Chinese cars go overseas

  China News Weekly reporter/Chen Weishan

  Published in the 1055th issue of "China News Weekly" on August 8, 2022

  In late July, BYD officially announced its entry into the Japanese passenger car market, and plans to sell three electric models next year.

  In 2021, the total sales of electric vehicles in Japan will be less than 20,000, accounting for only 0.45%. In contrast, the sales of new energy vehicles in China last year exceeded 3.5 million.

Although "seeking far away", the outside world believes that BYD's move is more symbolic.

After all, in the era of fuel vehicles, it is almost unimaginable for Chinese car companies to export to Japan.

Even last year, the TOP10 list of Japan's best-selling car companies were all Japanese brands, and Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen were hard to find opportunities in Japan.

  BYD's entry into the Japanese passenger car market is more like a microcosm of the current Chinese car companies going overseas, that is, relying on the advantages of new energy vehicles, "upside" the traditional automobile power market, such an earlier and more successful case is in Europe.

  Taking new energy vehicles as a breakthrough, the pattern of Chinese cars going overseas is quietly changing.

Why did exports grow against the trend?

  In the first half of this year, 1.218 million vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 47.1%.

Among them, 249,000 vehicles were exported in June, an increase of 1.8% month-on-month and a year-on-year increase of 57.4%.

This is the "transcript" of automobile exports according to the statistics of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers).

  In 2021, China will export 2.015 million vehicles, exceeding 2 million for the first time. China has been the world's largest automobile consumer for many years. Last year's export data made China the third largest automobile exporter after Japan and Germany, and it seems that it is about to touch the world's largest automobile exporter. Threshold for car exporting countries.

  You know, compared with the data of 1.06 million units exported in 2020, the export data in 2021 will almost double.

China's auto export volume has hovered around 1 million units for many years. As early as 2012, China's auto export volume exceeded 1 million units. In the memory of Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Committee, "Before 2020, China's auto exports have not improved significantly." The growth rate of exports in 2021 is really surprising.

  Also surprising is the performance of Chinese automakers in overseas markets.

In 2021, SAIC Motor ranks first among automakers with an export volume of nearly 600,000 vehicles. It has set a target of 1.5 million vehicles in overseas markets in 2025. It is expected to reach more than 800,000 vehicles this year, and it will exceed 1 million vehicles next year.

At a media exchange meeting in mid-July, Zhao Aimin, deputy general manager of SAIC International, admitted that the annual growth rate will double from 2019 to 2022. "I didn't expect it to grow so fast in the past three years."

  Consistent with Zhao Aimin's feelings, China's auto exports are still growing rapidly this year.

As for the reason why China's auto export market suddenly ushered in the wind, several interviewees agreed that there are many short-term factors such as the epidemic.

"Same as the reason for the rapid growth of China's overall export value in 2021, foreign supply chains have been dragged down by the epidemic, and Chinese production capacity has filled some of the demand gap." Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Association, explained to China News Weekly.

  "The epidemic has led to tight supply and rising prices in overseas markets, especially the European and American markets, while China's auto supply and prices are relatively stable, and their competitiveness has greatly increased." Cui Dongshu believes that the tight supply in the European and American markets is largely due to factors such as shortages of automotive-grade chips, etc. supply chain issues.

"The passenger garages of Chinese car companies reached 3.1 million vehicles at the end of July, and 2.49 million vehicles in 2021 when the inventory is low, with better inventory protection. In contrast, the United States still has nearly 3.8 million vehicles in inventory at the beginning of 2021. However, by the end of the year, there were only 1.1 million vehicles left, which led to an overall increase in the prices of new and used cars. Some car companies also chose to shrink their overseas strategies under pressure from the supply chain.”

  When Ford and GM withdrew from markets other than North America and China, and Nissan withdrew from the European and South Korean markets, the choice of domestic car companies to expand overseas markets is exactly the opposite of the choices of overseas car companies to shrink their business territories.

  That choice was tied to a slump in Chinese car sales in 2018.

"In recent years, the growth rate of the domestic market has been slow or even declining. The competition is fierce, and domestic car companies naturally want to explore overseas markets. In fact, not only domestic car companies, but also some joint venture car companies that originally set up factories in China only aimed at the domestic market. Now I am also considering exploring overseas markets." In Chen Shihua's view, the strategic adjustment of car companies is the reason for seizing the opportunities brought by the epidemic.

  In fact, the domestic automobile industry chain has also suffered a huge impact this year.

