21st Century Business Herald reporter Wang Xue, intern Ma Xiaoyu, reporting from Wuhan
As the "China Car Valley", the Wuhan Economic Development Zone is accelerating on the road to realizing the incremental transformation of the automobile industry.
On April 9, Dongfeng Lantu Automobile announced that the company’s 100,000 new energy vehicle had rolled off the assembly line. "This marks the initial formation of Dongfeng Lantu’s large-scale effect, which will enable Dongfeng Company to seize the industrial frontier, build a trillion-level automobile industry cluster in Wuhan, and build a high-end electric vehicle industry base." Liu Ziqing, a member of the Standing Committee of the Wuhan Municipal Party Committee and secretary of the Wuhan Economic Development Zone Working Committee, said.
In recent years, the new energy automobile industry breakout competition in Guangdong, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hubei, Shandong, Jilin and other major automobile manufacturing provinces has intensified. However, before that, the overall scale of Hubei’s new energy automobile industry was not high. The national new energy vehicle sales ranking shows that in 2023, Hubei Province’s new energy vehicle sales 163,400 vehicles and output 388,000 vehicles, ranking about tenth in the country.
Therefore, Hubei Province wants to strive to break through in the fierce market, and proposes to build an important new energy vehicle production base in the country by 2025, and plan the production capacity of new energy vehicles to be more than 2.50 million. It is worth noting that the sales volume of new energy vehicles in 2022 will exceed that of Shandong Province in Hubei, and the goal of new energy vehicle production in 2025 will reach 1 million.
How can Hubei achieve the established production capacity goals? As the "main battlefield" of Hubei’s automobile industry, the Wuhan Economic Development Zone proposes to promote the incremental transformation of the automobile industry and accelerate the release of new energy vehicle production capacity; on the other hand, increase the "leading + small and medium-sized enterprises" industrial ecological construction, strengthen the close coordination between vehicle enterprises and technology enterprises, and build a more resilient new energy vehicle supply chain.
Accelerate the release of new energy vehicle production capacity
Since the beginning of this year, the tide of price cuts has hit new energy vehicles. On March 1 alone, according to statistics, at least 9 car companies officially announced price cuts or limited-time discounts. Some industry insiders believe that price cuts are an inevitable choice because of overcapacity and oversupply of new energy vehicles. In this regard, Shao Mingfeng, general manager of Lantu Automotive Sales and Service Co., Ltd., said, "At present, there is still a lot of room for the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities. For example, the penetration rate in the southwest market is less than 20%. Therefore, from the perspective of the penetration rate, there is no overcapacity of new energy vehicles in China."
Therefore, in order to continuously improve the market share, Wuhan Economic Development Zone will accelerate the release of new energy vehicle production capacity, promote Dongfeng Lantu, Lotus, Yunfeng, Warriors and other new energy vehicle enterprises to reach production as soon as possible, and promote the completion of the new energy plant in Dongben.
Among them, Landmap aims to reach the second 100,000 in 2024, and the annual sales volume will be doubled. The company’s CEO Lu Zai said in an interview that the sales volume of Landmap cars in 2023 exceeded 50,000, an increase of 160% year-on-year; the cumulative sales volume from January to March this year was 16,345, an increase of 188% year-on-year.
It is worth noting that during the National Two Sessions this year, Zhang Yuzhuo, director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, "shouted" that three central automobile enterprises, China FAW, Dongfeng Group and Changan Automobile, said they would evaluate their new energy vehicle business separately.
"This is a very realistic decision. Although the new energy automobile industry has been developing for more than ten years, from the perspective of the automobile industry for a hundred years, new energy vehicles are still an emerging industry compared with traditional vehicles. At this stage, if the new energy automobile industry is to grow rapidly and healthily, it is necessary to design assessment indicators that conform to the current development and conform to the laws of the development of enterprises and industries." Lu Fang said, "For Lantu and many state-owned enterprises engaged in new energy vehicles, it is a good signal, allowing enterprises to focus more on considering products, markets and sustainable development of enterprises."
In addition, Lotus Technology, which was registered in the Wuhan Economic Development Zone in December 2020, is also accelerating the release of production capacity. The company’s financial report shows that in 2023, the company delivered a total of 6,970 vehicles, setting an annual delivery record in the 76-year history of the Lotus brand, of which electric models accounted for 63% of the total delivery.
