Although a series of asset operations, including equity, and negotiation at the cooperation level have just been put on the table, the vibrations that Sinotruk and Man will bring to the industry will start from now on.
This year, the heavy-duty vehicle market has fallen to a rare low point in the past few years. It cannot be overemphasized to describe it as bleak. People seem to have forgotten this industry. However, the Chinese heavy truck industry leader China National Heavy Duty Truck and the German truck manufacturer MAN (hereinafter referred to as "Man") suddenly announced a comprehensive strategic cooperation, which will make the stormy Chinese heavy-duty vehicle field more difficult.
On July 16, China Heavy Duty Truck (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., a leading company in China's heavy-duty truck industry, and the global truck giant German Man Co., Ltd. signed a shareholder agreement, technology license agreement, share purchase agreement and convertible bond subscription agreement in Hong Kong. A series of legal documents, the two sides announced that the long-term strategic cooperation at the technical and capital level.
What attracts the most attention in this cooperation agreement is the consensus reached by both parties in the field of technology and engine. According to the agreement, Man will license China's advanced truck and engine technology to China National Heavy Duty Truck and related subsidiaries in China under an exclusive license, and cooperate with Sinotruk to manufacture and sell "technology-boosting" trucks based on this technology.
China National Heavy Duty Truck Board Chairman Ma Chun-chi said at the signing ceremony that the introduction of German Mann technologies and funds is an important strategy for Sinotruk to maintain its leading position in the market. The most important thing is to integrate the use of Mann's Euro III, Euro IV and Euro V engine production technologies into the scope of cooperation. This will be the top priority of cooperation.
For China National Heavy Duty Truck, although it currently has advantages of domestic market and export volume, compared to other major heavy-duty vehicle companies, such as Dongfeng, Shaanxi Auto, SAIC Iveco Hongyan, Futian Auman, etc., it is still lacking with international giants. The cooperation will also greatly affect its upgrading of platforms and technology, especially the engine.
Therefore, in order to maintain a competitive advantage, it is necessary to make breakthroughs in the engine and vehicle technology. Throughout this cooperation with Mann, CNHTC will learn lessons from the failure of VOLVO cooperation and set a new starting point.
Although a series of asset operations, including equity, and negotiation at the cooperation level have just been put on the table, the vibrations that Sinotruk and Man will bring to the industry will start from now on.
Open up new models
Although this year, the heavy-duty vehicle market is very dull, and production and sales have hit a low point in recent years. However, the short-term market difficulties did not hide the huge Chinese market.
China’s heavy truck market currently has a scale of 600,000 to 700,000 vehicles and may exceed one million in the next 10 years. The United States, the world’s largest economy, has only more than 400,000 vehicles. The formation of China's logistics system, highway network, and large-scale transportation system has set higher requirements for domestic trucks in terms of emissions, safety, and energy conservation. China's heavy truck consumption is no longer a transportation vehicle in the past. The focus of cooperation between MAN and China National Heavy Duty Truck is just this. Based on deep cooperation in technology and engine, it is the biggest bright spot for MAN and China National Heavy Duty Truck. Sinotruk hopes to enhance its strength in vehicle platforms and engines on the basis of maintaining market share through cooperation with MAN. .
For this time, Sinotruk and Man signed a contract at this time. Senior automotive expert and automotive independent analyst Jia Xinguang told Autobot that China National Heavy Duty Truck is the largest heavy-duty vehicle company in China with the largest market share. China’s multinational giants, which have always sought cooperation and market breakthroughs, are strong partners. In addition to technical cooperation, the search for the future leading power of China’s heavy truck market is a meeting point between the two sides.
“After the economic crisis, a new round of economic growth will stimulate the release of heavy truck demand. Next, national IV and national V emission requirements will follow. This requires companies to prepare for the future market,†Jia Xinguang said. For Sinotruk and Mann, they all hope to achieve real cooperation in the Chinese market, not only at the technical level, to make up for past losses, but also to meet the needs of each other, and to seek mutual access to the Chinese market through market and technology penetration.
Although Mann is one of the earliest multinational giants in China to come to China, it has so far mainly cooperated with Chinese companies in the form of technical cooperation; and Sinotruk needs to seek new partners after the failure of VOLVO's Jinan Huawo project. In order to effectively improve their core technologies. The common interest point brings both parties together. "By cooperating with Mann in business management, we can learn from the management experience and quality assurance system of foreign advanced heavy truck manufacturers, and improve our operating capacity and management efficiency." Clearly, what Ma Chunji sees is not only a broad cooperation in the field of technology, but also in China. CNHTC is able to achieve international standards by drawing on advanced management and quality assurance systems, management processes, and improving corporate quality.
In fact, Mann has also significantly accelerated his strategy in China in recent years. After the establishment of a commercial vehicle center in Beijing, he established the Beijing Center and moved his office from Beijing to the Beijing center in Shunyi. Analysts believe that Man's series of actions aims to accelerate the integration of his own scattered business in China. Because Man in China has a number of joint venture partners including Yutong, Shaanxi Auto, Young Auto, Weichai, etc., it is obviously not satisfied with the Chinese market. Looking for a better partner and more in-depth cooperation, instead of staying at the technical level, the time has come. The extensive cooperation with Sinotruk will enable Man to explore the Chinese market in depth through the provision of technology.