Since the first quarter, the downward pressure on the automobile consumption market has increased.

In April, due to multiple influences such as logistics, chips, and the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the automotive consumer market ended the growth trend from January to March.

"The industry chain and supply chain of the automotive industry has experienced the most severe test in history. Some companies have stopped production, logistics and transportation have been greatly hindered, and production and supply capacity has declined sharply. At the same time, affected by the epidemic, consumption capacity and confidence have declined significantly, and the industry has grown steadily. The task is very arduous." On May 11, Chen Shihua said at the information conference of the China Automobile Association.

  Although there are still uncertainties in China's auto exports in the post-epidemic era, Cui Dongshu believes that under the impact of the short-term factor of the epidemic, the competitiveness of Chinese automobiles has been reflected, and short-term benefits can be transformed into long-term advantages.

  Such competitiveness is reflected to a considerable extent in China's new energy vehicles.

Statistics from the China Automobile Association show that in the first half of this year, 202,000 new energy vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 1.3 times, accounting for 16.6%.

The export volume of new energy vehicles in 2020 and 2021 will be 70,000 and 310,000, respectively.

  Among them, the increment brought by Tesla is crucial. Its Shanghai Gigafactory will deliver 480,000 vehicles in 2021. In addition to supplying the Chinese domestic market, about one-third of the vehicles are exported.

The export volume of 163,000 vehicles will contribute half of China's new energy vehicle exports in 2021.

  According to the statistics of the China Automobile Association, Tesla's export volume in 2021 will rank third among car companies, and the remaining top five car companies are SAIC, Chery, Changan and Dongfeng.

From January to May 2022, the total export volume of automobiles is 746,500 vehicles, of which SAIC Group’s vehicle sales volume is 226,200 vehicles, accounting for the highest proportion, followed by Chery Group’s vehicle sales volume, reaching 111,400 vehicles, and Tesla exporting 96,200 vehicles .

  "In the statistics of automobile export volume, the reselling part is also included. For example, Tesla's contribution to China's new energy vehicle exports is not small. It uses China as a production base and radiates to neighboring countries and regions." There is a senior in the automobile industry. Analysts told reporters that even excluding Tesla's exports, the growth rate of new energy vehicle exports is still rapid.

  Institutions are still optimistic about future auto export trends.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers pointed out, "Although the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has affected some export markets, according to what we have learned from companies, most companies' overseas orders are in good condition and there is no sign of falling back." According to Chen Shihua's estimate, the export volume this year has once again exceeded 200 Ten thousand is a high probability event.

  Of course, the significance of the export of new energy vehicles is not only reflected in the increase in export data.

  "The degree of internationalization of China's auto industry is far from enough. It has been exported for many years and is not considered a 'start' now, but the scale of exports has always been small. It is only in recent years that auto companies have begun to focus on the international market." Small, the export volume of automobiles has been maintained at the level of 1 million all year round, and scattered to many countries and regions.

  After China's "WTO accession", the export of automobiles has also increased rapidly. From 2002 to 2007, China's vehicle exports almost doubled every year, rising from 20,000 to 613,000 in five years.

"Before 2008, China's auto exports grew rapidly, but it has been hit since 2008, when Russia, an important export destination, took measures such as taxation." Cui Dongshu recalled that China's auto exports were in the "1.0 era" at that time and belonged to trade. Export-oriented, product competitiveness is weak, and the international trade environment is not friendly, some major export destinations frequently take containment measures.

  In the "1.0 era", Chinese car companies rely more on cost-effectiveness to enter developing markets, and the emergence of new energy vehicles is changing this situation.

Behind the entry into the European market

  According to Cui Dongshu’s statistics based on customs data, in the first half of this year, the Western European market accounted for 34% of the export of new energy passenger vehicles. Belgium was the country that imported the largest number of new energy vehicles from China in the first half of the year.

  With the transformation of new energy vehicles, the export destinations and target markets of Chinese car companies are also changing.

According to the data of the China Automobile Association, in terms of structure, China exports to six continents, and Asia is the largest export market, accounting for 33.5% of the overall export volume.

The market share of domestic cars in Asia, Europe and North America is generally not higher than 6%, and the market share in South America and Oceania is slightly higher than 10%, but the overall market share is not high.

In contrast, the market share in Africa far exceeds the above-mentioned major markets, and it is increasing year by year. From 2018 to 2021, the market share will increase from 13.4% to 21.5%.

