With the vigorous development of the auto market, the spatial structure of China's auto industry has also undergone fundamental changes. Looking back at the past five years, frequent corporate restructuring has not only further increased the concentration of the automotive industry, but also basically established the production and competition landscape of China's auto industry. With the OEM as the leader, related parts and components companies quickly gathered around them. China's auto industry cluster has begun to take shape. Some places, such as Guangzhou, even explicitly proposed the idea of ​​developing automotive industry clusters. The accelerating pace of the automobile industry clustering has rapidly increased the competitiveness of China's automobile industry and enabled the transition from a big automobile country to a powerful automobile country to take off.
Industrial clusters have become one of the highlights of the “10th Five-Year Plan†period. The situation of “scattered, chaotic, and small†has obviously changed, and the added value of the auto industry is increasingly focused on key regions.
"Dispersed, chaotic, and small" has always been a chronic illness in China's auto industry. According to statistics from the Development and Research Center of the State Council, in 2002, 117 automobile companies in China produced a total of 3.254 million automobiles, and the output was only equivalent to the scale of a company composed of the international automobile giant “6+3†group. These vehicle factories distribute 27 provinces and cities. The vast majority of companies are small in scale, of which only 7 are producing more than 50,000 vehicles.
However, in the middle and late tenth Five-Year Plan period, with the frequent reorganization of auto companies and the “blowout period†of the auto market, the concentration of production and sales of the domestic auto industry has greatly improved, and the situation of “scattered, disordered, and small†has improved significantly. . According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2003, FAW Group, SAIC Group, Dongfeng Group, Chang'an Group, and BAIC Group, the top-five sellers in the domestic automotive industry, sold 2.853 million vehicles, accounting for 64.98% of the total sales of automobiles. . In the subsequent 2004 and 2005, the top five sales volume ratio increased to 68.82% and 83.71% respectively.
While completing the “triple jump†in automobile production and sales concentration, since 2003, the added value of China’s auto industry has also shown a trend of increasing concentration in the region. In 2002, the world’s major automotive multinationals and the domestic large-scale automobile groups jointly reorganized and the related parts and components industries also gathered. The industry economic circle centered on these automobile groups was quickly formed. According to the data provided by the Development Research Center of the State Council, in 2003, there were 14 provinces and cities in China's auto industry with an added value of more than 2%. The sum of the proportions was as high as 90.37%, among which Shanghai, Jilin, Hubei, Chongqing, and Guangdong The sum of the added value of the automobile industry is as high as 62.53%, which constitutes an important area of ​​China's automobile industry.
Dr. Qian Pingfan, a researcher at the Research Department of Industrial Economics of the Development Research Center of the State Council, believes that as an industrial economic circle that is geographically close, has the same industry, has many industrial connections, and has an outstanding industrial status, its essence is an industrial cluster phenomenon. According to him, the key factors for the success of the formation and development of automotive industry clusters are at least four: First, there is a good foundation for machinery manufacturing and related industries; Second, there is a large market for automotive demand; Third, there is a group of vibrant The enterprises and entrepreneurs with a strong sense of competition and innovation have led to fierce competition in the region. Fourth, they have a number of high-quality, non-removable factors of production. They can also attract other movable production factors to settle down locally.
The six major auto industrial clusters are initially formed and each has its own characteristics. They will carry the dream of a powerful auto country in China. In the next 15 years, will this change, or will it grow together?
During the "10th Five-Year Plan" period, with the expansion of the domestic automobile market, the automobile industry has also developed rapidly. There are six prototypes of automobile industry clusters in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin, Northeast China, Central China, and Southwest China.
Yangtze River Delta: Shanghai is currently China's largest passenger car production base. SAIC Motor has two joint-venture production companies, Shanghai Volkswagen and Shanghai GM, and SAIC Motor Corporation. Around it gathered more than 50 world-class joint ventures in auto parts.
The automobile industry in Zhejiang Province basically relies on private enterprises. Among them, Geely Automobile's domestic production and sales scale in 2015 will reach 700,000 vehicles, and a car production base will also be built in Geely, Shanghai. Zhejiang Province has now formed a group of strong auto parts companies and a large number of small and medium-sized parts and components companies represented by Wanxiang Group and Huaxiang Group.
