Chinese car companies jointly develop gearbox: controversy hit the road

“It is ultimately up to the companies themselves whether or not 12 companies can sit down on a table and share dinner. However, the China Development Association urges everyone to reach such a consensus.” Zhongfa United Investment Co., Ltd., which has teamed up with 12 Chinese car companies (abbreviated as Zhongfa United, the person in charge of HD, explained the role of the company.

In fact, as the largest technical cooperation project among Chinese car companies, China Hairlink has started the first joint development project through a standardized company operating model. On May 20, BorgWarner Double Clutch Drive System Co., Ltd. laid the foundation for Dalian Economic Development Zone. This company was established by a joint venture between Zhongfa and BorgWarner, and Gaojiang Jiang was the deputy general manager of the joint venture company.

This is an attempt by the Chinese automobile industry. However, these car companies who have sat at a table have their own concerns. Will the joint development lead to the Chinese car enterprise groups being technically bound by a foreign-funded enterprise? How will the product technology differentiation competition of each car enterprise be reflected? Can it reach the goal of sharing? Including the worries and dissent of the car companies, the first joint Development projects hit the road in dispute.

Controversial first project

It is the National Development and Reform Commission that promotes BorgWarner to the first round of dining tables. It aims to promote the "Chinese auto companies to share advanced technologies, avoid duplication of investment, share R&D expenses, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, shorten the distance between them and the international advanced level, and realize Leap-forward development and promote industrial upgrading."

China Development Alliance is an investment company co-founded by 12 Chinese car companies (FAW, SAIC, Dongfeng, Chang'an, Chery, Brilliance, Jianghuai, Changfeng, Geely, GAC, Zhongshun, Great Wall) under the promotion of the National Development and Reform Commission. Under the circumstances that Chinese enterprises have generally mastered engine technology, automatic transmission technology has been considered as the last bastion of automobile core components and is considered as the technology most likely to achieve joint development.

BorgWarner Double Clutch Transmission System Co., Ltd. is in this context, a joint venture established by China DF and Borg Warner, the world's top automatic transmission company, with a ratio of 66:34 to produce and develop dual-clutch automatics. The core products in the transmission: dual clutch modules, torsional vibration damper modules and control modules.

BorgWarner will become a partner directly with 12 automakers that have a market share of more than 90% in the domestic branded passenger vehicle market. According to plan, around 2020, the annual production scale of BorgWarner's DCT module in China will reach 1.5 million sets. This means that at least 80% of the 12 vehicle companies will use DCT.

But the controversy followed. Industry insiders are concerned that with such a large-scale joint development, China’s possession of a minority stake will threaten BorgWarner’s spur of a technical monopoly and enable 12 automakers to obtain key technologies that are not yet clear. It is "bound" by BorgWarner technology.

“Already many car companies have discovered that, except for individual large-scale automobile enterprises such as FAW and SAIC, even if they have a module, it is difficult to independently produce an automatic transmission assembly. The automatic transmission assembly is also a technology that China has not yet broken through.” A number of high-level car companies believe that "BorgWarner is equally advanced in this regard and is an object of choice, but this is tantamount to technical binding."

In response, Ma Bund, president of BorgWarner Drive Systems, did not say anything but that "BorgWarner has dual-clutch core module technology and is itself a supplier to many gearbox companies. Chinese companies can choose other partners if they are partners. Willing, BorgWarner is also willing to help in the assembly."

The first "bind" was FAW Group. According to Dr. Guo Huqing, Project Manager of BorgWarner Drives, “In these companies, FAW has taken the lead and is discussing with BorgWarner on the automatic transmission assembly. Negotiations have entered a critical stage and it is possible to establish a joint venture in this area. ."

The news was confirmed by Guan Yue, deputy director of the engine plant of FAW Car Co., Ltd. “FAW is indeed talking to BorgWarner about this cooperation. It plans to establish an automatic transmission assembly joint venture in Changchun and a joint venture with the above-mentioned modules. In parallel, it will be put into production in 2011."

