".
A few days ago, Xie Rongbin, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of China Energy Automobile Communication Group and President of China Automotive News, and Zhu Huarong, Chairman and Secretary of the Party Committee of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Changan Automobile") and Chairman of AVATR Technology, had an in-depth dialogue on key topics such as how Changan Automobile understands, practices and interprets new quality productivity, what phased results have been achieved, and how Chinese car companies can seize the opportunities of global competition in the process of innovation-driven high-quality development.
◆Interviewees:
Zhu Huarong, Chairman and Secretary of the Party Committee of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. (left)
◆Interview Host:
Xie Rongbin, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of China Energy Automotive Communication Group and President of China Automotive News (right)
Led by scientific and technological innovation
Accelerate the formation of a new ecosystem
Xie Rongbin: The development of new quality productivity is the driving force for China's economy to achieve high-quality development. From the perspective of the automobile industry, what is the core of developing new quality productivity? What is Changan Automobile's understanding of "new" and "quality"?
Zhu Huarong: New quality productivity is a strong driving force and support to promote high-quality development, Changan Automobile, as the "chain master" enterprise of the intelligent networked new energy vehicle industry, has always been guided by scientific and technological innovation, promoted continuous breakthroughs in key core technologies, and applied innovative achievements to the industry and industrial chain, and played a "Chang'an strength" in cultivating and developing new quality productivity.
The ultimate goal of the new quality productive forces is to cultivate and form new industries. Changan Automobile integrates scientific and technological innovation resources, improves the conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements, accelerates the formation of new automobile and new ecology, and has accumulated certain experience in innovation practice for many years. First of all, it has built a technology research and development team of more than 18,000 people in 30 countries and regions around the world, and cultivated a group of intelligent, new energy and global strategic talents; secondly, it has built "six countries and ten regions" and 16 product and technology development centers.18 The R&D layout of national, provincial and ministerial scientific research platforms, the establishment of national key laboratories, and the formation of the source of original technology for intelligent vehicle safety; in terms of automotive products, the new car CD701 will be built to evolve into a self-evolving intelligent car robot; in terms of business model, "a cloud in the sky, a network in the sky, a platform in the middle, and a full scene on the ground" will be built to reconstruct a new business model dominated by Chang'an.
Xie Rongbin: Innovation is a clear thread running through accelerating the development of new quality productive forces. For China's auto industry, innovation is also the enduring background color of industrial development, and it is the foundation of growth. What are Changan Automobile's innovative measures in the process of developing new quality productivity, and what are the plans and visions?
Zhu Huarong: In the future, Changan Automobile will combine the development trend of the industry and its own reality, and accelerate the creation of new quality productivity through "four innovations and one change" according to local conditions.
The "four innovations" include technological innovation, product innovation, industrial innovation and ecological innovation. Among them, at the level of technological innovation, it will focus on the two fields of new energy and intelligence, of which the core technology areas of new energy include low-temperature battery cells, fast charging and replenishment, next-generation power battery R&D cooperation, power battery recycling and cascade utilization, photovoltaic power generation, etc.
In terms of product innovation, Changan Automobile's five major brands will work together to launch more than 30 new energy products in the next five years. At the level of industrial innovation, Changan Automobile will focus on the development of strategic emerging industries, and will give full play to the role of "chain master", open up and link upstream and downstream enterprises, scientific research institutions, industrial funds, etc., and exert joint efforts to jointly improve the resilience of the industrial chain and supply chain. In terms of ecological innovation, we will give full play to the role of Chang'an Technology, Long-term Intelligence, Software Technology and other innovation subjects, and achieve breakthroughs in operating systems, controllers and other fields. Build a new type of circle of friends, promote cross-circle cooperation, and achieve win-win development.
"One change" is organizational change. In the future, Changan Automobile will build a new organizational structure that matches the development of new quality productivity, and fully absorb international talents and talents in multiple fields. The continuous improvement of the talent mechanism has become an important driving force for enterprises to achieve high-quality development. According to the plan, focusing on the three strategic plans of "Shangri-La", "Beidou Tianshu" and "Inclusive of All Rivers", we will vigorously promote the transformation of talent structure through professional empowerment, job practice, and sending out to study. By 2025, we plan to complete the internal talent transformation of 3,000 people.
