Unknowingly, it was more than half of 2018, and many people sighed, where did the time go? Based on this time node, we look back at the major events and trends in the domestic auto parts field in the past six months, and sort out the market operation context and industry development Toward, do a mid-year inventory for readers. Prosperity and decline, confusion and helplessness, integration and reconstruction, innovation and break-through... In the first half of this year, honey and tears are intertwined, wind and thunder are engulfed, constituting a piece of the glory and dream of my country's parts industry。

(Data Picture Source Internet)

Different types of joint ventures have emerged　 market segments are brewing changes

Since the beginning of this year, the wave of joint ventures in my country's auto parts industry has been surging. On July 5, Changan Automobile and BYD signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shenzhen to jointly establish a joint venture company focusing on the production and sales of new energy power batteries, which is sufficient to illustrate the continuation of this phenomenon. Of course, joint ventures around parts and components cannot be separated from the catalysis of the "new four modernizations", the general trend of energy conservation and environmental protection, and the strong drive of the "double points" policy.

In January, at the 2018 World Economic Forum, Guangzhou Automobile Group Chairman Zeng Qinghong said that they are negotiating with battery manufacturers and plan to build a joint venture factory in Guangzhou. Almost at the same time, Shanghai Electric Drive and Dongfeng Industrial (formerly an important part of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. and restructured in October 2017) announced the establishment of a joint venture company "Toyo Electric Drive System Co., Ltd." to develop electric drive systems, Fuel cell engine system, new energy vehicle core electrical system and other projects. Hainachuan and Gestamp signed an agreement to form a joint venture "lightweight" auto parts company.

In February, Fawer Automotive Parts Co., Ltd. and Valeo Siemens Automotive Electronics Germany Co., Ltd. signed a "Memorandum of Understanding", intending to cooperate in the field of new energy vehicle powertrain core components. In March, SAIC Infineon Automotive Power Semiconductor (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a joint venture between SAIC and Infineon at a 51:49 share ratio, officially opened. In April, Hainachuan signed joint venture cooperation agreements with Hella and Magna. Geely and GAC have signed agreements with Japan’s Aisin to produce 6AT. Dongfeng Parts and Fawer signed a contract to jointly fund the establishment of Dongfeng Fawer Pump Co., Ltd. On June 21st, ThyssenKrupp and Zhejiang Jingu Co., Ltd. and other Chinese partners signed a joint venture agreement to jointly produce lightweight thermoformed wheels... This is not all the cases in the parts field in the first half of this year, they are just Some typical representatives, but it is conceivable that the market is surging with various variables.

If we insist on categorizing these joint venture cases, it can include: Sino-foreign joint ventures, complete (or parts and components companies with complete vehicle background) zero joint ventures, and the industry's eagerly anticipated integration between large state-owned enterprises. As a market behavior, joint ventures are unquestionable in themselves, but from the perspective of the independent development of my country's parts and components industry, some joint ventures give us high expectations, some joint ventures are high hopes for us, and some even make us worried. The emergence of new competitors and changes in market segments may be inevitable. However, regardless of changes, the theme of my country's auto parts industry to improve its independent innovation capabilities, master key core technologies, and transform and upgrade development will be eternal.

The speed of China VI upgrades has been accelerated　active deployment of new energy power

With the "ban on the sale of fuel vehicles" appearing in the development agenda of some countries and auto companies, the internal combustion engine seems to have encountered an unprecedented crisis, which has aroused great attention from the industry. The discussion surrounding this has not stopped this year.

But in China, the industry consensus is already clear. On January 15, at the "International Symposium on Transformation and Upgrading of Traditional Fuel Vehicle Power Technology", Wan Gang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Minister of Science and Technology at the time, pointed out: "The internal combustion engine will still be the main force in the automotive power market for a long time. It has an irreplaceable position, especially in freight, passenger and ship transportation, and plays a pivotal role."

The upgrading of products to the National Sixth Standard has become a concerted action of the industry. Engine companies such as Yuchai, Weichai, FAW Jiefang Engine Division, Cummins, Shanghai Philippine Red, and Valin Hanma Power have all released National VI products this year. For example, Weichai’s masterpiece-the new Euro VI powertrain, including Weichai WP10H engine, Fast AT transmission and Hande axles, all three core components have been localized. Yuchai released 14 National VI engines for vehicles. This is the first time that the domestic internal combustion engine industry has released a series of National VI products. CA6DL3-35E6 is the National VI heavy-duty diesel engine pioneered by FAW Jiefang Engine Division. It integrates EGR post-processing technology and works with a single-channel hot-end control valve to improve the uniformity of exhaust gas in the air and effectively reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. At the 2018 Beijing Auto Show, Shangchai Power exhibited 4 National VI engines. Dongfeng Cummins announced that a new generation of ISZ13 National VI engines will be launched in 2019...

Just as internal combustion engine companies were intensively developing National VI products, the Shenzhen and Guangzhou municipal governments eagerly proposed plans to implement the National VI emission standards for light-duty vehicles in March and May respectively. The disrupted rhythm made the engine and related parts suppliers a little confused for a while, but this once again sent a signal to the industry to transform and upgrade as soon as possible.

