In recent years, traditional auto parts enterprises have collectively rushed to the field of new energy, increased investment layout, promoted technological innovation, and all wanted to occupy a place in the new energy market, and even brewed to take off again.
Hailida is also one of them. In recent years, while maintaining the advantages of traditional fields, facing the new energy field, it has launched a series of layouts aimed at the popular new energy vehicle thermal management and hydrogen energy sectors, and has continuously accelerated the pace.
Recently, Shen Junhao, the general assistant of Hailida global CEO, director of Hailida China and director of global new technology strategy, revealed in an interview with Gasgoo that in the past two years, Hailida new energy vehicle thermal management refrigerant valve products have been mass-produced, integrated module products have also been mass-produced and delivered, the layout of the hydrogen energy sector has been fully rolled out, and all medium and low pressure hydrogen valves have been mass-produced, of course, its traditional business is also continuing to make efforts, and its market share is still leading, "Hailida's 'two-wheel drive' business pattern is gradually forming." ”
Competing for the thermal management market, the strategic layout continues to accelerate
There is a consensus in the industry that the new energy vehicle thermal management market has great potential.
On the one hand, the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle market has brought huge demand to the market, and on the other hand, the complexity of thermal management of new energy vehicles has also promoted the increase in the value of a single vehicle.
As one of the key components of the thermal management system, the valve is showing a trend of both volume and price rise in the context of the increasingly complex thermal management system.
Taking the thermal management of the air conditioning system of new energy vehicles as an example, it has become a trend to replace PTC with heat pump air conditioners. Shen Junhao also mentioned that the route we take now is basically determined to be a heat pump, and from the perspective of valves, each electric vehicle heat pump system needs almost 2~3 refrigerant valves, if the average number of 3 is calculated, the value has reached more than 300 yuan.
Not only that, but if a new refrigerant that is more environmentally friendly, such as carbon dioxide (R744) is used, the value of the vehicle will naturally increase due to its very high challenge to pressure and leakage, the material cost will increase, and the process requirements such as sealing will also be higher.
As far as Hailida is concerned, it currently has a very complete product matrix in the field of thermal management refrigerant valves.
According to Gasgoo, in terms of refrigerant valves, in order to meet diversified needs, Hailida relies on the global R&D system to lay out a full range of R134a refrigerant valve products, and has been mass-produced on a large scale of conventional electronic expansion valves, large-caliber electronic expansion valves, as well as normally open and normally closed SOV solenoid valves and one-way valves of different calibers, and will launch large-caliber electronic expansion valves and refrigerant multi-way valves with lower leakage performance in the future.
Hailida thermal management refrigerant valve products;Image source: Hailida (the same below)
Among them, the electronic expansion valve, as the fist product of Hailida thermal management, has many years of mass production performance with its advantages of high durability and low internal leakage, and currently supplies to many OEMs and Tier-1s, and the market quality performance is very stable.
As its core product, the large-diameter electronic expansion valve adopts high-precision mechanical parts, internal balance structure design, self-compensating motion mechanism parts, and intelligent motor control algorithm, which has the characteristics of fast response speed, low internal leakage, low noise, two-way flow, and accurate control system of flow and pressure in the whole life cycle, which effectively improves the energy efficiency and reliability of the thermal management system.
According to the plan, in the future, Hailida will continue to increase R&D investment, quickly respond to market demand, and launch electronic expansion valves, solenoid valves, multi-port valves and other products suitable for the use of more environmentally friendly new refrigerants such as CO2 and R290, so as to provide more high-performance and high-reliability refrigerant valve solutions for the market.
In addition, it is worth noting that in terms of thermal management integrated modules, Hilida's integrated module production line has been officially put into production, and integrated module products have been mass-produced and delivered by many OEMs in the industry, and the relevant R&D capabilities, system verification capabilities, manufacturing capabilities, supply chain systems and quality control processes have tended to be perfect.
Hailida thermal management integrated module
According to Shen Junhao, in the past two years, Hailida's overall strategic layout in the thermal management sector has accelerated significantly, and the progress has exceeded expectations.
According to him, when he first entered this market, Hailida planned to start with the valve first, and then slowly do it from the bottom up, "but the market iteration is very fast, will not give us so much time, under this logic, we promote the layout of the valve and the module in parallel, and at the same time mass production, but also get the order of the head customer." For us, this step has been relatively successful. ”
More importantly, the acceleration of the strategic layout has also brought it a higher level of benefits, "After we go up to the module level, we can see from the system or module level how to make the valve better." It is important to know that the high self-made rate and good performance of the valve are very important, and car companies will also evaluate their level of mastery of parts when selecting module suppliers. Therefore, it is very helpful for us to lay out the valves and modules in parallel. Shen Junhao added.