In Jiangsu, there are Nanjing Fiat, Chunlan Automobile, SAIC Yizheng, Yangzhou Yaxing, and Dongfeng Yueda Kia in Yancheng. This area has formed an intensive automobile industrial park.
Pearl River Delta: Guangzhou Automobile Group is the main body of the Pearl River Delta automotive industry cluster. After the joint venture between Honda Automobile and Guangzhou Automobile Group to establish Guangzhou Honda, Nissan and Toyota Motor Group have gathered in Guangzhou during the “Tenth Five-Year Plan†to form Huangpu with Guangzhou Honda as the center, and Huaduhe as the center with Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company. The Nansha “three pillars†pattern in which Guangzhou Toyota is located establishes the basic framework of the Guangzhou automobile industry cluster. At the same time, Guangzhou is also committed to the development of parts and components companies. According to the Guangzhou Automobile Development Plan, by 2010, the output value of the Guangzhou auto parts industry will reach 100 billion yuan.
Northeast China: Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces are the old industrial bases of China. Each province has its own core automotive company. The auto industry has a strong driving effect on the local economy. In Changchun, Jilin Province, there is FAW Group, one of the three largest automobile groups in the country; Hafei Automobile Group and Tonda Automobile in Heilongjiang Province; Brilliance Automobile in Shenyang, Liaoning Province; and BMW Brilliance, a joint venture between BMW Germany and Huachen.
There are many powerful auto parts companies in Northeast China. In Jilin, FAW Fuao, FAW Guangyang, FAW Dongjiang Mechanic, Changchun Hella, Changchun Fuao-Jinsen, FAW-Kyle Hayes, Changchun Taiao, Siemens (Changchun) and Jilin North Jiekai; in Shenyang, there are three major engine companies such as Mitsubishi engine, and 28 auto parts supporting companies.
Beijing-Tianjin Region (Bohai-Rim Economic Zone): Beijing has China’s earliest auto vehicle joint venture—Beijing Jeep; in 2002, BAIC and Hyundai established a joint venture with Beijing Hyundai, followed by a joint venture with Dai-Ke to establish Beijing-Benz. , And Beiqi Foton Motor. At present, the Beijing automobile industry has formed three major sections: Beijing Hyundai, Beijing Jeep and Beiqi Foton. In Tianjin, there are Tianjin Toyota, Tianjin FAW, and FAW Huali. With the acquisition of Tianqi Group by FAW Group and the joint venture between FAW Group and Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan has become the main partner of Tianjin Automobile Industry.
In the Beijing-Tianjin region, there are many powerful auto parts companies, including Beijing Hyundai Mobis, Tianjin Denso, Tianjin Stanley, Motorola (Tianjin), Tianjin Jinfeng, Tianjin Xingguang, and Beijing Mengnuo.
Central China: Dongfeng Motor Group and its numerous joint ventures are the main players in the industrial clusters in Central China. PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) Group, the world's three major automotive companies, Nissan and Honda gathered in Wuhan Zhuankou Development Zone, Dongfeng and Nissan cooperated in an all-round manner, Shenlong and Peugeot-Citroen expanded cooperation, Dongfeng and Honda jointly produced CR-V models, Wuhan The automobile industry cluster takes shape. In September 2003, the headquarters of Dongfeng Motor Company was relocated to Wuhan, which greatly enhanced Wuhan's position in the national automobile industry.
There are many powerful auto parts companies in central China, including Shenlong Automobile Xiangfan Parts Factory, Valeo Automotive Air Conditioning, Jingzhou Hang Lung, and Hubei Valeo Automotive Lamps. With the joint venture between Dongfeng and Honda, in the past two years, more than 20 Japanese-funded parts and components companies have come to buy their own homes, specifically for Dongfeng Honda, and most projects have invested more than US$10 million.
Southwest China: Chongqing is home to China’s largest mini vehicle production company, Chang’an Automobile Group. Chang'an Group owns Changan Automobile Co., Ltd., Changan Suzuki Automobile Co., and Changan Ford Motor Co., Ltd. and other subsidiaries. At the same time, there are also Qingling Automobile and Chongqing Hongyan Automobile. In the Northern New District of Chongqing, there is a plan to build a “Shili Motor City†with Ford cars as the main body, integrating production, research and development, trade, Expo, culture, education, and tourism. There are a large number of auto parts manufacturers in the northern New District. In addition, there are private automobile companies in Xi’an represented by BYD Auto Co., Ltd.
