The Technical Level of Automotive Core Components Urgently Needs to Improve

How can China's auto autonomous R&D from vehicle design to core technology go? Experts from scientific research institutes and auto companies spoke freely at the 2006 Auto China Independent Brand Development Forum.

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In 2006, the sales of cars in the Beijing market may exceed 360,000, while the sales of used cars will reach 250,000, and in 2006 it may reach 300,000. As a result, the sales ratio of new and used cars will be close to 1:1. The combined sales of the two items can add up to 600,000 vehicles.

Su Hui, general manager of the Beijing Asian Games Village Auto Trading Market, who is an industry insider, is perhaps most tolerant of this view. He said: "It is very encouraging that the current independent brands occupy half of the country and the development prospects are quite large. Now it is still In the era of transportation tools, most consumers are considering buying a car that is still between 50,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, while another 25% of households have a second or third car, plus they have to consider changing cars. The demand for this market is quite large, but unfortunately our own brand has a big name and a few fine products, and it doesn't really have a Chinese brand car similar to that of Mercedes-Benz and BMW."

Su Hui said that the online market has recently conducted a survey of about 300,000 people. The results of the survey show that car prices are still the most important issue in the auto market. Consumers have already become a knowledge, and you have to understand prices. , understand the car, understand the market, but also understand the added value, but also understand the future value of used cars into the future, "From the current situation, compared to Mercedes-Benz, BMW, these well-known foreign companies, our car's characteristics are not enough prominent".

Su Hui believes: "Chinese consumers are not yet mature, but it is difficult to sell cars after Chinese consumers mature. Therefore, it is imperative to create quality products quickly."

Do not be too superstitious about foreign technology

In the face of such a market environment, experts believe that the top priority is to upgrade the core components with independent intellectual property rights.
Many people feel stress when it comes to core parts, and even more pessimistic. Jiang Yan, general manager of Beijing Extreme Technology Co., Ltd., who was once the head of one of the largest diesel technology companies in the United States, was very confident in the development of engine electronic control technology in the country: “If a large foreign company is not an imperial edict, plagiarizing foreign technology, the result will be greatly It hindered the development of China’s own innovative technology,” Jiang Yan said. “I’ve just returned from abroad and found that when people mention Bosch, Delphi and Denso, the three giant companies abroad seem to be insurmountable. In fact, any major company in the world has When I make mistakes, don't think of them too mysterious.In addition, I think there is a deviation in the domestic technology route. For example, some very practical technologies can make money immediately when they are put into the market, but some people think that this is what companies do. The matter should not be supported by the state, but in fact, some practical technologies are not affordable for a certain company, so the opportunity is lost." Jiang Yan felt very sad about this incident. Some people unrealistically study the so-called world synchronization technology and expect to be able to catch up with some advanced foreign technology levels immediately. However, in fact, what is being studied is some of the most unprofitable techniques that do not make money.

Jiang Hao said that he returned to the state and wanted to do something in the domestic diesel technology industry. He said: “I think the gap between the domestic diesel technology industry and foreign countries is very large. China’s basic diesel engine is now mechanical injection. , and Europe has achieved EFI, how to go? This is the biggest problem and challenge facing us in China."

Many companies have adopted technology abroad, but eventually found that these technologies could not be bought. Therefore, key technologies still have to innovate on their own, and they should do their jobs in a down-to-earth manner. Jiang Hao hopes that the state will encourage original technological innovation. Compared with China, the US government’s funding for the auto industry is much greater than China’s.

He said with confidence: “Chinese people are not more stupid than foreigners. For example, in recent years, we have found contact with these OEMs to find a phenomenon: If Bosch sells a matching product to a diesel engine factory, it will cost several million yuan. We support a few million yuan, but our own company sells to China's diesel engine plant supporting products but it needs its own investment entirely, and the Chinese mainframe factory will bear the research and development expenses. I think this is unfair and the country should adopt macroeconomic regulation and control. Means to support companies with research and development capabilities."

Talent training should be more professional

Jiang Yan believes that many domestic universities have a large number of automotive majors, but students do not learn the real parts expertise. For example, a lot of people who engage in electronic control also seem to understand it, which is not suitable for the development of the company. He said that learning internal combustion engines should be the experts of internal combustion engines, and learning how to optimize oil distribution systems, but our Chinese university students are learning less or practice less.

At present, no matter the universities or research institutes in China are all engaged in engine electronic control systems, it is always a low level of repeated work, writing papers, and has never become a real product.

