Home appliance company re -experience: It feels pretty good

Author:China Electronics News Time:2022.07.25

The three major products of Midea Weiling Auto Parts are mass -produced, Gree Titanium New Energy Vehicle is put into use, Skyworth Automobile Sales, Hisense Home Appliances San Electric American Company obtained new energy vehicle manufacturer's electric compressor project for 5 years ... 2021 It is a year when home appliance companies are planning densely, and 2022 is a year of small results. Following the "defeat" of home appliance companies in 2003, this time it was the latest attempt to enter the rivers and lakes of home appliance companies. Even though home appliance manufacturing has similar underlying logic with automobile parts and vehicle production, in the long run, it still faces many challenges.

Twenty years ago, home appliance company carried -up experience

From the late 1990s to the beginning of this century, my country's automobile industry ushered in a period of expansion and entered a stage of rapid development. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, my country's automobile output increased from 1.63 million vehicles in 1998 to 4.439 million in 2003. At the same time, a group of Geely, Great Wall, BYD, Chery and other independent car brands emerged.

At that time, home appliance manufacturers such as Midea, Oaks, Chunlan, and other appliances were in the current status of the home appliance industry with overcapacity, fierce competition, and small profitable space, and expanded a diversified business of finding new profit growth points. Take this as an opportunity, they try to build their own car factories.

In 2003, Midea Group plans to invest 2 billion yuan in 5 years to transform Yunnan Bus Factory and Yunnan Bus Modification Factory, introduce modern production lines, shape passenger car brands, and plan to build a vehicle sales in Kunming. Auto Industry City. Since then, Midea has successively invested and acquired Yunnan Bus Factory and Yunnan Aerospace Shenzhou Automobile Co., Ltd. In 2003, Midea Group announced the acquisition of Hunan Sanxiang Bus.

Through the acquisition of the above 3 passenger car companies, Midea quickly owns 10,000 passenger cars and dedicated chassis manufacturing capabilities, and based on this, the two large passenger car production bases of Kunming and Changsha are formed. The goal of Midea bus at that time was also very clear, and within 3-5 years became the leading domestic bus manufacturer. However, this goal has not been achieved. At the end of 2008, due to many factors such as product characteristics, sales channels, and institutional management, the two major bases of Midea passenger cars were completely discontinued. In July 2009, Midea Group signed an agreement with BYD to sell 100%of its Midea Sanxiang Bus to BYD for 60 million yuan. At this point, Midea's car construction plan came to an end.

Chun Lan, who once started with air -conditioning manufacturers, was in order to seek diversified development into the automotive industry when the air -conditioning industry was leading the leading position at that time. In 1997, Chunlan Company acquired Dongfeng Nanjing Automobile to form Chunlan Automobile Co., Ltd. Due to the fierce competition in the domestic car market at that time, the Spring Langch truck was launched in 2001. During 2002-2004, Chunlan truck ranked third in the country, only behind FAW and Erqi. In 2004, Chunlan planned to form a heavy truck project with the Japanese heavy card brand Hiko. Chunlan's shares in the factory and land, and Hino provides technology and funds. However, for various reasons, the joint venture ended in failure. Chunlan trucks have suffered serious losses year by year and became the marginalization of the market. In 2008, the brand was acquired by XCMG Group and officially disappeared into the view of the truck industry.

Also in 2003, compared to Midea's bus and Chunlan's trucks, Oaks began to march towards SUV and pickups. Oaks invested 40 million yuan to acquire 95%of Shenyang Shuangma Automobile Co., Ltd.. In October of the same year, Shenyang Oaks Automobile Co., Ltd. was formally established. Subsequently, the first batch of multi -functional business vehicles (SUVs) series of Oaks car is offline, and the brand is named "Lang Jie". In 2004, Oaks announced that it would invest 8 billion yuan to enter the sedan field and achieve an annual capacity of 450,000 units within 5 years. But the sales of Oaks cars are not ideal, and the sales of SUV and pickups are far from the target set by the 20,000 vehicles set when listing. In March 2005, Oaks announced his delisting.

In 2003, the home appliance company that built a car in 2003 is holding the mentality of "the home appliance market is saturated to the outside world". They generally choose the passenger cars, trucks and other industries with poor competition and relatively low brand sensitivity as the target target objects as target objects as target objects. In order to leave a larger space for your development.