  Although the export volume to the Asian market still tops the list with 716,000 vehicles among the more than 2 million vehicles exported in 2021, the export volume to the European market has already ranked second with 523,000 vehicles, accounting for nearly 25%. Compared with the 121,000 and 170,000 vehicles in 2019 and 2020, the number of Chinese car companies exported to the European market was only 67,000 in 2018, accounting for less than 6%.

  "The original export destinations were mainly Asia, Africa and Latin America. Now Chinese car companies' new energy vehicles are also competitive in the European market." Chen Shihua said that although new energy vehicles account for a limited proportion of total exports, they are obviously more capable of entering the market. Opportunities in developed markets, on the contrary, it is still difficult for fuel vehicles to enter such a market.

  Europe is becoming an important export destination for China's new energy vehicles.

In the second half of 2019, SAIC Motor began to expand and enter the European market. In 2020, it will achieve sales of more than 7,000 vehicles of a single model. Zhao Aimin said frankly, "We didn't even think about it, we were quite happy at the time... This year, we can do it in continental Europe. To achieve the sales target of 60,000 or even 70,000 vehicles, if the UK is added, Europe will become our first overseas regional market of 100,000 vehicles.” Zhao Aimin said that in the future export structure, the proportion of developed economies will be raised dramatically.

  BAIC Pole Fox responded to China News Weekly that the European market is a strategic market second only to China, where Pole Fox must go.

From the new energy vehicle brands of traditional car companies to the new power companies of car manufacturers, they are all landing in the European market in various forms, but it is not easy to "attack" the European market.

  In April last year, BAIC Polar Fox released its international strategy and launched partner recruitment in August, hoping to develop the local market with the help of European dealers.

In the first half of this year, Xiaopeng opened four directly-operated stores in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, and announced that it would increase investment in the international market in the past two years.

In October 2021, NIO opened its first direct-operated store in Europe in Oslo, the capital of Norway, and began delivering the flagship SUV model ES8 to users. It had planned to expand its products and services to Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark in 2022.

  Although there are many car companies shouting the slogan of entering the European market, the actual sales and layout are still in the stage of "testing the water".

  Jihu responded to reporters that since the end of last year, due to the production capacity problems caused by the supply chain, the problems of international exchanges caused by the epidemic, and the changes in the political situation in the European continent, the rhythm of the plan to enter the European market has been adaptively adjusted, but the direction Certainly.

  According to the car data platform Carsalesbase, in 2021, Xpeng Motors will sell 486 vehicles in the European market.

In late June, Xiaopeng Motors announced that due to the impact of the supply chain, it would suspend the reservation of the new electric car P5 in four European countries, and the previous orders could not be delivered on time.

By the end of July, NIO had sold 750 units after entering the European market, of which 200 units will be sold in 2021.

  "The independent brands of several major car companies have performed well." Cui Dongshu said, in contrast, the export volume of some new car manufacturers is actually very small. Taking the Norwegian market where many companies have landed as an example, the monthly sales volume is more. Stay in the scale of dozens or hundreds of vehicles.

  "Some regions in Europe, such as Northern Europe, have aggressive environmental protection policies, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles is getting higher and higher, but in fact, the automobile market in these countries is not large and cannot be compared with the mainstream European markets such as Germany and France. Some Chinese car companies enter these markets. The market itself is valued, but the drunkard's intention is not the wine, but more attention is paid to the improvement of brand value brought by entering the European market." An analyst in the auto industry told reporters that on the one hand, it provides good story material for the capital market, on the other hand In terms of enhancing the added value of the brand in domestic sales.

Because the cost of entering overseas markets is high, and it takes many years to cultivate, from the perspective of business, the immediate effect is not good.

  "European consumers are relatively pragmatic. They have a greater demand for small and medium-sized electric vehicles, but have limited demand for large and high-end electric vehicles. Therefore, new car manufacturers may still need to find a breakthrough point for exporting to Europe. In fact, European consumers also buy I can’t afford an expensive car.” Cui Dongshu believes that it is still necessary to deeply understand the preferences of local consumers. For example, some large electric vehicles may consume a lot of electricity, which is considered by European consumers to be not environmentally friendly. Tesla consumes electricity for 100 kilometers. 12 degrees, while some Chinese car companies’ electric vehicles consume as much as 145 degrees per 100 kilometers, or even 17 or 18 degrees. Therefore, more basic work should be done in electrification, and smaller models should be launched in the European market. .

