After a four-month policy transition period, the 2018 new energy vehicle subsidy policy was officially implemented on June 12. This also means that after 2020, the day when new energy vehicle subsidies will fully decline is getting closer and closer to us. And this year, the restrictions on the foreign shareholding ratio of new energy vehicles will also be lifted. In the face of market changes, foreign-funded lithium battery suppliers such as Samsung SDI, LG Chem, and Panasonic "smelt" new business opportunities and once again set their sights on China.
Three years ago, under the strong promotion of policies, my country's new energy vehicle production and sales ranked first in the world for the first time. The attractive market cake and its huge room for growth have attracted foreign lithium battery suppliers to come and take the lead with a "fierce" gameplay. machine. However, after experiencing a brief period of prosperity, these companies immediately fell into trouble and entered a quiet state in the Chinese market. Now three lithium battery suppliers, Samsung SDI, LG Chem, and Panasonic, are active again and move frequently. Many industry insiders told the reporter of China Automobile News that they are aiming at the market after the new energy vehicle subsidies have fully declined in 2020.
Foreign-funded enterprises are making a comeback
On May 7, the signing ceremony for the joint venture project between Huayou Cobalt and LG Chemical of South Korea and the signing ceremony for the establishment of Huajin New Energy Materials (Quzhou) Co., Ltd. in the Quzhou Green Industry Cluster of Zhejiang Province was held locally. It is understood that the company's total investment is 3 billion yuan, and it will build a new ternary precursor material project with an annual output of 100,000 tons of high-nickel power batteries. Among them, the first phase investment of 1 billion yuan will build an annual output of 40,000 tons. New ternary precursor material project for high nickel type power battery.
Subsequently, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the League of Nations Automotive Power Battery Research Institute Co., Ltd. and South Korea’s LG Chem signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing, announcing that they will jointly promote the development of power battery technology, cooperate in research on new generation power battery technology, and actively promote research and development results Industrialization. Jin Minghuan, director of LG Chem Battery Institute, said that open innovation and industrial localization are the keys to LG Chem’s sustainable development in China. They will continue to increase local R&D investment, strengthen cooperation and integration with the local industry chain, and strengthen technology and Localization of equipment manufacturing.
Not long ago, there was news that Geely Automobile had acquired the Nanjing plant of LG Chemical. A reporter from "China Automobile News" learned from people close to Geely that this is not an acquisition, but a deep cooperation between the two parties. Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, revealed at the National Two Meetings this year that by 2020, sales of new energy vehicles will account for more than 90% of Geely's overall sales. It will be logical for LG Chem to enter the Geely Automobile supply chain system.
At the same time, Samsung SDI is secretly accumulating power. On June 4th, Jeon Young-hyun, President of Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., and Huang Dekyu, President and President of Samsung Group Greater China, visited the leaders of Xi'an and held a forum. In 2015, Samsung's power battery project in China settled in the local area. This is also the first time that Samsung SDI's heavyweight leader has held a forum in China since its low-key operations in China. Samsung SDI also clearly stated in its financial report for the first quarter of this year: "We will prepare for the end of the (China) new energy vehicle subsidy policy in 2020."
Not long ago, Tesla registered a wholly-owned enterprise in Shanghai. On June 7th, at the Tesla shareholders meeting, CEO Musk announced that he would build a factory in China under the name "Dreadnought" and plan to produce power batteries and assemble complete vehicles at the same time.
As a partner of Tesla's two super battery factories, Panasonic said recently that it is considering another cooperation with Tesla to establish a super battery factory in China.
In March of this year, Panasonic and BAIC Group held discussions on deepening cooperation, involving batteries and smart cars. At the same time, Panasonic's Dalian factory has started to build a second plant with an investment of approximately tens of billions of yen. It will be put into operation within this year, and the overall production capacity will double by then.
The market after preparing for the subsidy decline
Since the launch of the "Ten Cities, Thousands of Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Demonstration and Application Projects" in 2009, the subsidy policy has nourished the infancy new energy vehicle industry and played a decisive role in my country becoming the world's largest electric vehicle market. effect.
However, subsidies are not a long-term solution, the government cannot afford it, and it does not conform to the laws of the market economy. After the new energy vehicle subsidies have fully declined, the "double points" policy has taken over, and all companies must meet the fuel consumption standards and new energy vehicle points requirements. Fang Jianhua, partner and president of the National Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Fund's New Energy Vehicle Venture Capital Sub-fund, told the reporter of China Automobile News that recently, foreign power battery companies have been making frequent moves, all preparing for the market after 2020. By then, my country's electric vehicle market will continue to develop rapidly, and the demand for power batteries will also expand further. Independent brands, joint ventures and foreign-funded enterprises will compete on the same platform, and technological strength and marketing methods will play a leading role.
The cycle for an automobile company to develop a new car is about 36 months. With the continuous application of virtual verification technology, the development cycle has been shortened to 18-24 months. The time span from now to the full decline of subsidies is slightly longer than the cycle for auto companies to develop new cars. Taking into account the preparation period required for production and sales, foreign lithium battery suppliers have a good grasp of the timing of their actions.
The real competition has just begun
On April 27, the official website of the China Automobile Association issued the "Notice on Carrying out the Whitelist Application for the Automotive Power Battery and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Industries." Previously, the "white list" played an important role in the development and growth of my country's power battery industry. Regarding the new "white list", many industry experts told the reporter of "China Automobile News" that the introduction of this time will not be linked to the subsidy policy, and will guide and support the technological progress of independent enterprises as the core guidance. In fact, the leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have expressed this view on many occasions. Deputy Minister Xin Guobin once said that the follow-up industry management work will focus on supervision during and after the event, and it is considered not to pass the "Regulations for Automotive Power Battery Industry". Enterprise production conditions and capabilities put forward specific requirements.
Recently, the China Automobile Association and the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance jointly announced the whitelist of the automotive power battery and hydrogen fuel cell industries (the first batch), Samsung Huanxin (Xi’an) Power Battery Co., Ltd., Nanjing LG Chemical New Energy Battery Co., Ltd. and Beijing Electronic Control Asika Technology Co., Ltd. are both on the list.
For all new energy vehicle and power battery companies, 2020 will be a hurdle. Foreign-funded lithium battery suppliers have certain leading advantages in large-scale procurement of raw materials, quality control of the production process, and highly automated production processes. Therefore, even in the current booming situation of the domestic power battery industry, the re-layout of foreign companies in the Chinese market still deserves close attention. In a market environment where subsidies are fully declining, perhaps the real competition has just begun.
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