Analysis on the Development Status of China's Automobile Clutch Industry

From the birth of friction type automobile clutch in 1891, to the emergence of torque converter in 1948, to the continuous application of various intelligent control technologies to the automobile industry, automobile clutch technology has always developed along with the development of the automobile industry. With the more and more popular application of emerging automobile transmission technology, the traditional automobile clutch will gradually fade out of the stage of history.

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According to the survey of environmental consultants, there are currently more than 200 automobile clutch manufacturers in the country, of which there are only more than 30 automobile clutch manufacturers with certain production capacity and scale, mainly including: Changchun Yidong, Hubei Third Ring, Hangzhou West Lake, Hangzhou Qi Die, Guilin Fuda, Dong Chuan Su Auto Parts, Shanghai Sachs, Nanjing Valeo, Chongqing Aisidi, Zhuhai Huayue, Ningbo Hongxie, etc. In 2005, the clutch assembly output of 14 clutch manufacturers in my country was about 5.1649 million sets. In 2006, affected by the rapid development of the domestic automobile market, the output of automobile clutches also increased rapidly, and the output of clutch assemblies of 12 enterprises exceeded 8.62 million sets. However, from the perspective of the market share of traditional automobile clutches, due to the increase in the proportion of automatic transmissions in passenger cars, the market share of automobile clutches has been frustrated and has shown a downward trend.

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At present, the main domestic automobile clutch manufacturers can be divided into three categories: OEM market, after-sales market and export market according to different target markets. Among them, OEM markets such as: Changchun Yidong, Hubei Sanhuan, Dongchuansu Auto Parts, etc.; after-sales markets such as: Hangzhou West Lake, Hangzhou Qidie, Chongqing Changan, etc.; export markets such as: Hangzhou West Lake, Zhuhai Huayue, Ningbo Hongxie, etc. . Since each target market has different requirements for enterprise scale and supply capacity, the difficulty of entering each market is also different. At present, the difference between enterprises in the after-sales market is the largest, ranging from small workshops to large state-owned enterprises, from private private enterprises to wholly foreign-owned and state-owned holdings, etc., and the product quality is also uneven. According to the statistics of environmental consultants: in my country's auto parts market in 2006, regular enterprise products accounted for about 30% of the market share, imitation products accounted for about 40%, and refurbished products accounted for about 30%. In terms of the nature of various types of enterprises, state-owned enterprises accounted for about 26.2%, foreign enterprises accounted for 34.8%, and private enterprises accounted for 39%. In terms of product matching, the matching situation in the passenger vehicle field is more obvious, while the procurement scope of commercial vehicles is wider.

my country's automotive clutch industry has undergone reform and transformation, introduction and digestion, restructuring and reorganization. In the fierce market competition, the automotive clutch market has achieved good development in terms of industry scale, product technology, and management. At present, there are about 100 domestic automobile clutch enterprises (excluding family workshops). In 2005, the total sales of the automobile clutch market was about 3.5 billion yuan; there were 12,880 employees, including 1,075 engineers and technicians; the total fixed assets were 1.51 billion yuan; the total profits and taxes were 279 million yuan; 10 million pieces, 20 million pieces of automobile clutch driven disc assemblies, and 100,000 sets of torque converters. By 2010, my country's total clutch sales will reach 8.4 billion yuan.

The rapid development of the domestic automobile industry has attracted the participation of parts and components giants. Internationally famous automobile clutch companies~zl: lValeo, Luk, Sachs, Exedy, Eaton, etc. have all established joint ventures or wholly-owned enterprises in China, completing their strategic layout in China. intensified competition in the industry. They not only penetrated into the supporting market and after-sales market, which had no share before, but also continued to expand their investment scale, change their share ratio, and improve their control. The increase in patent application and protection in China has made domestic traditional auto parts companies face huge technical challenges and barriers. The supplier's financial strength, technical quality level and management level affect the maintenance and expansion of the production scale of the enterprise; the substitutes brought by technological progress (such as the change in the concept of transmission products caused by AT, CVT, and DCT) have affected some automotive clutch industries. bring about fundamental change.

From the analysis of the internal capabilities of the enterprise, on the whole, my country's automobile clutch enterprises are at a clear disadvantage compared with foreign enterprises. In terms of labor cost, selling price, after-sales service, customer relationship and supplier relationship, Chinese enterprises have obvious advantages; in terms of marketing capability, procurement cost and delivery time, Chinese enterprises are basically on par with foreign competitors; in terms of brand value , product technology content, product quality, scale effect, production efficiency, technical level, research and development capabilities and staff quality, the gap between Chinese enterprises and similar international advanced enterprises is relatively large.

