Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 274 International parts giants are inevitable

Xingchen Automobile will try its best to use Nanshan Group’s own parts.

But certainly not all parts are produced in-house.

This is unnecessary and unrealistic.

According to the current plan, airbags are parts that need to be purchased from outside.

The automobile airbag first appeared in the United States in 1953. It mainly consists of three parts: airbag sensor, airbag and electronic control device.

It works in conjunction with seat belts to provide effective crash protection for the occupants.

However, it would be many years before car airbags were introduced into cars.

In 1971, Ford installed auxiliary airbags on a batch of experimental vehicles, which was the first time airbags were installed in vehicles.

In 1974, General Motors was the first to install driver's seat auxiliary airbags on mass-produced and sold models. Later, it also installed auxiliary airbags on the front passenger's seat, with two inflation modes depending on the impact force.

In December 1980, the Mercedes-Benz S Series became the first car officially sold in Europe equipped with airbags.

In 1988, Chrysler began to install auxiliary airbags on all its models and ran TV commercials to demonstrate the effectiveness of auxiliary airbags, which truly opened up the competition for safety equipment in the automotive industry.

It can be said that compared to the history of automobiles, the history of airbags is still very short.

Until now, most models of independent brands currently have no airbags, or only have one or two airbags.

Even Spring City Volkswagen's best-selling model, the Jetta, has multiple versions including no airbag, one main driver airbag and dual front airbags.

For example, it is still very rare for later models to have a bunch of airbags at every turn.

Even the high-end configurations of models such as Accord and Mondeo only have dual front airbags plus side airbags.

Xingchen Auto's benchmark is the BMW 730. The appearance is in the style of the Porsche Panamera, and the number of airbags is naturally indispensable.

There are dual front airbags plus two side curtain airbags on the left and right roofs and side airbags on both sides of the front seats, for a total of 6 airbags.

In this way, the cost of the airbag is a relatively important item.

"Mr. Cao, currently the airbags of major car companies in the world are made by Autoliv, TRW, Takata and Toyoda Gosei."

"Among them, Autoliv is the world's largest airbag manufacturer, accounting for about 50% of global airbag production. No one can shake its dominance."

"In Japan, Takata is the main airbag manufacturer, and its supporting customers include all Japanese cars."

"In addition, through its branch factory in Germany, it is also supplying to OEMs such as General Motors, BMW, and Daimler-Benz."

"In the United States, the main airbag supplier is TRW, which has a market share of more than 30%."

"In addition, Delphi's market share in the United States has reached more than 20%."

"These manufacturers basically monopolize 80% of the global airbag market, and we can basically only choose from these manufacturers."

The selection of suppliers for important parts must definitely require Cao Yang's consent.

The value of the six airbags has exceeded 3000 yuan.

Naturally, Cao Yang needs to decide which parts manufacturer to use.

"What are the price levels of these manufacturers?"

Although for luxury cars, the cost pressure on parts is relatively not that great.

But if it’s a little more expensive here, or a little more expensive there, the business won’t survive.

So Cao Yang actually asked the Finance Department and the Research Institute to set a cost target together.

"The cost difference between these manufacturers is not that big. I guess there is a certain tacit understanding between them."

"In general, Takata's price is the lowest, then TRW's price is relatively high, and Autoliv and Delphi's prices are in the middle."

The positioning of parts needs to be reported to Cao Yang, and Su Mingxing, the director of the purchasing department, naturally did a lot of work.

"Delphi is too close to GM, we won't use it."

"As for Takata, although many customers are using it and the price is advantageous, it can normally be considered."

"But our relationship with Japanese car companies is a bit tense, so it's best not to use it."

Cao Yang knew very well that later Takata launched a large-scale parts recall, and he would definitely not jump into this trap.

But there is no way to say it now.

"As for Toyoda Gosei, it goes without saying."

“What’s left is Autoliv and TRW, whichever one is cheaper can be used.”

Cao Yang quickly gave his opinion on Su Mingxing's proposal.

It is impossible to completely avoid the international auto parts giant.

However, as soon as he turned around, he gave Peng Changyi, the director of the interior department, a task.

"However, in the process of using their products, the research institute must try its best to understand the structure, design and production precautions of the airbag."

"After the production of our models increases, the group will also invest in the production of airbags."

Although Xingchen Car’s airbags now need to be outsourced.

But the airbag is definitely a sunrise part in the automotive industry.

In the future, more and more airbags will be installed in vehicle models, and the market size will become larger and larger.

For such a large piece of business, Nanshan Auto Parts can completely produce it on its own.

However, due to limited manpower and material resources at this stage, and this part also involves various safety issues, we will not do it yet.

After all, the working process of airbags is actually very similar to the principle of bombs.

The gas generator of the air bag is filled with "explosives" such as sodium azide (NaN3) or ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3).

When receiving the detonation signal from the sensor, a large amount of gas will be generated instantly, filling the entire air bag.

It's equivalent to an explosion!

"We have set up a team to be responsible for the design of passive safety parts related to airbags and seat belts."

"Although there is no way to use parts designed by ourselves on Xingchen 1, I believe there will be opportunities to use them in the future."

Naturally, Peng Changyi quickly stood up and expressed his stance.

Even if he felt a little weak in his heart.

This airbag is not that simple to do well.

Although the principle does not seem complicated, if the threshold is not high, the world's airbags will not be monopolized by a few suppliers such as Autoliv.

"Mr. Cao, if a large number of parts are produced by our group ourselves, although it will be beneficial to cost and supply, it actually means that we bear all the risks of model development ourselves."

"I think it can be divided into categories. For some parts, we can consider supporting some manufacturers to develop."