Focusing on core components is more important than appearance design

According to Chen Ziqi, currently deputy dean of the Great Wall Automotive Research Institute who went to the United States to work at Ford Motor Company in 1983, China's automobile industry is indeed promising. He said that it has made sense to go through two things in the past year and a half. It is the Great Wall that has developed the first new sedan and was unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in 2006. The second thing is that the leadership team has improved all aspects of the existing car performance. This made him feel very satisfied.

Chen Ziqi said: "I am not saying that I am a person or capable person. It is the situation in the Chinese auto industry that provides us with a promising stage for these 'returnees'." The gap in the exterior design of China's autos in recent years has become smaller. However, the development capability of key technologies such as noise, safety, and operational stability is quite different from that of the United States, because performance development requires a lot of money, and many links are unavoidable. Chen Ziqi believes that it is catching up with the world. The most advanced talents are the most important ones, which need to be cultivated by ourselves. He found a problem during the recruitment: “We have a good understanding of the car for students in the automotive department. Therefore, we hope to focus on cultivating students in the future. Develop talents for performance development."

According to Chen Fangmin, deputy general manager of Geely Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., Geely Automobile has already produced and sold more than 500,000 vehicles for only 8 years. As an independent brand, it is necessary to change the impression left in people's traditions: “Individual brands are low prices. The car." He said: "In 2006, we launched 1.6 Diamond and 1.8 Vision in a row. Geely is now developing 1.0, 1.3, and all of them are in R&D. Although this road is very difficult, Geely is now from the engine to the automatic transmission, and it should be compared with its counterparts. The leading position, especially the 7VV7 engine that we launched in 2006, was immediately applied to the vision car, so the development of self-owned brand cars is not just to build a shell, but also more in the competitiveness of core components. ”

Technology integration innovation is a shortcut

Judging from the development of the international market, Yuan Yue, Chairman of Zero Research Consulting Group, has his own views. He believes that the automobile market is from Europe and the United States to Japan and South Korea. At present, this opportunity belongs to the Chinese market, because European and American companies, including Japanese and South Korean companies, also walk. After such a process, Chinese companies can learn from the practices of some foreign companies. He said: "As Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan can transcend, even though it does not exceed Europe and the United States, it has basically reached the same level as Europe and the United States. European and American companies first passed the development of engines or basic technologies, and Toyota focused its efforts on quality management. South Korea is taking reverse engineering, which means that if you rely on independent research and development, it will be difficult to compete with Europe and the United States. If you spend 100 million won in two weeks to reach the most advanced technology in the world, why did you spend 1 billion won and 2 billion won? What about the independent research and development of funds? Samsung has set up 16 R&D centers abroad and hired the world's most advanced R&D staff to work for them. Our current domestic companies, including Chery, Geely, Toyota, etc., are taking this path. It is to integrate international resources for my own use. On the other hand, from the perspective of international resources, Chery's engine technology is not completely independent research and development, but the introduction of Hungarian technology, which is equivalent to outsourcing my technology to foreign companies. Then digest, absorb, and innovate, so from a technical point of view, we believe that A shortcut is to integrate international resources and create new roads.

Chen Lixin, general manager of Shanghai Yujie Automobile Design Co., also holds the same view. He believes that we must take shortcuts and use the resources of global integration as soon as possible to win the first barrel of gold as soon as possible, including the first barrel of technology. If there is no independent brand or independent development, then the price of the domestic automobile market today is still high, and it is impossible for the majority of people to accept it. He believes that the road to technological progress we have taken in the past three years is very fast. This may be the path taken by foreign countries to spend 10 to 20 years. He also stated that the development of China's autos will be faster in the next ten years and should be faced with reality. It is necessary to dare to admit that their own quality is relatively poor and their brands are weak. This is an unavoidable issue. It is to solve the original problem of technology accumulation in a down-to-earth manner.

Management is more important than technology

The development of foreign cars has a history of 120 years. How do we catch up with this gap? It is a problem we face. As a member of the independent automobile design industry in China, Lu Qun, general manager of Great Wall Huaguan Automotive Design Co., Ltd. has expressed his unique viewpoint. He said: “Actually, we are able to catch up in many places. Even if it is close to the advanced level in foreign countries, the important thing in this process is the introduction of key outstanding talents.In addition, China's own automobile design should pay attention to the gap between many key core technologies and foreign countries, how to make up for it, and what can be tracked? He clearly believes that the most important issue in car development is not technology, but management, and the management of project organization is very weak, because car development is a large-scale, systematic project, if we don’t realize that we also manage project management, etc. There will be more detours if there is a gap."

Chen Ziqi believes that our customary thinking is that when it comes to technology, the talented person does not understand management. When it comes to management, the talented person often does not understand technology. How to find a person who understands both technology and management is the one we catch up with. One aspect of the advanced world level.