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On August 5, in the latest Fortune Global 500 list released in 2024, China's passenger car exports have maintained a leading position for 21 consecutive years.CheryHolding Group Co., Ltd., with an operating income of US$39.0917 billion (1 US dollar is approximately RMB 7.18), made its debut on the list, ranking 385th. At this moment, the joint venture established by Chery and Spanish automobile company Ebro-EV Motors in Barcelona in April this year is advancing the process of localizing the production of Chery electric vehicles; on July 30, Stellantis Group announced thatZero RunInternational has sent the first batch of Leapmotor electric vehicles to Europe, and the joint venture company of the two parties in Europe is responsible for the sales of the products in Europe; at the China Automotive Forum not long ago, ChongqingChangan AutomobileWang Hui, vice president of Changan Automobile Co., Ltd., suggested that in order to cope with risks, automakers should share resources and promote collaborative overseas expansion.auspicious、GACStrategic cooperation framework agreements have been signed in the fields of new energy, intelligence, international business, overseas expansion, etc. More automakers have chosen to build factories overseas, increase investment, and accelerate the localization process. Chinese automakers are encountering more and more difficulties in "going overseas". At the same time, in order to cope with the challenges, Chinese automakers are also exploring new ways to meet the challenges in multiple ways.

Collaborative “going global”:Gather advantages and improve the efficiency of "going overseas"    

In fact, the coordinated "going global" of Chinese auto companies is already on the way. As early as May 2023, Changan Automobile signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Geely Holding. The two sides launched strategic cooperation around overseas expansion, new energy and other industrial ecosystems. Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, said at the time: "We will work together to strengthen our core competitiveness and help Chinese cars enter the middle and high end of the global automotive value chain as soon as possible."

Data shows that in 2023, Geely Auto's export sales will reach 274,100 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 38%; Changan Automobile's export sales will reach 358,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 43.9%. In the first half of this year, Geely Auto's export sales reached 197,400 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 67%; Changan Automobile's overseas sales of its own brand reached 203,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 74.8%.

Yu Dongsheng, researcher at the New Energy Application Technology Research Center of Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityHe said that the cooperation between the two sides involves new energy, intelligent, autonomous driving and other technical fields, which laid the foundation for jointly forging technological strengths and expanding overseas markets. "The main export destinations of both parties are basically in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions, which shows that according to the agreement, the two sides have both technical cooperation and sales cooperation in "going overseas." He believes that the results of such collaborative "going overseas" are gradually emerging. In more than a year of cooperation, the export volume of both automakers has increased significantly.

The collaborative "going global" is showing a diffusion effect. In June this year, Changan Automobile signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with GAC Group. In the future, the two companies will adhere to the principle of complementary advantages and mutual benefit and win-win, and carry out strategic cooperation in the fields of "going global" international business, industrial chain ecology, etc.

Wang Hui said in an interview that many car companies have made strategic cooperation plans, but in an era when competition was not so fierce, it was difficult for many strategic cooperations to be truly implemented. However, the new competitive situation that has emerged this time has given us an opportunity to turn the strategic cooperation PPT into a real project that can be implemented.

The synergy of the industrial chain is also deepening. As early as July 2023, Changan and Tencent Auto signed an in-depth cooperation agreement to jointly expand the overseas ecosystem. Tencent leverages its widely distributed cloud computing and Internet advantages to provide advantageous resource support for Changan Automobile's global business layout. In terms of specific collaborative content, the two parties will continue to use the joint venture "Wutong Autolink" as a bridge to create soft and hard integrated cockpit products that are closer to the needs of the automotive consumer market, including map-based city-level digital twin experience, large-model-based smart cockpit products, scene-engine-based AI digital people, and next-generation in-vehicle smart navigation products for human-vehicle co-driving scenarios, and explore the commercialization path of cockpit services and mobile-end ecosystem linkage.

"Going overseas alone means being weak and getting half the result with twice the effort. Going overseas in a group can gather advantages, achieve twice the result with half the effort, and realize the goal of going overseas better and faster."Zeng Xin, professor at University of Science and Technology BeijingHe believes that it is precisely because of the strong common demand that Chinese auto companies have been taking new and greater steps in their collaborative overseas expansion in recent years, and have also received support from many aspects. He believes that collaborative overseas expansion includes not only the collaboration between vehicle companies, but also the collaboration between vehicle companies and parts suppliers, as well as the collaboration between auto companies and technology companies and transportation companies. These collaborative efforts, which are based on actual needs and have a common purpose, have provided strong support for Chinese auto companies to go overseas, greatly improved the ability and level of companies to go overseas, and also accelerated the speed of auto companies to go overseas.

