Automobile is one of the pillar industries of the national economy and plays an important role in the national economic and social development.
In the context of intelligence and networking, the technological R & D strength of China’s automobile industry has been continuously improved, which not only promotes the upgrading of automobile consumption quality, but also shows new vitality and new atmosphere.
steady progress, the auto industry “bucked the trend” and rebounded
In 2021, China’s automobile production and sales were 26.082 million and 26.275 million respectively, ranking first in the world for 12 consecutive years; From January to December, the added value of automobile manufacturing industry increased by 5.5% year-on-year. Under the background of repeated epidemics, chip shortage and rising raw material prices, the automobile industry has reversed the downward trend for three consecutive years and contributed an important force to the sustained recovery of China’s industrial economy and stable macroeconomic growth.
With the easing of the tight supply of chips in the automotive industry, the situation of China’s automotive market is improving, and the production and operation of enterprises is gradually improving. From January to February this year, China’s automobile production and sales completed 4.235 million and 4.268 million respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 8.8% and 7.5% respectively. According to the institutional analysis, the continuous improvement of chip supply and the demand for replenishment drive the good growth of automobile cumulative production and sales from January to February this year, and it is expected to achieve moderate growth in the first quarter.
Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and Secretary General of China Automobile Industry Association, believes that China’s automobile market has great potential, demand is still strong, and the long-term sound macroeconomic fundamentals ensure the sustained growth of the automobile market. On the other hand, with the gradual mitigation of the impact of the epidemic and chip shortage, the automobile supply capacity will be further released. At the same time, the strong demand in the new energy vehicle market will further promote the stable growth of vehicle sales.
transformation and upgrading to promote the improvement of automobile consumption quality
According to the data, by the end of 2021, the national car ownership had reached 302 million, and there were more than one million cars in 79 cities in China. With the improvement of residents’ income level, people’s concept of buying cars is gradually changing, and the automobile market is showing the trend of consumption upgrading.
“In the past, we may pay more attention to performance and appearance. Now we will pay more attention to vehicle safety and comfort, such as some intelligent devices in the car.” Said a consumer who recently considered changing cars. For current consumers, the concept of buying a car is becoming more and more rational. In addition to appearance and configuration, they pay more attention to the safety, intelligence, driving experience and other performance of the car. Behind the upgrading of consumption in the automobile market is the leap forward of technical level and the unremitting pursuit of product quality.
At present, China is stepping up efforts to promote the development of intelligent networked vehicles and strive to improve the stability and competitiveness of the industrial chain and supply chain. The automobile industry has made great progress in electrification, networking, intelligent transformation and upgrading, and promoting the improvement of automobile consumption quality.
“The car has evolved from a traditional means of transportation to a mobile space and travel partner.” According to song Zhenguang, senior deputy chief engineer of Chongqing Changan Automobile Company Limited(000625) Intelligent Research Institute, active interaction, automatic scene recognition, intelligent planning and driving, which can bring better use experience, are becoming the direction of the industry.
“The car is the largest personal mobile terminal in the future.” Yan jianlai, Secretary General of China Society of automotive engineering, believes that the development of intelligent networked vehicles in the future is actually a change of technological leap. Cars will become a carrier, platform and traction of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and modern communication technology.
changing lanes to overtake, accelerating the strength of independent brands
People often say that the engine is the heart of the car. Doing a good job of the engine is a core competitiveness of car enterprises.
“What we have overcome is a very big problem – now we can carry out full forward engine development.” Dr. Wang Xiangang, Chongqing Changan Automobile Company Limited(000625) Power Research Institute and chief engineer of Lanjing ne power, said, “engine R & D involves the basic knowledge of engineering thermodynamics, combustion, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, materials science, mechanical technology and other disciplines. It is a complex process that requires repeated iteration and continuous accumulation of a large amount of development experience.”
“The engine developed by Chinese auto enterprises is more reverse development, that is, according to the gourd painting ladle, first make it out, and then debug and modify it a little bit.” Chai Zhanxiang, assistant president of the automobile industry branch of China Council for the promotion of international trade, introduced that in the past, many important R & D work of automobile enterprises depended on international partners. Now they slowly moved their R & D work to China. At the same time, national brands also began to carry out some positive R & D work. “This means that in the field of R & D, they already have the ability to compete with overseas enterprises on the same field, which is worthy of praise.”
In recent years, independent brands that started late gradually have the technical strength of positive research and development, and the brand strength has been gradually improved. At the same time, in the field of intelligent networking, independent brand products with obvious advantages have faster iteration speed, won the favor of more consumers, and the market demand is growing. According to the data of China Automobile Industry Association, in 2021, the total sales of Chinese brand passenger cars increased by 23.1% year-on-year, accounting for 44.4% of the total sales of passenger cars, and the share increased by 6% over the same period last year.
“In the past, we mainly followed, but today is different. Many enterprises have developed to this day, and suddenly find that they need to do a lot of basic research. Many enterprises spend 10% of their R & D expenses on basic research, because there is no object to follow, so they must develop and innovate by themselves.” Chongqing Changan Automobile Company Limited(000625) chairman Zhu Huarong said that R & D innovation is one of the major changes in the current development of the industry. “Chinese brands should seize the development opportunity in the next three to five years, seize the international market and accelerate the brand upward.”