For the “bind,” Guan Yue said, “BorgWarner itself is technologically advanced in terms of gearbox assembly, using its modules, and its assembly is understandable. Moreover, in addition to BorgWarner, we are also in Well-known international companies negotiate, the final choice will be based on the actual situation and interests of the company to maximize consideration." Sources have revealed that FAW and BorgWarner in the "170" box has reached a preliminary agreement for Pentium B50, B30 models On board, the foundation stone will be laid at the earliest in May of next year.

In fact, if you can bind 12 companies, BorgWarner will be the biggest winner, and now it has won the first battle. According to the joint venture's plan, the initial construction of 100,000 production capacity has locked in buyers. "The first 100,000 production capacity mainly supplies FAW and SAIC and has reached a consensus," said Ma Bende.

Joint development is still on the road

BorgWarner won the jackpot, but China Hairlink has attracted more worries from the industry and discussions on the future of joint development.

Industry insiders worry that a joint venture like BorgWarner that does not have an advantage over Chinese stocks will once again lead to “techniques not getting, but they will give up the market”, especially the joint development of more than a dozen companies. huge.

In response, Zhang Renqi, president of China Friendship Alliance, stated frankly, “Getting the core technology is indeed a difficult problem, but the initial consideration is to solve the problem that China's automatic transmission completely relies on imports. This is our first-round mission. The annual import volume of China’s optical automatic transmission is Up to more than 10 billion yuan, some companies have even had to give up the production of automatic transmission models."

Zhang Renqi's opinion is: "Any technology has a certain period of time. After introducing the technology, it is used by us, and then digested and absorbed. Ultimately, it is not a problem. Moreover, at present, we must buy from abroad without joint development. Its cost is higher."

Worry more than that. A research and development manager of a Chinese automobile company revealed that investing in a transmission assembly production line requires huge funds, and that only the initial investment will require at least 300-500 million yuan, and if it is necessary to invest a basic 150,000 production line, it needs at least 1 billion yuan. What is the scale of 12 production lines in 12 companies? Is this not the same as the original intention of joint development and cost sharing?

The internationally renowned automatic transmission assembly design company, deputy general manager of Zuffong Power Technology (China) Co., Ltd., confirmed that repairs, "automatic transmission assembly includes mechanical, electronic control modules, hydraulic modules and other important parts, each Each part requires a huge investment. With the core modules, the investment in establishing an automatic transmission assembly line is equally huge."

In response to this problem, the R&D vice president of a relatively small company in 12 companies said, “It's hard to say in the future.

This is also the next project that is currently under consideration for the completion of the first round mission. “The next step we plan to combine 12 car companies to talk about cooperation with international advanced transmission assembly companies, and we have started to contact, including BorgWarner, and other leading companies in this area.” Zhang Renqi disclosed, “In the future, China It will also lead companies in joint development in more areas."

May be worried about it still exists. A deputy general manager of a large vehicle company stated that the cooperation with BorgWarner has opened a monopoly on the module, and whether the next step, whether it is BorgWarner or other companies, will form a new round of gearbox monopoly? As the core technology of the company's products, will the homogenized transmission assembly make the company lack of differentiated competitiveness? Will the companies that have already studied in other automatic transmission technologies fall into unfavorable market conditions due to the large-scale publicity of the dual clutch technology? ?

For this concern, Gao Jiang further explained that “the results of enterprise sharing have been clarified in the joint venture terms, and more situations are also being explored. China’s hairline is an investment company with an access mechanism. Companies that want to join in the future can explore joining and think Exiting companies can withdraw. Our fundamental aim is to promote industrial upgrading and build a mutually beneficial platform for enterprises."

In fact, despite the multiple concerns, industry insiders still give more recognition to the model of the China Development Association. "From the long-term perspective of the industry, the joint development model is a pragmatic road. Now is just a beginning. There are still more issues to consider in the future and it also means a broader perspective," said Xu Changming, director of the Resource Development Department of the National Information Center.