  Obviously, it will take time for Chinese car brands to gain recognition in the European market.

  "Cars are the top electromechanical products, and users tend to have strong inertial thinking about brands, and it will be a slow process to win trust. Therefore, although the product level of Chinese cars itself has improved rapidly, because the brand is a 'new face', It takes a lot of money and time to cultivate users, and it may take 5 to 10 years to really open a market." Zhong Shi, an automobile analyst, said that Chinese fuel vehicles have not achieved success in developed markets such as Europe and the United States before. The concept is almost blank, and even if the brand name of new energy vehicles is now, it will not be suddenly accepted.

  In the European market, the Chinese brand with the highest sales volume is SAIC MG (MG). In June this year, the monthly sales volume in the European continent exceeded 4,600 units, setting a new high.

But MG is a British brand.

"MG had a relatively mature channel in the UK before. SAIC hopes to use it to load fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles to open the UK market after blood transfusion to save the MG brand. If it can successfully penetrate into the British Commonwealth market," Zhong Shi said.

  In the 1990s, Zhong Shi worked in the Beijing office of a South Korean car company, responsible for developing the Chinese market.

"At that time, it was easier for foreign car brands to enter China, because China was a shortage economy, and consumers generally had weak purchasing power at that time. As long as the product had a price advantage, and Chinese consumers were generally 'superstitious' about foreign brands at that time, it was relatively easy to open the door. On the contrary, it is more difficult for Chinese car brands to enter the developed markets such as Europe and the United States.” Zhong Shi believes.

  Establishing brand recognition is only one of the thresholds that Chinese car companies need to cross when going overseas.

Car companies go overseas, not just selling cars

  Chen Shihua believes that when car companies go overseas, they should not "sprinkle pepper noodles" when choosing a target market. They should first intensively cultivate the market of a certain country or region.

"Exporting cars is actually very simple, but the question of whether the supporting facilities are complete is a problem. For example, whether there is a complete after-sales service system in the local area, if the supporting facilities are not complete enough, it will cause harm to the overall image of Chinese car companies."

  This includes the construction of new energy vehicle charging and battery swap facilities.

When entering the Norwegian market, NIO launched a local power exchange service at the same time. It had planned to build 20 second-generation power exchange stations by the end of 2022, but only one power exchange station is currently in operation. Qin Lihong, President of NIO Automobile, said in early July , 2021 underestimated the actual difficulty, did not complete the plan, and Europe is still in the pilot stage.

  In Zhao Aimin's view, sales are just selling products, but a lot of capabilities need to be built in the long process from domestic production to overseas sales.

Only the overseas sales link involves the construction of local sales networks for car companies.

  When entering overseas markets, car companies generally choose direct sales or distribution models, both of which have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Weilai is a representative of the direct sales model. It has opened direct stores in Europe, but it is considered that the initial investment is large, and the distribution model that relies more on local dealers is considered difficult to build a brand image.

  "Some new car-making forces are more focused on customized services in China, while some traditional car companies rely more on agents, and they may each have their own strengths and opportunities." Chen Shihua said.

  "From the sales side, our layout has covered the whole of Europe, whether it is a high threshold or a low threshold, comprehensive coverage." Zhao Aimin said that the sales model will be more flexible and will be formulated according to the characteristics of each country's market The corresponding sales model will also be adjusted adaptively according to the market capacity and market characteristics.

According to the degree of control over the market, the design of the sales method, some may require a higher degree of OEM (OEM model) control, and some markets may need to be more relaxed.

  Zhao Aimin gave a specific example. Consumers in different regions have different brand loyalty. German consumers may be more loyal to brands. For example, if they drive a car of a certain brand, the next car may be the same brand.

Therefore, in Germany and France, different sales models will be adopted. In France, the dealer model breaks through faster, and 100 dealers are quickly deployed to push up sales. In Germany, a completely new direct sales model is adopted, which is very hard to push. , because initially no one believed in the MG brand.

"The layout in China mainly depends on burning money, but overseas must be very rational, and you must have strong management and control capabilities. But if you still follow the steps in Germany, go to those dealers and agents of BBA, MG such a weak brand, they How can you ignore it?"

  "For Chinese car companies, when choosing a market, we must comprehensively consider local political and economic policies, such as environmental protection policies, and whether they are suitable for the layout of electric vehicle companies." Cui Dongshu said that the localization efforts that car companies need to do go far beyond this. For example, they also need to Examining the local language environment may involve whether some intelligent devices can achieve a better level of interaction in the local area, which happens to be the advantage of Chinese car companies.