In the face of increasingly fierce market competition and stricter emission requirements, some internal combustion engine companies are actively developing new energy vehicle power technologies while accelerating the transformation and upgrading of internal combustion engines. In May, Weichai Power signed a strategic agreement with Syris Power Holdings Co., Ltd., a supplier of solid oxide fuel cells, to invest in the acquisition of 20% of its shares, and plans to join hands with Ceres Power to establish a joint venture company in China. Comprehensive cooperation in the field. Yuchai also launched a new generation hybrid system development and fuel cell system integration project this year.

The national VI emission standard upgrade is the source of renewal of the internal combustion engine industry, and the development of new energy vehicle power is the driving force for the internal combustion engine industry to renew.

Strong foreign investment expands its advantages　Self-strengthening cooperation breakthrough

In the first half of this year, the automatic transmission industry experienced fierce turbulence and moving.

On April 2, Japan's nine major auto companies including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Subaru, Daihatsu, Isuzu, and two major automatic transmission companies from Aisin AW and JATCO jointly established the Automotive Power Transmission Technology Research Association. (TRAMI).

These 11 companies, together with university research institutions, will conduct basic and applied research on transmission technology, so as to accelerate technological progress and cultivate more talents to enhance the influence of the Japanese automotive transmission industry. The preliminary research funding of 260 million yen and more than 100 researchers come from the above 11 companies. In the future, the Japanese government may give special support.

TRAMI claims that its specific roles are as follows: centering on transmission technology, leading industry and academia to conduct research and development cooperation; enriching the research results database to realize the accumulation and application of technical knowledge in the driving field; further expanding the research team and conducting industry-university-government linkage.

Japan's Aisin and JATCO have dominated the global AT and CVT markets respectively for many years. In contrast, my country's autonomous automatic transmission is still in the initial stage of industrialization, and each enterprise is fighting alone, fighting on its own, weak in strength, and scattered for a long time. Japanese auto parts and vehicle companies have joined forces to consolidate and strengthen their competitiveness, which has strongly stimulated my country's automatic transmission industry.

More exciting things followed. On April 24, Geely Automobile and GAC Group signed joint venture agreements with Japan’s Aisin on the production of 6AT. Aisin's extraordinary combination of two independent brand vehicle companies, and a strong occupation of the market that should belong to independent automatic transmission companies, triggered a strong response from industry players. The voice of "who will save the autonomous automatic transmission industry" has been rising from wave to wave, and continues to last.

At this moment, the Chinese automatic transmission industry came with gratifying news. On June 15, the off-line ceremony of Wanliyang's new continuously variable automatic transmission CVT25 was held at the Wuhu Base of Zhejiang Wanliyang Co., Ltd. Passenger Vehicle Transmission Division. This marks the official launch of Wanliyang CVT25 on the market. The company's CEO Zhang Zhidong said: "This upgraded product that we are developing independently is a milestone." It is reported that the Wanliyang CVT25 is equipped with the upcoming Chery GX car. In addition, Chery has a batch of CVT25 models under development. Liang Jian, chief engineer of Geely Automobile’s Powertrain Integration Department, said on the spot: “We require Wanliyang CVT25 to match Geely models in 2020.”

Wanliyang uses CVT25 to carry out a large-scale supporting cooperation with Chery, an independent vehicle company, and is expected to "hand in hand" with Geely in the future, which greatly encourages the autonomous automatic transmission industry that has suffered successive blows. In this unavoidable market competition, only self-reliance and joint efforts are the real way out.

Technical threshold is required to increase 　Recycling and utilization usher in fast

On February 13, the Ministry of Finance formally released the "Notice on Adjusting and Improving the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles" jointly drafted by the four ministries and commissions on its official website. The New Deal will "raise technical threshold requirements", clearly propose to encourage the application of high energy density, low energy consumption vehicles, significantly tilt subsidy funds to higher-tech models, and maintain the subsidy amount for fuel cells unchanged.

The impact of the New Deal on the power battery industry is not small, especially the encouragement of high energy density batteries, which directly affects the development trend of ternary batteries and lithium phosphate battery companies. Ternary battery companies further consolidate their leading advantages and usher in faster development. Taking the Ningde era as an example, the installed capacity from January to May this year totaled 5.4GWh, accounting for 42.5% of the country's total installed capacity, almost half of the country.

Not only that, companies such as BYD, which used to be mainly lithium iron phosphate batteries, have also begun to develop and produce ternary batteries. The joint venture between Changan Automobile and BYD will focus on business sectors such as power battery production and sales, with a production capacity of 10GWh planned. In the future, Changan Automobile and BYD will make full use of and integrate their respective advantages, and jointly make active explorations in the matching of power batteries and vehicles, and the industrial application of power batteries, and jointly build the world's leading automotive power battery industrialization platform.

The new subsidy policy has further increased the concentration of the power battery market, and the effect of survival of the fittest is obvious. A major factor in the difficulties of Waterma, Zhuhai Yinlong and other companies is that they did not respond to the adjustment of subsidy policies early.