He pointed out that the market influence of the refrigerant valve is greater is the top priority of Hailida, "through the bottom-up, top-down circle, we found that the potential of the valve is still very large, and in this sector, our advantages are also very unique." Although everyone is making some integrated products, there is a big difference between you just screwing a few screws and piecing together a product, or you can do a good job of the sub-components in it. When you really get it right, there aren't really that many competitors. ”
He said that at present, Hailida has obtained orders from a number of leading companies from components to modules, and will continue to maintain a good relationship with these leading enterprises.
Aiming at the hydrogen energy industry, the sword refers to the ecological chain
According to the statistics of the Hydrogen Energy Alliance Research Institute, at the local two sessions in early 2024, a total of 22 provincial-level administrative regions across the country will write hydrogen energy into the government work report, and the number of provinces mentioning hydrogen energy development has maintained a trend of increasing year by year. Hydrogen energy has become a strategic emerging industry and a key development direction for future industries in mainland China, and is ushering in major development opportunities.
As far as Hailida is concerned, as early as the beginning of the new energy transformation, it has taken hydrogen energy as one of the key development directions. According to Shen Junhao, the industry is bound to go in the direction of carbon reduction, and for Hailida, from electrification to clean energy is a good path.
It is understood that as a company with a background in the automotive industry, when Hailida first set foot in the field of hydrogen energy, it mainly focused on the application of hydrogen energy in automobiles, including low, medium and high pressure core valve products for hydrogen fuel cell vehicle hydrogen storage and hydrogen supply systems.
海力达35MPa和70MPa氢瓶阀
Taking hydrogen storage cylinder valves as an example, Hailida adopts the strategy of low-pressure and medium-pressure valves first, and lays a solid foundation for the subsequent development of high-pressure valves by gradually expanding its market share. According to Shen Junhao, at present, Hailida's high-pressure hydrogen valve is still in the experimental stage, but the medium and low-pressure hydrogen valve has been mass-produced, and there is a certain market scale, "because we have laid out relatively early, in some product areas, we have accounted for about 10% of the market share." ”
However, he also pointed out that the overall volume of hydrogen valves for vehicles is not large at present.
As we all know in the industry, in the automotive field, hydrogen energy is mainly applied in the field of heavy trucks. However, at present, hydrogen energy heavy trucks are still in the early stage of commercialization, and they still face many challenges, especially cost challenges, such as the cost of hydrogen production, hydrogen transportation and hydrogen refueling stations. Shen Junhao said that it is conservatively estimated that it will become considerable in 2028-2030, depending on a combination of factors such as government subsidies, the maturity of the business model, and the reduction of TCO (total cost of ownership).
There is no doubt that in order to optimize costs, the ecological construction of the domestic hydrogen fuel industry chain still needs to be strengthened.
Some industry insiders pointed out that the cost of hydrogen production is related to the long-term development of the industry, and the current speed of cost reduction is far from fast enough, "we should pay attention to the ecological chain and supply chain of the hydrogen energy industry, so that the entire supply chain can rise and develop simultaneously." ”
Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University, also said on relevant occasions, "Now hydrogen energy is very 'hot', but it is only 'hot' at the level of strategic value, we need to turn strategic value into commercial value, and the core is the cost performance of hydrogen energy." ”
He also mentioned that China has made major technological breakthroughs in the core key technologies of hydrogen energy, mainly fuel cells and electrolyzers, and will continue to optimize and upgrade, especially the durability of fuel cells. At the same time, green hydrogen production and fuel cells will be used as the leader to drive the commercialization of the entire hydrogen energy industry chain.
It is also based on this background that in Hailida's planning, its layout in the hydrogen energy sector has long been not limited to vehicles. It is reported that Hailida has laid out the layout of the whole industrial chain of hydrogen energy, including hydrogen production end (hydrogen production by water electrolysis), hydrogen storage end (solid-state hydrogen storage, high-pressure gaseous hydrogen storage) and application end (transportation field, construction and power generation field), and has obtained corresponding orders in these fields.
