While China's heavy-duty truck industry is still exploring the impact of the cooperation between Sinotruk and Mann on the domestic market, Sinotruk’s internationalization has taken a faster step. At the 2009 August 2009 China National Heavy Duty Trucking Service Conference, Cai Dong, President of China National Heavy Duty Truck, told this reporter: “The cooperation with Mann is very beneficial to CNHTC in expanding overseas markets.”

As a leader in the field of heavy vehicles, CNHTC has witnessed remarkable development in recent years. Since 2001, it has been increasing at an average rate of 40% every year. In 2008, under the global economic crisis environment, annual sales of heavy trucks exceeded 112,000 units, which still maintained a high growth rate of 15%. In the first 7 months of this year, with a 20% drop in the industry, CNHTC completed sales of 77,655 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 2.31%, an industrial added value of 3.232 billion yuan, and a market share of 24%, ranking first in the industry. .

In addition to occupying an important position in the domestic market, China National Heavy Duty Truck has never given up its efforts to open up overseas markets in recent years. The export volume of heavy vehicles increased from 48 in 2003 to 16,000 in 2008, more than 300 times in five years, and became the largest exporter of heavy vehicles in China. However, China National Heavy Duty Truck did not stop and lay down in its book of laissez-faire. After cooperating with the German MAN, China National Heavy Duty Truck has placed itself on the stage of global competition.

In the cooperation agreement between Sinotruk and Man, Man agreed to provide a full set of products on its TGA platform to Sinotruk, including the development of parts and components, axles, and a total of 10 types of front axles and rear axles from medium to heavy trucks. 4 sets of transfer boxes and transfer boxes, and 4563 models can be derived. At the same time, the right to use the production technology of Euro III, Euro IV and Euro V engines on the TGA platform is also included in the cooperation agreement.

According to Cai Dong, the cooperation with Man has undergone more than a year of preparations and negotiations, and the focus of the negotiations is on the development of engine components. After many rounds of bargaining, Mann finally agreed to supply the drawings and test specifications for 44 parts of his engine to CNHTC. This makes it possible for China National Heavy Duty Truck, which already has considerable strength in technology digestion and independent research and development, to be even more powerful.

The introduction of the TGA platform is the latest generation of technology platforms currently used by Man. After localization, the technical strength of China National Heavy Duty Truck will basically reach the level of international standards, forming a displacement from 5L to 12.5L, and the power from 150 horsepower has been To 600 hp engine system. Moreover, in the next 7 years, no matter what kind of upgrades or improvements made by MAN to the TGA platform will be provided to China National Heavy Duty Truck.

As most of the domestic heavy truck companies still use the Steyr platform based on technology in the 1980s, although the cost has advantages, it is unfeasible to develop overseas markets with its backward technological content, especially the emission requirements of some mature markets. It has reached the level of Euro IV and even Euro V, but most of the domestic III engines in the country are still only transformed from the engine of State II. If they want to continue to upgrade, their basic platforms can no longer be carried.

An insider revealed to reporters that at present, Sinotruck has already phased out parts on the Steyr platform: “In addition to the engine, the rest of the components have basically been eliminated. In the future, China National Heavy Duty Truck will be built on the basis of Man’s TGA platform. A new lineup of products."
Analysts believe that after this technical upgrade, it not only resolved the technical support of Sinotruk for the next 10 to 20 years, but also will upgrade the manufacturing technology of China's truck industry, laying the foundation for the direct confrontation between the Chinese truck industry and international giants.

In the process of internationalization facing the global market, China National Heavy Duty Truck has been at the forefront, but it is not always plain sailing. Although it has become the largest heavy truck exporter in the country, its products have only established complete sales, spare parts and service systems in a few developing countries such as the Middle East and Africa. At present, this capability cannot meet global competition.

The cooperation with Mann, in addition to the products on the MAN platform can use the domestic sales network of Sinotruk, the products of Sinotruk can also enter the overseas market through Man's global channels, which will open up internationally for Sinotruk. The market brings huge benefits.

At present, China National Heavy Duty Truck is most worried about the convergence of the entire governance system. At present, the biggest difficulty faced by state-owned enterprises is the lack of internationally-operated personnel. It is not just sending people to sell cars abroad. The network needs to be adapted to the culture of other countries. In terms of internal governance, more international talents are also needed.

Analysts pointed out: "We have not established a set of governance system based on our own culture. Our current governance system is to simulate foreigners doing this system, so when the Chinese are doing it, they will often feel dissatisfied."

This point of view coincides with Cai Dong. He believes that since the European and American governance system is used to operate, it requires the participation of foreign people to participate in governance. Through the introduction of production methods and governance methods, the company's overall governance, It is very much an improvement in quality control. “Let the components of trucks produced in China be the same as those in Europe and the United States, and the consistency will reach a relatively high level.”

It is reported that around October of this year, Man will assign 4 directors to China National Heavy Duty Truck. One of the executive directors will become the deputy general manager of China National Heavy Duty Truck and assist Cai Dong in the localization of products. In addition, Man will also send corresponding experts to CNHTC’s engine company, technology center, commercial vehicle company, procurement department, and international sales department as assistants to assist CNHTC in improving the governance system and improving the level of governance.

After the completion of the new platform's production line, China National Heavy Duty Truck will deploy its products at the fastest speed. According to Cai Dong, a part of the D20 engine will be imported into the shelves of the A7 model next year and will be introduced to overseas markets.

According to future plans of China National Heavy Duty Truck, its commercial vehicle company will completely produce in accordance with the full set of production lines provided by MAN, to build a product that is entirely composed of the TGA platform, and the truck company will continue to use the A7 models with the TGA platform's engine.

Cai Dong said that in order to reflect the value of high-end products, a brand new brand will be released at that time, as long as the models that use the Man Engine technology will be sold under the brand. In addition to the global product launch to the world, China National Heavy Duty Truck is also expected to take a higher level in the export of components such as engines. An insider who understands the negotiation process told this reporter: “Man can provide parts and components development agreements to China National Heavy Duty Truck, mainly to get lower-cost parts from China to reduce the cost of the vehicle.”

In the mature markets of international heavy trucks, the market shares of international heavy truck giants such as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have been relatively stable, but mature markets are also sensitive to prices. As long as they can obtain low-cost spare parts, they can reduce the sales price. To achieve the goal of increasing the market share. Although these international heavy truck giants have already found cooperative partners in China, the model of cooperation with China National Heavy Duty Truck, like Mann, is rare.

Although China National Heavy Duty Truck is almost the last company that cooperates with the international heavy truck giants, after this cooperation with Mann, Sinotruk has become more emboldened and has the capital to sail overseas. In the future, the entire Chinese truck industry must face the international market and operate in a global operating environment. This experience of CNHTC is worth learning from.
View related topics: China National Heavy Duty Truck Breaks Monthly Sales Record for National Heavy Truck Industry


Wood Pencil

Wenzhou Reliabo Culture & Technology Co., Ltd. , https://www.reliabogroup.com