ZF commercial vehicle products: still to be understood

From 1980, ZF signed the first supply contract in China, and ZF Marine Transmission System Co., Ltd. was established in Nanjing in 2006. ZF completed sales, production and R&D in China in three levels. jump. At present, ZF has established a total of 18 manufacturing companies, a regional headquarters, and 2 sales service companies (including 7 branch offices and 34 sales service outlets as well as spare parts authorized agents) in China, and sales in China in 2006. Nearly 600 million euros. All this seems to convey a signal to everyone: ZF's development in China has become very familiar; however, in a recent interview with ZF (China) Investment Co., Ltd., the reporter learned that - ZF commercial vehicle products : Still to be understood

In the conference room of Shanghai Headquarters of ZF (China) Investment Co., Ltd., the "Commercial Automotive News" reporter met with Ye Guohong, president of ZF (China) Investment Co., Ltd., ZF Group's commercial vehicle and special vehicle transmission technology in China. Representative Dai Zhangxin and Wang Hao, Marketing Director of ZF (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Three of them, one responsible for the Group’s investment in the entire China region, one for the Group’s commercial vehicle and special vehicle transmission technologies, one for the Group’s market in China and after-sales service.

Commercial Vehicles and Passenger Vehicles: One Active and One Passive

Prior to the interview, the reporter reviewed some of the ZF-related information. This German component company involved in transmission technology, chassis technology and steering technology, in its first decade of development in China, its history appears to be equating with car parts. At present, about 70% of the company’s total sales in China come from In the field of cars. However, during the interview, the reporter learned that since the late 1990s, ZF Corporation has felt the changes in the Chinese commercial vehicle industry. Although the previous car part was the highlight of the company’s development in China, commercial vehicles are now part of the The use of cars is equally important, and Ye Guohong has repeatedly emphasized to reporters that the technical aspects of ZF's passenger car and commercial vehicle technologies are not the same.

The technology of ZF passenger cars is passively entering China. In the 1970s and 1980s, ZF was “pulled in” by the car companies such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Audi to establish a corresponding joint venture in order to complete localization. However, commercial vehicle technology is actively entering China. In the 1990s, ZF felt that China's commercial vehicle industry was undergoing changes. In particular, the rapid development of buses in China has increased the reliability and quality requirements of passenger car products. At the time, we may still be in a passive state. Most of the products that the OEM needs are still our imported products.” Ye Guohong pointed out, “But by 2003, the situation has changed and most of the OEMs have begun to understand the success of commercial vehicles. Relying on the improvement of the level of parts and components, we realized that the time has come to develop in China. We took the initiative to contact OEMs to provide products for them, but not only to sell the products but to be responsible for the matching of the entire vehicle. Because we think that the main content of the OEM's technology is matching. From the current situation, we have cooperation projects with some of the mainstream OEMs in China."

Globally and in China: at the forefront and in the development phase

From a global perspective, ZF’s development in commercial vehicles is at the forefront. From the company’s 2004 market status survey, ZF’s manual transmissions, automatic transmissions, steering systems, and suspension systems for commercial vehicles rank first in Western Europe. ZF’s presence can be found in the products of multinational vehicle giants including Mercedes, Man and Steyr.

However, in China, ZF's market share is still very low. Wang Hao told reporters that the demand for commercial vehicle market in China is changing rapidly. ZF’s commercial vehicle technology has been introduced into the domestic market to keep pace with changes in the market. First, it must be able to keep up with the changes in the host plant and be forward-looking.

"ZF's special feature is that it is an independent component developer. This also determines that we are not just supplying products in a general sense, but more technically. This is precisely the current domestic mainstream. From the current situation, ZF has participated in the newly developed model matching work of some domestic OEMs in China, and we are very confident about commercial vehicles in China because we are on the same path as OEMs. Ye Guohong told reporters, “For trucks, many truck manufacturers now understand that to succeed, it is necessary for professional component manufacturers to do synchronized work. This is also a commercial vehicle worldwide. A trend of development."

When asked about the sales target set by ZF in China for itself or the market share to be achieved, Dai Zhangxi told reporters: "The long-term goal is of course to achieve the first and second position in the industry, although The current share of the company in China is still relatively small, but ZF has started from scratch in the commercial vehicle sector in China. It can be said that we have already started.

Speed: How "Slow" in Germany Adapts to China's "Fast"

ZF is a traditional German company. The German product development feature is "step by step", and the development of a product takes about 4 to 5 years. However, according to the current rapid development momentum of China's commercial vehicle industry, ZF has had to prioritize how to adapt the speed of Germany to China's speed.

First, increase investment in R&D. "After 2005, we began to devote most of our energy to the development of technology." Ye Guohong explained to reporters, "For example, the group invested about 200 million euros in research and development in 1999, and by 2005, the group The research and development funds will be increased to about 500 million euros. Basically R&D expenditures account for more than 5% of sales."

Second, people are more localized. The reporters interviewed this time were one Singaporean and two Shanghainese who had returned from studying in Germany. Of the many foreign-funded enterprises interviewed by reporters, few foreign-funded enterprises will allow local employees to serve as decision-making positions for overseas companies. In ZF, what the reporter saw was that the president of the Chinese investment company and the director of the marketing department were all Chinese.

In this regard, they think: "Our company's localization atmosphere is rather strong because we feel that Chinese employees can better understand what kind of speed is suitable for the Group's development speed in China. And local employees exercise certain decision-making power and are entirely determined by Germany. Compared with the decision-making power of the headquarters, this decision-making process can be faster."

Third, take the technical route. Dai Zhangjun told reporters that ZF would rather only increase production and sales by 10% each year, but it should be done step by step, because "the company needs a very stable long-term development."

In fact, during the conversation, the reporter felt that how to bring down the price of the product was an important issue for ZF at this stage. Dai Zhangxuan also mentioned that there are two roads in front of them: one is to take the road of commercialization, but the amount is large but the profit is small; the other is to take the technical road and introduce "advanced" products with high technological content. To increase the localization rate, the profit is higher but the amount is relatively small. He told reporters that taking the technical route is a principle followed by the short-term development plan of ZF commercial vehicle products.

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