The acquisition of Saab Powertrain and Qualified Trak, Dongfeng’s idea of ​​leveraging overseas technology to autonomy is stepping up implementation step by step. However, how to integrate these resources within the internal organization team is a big test for the east wind.
Now Dongfeng is trying to take a substantial step on its own road through acquisitions and joint ventures in core components.
On October 22, 2012, the joint venture agreement between Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. and GETRAG Internationaol GmbH and the low-torque DCT (Double Clutch Transmission) joint development agreement was signed in Beijing. Both parties will have a 50-50 share ratio. Set up a joint venture to develop, produce, and sell automatic transmissions and components.
This is Dongfeng's first major move in the core component field after its entry into its own-brand passenger car, which is intended to reinforce the foundation of the "grand autonomy" strategy.
The Dongfeng own-brand passenger car that was only started in 2005 has no advantage compared with domestic competitors in terms of vehicle platform, R&D of core components, and vehicle integration. Great Wall has many years of professional accumulation, FAW leverages Mazda, SAIC acquires Rover, BAIC acquires Saab core technology, Geely has Volvo, and the latest case is GAC Alliance Chery enhances R&D capabilities.
When other companies, Eight Immortals, stepped up their efforts to strengthen their own strengths, the latecomers could only quickly catch up with external forces.
The biggest bottleneck of self-owned brands is the lack of accumulation of core component technologies. For example, automatic transmissions rely on imports for a long time, which leads to the difficulty in reducing the cost of models and the scale of production capacity. Faced with increasingly stringent domestic automobile fuel consumption and emission standards, major manufacturers have chosen joint venture or merger and acquisition models to speed up the development of the DCT production process.
Dongfeng's starting point is not low. GETRAG International's parent company is the world's largest independent supplier of transmissions for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Germany, the company's products cover manual, automatic and dual clutch transmissions, and a range amplifier system. And pure electric power system.
The two parties plan to cooperate in the R&D and production of advanced 6-speed DCT transmissions. It is said that the performance of this transmission is significantly higher than that of the existing dual-clutch transmission. It is obviously better than the CVT transmission in terms of fuel-saving performance and is more fuel-efficient than the MT transmission.
At present, the DCT double-clutch transmission in the 150 to 190 Nm torque range in the global automotive industry is still a virgin land to be developed. The European and American companies that mainly develop DCT transmissions include GETRAG International Inc. This area has not been involved before.
Liu Weidong, deputy general manager of Dongfeng and general manager of passenger vehicles, said: “The DCT transmission produced by Dongfeng and GETRAG in the future will meet the needs of Dongfeng’s own brands, its joint venture brands, and other domestic automobile companies and even overseas markets. â€
The joint venture company will settle in Wuhan with a total investment of 120 million euros, with a production capacity of 250,000 units in the first phase, and will gradually reach a scale of 500,000 units. The first product is expected to be available in 2015.
Joint ventures and joint research and development with the world's largest transmission supplier clearly can improve Dongfeng's core technology research and development capabilities and save valuable time. Teaming up with GETRAK is not a case, but it is one of the overall plans for Dongfeng to strengthen its core components.
On September 23, Dongfeng and T Engineering AB signed an agreement in Sweden to acquire a 70% stake in T Company and plans to complete the remaining 30% within two years.
T company's predecessor was Saab Powertrain Corporation. After Saab was liquidated, its subsidiary Saab Power was demolished. On January 2 this year, it was reorganized into T company. The main research areas include internal combustion engine, hybrid vehicle, pure electric vehicle and transmission system. Chassis control system, thanks to many years of Saab Powertrain's experience in the production and development of automotive software and electronic products, the future business of T Engineering will also expand into electronic architecture and mechanical integration.
The acquisition of T company allowed Dongfeng to have a high-level electronic control team. Dongfeng also took the opportunity to set up the first overseas R&D base in Sweden. The company plans to expand the scope of overseas research and development on the basis of T company, from the electronic control domain to the drive. The development of the system and vehicle platform will attract local technical talents in Europe and further expand overseas R&D.
Zhu Fushou, general manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, stated at the signing ceremony that Dongfeng was independent in its thinking: “The choice of joint development is the need for the development of Dongfeng University’s independent business, and it is also the inspiration we have received during the development of the automotive industry for so many years. Consider its own core competencies. With regard to the construction of Dongfeng, Dongfeng hopes to integrate international resources in the key technology assembly, introduce, digest and absorb, and gradually cultivate its own capabilities."
“The global financial crisis has not completely ended, and Europe is at the core of the crisis. Therefore, we have a lot of potential opportunities to integrate the small-scale research teams that have been formed in the world.†Zhu Fushou made another statement that Dongfeng is leveraging overseas. Existing resources will also take action. "Automotive Business Review" believes that Dongfeng's internal organization team integrated these resources is a major test for Zhu.
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