Introduce independent brand companies to take advantage of latecomers
At 8:30 in the morning, the special team drove from Guangzhou Avenue to Zhaoqing Dawang High-tech Zone, which took less than two hours to drive, reflecting the Zhaoqing has an important location advantage in the Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaozhou metropolitan area.
Xpeng Automobile Factory
Without manual operation, a tall robotic arm easily lifts and installs a large panoramic sunroof on the roof of the car, and the whole process takes less than 1 minute. As the first stop of the investigation, the task force visited Xpeng Motors' Intelligent Network Technology Industrial Park in Zhaoqing High-tech Zone and saw that 264 industrial robots were taking the trouble to complete the assembly of Xpeng P7. It is understood that since the delivery of this model started in June 2020, the cumulative delivery volume in November 2020 has exceeded 10,000 units, ranking among the top among the delivery volumes of independent brand models of new car-making forces.
The industrial park was officially put into operation in May 2020. Combining the high growth data of Zhaoqing's automobile industry in the first three quarters of 2020 and the introduction of relevant staff of Zhaoqing High-tech Zone, this smart car manufacturing base with a designed annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles has brought considerable economic benefits to Zhaoqing High-tech Zone as soon as it started operation. . In 2021, in addition to producing the already launched Xpeng P7, the Zhaoqing Xpeng base will also produce the newly released Xpeng P5 model. It is expected that the annual output will reach 70,000 vehicles, which will be a significant increase compared with 2020.
Xpeng Automobile Factory
The Xpeng Automobile manufacturing project was laid in Zhaoqing High-tech Zone in December 2017, and mass production delivery was achieved in less than 3 years. On February 1, 2021, Zhaoqing ushered in the landing of another major project in the field of new energy vehicles: CATL New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., the leader in the power battery industry, officially settled in Zhaoqing High-tech Zone and will invest 12 billion yuan to build a production base. According to reports, this is the largest investment industrial project since the founding of Zhaoqing. CATL will build a new energy industry chain in Zhaoqing including power battery cells, lithium battery materials, energy storage applications, battery recycling and other fields. A subsequent announcement issued by Ningde Times listed company showed that the project covers a total area of ??approximately 1,000 acres and the project construction period will not exceed 24 months.
With the insertion of "chain master" companies with strong control and driving force such as CATL and Xpeng Motors, Zhaoqing's new energy vehicles and auto parts industry will further promote "chain building, chain extension and supplementation Chain, strong chain”. It is understood that Zhaoqing has currently regarded the new energy vehicles and auto parts industry as the "first leading industry" in its "4+4" manufacturing development pattern. Zhaoqing High-tech Zone and Zhaoqing New District will be the main battlefields, with the goal of building a new The entire energy vehicle industry chain will create a 100-billion-dollar new energy vehicle industry cluster.
Compared with established automobile manufacturing bases such as Guangzhou and Shanghai, Zhaoqing has focused on attracting investment in the new energy automobile industry in recent years, focusing on introducing leading enterprises of its own brands and working with the government to create an industrial ecology. "Zhaoqing's idea for developing the automobile industry is to change lanes and overtake." A staff member of Zhaoqing High-tech Zone said that this also means that Zhaoqing does not want to rely on imported brands to develop its automobile industry, but must focus on building its own brands and independently controllable key components. Supporting system.
The cluster shape is beginning to appear, and the differentiated highlights are taking shape
“When I came here 4 years ago, there were not many local industry supporting facilities. (Xpeng Motors) mainly considered the geographical location Advantages (locating in Zhaoqing).” According to reports, in the past, Zhaoqing’s traditional industrial structure did not have obvious advantages in the automotive industry chain. However, in recent years, driven by key leading enterprises in attracting investment, more and more upstream players in the industry chain have Accessories companies also settled in Zhaoqing High-tech Zone, which promoted the initial formation of new energy vehicles and intelligent network connection, and the prototype of an auto parts industry cluster in Zhaoqing.
Panoramic view of Zhaoqing’s new energy automobile and parts industry chain.
Currently, in the Xpeng Automobile manufacturing base, there are many parts companies serving the production and manufacturing of Xpeng Automobile. “Localized parts and components companies are of great significance to vehicle companies.
