Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

December 12, 2012.

At this time, Double Twelve did not have the popularity of later generations.

The China Automobile Association has chosen such a time to hold its 2012 annual meeting.

Although the whole year is not over yet, the situation of the entire automobile industry is basically clear.

After all, the sales data from January to November have come out, with single-digit growth!

This increase is the lowest in recent years.

This also means that competition in China's automobile market has become more intense.

Of course, different car companies perform differently.

Companies such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan saw double-digit declines, let alone growth.

This can be regarded as providing a certain market expansion space for China's independent brands.

Otherwise, everyone would probably have to reroll it.

At this meeting, the most concerned thing was that the association passed a resolution recommending the "Technical Conditions and Installation Requirements for Off-board Chargers" drafted by Nanshan Auto Parts as an industry standard.

Although there are many types of charging piles, it is difficult to say which type is the best.

But the necessity of unification is recognized by everyone.

It's just that before, each company wanted to unify it as its own standard, and the sales volume of electric vehicles was not that large, so the problem in this regard was not so obvious.

This year, China's electric vehicle sales exceeded 500,000, quickly approaching 1 million.

It just so happens that Nanshan Auto Parts has launched a gallium nitride household fast charging pile.

In this way, the unification of this standard will become much faster.

However, after the decision of the Automobile Industry Association was officially announced, it caused dissatisfaction among some car companies.

"Vondel, according to the standards announced by China, future charging piles must use gallium nitride power components to meet relevant performance requirements."

"Currently, only Nanshan Semiconductor's gallium nitride power components have entered mass production in the world."

"Nanshan Auto Parts took the lead in drafting this standard with strong selfish motives."

After Strauss listened to the report from the relevant departments, he immediately came to Vondel's office.

Volkswagen is still the largest selling brand in China.

Therefore, after the standards for charging piles were released, they immediately started relevant discussions internally.

Even Volkswagen currently sells no electric vehicles in China.

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be any in the future.

Even because of the rapid development of electric vehicles in China, Volkswagen has accelerated the pace of electrification transformation.

Under this circumstance, Volkswagen China is naturally very concerned about the various policies related to electric vehicles issued by China.

"Nanshan Automobile Group's position in China is so special. Almost all gearboxes of its own brands are supplied by Nanshan Transmission."

"And almost all independent brand car companies purchase a large number of key parts from Nanshan Auto Parts."

"In addition, Nanshan Group not only has a deep presence in the automotive industry, but also has a huge influence in equipment, materials and semiconductors."

"Their influence in China is not much worse than Volkswagen's in Germany."

"Even if we are dissatisfied, we have no way to object."

Vondel has been fighting with the Nanshan Group for so many years, and he has a relatively clear understanding of the current situation.

This kind of unification of standards can be regarded as a historic breakthrough.

No matter what it is called uniformly, it is unlikely to be uniformly called Volkswagen's standard.

In addition, Volkswagen has not yet officially sold any mass-produced electric vehicles in China, so this time he did not want to be on the front line of opposition.

The market performance of Spring City Volkswagen and Modou Volkswagen this year is not very good. Although sales have not declined, they have basically not increased.

This flat situation is still a blessing to the Japanese car companies' declining market share, otherwise the sales of North and South Volkswagen will definitely decline.

"That's the truth, but I think it's a very bad start."

“Some previous industry standards were often relatively reasonable in content after discussions between all parties.”

"Even these standards have no specific reference, just a relatively general content."

"But this time the charging pile situation is different. The mature solution of Nanshan Auto Parts will be directly used as the standard."

"It's equivalent to everyone having to refer to their plans to produce charging piles in the future."

Strauss was a little concerned about this.

He is all too aware of the influence of mastering standards.

Over the past many years, the standards of various industries have been mainly in the hands of European and American companies.

Currently, there is no unified standard for charging piles in the world. If a unified standard appears in China, it is likely to affect the formulation of global standards.

Just like Volkswagen, they definitely need to consider the needs of the Chinese market when designing their own charging piles.

