how can chinese motorcycles "drive" faster to the world? industry leaders said this at the 2024 china motorcycle chongqing forum →
2024-09-13
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on the morning of september 12, the atmosphere at yuelai international conference center was lively as the 2024 china motorcycle chongqing forum was being held. representatives from various motorcycle companies, industry associations and government departments gathered together to discuss the current situation and future of china's motorcycle industry around the theme of "persistence and breakthrough" and to explore new trends and opportunities.
intelligence helps solve industry bottlenecks
li bin, executive vice president of the china motorcycle chamber of commerce, introduced the overall development trend of the industry to the participants. he pointed out that since 2024, china's motorcycle exports have maintained a high growth trend and are expected to reach a new high this year. driven by exports, fuel motorcycles have also maintained a significant growth trend, while the decline in domestic sales has further narrowed.
data provided by li bin shows that in recent years, the domestic production and sales of fuel motorcycles have been declining year by year, while exports have been growing steadily. from january to july this year, china's motorcycle exports reached more than 4.8 million units, a year-on-year increase of 27.82%. exports accounted for 54.3% of the total sales, becoming the most important pillar of china's motorcycle industry.
a notable trend is that the large-displacement motorcycle sector is growing rapidly. li bin introduced that the sales volume of motorcycles with a displacement of 250cc and above reached 430,000 units from january to july, an increase of 37.3%. in addition, imported motorcycles have also begun to gradually resume growth. "we believe that the current chinese motorcycle prices have basically begun to cross the bottom and enter a state of recovery.
li bin said that the industry is developing very rapidly in terms of intelligence. many domestic motorcycles have already started to install internet of vehicles systems, which transmit data such as vehicle driving, engine operation, and instrumentation to the platform through t-box devices, and implement human-computer interaction, which can provide many services to customers. some companies have generated more than 10 million yuan in profits from internet of vehicles services in one year.
it is understood that in order to enhance the service capabilities of the industry platform, the china motorcycle chamber of commerce is building a china motorcycle cloud platform. this cloud platform serves the government on the one hand, and enterprises and third parties on the other. for example, the platform can help local traffic police build a motorcycle management system and apply ai technology to it. now more than a dozen provinces and cities have invited the platform to conduct pilot projects.
li bin said: "the chamber of commerce hopes to use technology to help solve the problem of motorcycle restrictions in cities. in the past, many places restricted motorcycles, and one of the most important reasons was that 'motorcycles are difficult to manage'. now we provide them with an intelligent management method, which can make the use environment of our motorcycles better and better."
learn from international brands and strive to make up for shortcomings
in the process of the industry going overseas, it is bound to face the problem of "volume". yu changjiang, executive vice general manager of chongqing zongshen motorcycle industry manufacturing co., ltd., said that in terms of brand, chinese companies mainly face competition from japanese companies represented by honda and indian companies represented by bajaj. in particular, india's motorcycle production and sales have ranked ahead of china and ranked first in the world. "india has mastered many core technologies and even surpassed japanese companies in some aspects. we still have a long way to go in terms of comprehensive brand competitiveness."
the price competition is usually the most direct. yu changjiang gave an example, a 600cc four-cylinder street bike and racing bike from a competitor is sold for about 60,000 yuan in europe and southeast asian markets such as thailand, but it costs 105,000 to 110,000 yuan in china. if a chinese motorcycle company also makes a 600-700cc four-cylinder motorcycle, it can compete in china with a price of 70,000 to 80,000 yuan, but it cannot compete in the european and southeast asian markets. this kind of price war in the international market has been going on for many years. only by continuing to make good products and models can we stand out in the international market.
"in terms of the construction of the entire ecological system, chinese companies still have a long way to go in the international market." yu changjiang said that in the entire southeast asian market, basically more than 90% of consumers pay in installments and have high requirements for product quality. once the quality is not good, they will return the car. on the one hand, japanese motorcycle companies have done a good job in quality and branding, and at the same time, they have brought their own banks, consortiums, financial companies and even insurance companies together to go overseas, forming an ecosystem. chinese companies also need to think about how to form a group in the future and how to form an ecological chain to go overseas.
promote foreign cooperation and accelerate the overseas expansion of industries
in recent years, chinese exhibitors can be seen almost everywhere at internationally renowned motorcycle exhibitions. in the view of cui jian, general manager of chongqing zhufeng yttrium power technology co., ltd., this is a good trend, highlighting the efforts of the domestic industry to achieve a "breakthrough" in the international market.
"on the other hand, 'breaking through' is not a simple matter. it is not like going to an exhibition abroad and developing two distributors, and it is like a breakthrough in business." cui jian said, "my understanding of 'breaking through' is not a breakthrough in channel flattening, but it is related to your products and marketing model, and also involves the overall international market structure. we must first improve our internal strength and make good products to truly gain everyone's respect and recognition."
cui jian believes that the international competitiveness of products is due to the advantages of the entire supply system. for example, steel mills, aluminum mills, and tire and rubber mills should start with r&d investment in basic materials to improve material performance and quality control capabilities. otherwise, when it comes to the oem stage, there is no way to produce high-quality products. "for local governments, it is necessary to consider the issue of improving product quality from top to bottom."
in the view of shi qifan, consul general of italy in chongqing, strengthening foreign exchanges and cooperation is also one of the important ways for chongqing and even chinese motorcycle companies to accelerate their overseas expansion. he said that as an important motorcycle production base in china, chongqing has become a natural partner for italy with its advanced infrastructure, economic strength and open environment for international cooperation. xinyuan invested in italy about 10 years ago and acquired the bmw motorcycle factory in varese, and then acquired the historic swm off-road motorcycle brand. italy's piaggio also signed a strategic agreement with zongshen to produce and sell iconic motorcycle products represented by aprilia. "i sincerely hope that with the opportunities provided by the markets of the two countries, this kind of cooperation between italy and china can grow further and attract more participants."