"According to relevant staff of Xpeng Motors, under normal circumstances, localized parts companies can not only reduce the economic costs of logistics and transportation, but more importantly, can reduce logistics and transportation time, thus speeding up product production and delivery. In special cases, Under certain circumstances, such as when logistics was blocked at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, localized spare parts support was even more crucial.
According to previous research, a large proportion of the traditional automobile industry in Guangdong Province is joint ventures. Brands, especially Japanese brands, have a relatively closed industrial chain. Therefore, the Guangdong automobile industry has long-term problems of a mismatch between the scale of the midstream complete vehicle link and the upstream parts link. To a large extent, the parts needed for the production of independent brand car companies Relying on supplies from other provinces. The "Guangdong Province Action Plan for Developing Strategic Pillar Automobile Industry Clusters (2021-2025)" also points out that the development of Guangdong's auto parts industry is relatively weak and is the focus of making up for "shortcomings" during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. .
Vehicle sensors are important components of smart cars.
“Look at these small circles surrounding the car body. This car also has them. "In the Zhaoqing factory of Guangdong Audiway Sensing Technology Co., Ltd., Audiway deputy general manager Liang Meiyi led a special group to walk around the employee parking lot. There were many cars equipped with ultrasonic sensors. From the oldest models, they were not installed. , installed at the front and rear corners, and then installed all around the car body. The newer models and the more intelligent functions have more sensors installed. “Many of these ultrasonic sensors are independently developed and produced by Audiway, including each sensor chip. All are independently developed and designed by us. "Liang Meiyi said proudly.
According to Liang Meiyi, Audiway has been focusing on the research and development of sensor technology in the early years. The earliest application markets were mainly in the field of home appliances and overseas automotive electronics markets. Its many automotive sensor products, such as those that can automatically detect Sensor equipment for children and pets left in the car has become a standard "safety part" for automobiles in countries such as South Korea. It has a leading share in many fields in overseas markets. A few years before this round of smart car revolution, Audiway developed it independently. Having completed the technology accumulation of automotive-grade ultrasonic sensors, Audiway is now at another juncture in its application in the smart car market. The just-released Xpeng P5 is equipped with 32 sensor devices to support its automatic assistance. The driving system includes as many as 12 ultrasonic sensors. “In the future, people may look at the sensor configuration of smart cars like they compare the configuration parameters of smartphones. " Liang Meiyi said.
Lai Sikai, general manager of Zhihua (Guangdong) Intelligent Network Research Institute, introduced that before Guangdong Province proposed the "chain length system" and related industry chain map mapping requirements, Zhaoqing had carried out the global automobile industry The chain suppliers and Zhaoqing's automobile industry chain were investigated respectively, and this was used as an important basis for investment promotion.
In the panoramic view of Zhaoqing's automobile industry chain, the auto parts chain accounts for more than half, which is divided into specific categories. The four major sectors of new energy vehicle core components, traditional vehicle core components, automotive electronics and automotive lightweighting are listed in each link. Among them, the development level of power batteries was average before the introduction of CATL. , especially the lithium battery part is blank. The development level of drive motors is relatively high, but there are currently no automotive IGBT manufacturers. The development level of control systems, automotive electronics and automotive lightweighting are in their infancy, but representative companies have emerged, including Beijing. Li Huachuang, Xpeng Motors, Audiway, Fenghua Hi-Tech, Asia-Pacific New Materials, etc.
At the same time, this industry map also shows Zhaoqing’s awareness of “chain complementation”, including power batteries and automotive IGBTs. , in-vehicle information systems, electromechanical coupling devices, vehicle sensors, intelligent network components and other key components are included in the future development direction. This year’s contract with CATL is an important step in Zhaoqing’s “replenishment” of the core power battery link of new energy vehicles. One step.
Currently, Zhaoqing has 64 automobile manufacturing and auto parts companies above designated size. Except for 5 complete vehicle manufacturers, most of the others are independent parts companies. In the future, new energy vehicles will be the core. Parts and core electronic intelligent components of smart cars may become a differentiated highlight in the development of Zhaoqing's automobile industry and the key to participating in the province's automobile industry cluster collaboration.
In addition, in order to put smart cars on the road and meet the needs for closed testing of smart car autonomous driving technology, Zhaoqing has also become a highlight of industrial differentiation by opening up city-level road testing land. According to the relevant person in charge of Qianfian Dezhi, the company responsible for using road tests, more than 80% of self-driving vehicle tests in Guangdong Province are currently completed in the Zhaoqing Demonstration Zone, including WeRide Zhixing, Pony.ai, AutoX and many other autonomous vehicles. Driving Innovation Company tests passenger cars such as Volkswagen and Hongqi, as well as commercial vehicles such as buses and heavy trucks.