This requires design according to China's industry standards.

If there are no other unified standards in places such as Germany and the United States, would it be easier to sell products directly according to China's standards?

Invisibly, this is an act of exporting Chinese standards to the outside world.

Strauss saw the long-term effects immediately.

The key is that in the electric vehicle industry, China seems to be leading the way now. In the future, in addition to charging piles, it is likely that key components such as batteries, motors, and OBCs will have similar situations.

This was something he found difficult to accept.

"We can try to protest and hope that all car companies in China can participate in the formulation of charging pile standards."

"But we must also be prepared. This protest may not have much effect."

Vondel can certainly understand Strauss's concerns.

But he didn't have many good ways to solve this problem.

He was not sure about standing up and protesting appropriately to see if the official release of the standard could be postponed or the content of the standard could be modified.

Also having similar concerns as Volkswagen is General Motors.

"Edward, China is preparing to release an industry standard for electric vehicle charging piles. It is said that it is a direct reference to the content drafted by Nanshan Auto Parts."

"According to this standard, all electric vehicles sold in China in the future will use gallium nitride power components to meet the standard requirements."

"And the best solution is to buy charging piles directly from Nanshan Auto Parts."

"This situation has already caused dissatisfaction among some car companies. I would like to confirm what impact this matter has from a design perspective?"

As the general manager of General Motors, Austin directly held a video conference with Edward, the design director of General Motors, to discuss the impact of charging pile industry standards on General Motors.

“How could China come up with a unified opinion on the industry standard for charging piles so quickly?”

Edward was quite surprised by the news reported by Austin.

As the design director of General Motors, he is naturally very aware of the positive effect that unified charging pile standards will have on the industry.

Not to mention other things, the variety of interfaces alone has had a very negative impact on the popularity of electric vehicles.

Whether it is a household AC charging pile or a DC fast charging pile, the designs of each company are different.

Many times, your own products are only suitable for your own car models. If they are used for other car companies' models, either the charging efficiency will decrease or they will easily generate heat.

Exaggerating it will directly damage the battery life.

However, because the electric vehicles of various car companies are still in the early stages of development, there is not much call for unified charging pile standards in the United States.

Now Huaxia is actually in the lead, which makes Edward feel a little strange.

"This time, Nanshan Auto Parts took the opportunity of launching a new generation of gallium nitride home charging piles to propose unified standards with the automobile industry association."

"It is rare that no one of China's major independent brand companies came forward to oppose it, so this standard is expected to be officially introduced soon."

After Austin explained this, Edward somewhat understood the story behind it.

Edward naturally knew what kind of company Nanshan Auto Parts was after having dealt with them for so many years.

The influence of the other party in China's automobile industry is definitely not comparable to that of ordinary companies.

To put it bluntly, parts companies such as Bosch, Continental, and Denso, the giants in the auto parts industry, are far less influential in China than others.

If what Nanshan Auto Parts proposes is unreasonable, some people may stand up and oppose it.

What people are proposing now makes sense, and all the major electric vehicles in the industry are closely related to them.

In this case, there are naturally few objections.

Some people with some ideas will not jump out at this time because this does not involve their core interests.

Similar situations have not happened in the United States.

"If China unifies its industry standards, then the electric vehicles we sell in China in the future will definitely have to design and produce charging piles in accordance with their standards."

"If the appearance of Nanshan Auto Parts is not ugly, the impact on us will be relatively limited."

"At most, the cost of some parts may not be that low, because there are not so many choices in the market due to restrictions on standards."

Edward thought for a while, although he felt that it was not a good idea to make such a bad start, but GM is now the number one car company in China in terms of sales, and he did not want to cause trouble because of this matter.

After all, he is also very aware of the influence of Nanshan Automobile Group in China's automobile industry.

If the relationship between General Motors and Nanshan Automobile Group in China becomes tense, it will definitely have an impact on China's sales.

"As long as the impact is limited, I saw that Volkswagen issued a protest against this standard on its official Weibo account, and I hope to invite all companies in China to participate in the discussion."

