In the modern transportation and logistics system, the truck still plays a very important role, although it is not as fast as the plane, the carrying capacity is not as good as the train, but the road system extending in all directions, means that the use of truck transport is the most convenient way, after all, the first two means of transport have the former limitations, if there is no airport and railway, the plane and the train are difficult to move an inch, and the truck only needs to have a road, it can transport the goods to the destination, it is precisely because of this, the truck still plays the role of the main force in the vast majority of countries.
Before the liberation, China did not know how to manufacture trucks at all, and the first truck in New China was the Jiefang brand medium-sized truck, which was produced by the first automobile factory built with the aid of the Soviet Union, and the drawings and materials were also provided by the Soviet Union.
Since then, China's truck industry has begun a long road of development and catch-up, through self-reliance and the introduction of technology, China's truck industry technology continues to develop and gradually catch up with the world's advanced level.
Today, China is able to design and manufacture heavy-duty trucks with the world's leading level.
So, how competitive are China's trucks?
In 2023, the top 10 car companies in terms of commercial truck sales will all be domestic brands, and Foton Motor will be at the top of the industry for 19 consecutive years, without giving imported brands a chance to turn around. From the perspective of cumulative sales, the cumulative sales of the heavy truck market from January to December 2023 were 911,100 units, a year-on-year increase of 35.59%. Among the top 10 heavy truck sales companies in 2023, China National Heavy Duty Truck won the first place again after winning the annual sales championship of heavy trucks in 2022. At the same time, the four car companies increased by more than 40% year-on-year, Beiben Heavy Duty Truck increased by 55.94% year-on-year, China National Heavy Duty Truck increased by 47.47% year-on-year, FAW Jiefang increased by 46.84% year-on-year, and Dayun Heavy Truck increased by 44.20% year-on-year.
In the 2023 transporter brand index list, the brand index of China National Heavy Duty Truck, FAW Jiefang, Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle, Foton Auman, FAW Jiefang Qingqi, SAIC Hongyan, Dongfeng Liuqi Chenglong, and Shaanxi Automobile Heavy Truck ranks among the top.
On the other hand, in the passenger car market, there are only three domestic brands in the top 20 sales of fuel vehicles in 2023, but fortunately, domestic new energy vehicles are rising rapidly, making domestic brands have a higher and higher market share.
Speaking of which, many people have to wonder, why are domestic brands so good in the field of commercial vehicles?
In fact, the key lies in the control of user needs, and users in the passenger car market are concerned about the comfort and design sense, as well as the social attributes brought by the brand, which are the strong areas of foreign brands, so it is not easy for domestic brands to turn around against the trend.
However, the tools for truck drivers to support their families, they are most concerned about cost-effective durability, as well as after-sales service, which have always been the areas of domestic brands.
According to statistics, the price of a single vehicle for a heavy truck in China is less than 400,000 yuan, while the price of a single vehicle for heavy trucks of American and European brands is more than 600,000 yuan, and the price of a German brand is even more than 700,000 yuan.
Many people think that Chinese trucks can surpass American trucks because of the price advantage, but this is not the case.
If it is only the price advantage, it is not so attractive to customers, after all, in addition to the domestic truck drivers favor domestic production, Chinese trucks have also continued to go abroad in recent years, and can surpass the United States in the international market share, which just shows that the performance of domestic trucks has also been greatly improved.
Coupled with the impact of the epidemic in the first two years, the global manufacturing industry has almost come to a standstill, even if foreign truck factories can maintain production, but if the suppliers who provide parts and materials cannot produce parts, foreign truck factories can not manufacture trucks, and only Chinese factories in the world can still maintain normal production.
The rapid development of China's trucks is also inseparable from the efforts of FAW Group, a state-owned enterprise.
As the production of the first truck in the new China, to this day, FAW in China's truck industry, still occupies an irreplaceable position, through the digestion and absorption of Steyr, Mercedes-Benz and too tow and other European enterprises advanced technology, FAW has the ability to independently design and manufacture more advanced heavy-duty trucks, whether it is domestic sales or exports, its products account for a very large proportion, and the technical achievements made by FAW are also radiating to other Chinese car companies, indirectly driving the upgrading and improvement of the entire industry.
So, in which regions are Chinese trucks more popular?
According to relevant data, in 2023, 82.7% of Russia's new car import channels will mainly come from China. Since 2022, Russia has become the first exporter of heavy trucks to the mainland, with sales to Russia in 22/23 being 3.0/113,000 units, accounting for 18.4%/37.9% of the total exports, significantly ahead of the second stream.
This is followed by Kyrgyzstan, which accounts for 11.1%, and as a country with no automobile industry at all, Kyrgyzstan has become the second largest exporter of cars to Russia after China. According to the data of the State Statistics Committee of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan imported 13,000, 41,000 and 184789 cars from 2021 to 2023, respectively, with a significant surge in data.
In addition to Russia and Kyrgyzstan, Chinese trucks are also hot in Africa.
Driving on the road, you can often see Chinese brand trucks driving on the road, and in Tanzania's local new car market, Chinese brand vehicles can account for 70% of the total number of vehicles.
Among them, Jiefang and Sinotruk belong to the local head enterprises of Chinese truck brands, and have established overseas branches, spare parts warehouses and original maintenance services in the market for more than 20 years, so they can meet the basic needs of maintenance services by virtue of their large number of vehicles, complete accessories and good service convenience, and have accumulated a good brand reputation.
Now, the gap between Chinese trucks and foreign advanced levels in terms of performance is getting smaller and smaller, but the price is significantly lower than that of European trucks. The international competitiveness of Chinese trucks is very strong, and the export scale will become larger and larger.
In the future, China's truck industry will achieve leaps and bounds in many aspects such as new energy, intelligence, and internationalization, and at the same time, in the face of challenges such as environmental protection upgrading and supply chain optimization, relevant enterprises need to continue to innovate and seize new opportunities for industry development to achieve sustainable development.