"Just like Yangcheng Huaqiang Factory, after using our presses and molds, its development has been getting better and better in recent years."

"Our current four-door, two-cover and hot-stamped parts are all produced by them."

"For other parts, can we also consider cultivating some suppliers similar to Huaqiang Factory?"

When Su Mingxing heard that Cao Yang had instructed the research institute to develop airbags, he would naturally not object.

After all, for a component like the airbag that has such a strong monopoly, the purchasing department must be relatively passive in dealing with them.

Especially since Xingchen Auto has only planned 1 units, their attitude will not be particularly good.

If he could produce it himself, he wouldn't have to worry about other people's cold butts.

However, he felt that the model of Huaqiang Factory should also be recognized by Cao Yang.

If all parts are produced by Nanshan Group itself, it will be difficult to reflect the value of the purchasing department.

That's why he thought about classifying the parts. Some are produced by himself, some are produced by Nanshan manufacturers, some are purchased from international parts giants, and the last part is purchased from other Chinese manufacturers that meet the conditions in the market.

"Your suggestion is good. Some interior parts, even seat parts, can be considered in this way."

"For other parts such as lights, drive shafts, tires, etc., you can also consider finding some cooperative manufacturers."

What Su Mingxing said made some sense, and Cao Yang would naturally not object directly.

In fact, he feels that there is no contradiction between his own research and development and finding suppliers to produce.

Just as OEM is very popular in the mobile phone industry, he feels that OEM can also be considered in the auto parts industry in the future.

For example, if Nanshan's airbag technology is successfully developed in the future, some of the airbags can be produced by Nanshan Auto Parts.

For the parts that have insufficient production capacity, we will look for other manufacturers in the market who have the ability and cost advantages to produce them.

In this way, it is very beneficial for cost control.

Of course, this will only make sense after production increases.

Otherwise, if you only have a planned quantity of 1 units in total, why bother?

"After the news of the establishment of Xingchen Automobile spread during this period, some domestic parts companies also expressed their willingness to cooperate with us."

"I will sort it out then and make an appointment to report to you, Mr. Cao!"

Seeing that Cao Yang accepted his proposal, Su Mingxing breathed a sigh of relief.

Some manufacturers are very enthusiastic about cooperation, and Su Mingxing hopes that both parties can follow suit.

This is beneficial to both public and private interests.

……

"Brett, does the company really plan to cooperate with Xingchen Automobile?"

In an office building in the magical city of Linjiang, Autoliv's Asia-Pacific headquarters is located here.

Although most of China's independent brand car companies do not carry airbags, seat belts are always needed, right?

Therefore, Autoliv's business in China has been developing very rapidly in recent years.

Sales Director Brett also had a very comfortable life.

Even the sales managers below all look like elites.

Every time I go to a client to discuss matters, I stay in a local five-star hotel.

Taxi fares are fully reimbursed with no limit on amount or time.

So even if your plane lands at Baiyun Airport and then takes a taxi to Shenzhen, there is no problem.

In such a comfortable life, all sales managers naturally tried their best to protect Autoliv's interests.

Take people's money and save people's disasters.

This doesn't seem to be a problem either.

At least as Sun Chengwei, the sales manager responsible for independent brand customers, he doesn't think there is any problem.

"William, Xingchen Automobile is going to build a car. This matter should be confirmed."

"It's rare that they are willing to install six airbags in one car. Why don't we cooperate?"

"Even if they really only produce [-] cars, they still have a turnover of tens of millions."

Brett was a little confused as to why Sun Chengwei spoke like this this time.

In his opinion, it is a good thing for Sun Chengwei that the company can obtain orders from Xingchen Automobile.

"If it were Geely Automobile or Chery Automobile, I would naturally support it with both hands and feet, but behind Xingchen Automobile is Nanshan Group. This company not only produces key components such as engines and gearboxes, but also produces bearings, ESP and other parts. factory."

"Although they do not have airbag-related business now, I am worried that they want to steal our technology through this cooperation."

"After cooperating on a project, they immediately kicked us out and started producing airbags themselves."

When Sun Chengwei said this, Brett couldn't help but laugh.

"William, you overestimate the strength of Nanshan Group."

"The technical difficulty of airbags is also too underestimated."

"The airbag inflates quickly after a collision, pushing the occupants out of their seats and reducing secondary collisions."

"So the airbags need to inflate quickly enough and they need to be even."

"The airbag needs to automatically switch on and off based on vehicle motion and collision conditions to achieve the best protection effect."

"Therefore, the airbag switch control system needs to be accurate, reliable, and also needs to be intelligent."

"In addition, the shape and size of the airbag as well as the inflation pressure have very special technical difficulties."

“It’s simply not something that just any manufacturer can master.”

"To put it mildly, even if Chinese companies produce airbags, ordinary car companies will not dare to install them."

"Especially in the United States and Europe, if someone is killed in a car accident due to the deployment of airbags, they will face a very huge risk of compensation."

Obviously, as an employee of the world's largest airbag manufacturer, Brett has great confidence in the company.

In his opinion, Sun Chengwei's worries were simply unfounded.

"What you said makes sense, but this Nanshan Group is a bit evil. Some of my classmates in other parts companies have already suffered from Nanshan's losses."

Sun Chengwei wanted to continue to remind Brett.

However, the latter couldn't listen at all.

“William, you don’t have to think so much.”

"At most, when Xingchen Motors asks us to submit a quotation, we will quote a higher price appropriately."

"When they come to us for technical details, we will try to reveal as little as possible."

"It won't bring any risk to the company."

The sales director had said so. Even if Sun Chengwei still had some ideas, he didn't dare to say more.