Guangzhou Relocates Production Capacity of Vehicles by 2015

A few days ago, Guangzhou reduced its total vehicle production capacity target from 4.5 million vehicles to 3 million vehicles in 2015. Meanwhile, Foshan's automobile projects have been launched and will soon form a production capacity of nearly 1 million vehicles. After this “brutal shift” between brother cities, Guangzhou has formed a new layout of vehicle production capacity, and the synergy effect of Guangzhou-Foshan linkage has begun to show.

Planning Guangzhou's auto production capacity to be "cut down" by 30%

The "Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of National Automobile and Component Export Bases in the City" (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions") recently announced in Guangzhou: "In 2015, the total vehicle production capacity of the Guangzhou automobile industry exceeded 3 million, and the automobile industry The total output value exceeded 450 billion yuan." The capacity mentioned in this new plan was “cut off” 30% from the 4.5 million targets proposed in 2012.

According to the analysis, the main reason for the adjustment of the automobile industry planning in Guangzhou is that the development of Japanese cars in China is more swaying, which makes the Guangzhou auto industry, which relies too much on Japanese brands, have to re-plan development.

Guangzhou has always been considered as the "base camp" for Japanese cars. Guangzhou Automobile Honda, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota Motor Co., Dongfeng Nissan and others have all taken root here. However, since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, sales of Japanese cars in the country have continued to fall. Affected by the political situation, Japanese car sales hit bottom in the second half of last year and did not begin to emerge from the predicament until the first half of this year.

According to statistics of the Guangzhou City Economic and Trade Commission, in 2012, the output value of the Guangzhou automobile industry fell by 6.3% year-on-year, of which, the output value of the entire vehicle was reduced by 30 billion yuan, and the output value of the entire automobile industry chain was reduced by 45 billion yuan, lowering the industrial tax revenue of Guangzhou by about 3%.

Although sales of Japanese cars have started to pick up since the beginning of this year, they have not yet returned to historical highs. In the first seven months of this year, the production and sales volume of Guangzhou Automobile's Honda were 220.5 thousand and 209,100 respectively, an increase of -0.67% and 4.23% respectively year-on-year; the production and sales of GAC Toyota were 167,400 and 168,200, respectively, an increase of 1.02 over the same period of last year. % and 7.36%.

Supplements Volkswagen and Futian have entered Foshan

The frustration of Japanese cars has paralysed the Guangzhou auto industry, which "puts eggs in a basket." In order to dilute the proportion of Japanese brand's production capacity, the development of independent brands and the introduction of non-Japanese brands have become an urgent task for Guangzhou Automobile. In the process of “correction”, Foshan, the brother city of Guangzhou, played an important role. At present, Foshan has successfully attracted Volkswagen and Futian brands.

It is understood that the FAW-Volkswagen Foshan branch will soon be fully completed and put into production, and the first phase of the project will have a capacity of 360,000 vehicles. FAW-Volkswagen's Foshan plant is in line with the construction plan and technical standards of the perfect plant of Volkswagen AG. It adopts advanced production technology to produce the latest MQB platform model of the Volkswagen Group. The factory's first product will be Golf 7, and Audi models such as the A3 will also be produced.

The FAW-VW Foshan Phase II project has also been planned. According to reports, the project's total investment is about 15.3 billion yuan, and the construction period is 36 months. After the completion of the project, the FAW-Volkswagen Foshan plant will have an annual production capacity of 600,000 vehicles.

Beiqi Futian also increased its investment in South China. It recently announced that it will invest 3.2 billion yuan in Foshan Sanshui to build a production base with an annual production capacity of 240,000 pickups and SUVs.

According to rough statistics, Foshan will quickly form a production capacity of nearly 1 million vehicles. This will be an important addition to the 1.5 million capacity cuts in Guangzhou.

Effect Guangfo linkage to optimize the layout of the automobile industry

For Guangzhou people, Guangzhou and Foshan share the same origin, since ancient times. As early as in 2009, Guangzhou and Foshan signed the "Guangzhou Foshan City Construction Cooperation Agreement", in which industrial cooperation is an important content.

After Guangzhou's adjustment of the vehicle's production capacity and the launch of the Foshan Automobile Project, Guangfo and Foshan will form an automobile production capacity of nearly 4 million vehicles within the next three years and form a commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle project to go hand in hand, with luxury, joint venture, and independent brands. All-in-one optimized layout.

By 2015, the production capacity of Guangzhou Automobile Honda will increase to 720,000, and the production capacity of GAC Toyota will increase to 600,000. Dongfeng Nissan Huadu Factory has 600,000 units of production capacity, with a maximum capacity of 800,000 vehicles.

In terms of independent brands, GAC passenger vehicles have begun capacity expansion projects with a planned production capacity of 400,000 vehicles. The 300,000 vehicle project of Beijing Automotive Zengcheng Plant has also started construction. In addition to GAC Group's commercial vehicles and GAC Hino and other automotive projects, Guangzhou's total production capacity is close to 3 million.

In the future, the total automobile production capacity in Guangzhou and Foshan will reach about 4 million vehicles. With the entry of Beiqi, Guangzhou Automobile's own brands and FAW-Volkswagen, the proportion of Japanese brands was diluted to 50%. In addition, the production of Audi's FAW-VW Foshan plant and the start-up of Acura's production at the Guangzhou Automobile's Honda plant have also increased the level of auto manufacturing in the two cities.

Reporter observes that there is still excess capacity in Guangzhou

Although the synergy effect of Guangzhou-Foshan Linkage has begun to appear, there is still potential for excess capacity. Auto analyst Zhong Shi said: The current utilization rate of 3 million planned capacity in Guangzhou remains to be seen.

It is reported that this year GAC Toyota’s sales target is 275,000 units. In terms of the sales volume of Guangqi Honda, its sales target for this year is a year-on-year increase of 20% to 370,000 units. It is difficult for the two companies to achieve full capacity operation of 600,000 and 720,000 capacity respectively in 2015.

GAC Passenger Vehicle has already confirmed 80,000 sales targets that have doubled from last year. If we want to make full use of 400,000 vehicles, it means that it needs to maintain double growth in the next two years. This seems to be difficult for people in the industry.