Hailida hydrogen energy industry chain valve solutions
Shen Junhao mentioned that at present, Hailida has leading customers of hydrogen energy in the three major regions of the world (North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific), "We are still proud to be able to do this in a short period of time." Of course, the overall amount of hydrogen energy application has yet to be developed, which is related to macroeconomic and other aspects, but we believe that the volume will rise in the future, and we are still playing a good game. ”
He emphasized that in the field of valves, Hailida hopes to cover as many low-pressure, medium-pressure and high-pressure products as possible in all links of the entire hydrogen energy ecological chain (not involving large-scale industrial valves), "We hope to have Hailida's products in the entire hydrogen energy ecological chain, and continue to increase its share and influence." ”
Under the "two-wheel drive" strategy, we will seek steady growth
Obviously, for the new track of thermal management and hydrogen energy of new energy vehicles, Hailida has achieved remarkable results. It should be pointed out that this is not only due to the continuous promotion of its layout in new fields, but also inseparable from the solid foundation it has accumulated in the traditional powertrain business.
In addition to the above two major new energy segments, Hailida still maintains its business advantages in the traditional powertrain field: the world's third-largest engine variable valve timing supplier, and the world's No. 1 dual-clutch transmission solenoid valve supplier.
Hailida gearbox solenoid valve products
As a powertrain supplier with 100 years of technology precipitation, Hailida is the hidden champion of solenoid valve products in the market segment, with rich experience in the global production of about 60 million solenoid valves. This provides important support for its transformation to thermal management and hydrogen energy for new energy vehicles.
Not only that, in recent years, in the traditional business, Hailida has continued to make efforts to maintain its leading position, which has enabled it to continue to develop steadily and upward in the process of promoting transformation.
According to Shen Junhao, with the advantages of solenoid valve products in the powertrain system, Hailida continues to improve product quality, actively cooperate with the needs of customers, win the trust of customers, and defend the existing market share.
In addition, based on the existing design and manufacturing processes, we will continue to explore new project opportunities, especially in the transmission business, and expand the application in the hybrid field in close connection with technological trends.
In addition, based on the long-term development experience, we actively verify and introduce alternative materials, new processes, and new suppliers with cost advantages to achieve continuous cost reduction and efficiency increase.
"We don't put our eggs in one basket. Shen Junhao pointed out that in the past, Hailida's products mainly focused on internal combustion engines and gearboxes, but now the span of products has increased and is more stable.
He said: "Commercially, we don't have that kind of risk of ups and downs or bankruptcy, we are a very stable company, and those companies that purely bet on one line are different. ”
Of course, he also stressed that in the Chinese market, Hailida needs to work harder to promote the development of electrification and hydrogen energy, but this business must make money, "A lot of things don't make money, and you can't roll it out and make it big." ”
This is also the reason why Hailida selects customers on the best terms. It is understood that Hailida is very cautious in customer selection, focusing more on those head customers who can achieve sustainable development.
It is worth noting that nowadays, the domestic auto market is staging a fierce price war. According to incomplete statistics, in March this year alone, more than 20 brands lowered the threshold for car purchases in different ways. Car companies are competing to bargain, and auto parts companies are naturally facing greater pressure to reduce costs.
According to Shen Junhao, for this reason, Hailida has made a lot of preparations, "We force ourselves harder, and the margin must be forced out, so that when others are descending, you will not be at a loss." ”
Specifically, he mentioned that on the one hand, the technical VAVE must be done, and on the other hand, in terms of supplier management, around the future business, everyone should be better bound, "For example, in technology, we can make a lot of suggestions to supplier partners, and there are also lean teams to work with them to see how to optimize costs." If we blindly reduce prices and squeeze upstream profit margins, it is not conducive to sustainable development. ”
He also pointed out that the application of the global sharing platform is also conducive to reducing costs and increasing efficiency for enterprises. Taking the field of hydrogen energy as an example, Hailida has realized the sharing of global R&D resource data, the promotion of global customer resources, the sharing of global hydrogen energy market information and the sharing of global hydrogen energy technology routes.
Hailida continues to promote the localization R&D process of "in China, for China". Taking the Chinese market as an example, in February this year, Hailida's R&D and testing center in Changshu successfully completed the acceptance of the comprehensive performance laboratory (enthalpy difference laboratory) of the thermal management system of new energy vehicles and officially put it into use. This year, the construction of an exclusive hydrogen high-voltage test room will be completed, and it will also be put into use. All these indicate Hailida China's continuous efforts in the field of new energy.
According to Shen Junhao, in the future, Hailida's Changshu factory will be further expanded, "merging the previous Changshu old factory and turning it into a larger factory." This also means that our business in China continues to develop well, and at the same time, we are more active in the Chinese market. ”
Based on this, Hailida is also full of confidence in the next development, "In the next two years, there may be some subversive changes or reshuffles in the entire market pattern. At that time, I believe that our early layout, including the maintenance of customer relationships and the construction of our supply chain, will truly contribute to the sustainable development of the enterprise. ”