Austin was relieved to have Edward, the design director, endorse him.

He also didn't want to cause too much trouble because of this matter.

However, this matter will indeed affect General Motors' parts development, so what should be reported must still be reported.

The responsibility after that is not his.

…

Regarding the charging pile standards recommended by the Automobile Industry Association, relevant departments acted quickly.

In just one week, this standard was officially released to the public.

This disappointed many car companies who wanted to continue protesting.

BMW China, which was still struggling with whether to stand up and protest like Volkswagen, no longer has to worry about it this time.

Phillips, president of BMW Asia Pacific, even called Cao Yang directly and extended his olive branch.

"Mr. Cao, we at BMW intend to continue to purchase charging piles, motors and other products from Nanshan Auto Parts in the future."

"And we intend to introduce this set of charging piles produced by your company to Europe for sale."

In recent years, BMW has been developing rapidly in China.

Phillips also tried the benefits of cooperation with Nanshan Automobile Group.

So even if there was competition between BMW and Xingchen Motors, he still chose to let BMW have a good relationship with Nanshan Automobile Group.

Although the charging pile is very important, it is not a particularly core part.

It's not even a part that's directly installed on the car, so BMW doesn't pay much attention to it internally.

This is also an important reason why Phillips took this opportunity to make a favor.

If the battery standards were released this time, his reaction might not necessarily be that simple.

"Phillips, even if the charging piles produced by Nanshan Auto Parts are exported to Germany, the cost is lower than those produced by some local suppliers."

"After using gallium nitride power components, these charging piles become more environmentally friendly, energy-saving and safer."

"You made absolutely the right choice."

Cao Yang knew that there was no need to be too modest when communicating with these Germans.

Otherwise, people will think you have no confidence.

"Mr. Cao, China is now the region with the fastest development of electric vehicles in the world. We at BMW also attach great importance to the electrification transformation."

"According to the current situation, China's electric vehicle penetration rate can reach 3% this year, which is a significant increase compared to last year."

"Do you think this growth rate will continue in the next few years?"

Obviously, for Phillips, the most important thing he called this time was to exchange views on the development of electric vehicles.

As for buying charging piles from Nanshan Auto Parts, that is just a trivial matter.

The parts cost only a few thousand yuan, and the annual output is not very large, so it is not worthy of discussion between two big bosses.

"Tesla in the United States launched MODEL S this year, and sales are said to be very good."

"This time they are directly targeting BMW's 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz's S Series."

"I heard that they are also developing other more competitive models internally and want to further expand the sales of electric vehicles."

"At this pace, I predict that sales of electric vehicles in the United States will be close to or exceed 100,000 units next year."

"It will continue to increase in the next few years."

Cao Yang did not answer Phillips' question directly, but started communicating with him from a different angle.

When it comes to the situation in China, for this group of Germans, sometimes there is always a lack of convincing.

Then I will first take the United States as an example, and then talk about the situation in China.

"Tesla is indeed developing very fast, and the performance of the stock market can already explain a lot of problems."

"But in the United States, whether it's General Motors, Ford, or Chrysler, they are not very active in electrification."

"Even General Motors, which started producing electric vehicles very early, has actually been in the stage of technology accumulation and tentative development."

Phillips is also very familiar with the situation in the American market.

After all, this was the market that once dominated the world in terms of sales.

It is also BMW's largest overseas market.

"Yes, most consumers in the United States prefer large-displacement engines after all."

"Even in the models of car companies such as Toyota and Honda, you can often see 3.5L displacement in the United States. This is quite different from the situation in China."

"There is no doubt that the sales of electric vehicles in China will hit a new high this year."

"I estimate that sales will exceed 1 million units next year."

"With the rapid development of battery technology, the continuous improvement of charging pile technology, and the high price of oil, the advantages of electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles will become more and more obvious."

Cao Yang doesn't mind letting people from BMW know his views on the development of the new energy industry.

This kind of thing does not mean that others will believe it if you say it.