The demand for emissions and environmentally friendly heavy vehicles in the Chinese market has become increasingly urgent. Both domestic and multinational companies have felt the key to the next round of competition. In fact, in addition to the actions of MAN and China National Heavy Duty Truck, including Mercedes-Benz, Iveco, VOLVO, Nissan Diesel, Scania and others are all accelerating the pace of China in various ways. The joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Futian Auman is a natural success. The integration of resources between Iveco and SAIC and Hongyan has been initially completed and is under development. VOLVO and Nissan Diesel have become the left arm and right arm of Dongfeng. Therefore, the large-scale cooperation between MAN and China National Heavy Duty Truck Co. Although it feels a bit sudden, we should not be surprised.
At present, China’s autonomous trucks have more than 90% of the domestic market. With the rapid growth in market demand in recent years, environmental protection, safety, and high-efficiency high-end heavy trucks have become market-oriented. As Chinese domestic companies have full powers to speak, heavy-duty vehicles are a joint venture. Cooperation has not always been smooth. Multinational corporations often only stay at the technical cooperation level. For example, He Mochi, general representative of Scania China, repeatedly expressed doubts about reporters and expressed helplessly: “We can only be at the technical level and the best way at present.†VOLVO and Renault have not been able to go deep into joint ventures and cooperation for many years. In the process, Mercedes-Benz and Iveco are rare partners in the realization of a joint venture. Therefore, Sinotruk and Mann's acquisition of equity and comprehensive technical cooperation model will open up a new model for the external cooperation of Chinese heavy-duty vehicles.
Seek technical support
The person in charge of propaganda of China National Heavy Duty Truck told this newspaper that after the equity transfer is completed, it will carry out practical cooperation in the field of technology. Due to the failure of the joint venture between Sinotruk and VOLVO trucks and the separation of Weichai Power from the market's point of view, Sinotruk's technology and engine areas are in urgent need of cooperation with each other, so as to maintain the advantages in the domestic market as soon as possible.
“In terms of energy saving, environmental protection, and emissions, we have a gap with the world, as well as management and production processes, which require us to further improve.†The above-mentioned CNHTC sources stated that in the past, VOLVO was an assembly-type cooperation and it only stayed in plain form. On the technical level, and Man is the all-round cooperation mentioned above.
The key to both parties in the agreement is to cooperate in the production and quality control, sales and after-sales service of "technologically-enhanced" trucks and Euro III, Euro IV and Euro V engines. Judging from the current competitive characteristics of China's heavy-duty vehicles, engine emissions, environmental protection, energy conservation, and vehicle safety and efficiency have become the biggest weights in determining the market position in the future.
At present, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's existing State III EGR engine is not in a strong position. National IV and National V emissions will soon be implemented, and Man can help solve this most annoying thing. It is reported that the agreement will use the right to use Mann's Euro III, Euro IV and Euro V engine production technologies into the scope of cooperation. Just as Ma Chunji said, it will completely solve the problems of the next three generations of environmental trucks manufacturing technology of China National Heavy Duty Truck.
Hannover Samuelson, the CEO of Man Group, was married to China's heavy truck. He said that this is the result of many years of good relations between MAN and China National Heavy Duty Truck. The Man Group's investment in Sinotruk laid the foundation for the joint development of a new truck series specifically targeting emerging markets. Mann is looking forward to actively providing support for Sinotruk’s continued development in China and its continuous improvement in its leading position.
Chinese commercial vehicle analysts believe that Sinotruk's cooperation with Mann is not based on the entire vehicle or transmission or axle, but on Man's D2676 and D2066. Both engines are Euro IV products in Europe and are truly EGR technologies that can be upgraded to Euro V. This is an example of the EGR technology that China National Heavy Duty Truck now uses during the National III emission standard phase.
China National Heavy Duty Truck currently has 10L and 12L engines. It will be possible to introduce the world's most advanced diesel engines such as the D26 and D20 that are currently in Euro IV emissions in Europe. In this way, Sinotruk has formed four engine series from 10L to 12.5L. Will completely solve the future engine upgrade and environmental protection and energy conservation issues of China National Heavy Duty Truck.
The industry believes that in the process of cooperation with VOLVO, it can be seen that Sinotruk is still very cautious in terms of international cooperation and will certainly choose a partner that it actually compensates for. The signing of the contract with Man this time is to see that China can provide practical technical support.
The agreement stipulates that Man will license China's advanced truck and engine technology to China National Heavy Duty Truck and related subsidiaries in China under an exclusive license, and cooperate with Sinotruk to manufacture and sell "technology-boosting" trucks based on this technology. . Informed sources believe that this is a truck developed by MAN to Sinotruk for emerging markets. It needs to be pointed out that the new long-distance heavy-duty truck launched by Mann in 2004 has a tonnage of over 18 tons, and this is exactly China National Heavy Duty Truck. Needed.