In terms of product technology, domestic automobile clutch companies have continuously adjusted their product structure, and the varieties of domestic diaphragm spring clutches have fully covered the needs of domestic heavy, medium, light, sedan, micro and agricultural models, and tracked foreign power transmission system technology. , The research and development of a new generation of products has also achieved gratifying results, such as dual-mass flywheels, hydraulic torque converters, and 430 pull-type diaphragm spring clutches suitable for power over 300 horsepower.

In the process of development, clutch enterprises attach great importance to strengthening the internal management of enterprises, whether in order to improve their own competitiveness or to enter the supporting and export markets. More than 95% of the enterprises registered in the clutch committee have successively passed ISO9000, QS9000, ISO/TSl 6949 and other quality system certifications.

After a comprehensive analysis, the current development characteristics of my country's automobile clutch industry are summarized.

1. The large number of enterprises and the small number of large-scale enterprises restrict the development of the industry

my country's major automobile clutch manufacturers are basically developed through the introduction of foreign technology and equipment during the "Seventh Five-Year and Eighth Five-Year Plan" period. According to the information obtained by Environmental Consulting, there are currently more than 200 clutch manufacturers in the country, among which there are only more than 30 automobile clutch manufacturers with certain production capacity and scale. These enterprises are mainly distributed in Northeast China, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. . Among these more than 30 enterprises, the number of private enterprises accounts for two-thirds, and the number of small-scale private enterprises in the entire industry is even greater. Although with the development of domestic clutch technology, many private enterprises also have the scale and strength to produce high-quality automobile clutch products, but the scattered and workshop-style production forms make imitations and refurbished products flooding my country's automobile clutch market. This not only restricts the development of formal enterprises, but also slows down the development speed of my country's automobile clutch industry.

2. The entry of foreign-funded enterprises and the intensification of market competition

The price reduction trend of complete vehicles in the global auto market has intensified, resulting in more and more stringent purchase prices of auto parts by OEMs. Due to the high labor costs in developed countries such as Japan, Europe and the United States, their local parts production lacks cost advantages. In addition, the proportion of models using automatic transmissions in Japan, Europe and the United States is very high. Therefore, some automobile clutch manufacturers in Japan and Europe have turned to China. and other emerging countries to transfer. Sachs, Valeo, Japan's Daikin and other world-renowned automobile clutch manufacturers have successively invested in and established factories in China. The entry of foreign-funded enterprises has impacted my country's automobile clutch market and intensified market competition. Environmental Consulting Consulting believes that as more enterprises enter the supporting market competition, some enterprises with stable positions will gradually lose their competitive advantages and continue to differentiate and integrate in the market.

3. The export market is growing rapidly, and the factors affecting exports should not be underestimated

Since 2000, the export market of my country's automobile clutch products has grown rapidly. From 2000 to 2006, the export volume and value of my country's automobile clutches and their parts basically maintained an average annual growth rate of 35.6% and 45.0%. Although the growth rate was slightly lower than that of imports, the overall volume and value remained unchanged. is much higher than imports. Judging from the average unit price of imports and exports, the price fluctuations over the years were small and maintained a year-on-year growth trend, with an average annual growth rate of 4% to 8%; $33.94 to $33.94. At present, the export of my country's automobile clutches and their parts is also facing some major factors: (1), foreign purchasing companies reduce prices, production costs and transportation costs increase, weakening the profitability of a single product; (2) traditional The technology of clutch products is mature, and it is easy to cause anti-dumping; (3) The products are divided into models and series, and international procurement tends to be large enterprises.

4. The overall demand is stable and the market share is declining

From the perspective of market capacity, stable new car production will be an important factor to ensure the continued growth of the automotive clutch pre-installation market. In 2006, my country's automobile output was 7.28 million units, and the clutch assembly output of 12 clutch enterprises was about 8.6255 million sets. These enterprises basically focused on the supporting market. The main reason is that automobile clutches are still the most economical and practical choice for domestic automobiles, and consumers who buy economical vehicles are still the mainstream. However, according to the survey results, the proportion of automatic transmission (AT) in cars has risen to about 50%, and the proportion of others such as CVT and AMT has also increased slightly. Therefore, Environmental Consulting Consulting believes that as the domestic auto market continues to heat up, although the installed ratio of clutches in the auto market will decrease slightly due to the increase in the production of automatic transmission vehicles, the overall demand will continue to remain stable.