In addition to the efforts of the car companies themselves, local governments are also fueling the coordinated "going overseas". In the first half of this year, Chongqing's automobile exports reached 20.01 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.9%, and the growth rate was higher than the overall level of similar products in the country. Behind this is the active contribution of the Chongqing Municipal Government to the coordinated "going overseas" of "Made in Chongqing" cars. In December 2023, the "Chongqing "Yu Car Going Overseas" Action Plan" was introduced. One of the key measures is to help companies gradually realize the transformation from a single complete vehicle export trade model to a variety of models such as "complete vehicle + parts assembly + localized operation". According to the plan, Chongqing not only supports Chongqing's Changan, Seres and other car companies to "go overseas" in groups, but also uses Chongqing's comprehensive bonded area to open up a fast channel for car companies to "go overseas".

Joint ventures and cooperation:Smooth the “going overseas” channels and achieve a win-win situation    

Coincidentally, in June this year, Chery Holdings and JaguarLand RoverThe two sides announced the signing of a strategic cooperation letter of intent, and the two sides intend to jointly promote a new cooperation model to further strengthen their joint venture. Based on the cooperation intention, Chery Jaguar Land Rover will use Chery's electrification platform to launch and manufacture a series of electric products, which will be independently listed under the "Freelander" brand authorized by Jaguar Land Rover, and will gradually "go overseas" in the manner of "domestic market first, then overseas market".

On July 22 this year,Xpeng MotorsThe company has further signed a strategic cooperation and joint development agreement on electronic and electrical architecture technology with Volkswagen Group. Both parties will make every effort to develop industry-leading electronic and electrical architecture for Volkswagen's CMP and MEB platforms produced in China. This may seem to have little to do with "going overseas", but in fact, through the joint development of both parties, Xiaopeng Motors can also obtain information from overseas consumers on related technology needs and car usage habits, which will be of irreplaceable help to Xiaopeng Motors' "going overseas".

As early as July last year, Geely Automobile and FranceRenaultThe company has 17 factories, 5 R&D centers and 19,000 employees. It serves more than 130 countries and regions, provides solutions for 80% of the global internal combustion engine vehicle market, and its annual revenue will reach 15 billion euros.

"The cooperation between Chinese and foreign companies can better utilize their respective advantages to achieve the goal of 'going overseas'." Zeng Xin believes that Chinese automakers have technological advantages, which has reversed the reliance on foreign technology in joint ventures between Chinese and foreign automakers decades ago. This is inevitable for Chinese automakers to gradually transition to international brands and is also an important support for cooperation. Most foreign automakers have "geographical advantages", including relatively mature market channels or good conditions for product localization, which can greatly facilitate the landing of Chinese automakers' products overseas. "The cooperation between Stellantis Group and Leapmotor fully reflects these characteristics, allowing Leapmotor to save a lot of channel costs and realize the rapid and smooth landing and sales of products in Europe. It is a 'win-win' situation." Zeng Xin said.

In addition to cooperation between vehicle manufacturers, Chinese car companies are also strengthening cooperation with overseas dealers. For example, in February 2022, Xiaopeng Motors reached a strategic cooperation agreement with the leading European dealers, the Dutch Emil Frey NV Group and the Swedish Bilia Group, to promote Xiaopeng Motors to quickly enter the European market. At present, through cooperation with local dealers, Xiaopeng Motors has entered many countries and regions such as Europe, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Thailand. In the Middle East,ZeekrThrough cooperation, Zeekr Auto not only quickly integrated into the local market, but also leveraged the resources and channel advantages of dealers to rapidly expand its brand influence and increase its market share.GAC AionWe have joined hands with Thailand's four major dealer groups to jointly set up dozens of sales stores and service centers to provide local consumers with better car services.

Investment and factory construction:Accelerating pace to cope with uncertainty    

In April this year, Chery Automobile invested about 400 million euros and signed a contract with Spanish automobile company Ebro-EV Motors to establish a joint venture company in Barcelona, ​​Spain.NissanThe factory will be renovated to realize the localized production of Chery electric vehicles. It is planned to start production in the fourth quarter of this year, with the goal of achieving an annual output of 50,000 vehicles by 2027 and 150,000 vehicles by 2029.