Even if they believe it, it doesn't mean they will implement it immediately.

After all, electric vehicles are still in a stage where they are not making money. Even if BMW is sure that electric vehicles will become mainstream in the future, it will not easily lag behind.

Besides, Phillips is only the president of BMW Asia Pacific, not the global president.

"Xingchen Motors and Jaguar Land Rover are now the largest-selling luxury brands in the Chinese market, and none of the models currently sold are electric vehicles."

"If the pace of electrification accelerates, won't it have a great impact on Xingchen Motors and Jaguar Land Rover?"

Phillips asked a more pointed question.

This is also a concern for BMW.

"Although Nanshan Automobile Group is now focusing on the development of electric vehicles on future vehicles, in the future, whether it is Xingchen Motors or Jaguar Land Rover, they will definitely launch their own plug-in hybrid vehicles and pure electric vehicles."

"Of course, we have to admit that there is still a certain market for large-displacement engines in the world, at least for the next ten years."

"So the pace of electrification of Jaguar Land Rover and Xingchen Motors will definitely be slower than that of future cars."

When Cao Yang said this, Phillips was a little confused.

BMW does not have a dedicated company responsible for producing electric vehicles like Nanshan Automobile Group.

Although the headquarters now attaches great importance to the electric vehicle business, there are not many models launched.

He was confused about what to do, and he didn't know what to do.

However, he took this opportunity to have a good chat with Cao Yang.

At least it can be used as some reference opinions to communicate with the headquarters.

Judging from future development, BMW's development pace in electrification is still faster than other luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz.

Of course, these are all things for later.

At this moment, Tesla, who was preparing to arrange a trip to China, felt depressed after learning that China had released industry standards for charging piles.

"Masco, the charging pile standards released by China are quite different from ours."

"The super charging piles we are currently promoting do not use gallium nitride power components, and the interfaces are also different."

"If we want to enter the Chinese market in the future, we must use the other party's standard charging piles."

"The development of our OBC and battery management systems also needs to consider the situation at the charging pile."

After studying it carefully, Max made a special report to Masco.

In the United States, there are basically not many electric vehicle industry standards to restrict Tesla. There are more general standards in the automotive industry.

Relevant products only need to meet the basic standards of versatility, and everything else can be used freely.

But judging from the situation in China, there are not many places where charging piles can be used freely.

Of course, you can definitely change the appearance in any way, but that is obviously meaningless.

Things like key interfaces and communication protocols have already been determined for you.

"That means that if we enter China to sell electric vehicles in the future, we must follow their standards?"

Musk frowned, crossed his arms, and quickly weighed the impact of this matter on Tesla.

"Yes, and I am worried that if the United States does not introduce a national charging pile standard as soon as possible, China's standard may develop into a global industry standard in the future."

"This is actually a bit detrimental to our brand building."

"Super charging piles are a key development project within the company. If the development of this project is subject to industry standards, then Nanshan Auto Parts will only need to publicize that Tesla's charging piles are also produced using my standards. Our brand power disappeared instantly.”

Tesla currently positions itself as a high-end luxury brand.

By then, there will definitely be competition with Future Auto under Nanshan Automobile Group.

Future Automobile can completely promote that the standards of Nanshan Auto Parts are its own standards.

But Tesla has no way to promote it like this.

"Then it seems that we need to find a way to promote our charging pile standards as the national standard as soon as possible."

“This way we can at least ensure that more than half of the global market is produced using our standards.”

Musk knows that he has no way to change the situation in China now, so he can only find a way to make Tesla's charging pile standards become the industry standard in the United States.

When the time comes, everyone will be evenly matched, and no one will say who is better than the other.

"When our sales do not rise high enough, it is estimated that General Motors and Ford will not agree to use our corporate standards as industry standards."

Max didn't want to paint a pie, as that would be digging a hole for himself.

So I expressed my concerns directly.

"Give it a try."

"Just because it hasn't been done recently doesn't mean it won't be done in the future."

“If you never try, it’s definitely not going to work.”