Is MAN heavy truck cheese or poison?

NetEase Car April 6th

Xia Shu / Wen

From the beginning of 2009 announced the introduction of strategic partners to the introduction of the first heavy truck products using the Man D20 engine - "Jude card" T7, China's heavy truck spent less than a year. Efficient work has given rise to high expectations for Sinotruk. However, its unique corporate culture has had to wonder whether the MAN technology is the Chinese heavy truck cheese or the sweet poison.

Leader's embarrassment

Regardless of whether it can be recognized, China Shouqi has been playing a leading role in the development of the heavy truck industry in China in the past decade. From 2002, we took the lead in technological upgrading of the old Steyr platform and launched the "Stale King" series of trucks. By 2003, we had a joint venture with VOLVO. In 2004, we developed HOWO to lead the upgrading of heavy-duty trucks. In 2005, we developed the engine business. We developed in 2006. The transmission project, the merger of big gears in 2008, and the launch of the A7 product in 2009 ... Each step taken by China National Heavy Duty Truck will lead the domestic heavy truck industry to follow up. Even the deep cooperation between China National Heavy Duty Truck Group and German MAN Company in terms of truck technology, industrial capital and so on, has created a new model for the Chinese auto industry to introduce advanced foreign technology and funds.

As an industry leader, the business philosophy of some of Sinotruk's companies is inexplicable. For example, in the past few years, in order to overcome the heavy truck market (especially between the “Pan Steyr Technology Alliance” such as Sinotruk, Hongyan, Shaanxi Auto and Foton, etc.), the homogeneity of products and the serious competition in market competition have caused problems in China. Steam vigorously promoted its subsidiary HOWO heavy truck product technology platform. According to current incomplete statistics, HOWO heavy trucks and products derived from its technology platform accounted for more than 80% of the total sales of China National Heavy Duty Truck. Objectively speaking, China Heavy Truck's HOWO heavy truck has become the best-selling variety in China's heavy truck market. This situation gives China National Heavy Duty Truck Limited the glory, but also to China's heavy gas has brought a lot of sad words: a single product line structure, excessive concentration of the target market. As a result, China National Heavy Duty Truck had to use the HOWO technology platform at the same time taking into account the two high-end and low-end consumer groups, but also have to use the same technology platform to take into account the two major markets of modified cars and tractors.

In the first half of 2009, under the stimulus of the “four trillion investment plan” of the country, the total amount of infrastructure construction surged. Heavy truck products on HOHO technology platform of China National Heavy Duty Truck once accounted for half of the heavy-duty modified vehicle market in China. . Of course, this is related to HOWO heavy truck excellent technical redundancy, but also thanks to HOWO heavy truck in the modified car market, the cost advantage. However, in the second half of 2009, when the growth model of the national economy was driven by investment into consumption, sales of tractor products represented by the liberation of the J5 series, Shaanxi Auto “Aolong” and Futian Auman’s “Shenzhou” rose rapidly. What is interesting is that the technology-dominated HOWO heavy truck competes with the heavy-duty truck products developed by the above-mentioned old-fashioned technology platform, but it is not at all dominant. As of the end of 2009, HOWO heavy trucks accounted for only about 6% of the tractor market. For such an embarrassing situation, an industry high-end person could break the secret: This situation is related to the elimination of the old Steyr platform by China National Heavy Duty Truck Group.

China's auto market has a unique culture: it is always new! For example, in the passenger car market, the sales volume of ordinary Santana cars representing the technological level of the 1980s is no less favourable than that of the latest Passat. This situation is even more common in the truck market. Shaanxi Automobile Group currently has 60% of its sales volume occupied by the "Aolong" developed on the old-style Steyr platform; the FAW Jiefang J6 heavy truck can only be the old J5 technology platform. The products developed by the company are “holding the children”. Such cases also exist in Beiqi Futian, Beiben heavy trucks and SAIC Iveco Hongyan. What's more important is that China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's operating model is based on the sub-advanced technology platform. Compared with the development model of other new and old products, its overall vehicle gross profit margin is not dominant. From this perspective, is it also a waste for China's heavy-duty trucks to quickly eliminate old-style technology platforms while leading the technological development of China's heavy-duty truck industry? In particular, China National Heavy Duty Truck currently owns four product platforms with different technical specifications, such as TGA, HOWO, A7/T7, and “The Prince of the Yellow River”/ “The Prince of Gold”. How to achieve good product replacement, high and low levels, is bound to Thoroughly questioned Sinotruk's technology integration capability and business model.