In Spain, SAIC is also considering investing in an electric car factory to produce itsMGIn addition, SAIC is also considering building factories in Hungary or the Czech Republic because of lower labor costs in these places.

As early as 2014, Chery invested in and built a factory in Brazil with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. It was one of the earliest Chinese automakers to build a factory in Brazil. Currently, Chery is carrying out large-scale transformation of its Brazilian factory to adapt to the production of electric models.Great WallAcquisition in early 2022BenzThe Iracemapolis plant in Brazil is expected to officially start production in the near future with an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand has recently become one of the hot spots for Chinese auto companies to invest.BYDChinese automakers such as Chery, Great Wall, Changan, and GAC Aion have invested in and built factories in Thailand. In April this year, Chery Automobile announced plans to invest in and build a complete vehicle assembly plant in Rayong Province, Thailand, which is expected to be put into production in 2025. In the first phase, it will produce 50,000 pure electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles annually, and by 2028, it will achieve an annual production of 80,000 vehicles and export them to ASEAN, Australia, the Middle East and other regions.

BYD's overseas investment also presents the characteristics of multi-point layout. In July 2023, BYD announced that it would invest about 4.5 billion yuan in Camacari, Bahia State, Brazil to build a large production base consisting of three factories for the production and processing of new energy passenger vehicles, new energy commercial vehicles and lithium iron phosphate materials. In Europe, Turkey recently announced that it had signed a $1 billion investment agreement with BYD. BYD will invest in the construction of an electric vehicle factory and R&D center in Turkey with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles.

New car manufacturers are also eager to invest and build factories overseas.NezhaThe factories in Thailand and Indonesia have started large-scale localized production in June, and the South American market will be launched soon." Nezha Auto co-founder and CEO Zhang Yong said recently.

According to incomplete statistics, by the end of 2023, 12 Chinese automakers have invested in and set up at least 80 factories in more than 20 countries around the world. "Investing in and building factories overseas can undoubtedly save a lot of costs and reduce various risks such as transportation." Liu Rui believes that compared with the current rising transportation costs, building factories overseas can significantly save costs. At the same time, compared with the "going global" of products, localized production is an important progress. It is the basis for taking root in overseas markets and an important step for Chinese automakers on the road to globalization.

Liu Rui pointed out that not only Chinese vehicle manufacturers are investing in and building factories overseas, but some Chinese parts suppliers have also embarked on the same path and provided support for Chinese vehicle manufacturers. In Debrecen, southern Hungary, a battery factory costing about 7.3 billion euros is under construction. This is CATL's power battery factory, which is expected to be put into production in 2025. Chinese power battery companies such as EVE Energy, Guoxuan High-tech, Honeycomb Energy, Farasis Energy, Envision Power, and Xinwanda have also announced investments in and construction of factories overseas, with a total planned production capacity of more than 500GWh.

Diversified strategy,Helping enterprises accelerate their overseas expansion    

"Risks and challenges are a test for Chinese automakers." Zeng Xin believes that compared with previous years, Chinese automakers have not only achieved the transition from "going overseas" to "going overseas" in terms of product industry chain, and from competing in price to competing in value, but have also continuously adapted to new environments and new challenges in the process, and have continuously explored new models and new paths. Whether it is the existing collaborative "going overseas", Sino-foreign cooperation or overseas investment, they are all practical and realistic paths for automakers to cope with overseas challenges and accelerate overseas layout. He believes that the current "going overseas" of Chinese automakers is realizing the leap from "going overseas" of products to "going overseas" of technology and brands. In this process, facing the new situations such as tariff increases, the promulgation of new regulations, and high technical standards, Chinese automakers have demonstrated a completely different response capability from the past, and have also withstood the test in the "going overseas" struggle, and have pushed China's auto exports to a new level.

Yu Dongsheng emphasized the importance of strengthening the overseas expansion of new energy vehicles. He believed that China's new energy vehicle industry already has the advantage of leading the world and should stick to this advantage. In the overseas expansion, it is necessary to comply with local laws and regulations, fully understand the needs of local consumers for new energy vehicle products, improve product design level based on the needs, and strengthen product performance and quality. "Only in this way can the brand take root while the product is launched, thus achieving globalization and sustainable development," said Yu Dongsheng.