Regional Industry Observation
High-end industries supporting high-end talents and cluster effects need to be improved
In recent years, Zhaoqing has focused on the development of new energy vehicles and smart car market trends. The parts and components industry, through key investment promotion and leading enterprises, has achieved remarkable preliminary results in the independent lane-changing and overtaking route, which is also in line with the direction of Guangdong Province's "14th Five-Year Plan".
However, overall, Zhaoqing’s industrial cluster is still in the process of forming and will still face challenges. For example, the smart car projects currently launched in Zhaoqing are mainly based on production and manufacturing. The R&D centers of companies such as Xpeng Motors and Audi V are still set up in first-tier cities such as Guangzhou. This is important for Zhaoqing to join forces with companies to create an intelligent manufacturing industry ecosystem. A real situation that needs to be addressed.
In terms of basic conditions, Zhaoqing is relatively weak in scientific research resources such as universities and scientific research institutes, and has deficiencies in major scientific facilities, source innovation and high-end talents. Therefore, it is very important for Zhaoqing to more actively participate in regional collaborative cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and supplement its shortcomings in innovation.
In fact, there have been many such cases in recent years, such as Songshan Lake in Dongguan, which took advantage of Shenzhen's industrial spillover and then actively supplemented some of the industry's shortcomings by actively introducing relevant smart companies and R&D institutions. Similarly, Zhaoqing needs to continuously improve the level of high-quality industrial development, enhance cluster effects, create a clear urban industrial ecological brand, and attract more high-end talents and scientific research results to Zhaoqing through location advantages and urban collaboration mechanisms, so that Zhaoqing can become a It is an important smart car application city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
In this regard, the idea of ??"new energy smart vehicle technology innovation model transformation" shared by Zou Guangcai, deputy general manager of the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center, to the topic group may be worth learning from. Zou Guangcai believes that automotive technological innovation is divided into three stages: laboratory, engineering, and industrialization. The engineering process determines whether innovative technology can be transformed into real products. However, China's traditional automobile industry has long had relatively large conflicts and contradictions in the three stages, resulting in the inability to engineer innovative results or ideas and the inability to meet industrialization requirements. For this reason, Zhaoqing may be able to find a point of strength in promoting engineering and industrialization.
According to Zou Guangcai, after conducting research and summarizing foreign institutions, the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center put forward its own concept, which is to build, share, apply and be mutually beneficial. Open the operating mechanism, focus on innovative resources from all walks of life, break through core key technologies, and achieve four accelerations: speed up solving basic and fundamental problems in the industry, speed up the establishment of cutting-edge technology first-class services, and speed up the formation of a mutually beneficial and win-win mechanism for the entire industry chain. , accelerating the implementation and transformation of innovative results. To this end, the National Innovation Center has created four platforms: vehicle technology development platform, cutting-edge technology testing and verification platform, intellectual property operation platform, and incubation and venture capital cultivation platform to conduct technical research in nine technical fields.
In fact, engineering participation in innovation has been spontaneously explored in Zhaoqing. In the Audiway factory in Zhaoqing, a separate engineering training center has been set up. According to Liang Meiyi, this training center is very important to Audiway. Every new talent recruited, including engineers in the Guangzhou R&D center, must Only by going to the Audiway production line in Zhaoqing for engineering training can we better conduct self-research and development.
Similarly, automated intelligent manufacturing factories do not mean that talents are not needed, but more high-end talents are needed. According to materials provided by Zhaoqing officials, Xpeng Motors' Zhaoqing factory currently has more than 600 efficient and high-quality members, 78% of whom are from mainstream OEMs, 74% of whom have more than 5 years of work experience, and more than 97% of the engineers have bachelor's degrees or above. academic qualifications.
To this end, the task force believes that in the face of shortcomings in scientific research resources, Zhaoqing may need to focus more on marketization and industrialization paths like Shenzhen did in the early days, and continue to inject innovation into high-end industries.
Produced by: Nandu Intelligent Automobile Industrial Ecology Research Center
Coordinator: Zhen Qin Ren Xianbo