On January 26, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the Energy Administration jointly issued the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Recycling and Utilization of Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles", clarifying the redesign and Responsibilities for production and recycling, do a good job in standard unification, information disclosure, and industry coordination, and encourage battery production companies to cooperate with comprehensive utilization companies. Power storage batteries carry out multi-level and multi-purpose rational utilization, reduce comprehensive energy consumption, improve energy utilization efficiency, improve comprehensive utilization level and economic benefits, and ensure the environmental protection of unusable residues.

It is foreseeable that power battery manufacturers will try a variety of tiered utilization methods for power batteries with vehicle companies and operating companies. For example, Pride and BAIC New Energy and other companies comprehensively promote the power exchange model to better realize the echelon utilization of retired batteries.

The prospects for the development of plug-in mixing are unknown　The weak mixing route attracts attention

On January 8, the "Key Technologies and Industrialization of Low Energy Plug-in Hybrid Passenger Vehicles" project completely independently developed by SAIC won the second prize of the 2017 National Science and Technology Progress Award. This is one of the few automotive projects among the award-winning projects of the National Science and Technology Progress Award this year, and it is also the first time that new energy passenger vehicle technology has won the heavyweight technology award.

This project of SAIC Motor can win the award because of its plug-in hybrid system solution with "EDU intelligent electric drive transmission" as the core. Prior to this, the core technology in the field of plug-in hybrid technology was basically in the hands of international auto giants. Electric drive, electric control, and battery technologies are the core of new energy vehicle technology. Only when innovations with independent intellectual property rights are fully realized in these three areas can breakthroughs in core technologies be completed. The overcoming of three power technologies and the proposal of a new plug-in hybrid system product structure solution have enabled SAIC's new energy vehicle products to achieve a comprehensive surpassing of energy efficiency, a significant improvement in driving performance and safe operation. SAIC EDU plug-in hybrid The system has also become one of the world's three most advanced hybrid technologies comparable to THS and General Voltec.

In terms of policy, plug-in hybrid power is mainly affected by two policies. This year, under the "dual points" policy and regulations, plug-in hybrids still account for a certain percentage of new energy vehicles, which to a certain extent makes car companies more proactive in the deployment of PHEVs. In addition to SAIC and BYD, automobile brands including Geely, Trumpchi, Changan, Hanteng, and Hongqi have also launched plug-in models.

However, with the release of the "Automobile Industry Investment Management Regulations" draft for comments, plug-in hybrid models have been officially included in the ranks of fuel vehicles instead of the previous new energy vehicles. Once plug-in hybrid models are not counted as new energy vehicles, it means that they will not enjoy the relevant subsidy policies. How to reduce the cost has become a problem facing the follow-up development of plug-in hybrid power.

Under the "double points" policy, the weak hybrid route represented by 48V and P2 technology has also entered the corporate vision. Continental and Sichuan Chengfei Integrated Technology Co., Ltd. established a joint venture company through their respective subsidiaries to develop and produce 48V battery systems. Schaeffler's world's first P2 hybrid module was officially put into production at its Taicang manufacturing base in Jiangsu...In the future, which hybrid technology route or routes will become a new "outlet"? What will the company do in the face of the new market and policy environment? Out of choice? These will become the highlight of the parts field.

Market development returns to rationality 　Technical route is gradual

Since the beginning of this year, the field of automotive intelligent network connection has been a bit less restless and has begun to return to rationality. A large part of the reason is that Tesla and Uber have successively occurred several autonomous driving traffic accidents, which sounded the alarm for aggressive advances in this segment.

In China, strong policies at the policy level are still in play. In January, the National Development and Reform Commission published the "Smart Car Innovation Development Strategy" (draft for comments) on its website, clarifying that China's smart cars will take three steps.

By 2020, the technological innovation, industrial ecology, road network facilities, regulations and standards, product supervision and information security system framework of China's standard smart cars will be basically formed. Mid-to-high-level smart cars have achieved market-oriented applications, and demonstration operations in key areas have achieved results. Active progress has been made in the construction of the intelligent road transportation system. The coverage rate of the LTE-V2X in-vehicle wireless communication network (LTE-V2X) in large cities and highways has reached 90%, and Beidou high-precision space-time services have achieved full coverage.

By 2025, the technological innovation, industrial ecology, road network facilities, regulations and standards, product supervision and information security system of China's standard smart cars will be fully formed. New cars have basically realized intelligence, and high-level smart cars have realized large-scale applications. "Human-vehicle-road-cloud" realizes a high degree of collaboration, and the new generation of vehicle wireless communication network (5G-V2X) basically meets the development needs of smart cars.

By 2035, China's standard smart cars will be well-known all over the world, and will be the first to build a smart car power, and the whole people will share a "safe, efficient, green and civilized" smart car society.

On the other hand, BAT and many start-up companies have begun to take a gradual development route, and the first thing to ensure is traffic safety. On July 4, Baidu Apollo released the Apollo3.0 version, announcing the world’s first L4 mass-produced autonomous bus "A