The automotive rubber products industry took the initiative to meet the challenge is the decision to victory

Faced with the large amount of imported raw materials and the pressure from host plants to cut prices frequently
Taking the initiative to meet the challenge is the winning strategy
——Development and Countermeasures of China's Automobile and Rubber Products Industry

Author: China Association of Automobile Industry Branch Secretary Li Jing
After China's auto industry has experienced explosive development, it will maintain a high rate of development during the "11th Five-Year Plan" period. According to experts' predictions, by 2010, China's automobile production will increase from 5.7 million vehicles in 2005 to 9 million vehicles, and the number of vehicles will increase from 35 million vehicles in 2005 to 53 million vehicles.

The rapid development of the automobile industry is bound to drive the continuous progress of related industries, especially the development of the rubber industry, and make automotive rubber products stand out from the rubber industry and develop into an independent and specialized product industry. Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that at present, there are more than 600 automotive rubber products enterprises above designated size in China; in 2005, the industrial added value of automotive rubber products exceeded 6.6 billion yuan, and sales revenue reached 24.4 billion yuan. China's auto rubber and rubber products industry has gradually strengthened technical progress and introduced advanced foreign technologies and equipment. A number of key enterprises represented by Anhui Zhongding Company, with large production scale, high professional and technical level, and wide product coverage, have gradually emerged. A relatively complete industrial system has been formed that can basically meet and adapt to the needs of China's auto industry.

Automotive rubber products are an indispensable part of the auto parts industry. Automotive rubber products mainly include rubber hoses, transmission belts (V-belts, timing belts), sealing products (oil seals, sealing strips, ring pads, etc.), shock-absorbing rubber, tires, and safety products, and other rubber components. Products make up about 6% of the total cost of the car. More than 70% of the global amount of raw rubber consumed each year is used in the automotive industry, of which 60% are for tires and 40% for automotive rubber products. On average, each car needs 100 to 200 rubber parts, and the number ranges from 200 to 500.

According to the prediction that the automobile industry will achieve 9 million vehicles in 2010, the rubber consumption of automotive rubber products will increase from 270,000 tons in 2005 to 400,000 tons. Among them, there are approximately 378 million skeleton oil seals, 557 million meters of sealing treaties, 15.1 million timing belts and multi-wedge belts, approximately 182 million skins, diaphragms, and leather cups, approximately 250 million standard meters of automotive hoses, and approximately 2.42 damping products. Billion pieces.

The future market of the automotive rubber products industry is very large, but at the same time it faces severe challenges.

One is that raw material imports are still large. The raw materials used in automotive rubber products include almost all synthetic rubbers such as CR, SBR, NBR, HNBR, CM, ACM, ECO, VMQ, FKM. In recent years, the use of special rubber in automobiles has been increasing, such as fluorine rubber, polyacrylate rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, chlorine alcohol rubber, and silicone rubber. The rubber raw materials needed for automotive rubber products are all produced in China, but most of them still cannot meet the performance requirements and the import volume is still large.

The second is the pressure on product prices. The prices of raw materials (including natural rubber, fiber, steel wire, etc.) rose rapidly, while the car prices continued to decline. The automotive OEMs continuously demanded price reductions for automotive rubber products, coupled with the adoption of global purchasing strategies by major multinational automotive companies, and therefore required automotive rubber. The product industry must further reduce costs under the premise of ensuring product quality, posing a severe challenge to the automotive rubber products industry.

The third is the demanding requirements for automotive performance. The continuous improvement of the level of vehicle design and the continuous use of media have brought new requirements and issues to the automotive rubber products industry. For example, with the compact design of the engine, the temperature under the hood is getting higher and higher, the variety of new fuel and alternative raw materials continues to increase, the fluoridation of automotive air conditioning refrigerants, the use of carbon dioxide refrigerants, various new synthetic brake fluids The application, etc., these changes have put forward new and higher requirements on the heat resistance and media resistance of automotive rubber products.
The fourth is the higher requirements of environmental laws and regulations. The deepening of environmental awareness of all humans puts forward more stringent requirements on automotive rubber products. The EU’s restrictions on atmospheric emissions have continued to be strict and even proposed “zero emission” indicators. Raising fuel combustion efficiency is the key to controlling emissions, which also leads to rubber products working at higher strengths, and traditional rubber products are often unbearable. The European Union also stipulates that the use of lead-containing vulcanization auxiliaries and stabilizers in high-pressure hoses and fuel hoses is prohibited from July 1, 2005, and that most of the alternative auxiliaries are new types of auxiliaries, which require the use of higher-strength hoses, greatly increasing The production cost of rubber products.

The fifth is the competition of foreign-funded enterprises. At present, a large number of foreign investment in China's automotive rubber industry, and the joint venture tends to sole proprietorship, making the domestic auto rubber products market competition more intense. According to incomplete statistics, from the 1990s to the present, there have been 60 to 70 foreign-funded non-tire automotive rubber-equipment companies in the country, and 38 foreign companies from Japan, the United States, Germany, Italy, France, and Russia. There are 21 joint ventures and 17 sole proprietorships, including many world-renowned companies. The products of foreign-funded enterprises cover all areas of automotive rubber products.

Faced with these challenges, China's automotive rubber industry should adopt a corresponding development strategy in a timely manner.

First, develop professional and large-scale production. The current development trend of the international rubber products industry: First, the scale of the company toward large-scale, group-based economic development; Second, the factory toward the development of specialized, intensive production. Foreign large-scale rubber products companies have annual sales of more than 2 billion US dollars, while most of China's product companies have small-scale production and low degree of specialization. They are difficult to participate in international market competition, and it is difficult to adapt to the development requirements of the automotive industry.

Second, to further explore the international and domestic markets. China's rubber products industry should comply with the new situation of international procurement of auto parts, aim at the needs of the international market, and actively expand product exports. At the same time, substitution of imports is also a considerable market space.

Third, strengthen communication and cooperation with automotive OEMs. With the acceleration of the development speed of new models of automobile plants, the main engine plant has not met the matching requirements for processing of rubber parts according to the drawings by the rubber factory. Instead, it hopes that the rubber manufacturers can independently develop new products according to the concept of new models, that is, product development in automobile enterprises. Involved in the development stage, independent product structure design, with CAE simulation analysis capabilities, the establishment of different levels of product platforms, do a good job of technical reserves, passive development into active development.

Fourth, the automotive rubber products industry should be guided by market demand, with science and technology as the driving force, and with pioneering and innovation as the main line, with emphasis on adjusting the industrial structure and product structure, and developing a batch of specialized products and large-scale production like the Anhui Zhongding Group. The cross-regional enterprise groups with the management efficiency and institutional conglomerates have improved the overall economic efficiency and market competitiveness of the industry.

Fifth, aiming at the advanced world level and strengthening the capacity for independent development. Strengthen the work of the automotive rubber products technology equipment and testing instrument research and development center, earnestly do a good job in the development and development of special raw materials for automotive rubber products, implement advanced standards, and carry out new product testing methods and testing instruments.

We expect that in the near future, China's auto rubber and rubber products industry will inevitably enter the world's top 50 non-tire rubber products, and China's automotive rubber industry will inevitably usher in greater development.