Solution of brother wall

As we all know, at present, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd. has five vehicle production lines, which are: China National Heavy Duty Truck Jinan Truck Company (hereinafter referred to as: Jinan Truck Company), China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Jinan Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: Jinan Commercial Vehicles Company), China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Jining Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd., China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Special Vehicle Co., Ltd., China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Jinan Bus Co., Ltd. etc. Since the products of the latter three production lines are mainly based on specific markets and regional markets, the representation of CNHTC in the areas of general logistics and engineering modification usually refers to truck companies and commercial vehicle companies.

China National Heavy Duty Truck Jinan Truck Company was born out of the cradle of heavy-duty trucks in China --- Jinan Automobile Manufacturing Plant. Since the reorganization of the former Sinotruk Group, it has successively introduced three standards: "Stal King", HOWO and A7/T7. Heavy truck technology platform. The company's current annual production capacity is about 100,000 units. Among all the companies owned by China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd., Jinan Truck Company is a true brother. China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Jinan Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd. is the former China National Heavy Duty Truck Group after the reorganization, the new China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd. to solve a lot of employee employment problems, the use of its own parts and components manufacturing enterprises spare parts of the advantages of self-development, development It is a truck manufacturing company that targets medium and heavy trucks. The company's main product is the introduction of MAN LE2000 card cab, integrating the original Steyr technology small tonnage platform developed by the Yellow Marshal/Yellow General. Regardless of seniority or technical strength, Jinan Commercial Vehicle Company is a true younger brother.

However, with the improvement of the reputation of China National Heavy Duty Truck HOWO heavy truck platform after 2005, especially the "Yellow River Marshal" / "Yellow River General" and other products of Jinan Commercial Vehicle Company, after the sales in the medium and heavy truck market are unsatisfactory, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group In order to support its development, Co., Ltd. acquiesced to the use of HOWO heavy truck technology, combined with the "Yellow River Marshal" / "Yellow River General" basis, breaking through the previously called the assembly of only 300 horsepower below the common agreement, has developed "King Prince", HOKA, etc. Standard heavy truck. In addition, a considerable number of sales personnel of Jinan Commercial Vehicle Company were supported by the Jinan Truck Company in the past. Therefore, the situation in which Jinan Commercial Vehicle Company and Jinan Truck Company competed for the same resource with similar products in the same market occurred from time to time. As a result, the model developed by China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd. in the early stages of the division of labor between the “rafting carts and donkeys” (a high-level person in the CNHTC) became a brother-in-law.

Even if Jinan Commercial Vehicle Company maximized the use of HOWO heavy truck platform technology, we see that its development speed is still not satisfactory. In 2009, Sinotruk and German MAN Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd. conducted in-depth technical and capital-level cooperation. The production of TGA vehicles was arranged by the weaker Jinan Commercial Vehicle Company because of the Jinan Truck Company’s flagship product on the one hand. The HOWO heavy truck has a profound VOLVO technology background. In particular, its latest A7 product has just been put on the market. Given its new truck technology platform, it is feared that it will cause “cheating more than chewing”; on the one hand, it is owned by the listed company of Sinotruk Hong Kong. Jinan Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd. owns 100% of the company's equity and owns only 51% of Jinan Trucking Co., Ltd. This means that the most advanced technology gives priority to the "little younger brother." At the beginning of 2010, Jinan Trucks, a relatively strong company, took the lead in using Man's D20 engine to launch the A7's upgraded “Judeka” T7. Obviously, it may not be long before the two major companies under CNHTC: Jinan Truck Company and Jinan Commercial Vehicle Company will both form HOWO and MAN technologies. How CNHTC coordinates the four heavy truck technology platforms with the same genes will be the key to its future development.

Conclusion

It is believed that the decision-makers of Sinotruk will not forget that in the era of China's heavy-duty automobile industry associates, because of the lack of a unified strategic coordination and benefit distribution, Jiqi, Sichuan Steam and Shaanxi Automobile are all busy upgrading themselves with the newly-introduced Steyr technology. The old-fashioned heavy-duty truck products made it impossible for the Steyr 91 vehicle to be manufactured locally. The same problem is once again placed before the decision-makers of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group. How to coordinate existing product platforms and newly introduced technology platforms will not only maximize the market acceptance of mature products, but also enable advanced technologies to earn as much money as possible. Take the excess profits; how to set up the interests of the entire vehicle production line structure, so that brothers conglomerate to conquer the world, not the brothers and the wall! Let us wait and see, I hope this article is stunned.

(This article source: Netease car)