“The formation of China’s auto industry clusters cannot be achieved overnight.†According to Qian’s forecast, China needs 10 to 20 years to form a relatively mature automotive industry cluster, and in the first 10 years, a number of competitive advantages will be formed nationwide. In the automotive industry cluster, two to three automotive industry clusters with strong international competitive advantages may appear after 20 years. This two or three auto industrial clusters not only controls more than 60% of the Chinese auto market share, but will also become globally important. One of the automotive industry clusters.
The emergence of local companies such as Chery and Geely is closely related to the increasingly robust auto parts system in the Yangtze River Delta industry cluster.
With the initial formation of China's six major auto industrial clusters, the “technology spillover†effect brought about by the specialized division of labor and low-cost competitive advantages has gradually emerged through the clustering of parts and components companies and independent innovation in the automotive industry cluster. Becomes a climate.
At present, in our country's automobile industry cluster, the inexpensive local brands of automotive products are not uncommon. For example, in the Yangtze River Delta industrial cluster formed during the “Tenth Five-Year Plan†period in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, parts and components of Wanxiang, Wanfeng Auto, Huaxiang, etc., can not only be widely used by domestic auto manufacturers, but many parts and components have formed a considerable amount. Export scale. Wanxiang Group has eight series of universal joints, bearings, constant speed drive shafts, drive shafts, brakes, shock absorbers, rolling elements, and rubber seals, as well as suspension and brake systems. Leading the industry, the annual output of the leading product universal joint has exceeded 40 million sets, and the annual foreign exchange earned through exports has exceeded 600 million U.S. dollars.
Without a strong component industry, there can be no strong automobile industry. This is the case in the world and in China. Looking at the growth path of China's auto brands during the “10th Five-Year Plan†period, the sudden emergence of local companies such as Chery and Geely is closely related to the increasingly robust auto parts system in the Yangtze River Delta industry cluster. Therefore, for the Chinese automobile industry, which has a relatively weak technological development capability, it is more urgent to form its own development capability and build its own independent brands through industrial clusters. In this regard, Zhang Fangyou, chairman of Guangzhou Automobile Group, is figuratively compared to a “pyramidâ€: the vehicle manufacturer is the spire, and many parts and components companies gathered around the bottom, and the component companies are implementing “modularity†to the vehicle manufacturers. In the process of supply, we can quickly develop our own development capabilities through mutual learning and learning from each other. “Only the bottom of the pyramid can be firmly established, can we really improve the autonomy of Chinese autos, and the automakers really have the core competitiveness.â€
Industrial clusters have three major effects: specialization, low-cost, and independent innovation, which is very beneficial for improving industrial competitiveness.
Industrial clusters are an important way to cultivate and enhance the competitive advantages of the automotive industry. For the Chinese automobile industry during its growth period, the formation of industrial clusters is crucial. Qian Pingfan believes that China's current auto industry cluster will at least form three major effects in enhancing the competitiveness of China's auto industry.
The first is to help strengthen the specialization of automobile manufacturing. In an automobile industry cluster, when faced with competition, auto companies have to concentrate their main strength on their own core business with the strongest competitiveness or highest added value. Each company only makes one part, or even one part, of a process, which allows a single company to specialize in the development and production of a product, process. In this way, some companies in the same industry are bound to develop their business in a professional and refined manner, and they will continue to grow.
Second, it helps manufacturers to reduce costs.
In the automotive industry cluster, because of the high concentration of auto companies, such enterprises specializing in the development and production of a product are not only close to each other, but also collaborate in close proximity to each other, making it easy to establish a reputation mechanism and interdependence. On the basis of cooperation in specialization and division of labor, the industrial organization form of clustering is most conducive to improving efficiency. No matter whether it is a main engine plant or a parts and components factory, and it is a subordinated component factory, it has a high external procurement rate. Companies throughout the supply chain are more focused on their areas of expertise and are conducive to improving product quality and improving technology and management.
Third, it is conducive to independent innovation of enterprises.
Within an industry cluster, knowledge innovation in one company can easily spill over to other companies in the region. Regular exchanges enable them to learn new knowledge and technologies quickly. Through the transfer of learning benefits, technological innovation has promoted the development of the region's economy and enabled new technologies to be shared within the industrial cluster region.