  At the beginning of this year, Daniela Cavallo, chairman of the Volkswagen Group's labor union, said, "For German drivers, functions such as karaoke integrated in the central control screen may not be valued. But in China, if Volkswagen cannot provide these functions, It will disappoint other consumers." Her speech was aimed at last year's Volkswagen ID. series of 5 models only achieved 70,000 sales results, which did not meet the previous expectations of 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles, but it was soon It is considered that they do not understand Chinese consumers' demand for new energy vehicles.

  On the contrary, the challenge of "localization" for Chinese car companies to go overseas has actually begun from the product design stage.

  Recently, SAIC Motor has started to launch MG "global car" - MG4 ELECTRIC to Europe. The first step will focus on breaking through the right-hand drive UK market and the left-hand drive German market.

Zhao Aimin said, "Now some Chinese industry partners are rushing to enter the European market. They are the same as our original idea, that is to launch whatever product there is." And MG "global car" is regarded as SAIC's target for The first model launched in the European market.

  "At the beginning of the product design, the styling designer was a European. At that time, we joked that during the epidemic, we needed a styling review but couldn't get out. We proposed to go to the bar street to find some foreigners in China to look at this car. Later, it was approved by The online method invites foreigners in Europe to conduct online evaluations, and these evaluations have been done more than once." Zhao Aimin said.

  "How do we do localization in overseas markets? In fact, we respect customers very much and fully understand what customers are thinking. Although these other companies can also do it, we are in every aspect of styling, interior decoration, battery life and so on. They all respect the local market habits.” Zhao Aimin said, “For example, European consumers prefer simple interiors, China is more pursuing luxury and comfortable interiors, Europe has high requirements for handling, etc. The whole process is Continue to discuss and compromise and finally reach an agreement. Those who cannot reach an agreement can be staggered, and different configurations can be used to meet different market needs.”

  Besides SAIC MG, SAIC MAXUS is another main force of SAIC Group in developed markets such as Europe.

SAIC MAXUS introduced to China News Weekly that the commercial vehicle EV90, which targets the commercial vehicle market in Australia and New Zealand, is based on the co-creation and customization model of C2B users, and can be customized according to user needs. It is the model, the length of the car, and the height of the car, which can be customized.

In addition, according to the individual needs of commercial vehicle customers for power, EV90 can customize different power combinations to meet the real scene needs of customers in the logistics industry.

  "Internationalization is a new business for Chinese auto companies, which involves a series of issues such as whether to understand the target market culture, how international the team is, and how to hire local employees." Zhong Shi said that objectively speaking, Chinese auto products have enough confidence. , but it is still difficult to break through cultural and market barriers.

  SAIC International has recruited more than 30 cadres who can deal with foreigners from within the group, and enriched them in the overseas marketing team. Each overseas company has an expatriate general manager and expatriate personnel in key positions, and they can use them fluently. Communicate with locals in different languages.

A comprehensive layout can fight for dominance

  Some people in the automotive industry told reporters with emotion that after the release of the export data in 2021, the outside world is keen to pay attention to the ranking of China's automobile export volume, "This ranking is of little significance, everyone can clearly perceive the competitiveness of China and the traditional automobile power in the international market. difference.”

  "Volkswagen's annual production capacity in China is as high as several million vehicles, while China's annual export volume is just over 2 million vehicles. There is indeed a big gap between the German and Japanese auto industries. Product competitiveness is improving, but the distance from the real There is still a long way to go to establish a brand image." Chen Shihua said.

  The opportunities brought by new energy vehicles to the Chinese auto industry are considered to be similar to those faced by the Japanese auto industry in the 1970s.

  The period from 1960 to 1970 was the beginning of the Japanese auto industry. Some Japanese auto companies such as Toyota began to try to expand overseas markets such as the United States, but the results were not good.

It was not until the oil crisis in 1973 and the tightening of U.S. emission policies in 1975 that Japanese car companies took advantage of the opportunity of technological change to expand into the U.S. market with fuel-saving technologies.

Japan's passenger car exports to the US jumped rapidly from 712,000 in 1975 to 1.820 million in 1980.