Some people in the industry have given the definition of "buying factories at high prices and losing money". This "car building boom" may expose that home appliance companies have not recognized that car manufacturing is a three -party integration of capital, technology, and talents. Under the premise of weak technical and talent, only capital can not support the "car building dream" alone.

Anchoring a new path and then entering the "car building rivers and lakes"

Since 2018, my country's automobile industry has gone through the stage of rapid development and entered a period of transformation from quantity expansion to quality improvement. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that my country's automobile production has been from 9.3059 million in 2008 to 28.119 million in 2018. Especially in 2012 is the beginning of the development of my country's new energy vehicle market. Statistics of the China Automobile Industry Association showed that in 2012, my country's new energy vehicle sales were 12,791, and the sales volume in 2021 rose to 3.521 million units, a year -on -year growth rate of 157.5% Essence

2013-2021 China New Energy Vehicle production and sales situation

Data source: China Automobile Industry Association

Under this round of opportunities, home appliance companies have opened up different paths from the previous round of car construction, and then enter the "car building rivers and lakes."

Selling parts has become the most choice. In 2018, Midea established Wei Ling Automobile Components, and Midea acquired Hekangxin Energy in the field of new energy vehicles in 2020. In 2021, Midea's three major product lines of the driving system, thermal management system and auxiliary/autonomous driving system of Midea were put into production. In February of this year, Midea Industrial Technology Anqing Weiling Automobile Components Co., Ltd. new energy vehicle component projects with an annual output of 60 million units of production capacity and realized an annual output value of 40 billion yuan. Hisense Home Appliances completed the acquisition of Japan's Sandian Holdings Co., Ltd. in May 2021 and officially became the controlling shareholder. Sandian Holdings is a primary manufacturing supplier of automobile air -conditioning compressors and automotive air -conditioning systems. Hisense and Sanyang Holdings will jointly develop comprehensive thermal management of new energy vehicles and vehicle network connections to expand the automotive air -conditioning compressor and automotive air -conditioning industry. This year, Hisense Home Appliances Sandi American Corporation has recently obtained a 5 -year supply order from the electric compressor project of new energy vehicle manufacturers.

Gree is involved in new energy vehicles, mainly based on the core component of new energy batteries. In August last year, Gree Electric acquired a controlling stake in Yinlong New Energy (later renamed "Gree Titanium New Energy"). Gree Titanic New Energy Vehicle has a full chain. Commercial vehicle products cover all models of 6.8 meters to 18 meters. At the same time, it will deploy municipal vehicles, engineering machinery, logistics vehicles, hydrogen fuels, hybrids and other fields.

Building a car has become one of the few choices for home appliance companies. Skyworth acquired Nanjing Jinlong Motor in 2009 and established Wo New Energy Automobile Group Co., Ltd. in 2011. From the aspects of the production, sales, research and development, and services of the entire vehicle and core components, it is fully involved in the field of new energy commercial vehicles. In November 2019, Back to Kaiwo Group, Skyworth founded the new energy passenger car brand Tianmei Automobile. In 2021, Skyworth Automobile was born and released the first model "Skyworth EV6". Skyworth Automobile's overall sales in the second quarter of this year increased by 81.3 % year -on -year. From January to June this year, the total export of overseas exports increased by 213.8 % year-on-year.

Selling software services also become a new path. Sony and Honda plans to set up joint ventures within 2022, and start selling electric vehicles and providing mobile travel services in 2025. The combination of the two is the combination of Sony's expertise in image, sensing, telecommunications, network and entertainment technology with Honda's mobile travel development capabilities, body manufacturing technology and after -sales service management experience.

The large -scale application of parts and components and the release of the vehicle ... 2021 is the year when home appliance enterprises are planning densely. Parts, vehicles, and software services have become the path of home appliance companies. year.

Lu Wenliang, a specially -appointed researcher at the Automotive Industry of the Industrial Science and Technology Innovation Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with the China Electronics Daily that the home appliance company entered the automotive field, not from the perspective of the entire vehicle manufacturing more than 10 years ago, but but also, and the manufacture of the vehicle, and the manufacture of the vehicle, and the manufacture of the vehicle, but It is more advantages to play your own manufacturing side. Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, the new energy vehicle industry is more standardized in components, and the industrial chain is more open. It breaks the high vertical supply chain pattern of traditional fuel vehicles, giving external suppliers more opportunities. It is precisely because of the changes in this industrial chain that traditional home appliance companies have the opportunity to enter the automotive industry chain.

