Qingdao | Qingdao's automotive industry accelerates towards the era of "intelligent connectivity"
Targeting the direction of a new round of global transformation, continuously upgrading the industrial chain, and building a "whole zero synergy" industrial ecosystem——
Qingdao's automotive industry accelerates towards the era of "intelligent connectivity"
The industrial added value increased by 15.9% year-on-year, and the industrial added value accounted for 9.77% of the city's industrial added value above designated size... Recently, the reporter learned from the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology that in the first five months of this year, Qingdao's automobile industry continued to play a strong role as an engine of industrial economy, and the city's automobile manufacturing industry increased the industrial added value above designated size by 1.44 percentage points.
The impressive data is the best footnote for Qingdao's automotive industry to accelerate towards the era of intelligent connected new energy vehicles. From January to May this year, Qingdao achieved a total vehicle production of 390400 units, a year-on-year increase of 50.1%; The total output value of the vehicle reached 44.285 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.0%. Among them, the production of new energy vehicles was 163300 units, a year-on-year increase of up to 732.9%; The output value of new energy vehicles was 10.679 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 229.3%.
In recent years, Qingdao has targeted the direction of a new round of global automotive industry transformation and continuously upgraded its industrial chain. Nowadays, driven by its strong vehicle manufacturing capabilities, Qingdao is accelerating the construction of an efficient collaborative industrial chain for the future development of the automotive industry, accumulating more development momentum for the "next step" of the automotive industry.
New energy vehicles are increasing in volume
Undoubtedly, the sustained strength of new energy vehicles is the "key variable" driving the acceleration of Qingdao's automotive industry since the beginning of this year.
In recent years, influenced by the complex and ever-changing global economic situation, the global automotive industry has also faced various challenges, and new energy vehicles have become one of the few "growth codes" in the global automotive market. In 2024, global automobile production even experienced negative growth; In sharp contrast, the production of new energy vehicles increased by over 20% year-on-year.
Returning to China, the changes in market structure are also evident at a glance. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the sales of new energy vehicles in China increased by 44% year-on-year in the first five months of this year, while the overall sales of automobiles increased by 10.9% year-on-year.
In other words, new energy vehicles are no longer a matter of "future" industrial layout, but directly determine the "current" industrial foundation.
Qingdao has listed the intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry as one of the five emerging industries for breakthrough development in the "10+1" innovative industrial system. Relying on its existing advantages in vehicle manufacturing, Qingdao continues to deepen cooperation with vehicle enterprise groups, promote traditional car companies to leap towards intelligent connected new energy, and accelerate the transformation of existing fuel vehicles into new energy vehicles that are adapted to advanced platform architectures and highly intelligent.
In January of this year, SAIC GM Wuling Qingdao Branch launched new energy products and put the new energy industry chain into operation, which is one of the achievements of Qingdao's transformation. With the production of new models and projects, SAIC GM Wuling has established a relatively complete new energy vehicle industry chain in the West Coast New Area, from new energy vehicles to core components such as batteries and electric drives.
In Jimo, another major automobile industry hub in Qingdao, a similar scene is also unfolding. As a key vehicle project newly introduced in Qingdao in recent years, Chery's Qingdao base continues to expand its production capacity. In the first quarter of this year alone, the base's total vehicle production reached 21311 units, a year-on-year increase of 139%. Among them, there were 7064 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 175%. Not long ago, the construction of the second phase of Chery Qingdao base stamping workshop entered the final stage, and equipment debugging is about to begin. After it is put into use, it will further enhance the base's vehicle production capacity.
The strong growth of new energy vehicles is refreshing the foundation of Qingdao's automotive industry. In the first five months of this year, the proportion of new energy vehicle production in Qingdao's total vehicle production has exceeded 40%. According to the Action Plan for the Development of Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicles Industry previously issued by Qingdao, the city's goal is to achieve a total vehicle production of over 1.3 million vehicles by 2027, with new energy vehicles accounting for over 40% of the total. This means that Qingdao has made a good start in achieving the transformation of new energy vehicles.
Collaborative release of industrial chain synergy
A car is composed of thousands of components, so the development of the entire industry highly relies on the upstream and downstream coordination of the industrial chain. Only when vehicle manufacturers and component companies form efficient collaboration can the industrial chain unleash maximum synergy.
In February of this year, the upgraded version of JH6 produced by Jiefang Qingqi was launched. As the "star" product of FAW Jiefang, JH6 has been exported to more than 70 countries and regions around the world since its launch in 2015, and is an important business card of "Made in Qingdao" commercial vehicles. The biggest highlight of the upgraded new car is a weight reduction of 400 kilograms on the body, further advancing the current industry's focus on lightweighting.