For China National Heavy Duty Truck, the introduction of MAN’s vehicle technology, including cabs, chassis, axles and transfer frames, and a series of related technologies in an exclusive license, means that it will be truly world-class. The brand-new vehicle platform can completely abandon the old platform that Steyr is about to phase out. This has a great impact on the heavy-duty truck industry.
Touch the heavy truck chain
In fact, Sinotruk used to cooperate with Mann in the past. The “Prince of Gold†and “Hakka†cabs are products of cooperation between the two sides. However, Steyr, which has been known for 30 years in China, is actually owned by Man. The holding company, in the words of Sinotruk insiders, said that "the two sides are actually very close."
And this cooperation will be comprehensive. In the agreement, Mann will cooperate with China National Heavy Duty Truck Co., Ltd. to produce and sell "technology-boosting" trucks based on this technology. An unnamed market person from China National Heavy Duty Truck told this newspaper that "technology-boosting" trucks will be the future of both parties. The biggest highlight of the entire vehicle cooperation, Steyr platform can not solve the technical needs of emission upgrades, will probably completely withdraw from the stage of history.
Due to the huge resources of the Steyr platform, it is the supplier of the entire platform industry chain. China National Heavy Duty Truck is the first to marginalize the old Steyr platform, and its related rear axle, engine, chassis, transmission, etc. are supplied on the platform. The chain will be subject to significant resource constraints. Enterprises such as Shaanxi Auto and Hongyan that follow the Steyr platform will gradually be affected.
However, the Steyr platform has come to an end at the end of the decades. It is the "Stanford System" of the Steyr platforms such as Hongyan and Shaanxi Auto. It has also found its own new platform "trend": Hongyan has Iveco and SAIC Motor. Backing up, Delong is a masterpiece of cooperation between Shaanxi Auto and Man. As for Dongfeng, with Nissan Diesel, Renault, and VOLVO 3 helpers, Futian Auman and Mercedes-Benz’s full-scale joint venture is awaiting implementation. Almost every mainstream heavy-duty truck company seems to have sought a platform for its own breakthrough. From this perspective, The cooperation between China National Heavy Duty Truck and Mann also came late, because the previous cooperation with VOLVO failed and missed a good time. However, in reality, most of the platforms have been improved on the Steyr platform, and they are not separated from the resources of the Steyr platform. Still, they continue to use the Steyr platform resources in purchasing key components such as power, rear axles, and transmissions. Therefore, if China National Heavy Duty Truck Co., Ltd. grafts Man's "technology-boosting" truck platform to make the Steyr Platform completely off the stage, it will cause profound shocks to the heavy-duty truck industry.
At present, the domestic market generally weighs over 150,000 heavy trucks, and the main products are concentrated between 25-30 million yuan. Generally, imported cars are far from this price range. Multinational companies have imported cars that cannot meet the high cost performance requirements of the Chinese market. With simple technical cooperation, it is also difficult to truly activate the market and profits. At present, the most advanced heavy-duty truck platform in China, Dongfeng Tianlong, Jiefang J6, and China Heavy Duty Truck HOWO, are only half or one-third of the prices of these foreign luxury heavy trucks. The market segments that are too far apart from one another have enabled Chinese companies to maintain absolute competitive advantages in the face of imported heavy trucks. The opportunity for Chinese manufacturers is absolutely in the low-end and middle-end markets. Therefore, in the short term, the competitiveness of multinational giants is far from Compared with domestic manufacturers. Therefore, the "short boards" of both parties will pull together.
Although China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has more than one-fifths of the heavy-duty trucks in the Chinese market with more than one-fifth of the market share, it has the most complete product line of heavy-duty vehicles and special-purpose vehicles, and exports have repeatedly made China the top spot, but it has broken through the Steyr platform. Many competitors are not fuel-efficient lamps. The traditional heavy truck heavy truck trucks that were once used in heavy trucks have been attacked by the liberation and east wind of heavy trucks. After the Liberation J6 was listed two years ago, it has gradually adapted to the market and reached a stage of harvest; there is assistance from Nissan Diesel, Volvo and Renault. Dongfeng Tianlong platform is overwhelming; Shaanxi Auto is constantly exploring new products on the basis of cooperation with Helmmann; Futian Auman and Mercedes-Benz have high hopes for joint ventures; and other heavy truck companies are also cooperating with multinational corporations to demonstrate their cooperation. The aspiration for the lucrative heavy truck market will be achieved. Due to its complicated industrial chain and market uncertainty, the heavy truck market is likely to undergo sudden changes and form a new competitive situation. China Heavy Truck has to re-examine the competitive landscape.
Fortunately, China National Heavy Duty Truck has the largest market share of heavy-duty vehicles in the domestic market, and its exports have always been at the top of the list, maintaining its market advantage through the ability to adapt its products. Through this extensive cooperation with Mann, CNHTC has a strong back-up to solve the worries of the development of the enterprise. Just as Ma Chunji said: "China National Heavy Duty Trucks will try to increase competition by introducing and digesting international advanced technologies. Advantage, strive to become the world's leading heavy truck manufacturer."
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