Zhang Xiang, Dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College of New Energy Technology, told a reporter from the China Electronics News that at this stage, the car market is fiercely competitive, and the car building needs to be invested a lot. Focusing on research and development and innovation is the core competitiveness. There is no highlight, no innovation, and no user needs.

How does strength and ambition match?

Twenty years later, the home appliance company was targeting the car again, and it did have clearer ideas. That is, starting from its own business field, relying on its own advantages in the manufacturing end, entering the automotive field, and then gradually expanding the upstream and downstream scope of the industrial chain, and finally providing the entire industrial chain solution and even the launch of its own brand cars.

In fact, no one is a bare -handed and empty boxing into this industry. Cross -border vehicles of home appliance companies have underlying logic, but they do face challenges.

Midea, Gree, and Hisense entered the key opportunity point for upgrading the rapid development of new energy vehicles and the upgrading of the rapid development of new energy vehicles and the upgrade of the supply system of smart electric core components. From the perspective of Fu Yaojun, the vice president of the Midea Group and the President of the Midea, the current automotive industry, especially the new energy vehicle field, still has many key core components that need to be imported. This requires home appliance companies to use long -term accumulated technologies that control motors and precision machinery, and expand horizontally to automotive, industrial automation, and green energy. It not only has its own development, but also builds a better supply chain for the industry, responded agile, and cooperates with a better supply chain.

He also admits that the challenge is actually very large to enter the automotive industry from the home appliance industry. This challenge does not come from the technology itself, but as a new entry, it takes time to establish customer recognition. "This year's sales are still very small, just tens of millions of magnitude. So time is a very big problem. At the same time, new energy vehicles are developing very fast. This time cannot be afforded. To solve this problem Midea will also shorten the necessary cycle of entering the industry through mergers and acquisitions. "Fu Yaojun once told the media. According to the reporter's understanding, in the next ten years, Midea Group will invest $ 1 billion for technical research and is committed to becoming a new energy vehicle system -level solution supplier.

Jia Fan, co -founder of Skyworth Automobile, has publicly pointed out that Skyworth Automobile has user resources, channel resources and technical resources in the home appliance industry. The reason why Chinese home appliance companies can occupy 60%-70%of the world's markets is because the product iteration is fast and the cost control is strict. Skyworth hopes to reuse this set of manufacturing logic to the new energy vehicle industry. The reporter learned that as of now, Skyworth Automobile has only one electric model sold. By the end of 2021, the cumulative sales volume of 4088 units, compared with the size of the best -selling electric models exceeding 500,000 units, the share is not a magnitude. Jia Fan once pointed out that the current Skyworth Automobile's production and operations are stable, and they are in a little control, and they are in the stage of profitable. In 2022, Skyworth Automobile is expected to achieve a total car sales of 30,000 vehicles, with cumulative sales of 4.5 billion yuan.

Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of Ai Media Consultation, said in an interview with the China Electronics News that the new forces of car manufacturing really need enough investment to succeed, and there are two models. One is the original flower. Funding, using the original channels, supply chains, and brands to develop new energy vehicles, typical like GAC; the other is to cultivate and innovate with capital funds, such as Tesla and Xiaopeng. For home appliance companies, it can be said that it is in a relatively "embarrassing" space among these two models, and the challenge is very large.

In Lu Wenliang's opinion, the layout of the home appliance company must first face the challenges of product standards. Home appliances are the personal consumer electronics field. The reliability requirements for products and components are not as high as automobile parts. Because car parts are car regulations and have high requirements for safety and reliability. To enter the automotive field that home appliance companies enter, they need to meet the requirements of the car regulations, and they need to compete with existing component suppliers with better performance or lower costs. Secondly, in terms of supply chain relationships, home appliance companies have entered an emerging field, breaking the balance of the original field, and there will be certain development resistance. This requires companies to find their own positioning, find the common growth point with existing enterprises, and achieve a win -win situation to achieve a win -win situation. develop. Finally, in terms of brands, home appliance companies enter the C -side vehicle field. The original brand influence may help consumers quickly understand this brand, but still need to break the burden of the original brand image and let the brand continue to move towards the high -end in the automotive field. Development.