Behind the successful "weight reduction" of the car body is the application of 22 innovative technologies such as new structures, new materials, and new processes, involving components such as fuel tanks, bracket systems, exterior components, and front protective assemblies, many of which are supplied by local enterprises. For example, Qingdao Yuyuan New Materials focuses on high-strength cast aluminum/magnesium alloys and stamped sheet metal automotive parts, with over 100 types of lightweight automotive products currently developed and produced; Qingdao Linda Technology, which is engaged in the research and production of cab exterior parts and aluminum alloy precision components, has established an exclusive lightweight component matching system for the JH6 series models. Key products include bumper brackets, refrigerator brackets, mudguard brackets, etc.
This is the result of Qingdao's vehicle enterprises aiming at the forefront of the industry and accelerating their layout, and it is also a breakthrough brought about by the collaborative innovation of the upstream and downstream of Qingdao's automotive industry chain. In recent years, Qingdao has been driven by vehicle manufacturers to cultivate and develop competitive parts enterprises, and to build a "whole machine synergy" automotive industry ecosystem.
At present, Qingdao's automobile industry is supported by three poles in spatial layout, namely Jimo Automobile Industry New City, Laixi New Energy Automobile Industry Agglomeration Zone, and West Coast Automobile Production Base. The "three poles" are led by vehicle manufacturing enterprises, and the "chain" connects a group of supporting enterprises in the industrial chain.
Not only that, Qingdao vigorously promotes the connection and cooperation between local component enterprises and vehicle enterprises, and creates an automobile industry ecosystem covering the whole city.
Pingdu is an important gathering place for Qingdao's automotive parts enterprises, with 37 large-scale industrial enterprises such as Zhenghe and Teda, forming a characteristic industrial chain supported by transmission, chassis, cab, power battery, etc.
In May of this year, Pingdu held a new energy vehicle parts supply and demand docking conference, building a "magpie bridge" at the doorstep of Qingdao's vehicle and parts enterprises, and helping to create a "half-hour" supply chain for the automotive industry. 12 whole vehicle companies including FAW Jiefang and Qingdao Heavy Industry of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, as well as 39 automotive parts companies, attended the conference, and more than 30 companies reached cooperation intentions on site.
'Future layout' continues to increase
What is even more exciting is that the automotive industry in Qingdao is constantly accumulating more surging growth momentum.
Power battery is one of the core components of new energy vehicles. At the beginning of the year, the news of the trial production of Qingdao's high-performance 20Ah (Anshi) vehicle mounted sulfide all solid state battery pilot line was officially announced. The pilot line is built by Qingdao Zhongke Yuanben New Energy Co., Ltd. and can produce 10 20Ah (ampere hour) batteries per month.
Solid state batteries have the characteristics of high energy density, long cycle life, excellent rate and safety performance, and are regarded as an important solution for "next-generation battery technology". The commissioning of this project means that Qingdao is already in the "first mover" camp in the field of sulfide all solid state batteries.
The transformation and upgrading of vehicle manufacturing enterprises are still ongoing. At the end of last year, FAW Volkswagen East China Base launched a new Bora model renovation project, with an additional construction investment of 1.47 billion yuan and about 1700 sets of new or renovated equipment. The new model has achieved significant improvements in power system and intelligent networking; At the beginning of the year, Jiefang Qingqi launched the construction of the FAW Jiefang Micro Commercial Vehicle Project, which plans to produce 100000 micro trucks annually. After production, it will achieve co production of fuel and new energy vehicle models, covering gasoline NG、 Technological routes such as pure electric and hybrid power; SAIC GM Wuling Qingdao Branch is also brewing a new round of intelligent manufacturing upgrades to better adapt to the changing production mode of "multi variety, small batch" in the current automotive industry
In the field of intelligent networking, Qingdao is also accelerating its progress. In February of this year, Qingdao held the Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry Innovation and Development Conference. Projects such as "Vehicle Road Cloud Integration" Intelligent Connected (Qingdao) Application Research Institute Co., Ltd., FAW Fusheng New Energy Truck Ecological Technology Operation Platform, Qianfang Technology's "Vehicle Road Cloud Integration", Yushi Technology Port Autonomous Driving Project, and Saike Technology Electric Drive were signed and implemented.
As one of the important pillar industries in Qingdao, the automotive industry is reconstructing its competitive advantage with a full industry chain thinking and cultivating the core growth pole of the new energy vehicle era.
Information source: Qingdao Daily