  Cui Dongshu believes that the opportunities faced by Chinese car companies today are even greater than those faced by Japanese car companies in the 1970s. "In the context of the oil crisis and high oil prices, Japanese car companies ushered in development opportunities, but the essence is still Homogeneous competition, and the current advantages of Chinese car companies in electric vehicles are more inclined to differentiated competition.”

  Of course, a variable comes from the environmental protection policies of developed and regional markets such as Europe.

  "The new energy vehicle market is policy-oriented, and the European market is no exception. Previously, some European countries gave a clear timetable for the ban on combustion, which forced the transformation of car companies. However, with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Europe is facing an energy crisis. Is there sufficient energy? Energy has become the biggest problem in front of us, rather than the transition to clean energy. Therefore, the international market, especially the developed country market, has not experienced explosive growth in new energy vehicles.” Zhong Shi said that in fact, a traditional automobile power like the United States, The government has not forced enterprises to transform, because traditional car companies still rely on fuel vehicles to generate profits, which brings employment opportunities and profits and taxes. In recent years, the entire industry has "regressed" to the era of fuel vehicles.

  An analyst in the auto industry told reporters that from the perspective of business logic, China is the largest market in the auto market, especially the new energy vehicle market, and it has grown rapidly in recent years, and consumers are more accepting of new energy vehicles. , There is no need for car companies to seek distance.

  Cui Dongshu disagrees with the suggestion that Chinese car companies should focus more on the domestic market. He believes that in order for China to become a powerful country in automobiles, the export volume must be greatly increased. Moreover, as a large manufacturing country, automobile exports can also stimulate the industrial system. Export increment of finished products.

"The increase in export scale means that the strength of the supply chain is strengthened. In the automotive field, it is also faced with the situation of grabbing market dominance from Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, just like the home appliance field."

  But if you want to compete with traditional auto powerhouses for market dominance, you cannot rely solely on auto exports.

  The aforementioned auto industry insiders expressed their concerns about the current auto export model to the reporter of China News Weekly.

"On the one hand, the high freight costs in the past two years, especially the high shipping costs, have affected the profits of car companies. On the other hand, it may be more important that the guarantee of Chinese car companies going overseas is still insufficient. For example, overseas consumers are more accustomed to using consumer credit. Buying a car, but the support for Chinese car companies may still be insufficient in terms of consumer credit.”

  He told reporters that car companies still face more realistic constraints when going overseas. "For example, how can car companies get back the money they earn overseas? The internationalization of the RMB is limited, and some countries have strict foreign exchange controls, restricting capital outflows, and preferring to invest locally. , forcing some car companies to import some red wine for sale, in fact, it is a disguised way to let the funds flow back to the country.”

  Cui Dongshu believes that in the future, car companies will definitely shift from trade-oriented to a more comprehensive overseas layout when going overseas. "The reason why SAIC Group has a large export volume is also the result of long-term accumulation. When buying the MG brand at that time, it was equivalent to grabbing the European market. It is easier to make a breakthrough and enter Europe with the MG brand. At present, it is still difficult for Chinese car companies to launch a pure local brand in Europe. On the one hand, the credibility of the brand needs to be improved, and on the other hand, the products still need to be improved locally. ."

  In 2021, SAIC Motor will sell 697,000 vehicles in overseas markets, one-third of which will be produced at overseas bases and two-thirds exported from China.

Zhao Aimin said frankly that both the political situation and the economic situation pose a great challenge to the export of finished vehicles.

"In fact, we also hope that in different regions and different markets, we can better integrate into the local area, establish manufacturing centers, achieve sustainability, and reduce risks caused by politics, economy, exchange rate and other aspects."

  Chen Shihua believes that in addition to the export of complete vehicles, some spare parts industries in Japan are also going overseas at the same time, that is, the industry is going overseas, and Japan is also relatively cautious in the choice of export destinations. In some geographically close markets, the enthusiasm of some Japanese car companies to enter the market was not as good as that of Volkswagen.

  "Observing the investment strategies of Japanese car companies entering South China, we can find that whether it is early Honda, or later Toyota and Nissan, the entry of Japanese car companies into China is often tied to the entire industry chain, almost a 'family bucket'. Toyota Aisin, Denso, Textile and other supporting supply chain companies have all set up factories in Guangzhou." An analyst in the auto industry summed up the overseas strategy of Japanese auto companies to reporters.

  Obviously, Chinese car companies still have a long way to go in overseas deployment of production capacity and industrial chain.

  "China News Weekly" Issue 29, 2022

Statement: The publication of "China News Weekly" manuscripts is authorized in writing