Closely follow "efficiency, harmony and sustainability"
Make up for the shortcomings of the industrial chain
Xie Rongbin: China's new energy vehicle production and sales have ranked first in the world for 9 consecutive years, becoming the world's largest new energy vehicle country. At the level of core technological innovation, it has gradually formed a global leading advantage. In the face of achievements, we still need to examine our shortcomings. With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, what are the shortcomings that need to be made up urgently in the new energy vehicle industry chain?
Zhu Huarong: At present, China's new energy vehicle industry has formed a relatively complete closed loop of the industrial chain, but there are still problems of insufficient "efficiency, harmony and sustainability" in some links.
First, the pace of standardization is slow. The shape, size, and capacity of power batteries are varied, resulting in a large number of battery factories and production lines, and the equipment utilization rate and scale effect cannot be maximized.
Second, the phenomenon of overcapacity is more serious. The overly aggressive battery capacity planning of various enterprises has made the problems of idle capacity and waste of resources prominent. According to estimates, in 2025, China's power battery production capacity demand will be about 1000~1200GWh, and the current capacity planning has reached 4800GWh, affecting the green development efficiency of the industry.
Third, the closed-loop industrial chain of waste battery recycling and cascade utilization has not yet been opened. "Small workshops" that do not meet environmental protection and industry standards have become the main collector of waste batteries, while the share of waste batteries collected by whitelisted companies that meet the standards is less than 25%. The cascade utilization scenarios and business models of power batteries are still in the exploratory stage, and the entire industry is still in an inactive state, and the factor resources are not fully utilized.
Therefore, I suggest that we should promote the standardization of power batteries, adjust the battery capacity planning according to demand, and increase the construction of battery recycling and cascade utilization systems. Form a complete ecological closed loop of the green industry chain of new energy vehicles, so as to create an efficient, harmonious and sustainable new energy vehicle industry.
Strengthen the advantages of electrification
Enhance the competitiveness of "going global".
Xie Rongbin: The export momentum of China's own brand vehicles, especially China's own brand new energy vehicles, is strong, and Changan's globalization strategy is also advancing rapidly. In the process of a new round of cars going overseas, how will Chinese car companies, including Changan Automobile, seize the opportunities and respond to the challenges?
Zhu Huarong: In the new round of Chinese automobiles going overseas, challenges and opportunities coexist, and on the whole, the opportunities outweigh the challenges. For Chinese automakers, the key is to seize the opportunity and strengthen their own capacity building, while maintaining a high degree of sensitivity and flexibility to changes in the international market.
It must be faced that Chinese car companies are still facing fierce international competition and challenges: first, European and American car companies adjust the pace of global electrification strategies, focusing on resources to improve new capabilities such as vehicle intelligence; second, in the face of the rise of Chinese brand cars in the global market, countries protect their own auto industry, which is likely to lead to a further rise of trade protectionism, which may have an adverse impact on the exports of Chinese car companies; and third, the impact on the capital market. The adjustment of the global electrification strategy of European and American automakers may affect the global market expectations for electric vehicles, leading to fluctuations in investment and market confidence, and putting certain pressure on the financing and marketing strategies of Chinese automakers.
However, I believe that opportunities and challenges still coexist, and in this situation, I believe that Chinese automakers should make efforts in the following three aspects: First, further consolidate the competitive advantage of Chinese brands in the field of electrification. Chinese automakers have the opportunity to become leaders in electric vehicle technology and products, and gain a more obvious technological advantage in the international market, and the second is to increase the market opportunities of Chinese brands in the world. With the rise of Chinese automakers in the field of electric vehicles, the competitiveness of the supporting upstream and downstream industrial chains has been improved simultaneously, and employment and economic growth have been driven. Chinese automakers should seize the opportunity of postponing electrification in Europe and the United States to launch more electric vehicles in their home markets. Third, in terms of technology transfer and cooperation, Chinese automakers should actively look for opportunities to cooperate with European and American auto giants, and jointly promote the green transformation of the global auto industry with China's advantages in the field of electrification and the experience of multinational brands in product development, customer management, brand building, etc.
Finishing: Wang Pu Editor: Chen Wei Layout: Liu Xiaoye
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