Regarding the 2024 guidance, Lotus Technology said that 2024 is a critical year for Lotus Technology to implement its Vision80 strategy. The company will accelerate the delivery of its leading product portfolio in new markets, and expects total deliveries to increase by approximately three times to 26,000 vehicles, and gross margins will further increase to 17% to 19%.
According to public information, in 2023, Wuhan Economic Development Zone will add 200,000 new energy vehicle production capacity, and the output of new energy vehicles will increase by 30%. "Wuhan Economic Development Zone has gathered 9 vehicle companies, 13 vehicle factories, and more than 1,200 auto parts companies. Automobile production accounts for about half of Hubei Province. In promoting the transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry, we must lead the way." Wuhan Economic Development Zone staff said.
Building a new business model for the automotive industry
In addition to accelerating the release of new energy vehicle production capacity, the Wuhan Economic Development Zone proposed to accelerate the construction of a new ecology of the automobile industry, increase the construction of "leading + small and medium-sized enterprises" industrial ecology, strengthen the driving and synergy of vehicle enterprises, and further promote "zero coordination".
Liu Ziqing pointed out that since 2023, Wuhan Economic Development Zone has successively launched a new energy and intelligent network industry strategy to enhance the action plan and the development of the automotive core parts industry action plan, with 3 billion yuan to support enterprise innovation, the establishment of 50 billion yuan industry fund, and the top enterprises to strengthen industrial cooperation, promote the upstream and downstream supply chain depth cooperation, through resource sharing and complementary advantages, to form a set of design, research and development, production and sales in one of the complete industrial chain.
Lu Fang told reporters, "As a representative player in the new energy vehicle competition in Hubei Province, Lantu Auto has driven many traditional fuel vehicle parts companies to transition to new energy and accelerated the evolution of the automotive industry chain. On the other hand, it has also driven many parts companies to transition to the full value chain."
"It turns out that many auto parts companies in Wuhan are just manufacturers. Under the impetus of Landmap, many parts companies have built up R & D, project management and other capabilities. At the same time, some suppliers can also develop and manufacture high-value parts from scratch, and achieve independent innovation." Lu Fang further pointed out that the current near-geoization rate of Dongfeng Landmap suppliers is 41%.
Only when products have markets and orders can enterprises develop scale. In addition to increasing domestic market share, new energy vehicle enterprises in Wuhan Economic Development Zone are also planning "new channels" to go to sea.
According to the introduction, Lantu chose Nordic Norway as the first stop to go overseas. Shao Mingfeng explained, "Europe is the strongest industrial town, and it is also the most powerful brand of traditional cars. If Lantu gnaws a bone in the traditional strong car market in Europe, other markets will be easier to expand."
It is reported that Lantu FREE and Lantu Dreamer are currently on sale in Europe, and Lantu Chasing Light has also made its debut in Europe, entering Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and other European countries. It is expected to land in Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and other countries in the second quarter of this year.
It is also worth mentioning that this year China’s first car manufacturer IPO took off in Wuhan Economic Development Zone. On February 23, Lotus Technology landed in US stocks. Han Fangliang, deputy director of the Wuhan Economic Development Zone Management Committee, pointed out in an interview with the media that Lotus Technology’s US stock listing has created experience for more companies in Wuhan Economic Development Zone to enter the capital markets, and its international influence will promote the coordinated development of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and accelerate the pace of Wuhan Economic Development Zone automobile industry chain enterprises going overseas.
"The Wuhan Economic Development Zone will actively strengthen industrial collaboration with leading enterprises such as Lotus and Landmap, promote in-depth cooperation between upstream and downstream supply chains in the region, and form a complete industrial chain integrating design, research and development, production and sales through resource sharing and complementary advantages; encourage vehicle and parts enterprises to carry out technological innovation and industrial upgrading, improve the competitiveness and sustainable development ability of the automobile industry; encourage leading enterprises to strengthen cooperation with universities and scientific research institutions, and jointly promote the transformation and application of scientific and technological innovation achievements." Han Fangliang further said.
(Author: Wang Xue, Editor: Zhu Yimin)
