Shanghai October 15 (Gasgoo.com) The final list of Top 100 "Most Competitive" Auto-Parts Suppliers Award 2010 was announced in Beijing at the end of September. The grand unveiling ceremony and awards ceremony were attended by senior leaders from auto parts companies, executives from the procurement and R&D departments of automotive OEMs, leading tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers, and experts from industry associations, as well as mainstream journalists.
The selection of Top 100 "Most Competitive" Auto Parts Suppliers Award 2010 was organized by China's noted auto industry e-commerce portal Gasgoo.com, under the aegis of China's Ministry of Commerce. Based on comprehensive investigation of China's auto parts industry, this major event was intended to reveal the changes in the competitive auto parts market and find out those truly strong suppliers who can maintain their competitive position for a long time.
Starting December 2009, the organizer has carried out a comprehensive evaluation of more than 3,000 companies, recommended by buyers and industry associations or selected based on companies' application or from Gasgoo.com database, through the event. Nine months later, the winners from five segment groups, including engine parts and components group, chassis components and parts group, group of automotive electrical and electronic components and parts, group of automotive electrical and electronic components as well as group of interior and exterior body parts, have finally been determined, by evaluation of 100 types of products. Following the rule of picking out one most competitive supplier from each type of product, a total of 100 auto parts suppliers were short-listed for Top 100 "Most Competitive" Auto Parts Suppliers Award 2010.
The selection attracted widespread participation of auto parts suppliers, among which over 3,000 Chinese and foreign OEMs, as well as procurement and technical experts from 500 large-scale auto parts companies participated as judges in the event. More than 300 judges are executives who are responsible for the final phase of the procurement and technology. An event with so many suppliers getting involved in as judges is barely seen among various selection activities in China's automobile industry. According to the collected information and full investigation of the buyers' selection processes, the organizer summarized five major discoveries in the development of the Chinese auto parts industry.
1. The technical level of China's auto parts industry is closer to or has reached the international advanced level compared with its vehicle industry, which to a large extent should be attributed to the persistent efforts of the Chinese government. Compared to foreign vehicle-making companies, the foreign auto parts companies invest more in R&D. They have established more than 100 technical centers across China, where they set up R&D teams, cultivate technical talents and carry out R&D in line with OEMs' demand. The European and American auto parts companies, such as America's Federal Mogul and Europe's Georg Fischer, have in particular made considerable attribution to the rapid development of China's homegrown vehicle manufacturers and have helped the country's auto parts industry reach world leading level.
2. The developing speed of China's indigenous auto-parts makers has surpassed that of foreign companies in the recent five years, and the local companies will certainly have greater development opportunities in the next five years, which is caused by the following three factors:
(1) The rapid development of China's own-brand vehicle makers has largely driven development of China's local auto-parts makers.
(2) The sourcing of auto parts from the international markets in the past two years has well-motivated development of the local auto-parts makers.
(3). Foreign automakers' localization in China, especially the localization in development and procurement, has accelerated development of the Chinese auto-parts makers.
3. In the next five years, the integration in China's auto parts industry will gradually be accelerated, so local companies must strengthen their competitiveness in deed for sustainable development. With the growth of China's auto industry production and sales getting stable in the next few years, as well as the continuous integration among auto-making companies, the competition among auto-parts makers will become increasingly intense. Moreover, 80% of procurement executives think that the procurement of auto parts and components in the past five years became more and more transparent, and meanwhile the way to rely on all kinds of relations to maintain a company's position in the market became less and less useful. Multinational corporations and local companies, who used to head in totally different directions are now going the same way, namely, local companies are engaged in improvement of technical level and quality management while keeping their costs advantage, and multinational corporations are sparing no efforts to lower their costs while simultaneously keeping their advantage in technical level and quality management
4. The Chinese government is currently promoting development of new energy vehicles, especially electric vehicles, with efforts of more than any other country's in the world. The move will bring the automotive electrical and electronic parts industry a development opportunity to lead the world. With promotion of the industrialization of electric vehicles in China, the mainstream technology companies in the world will bring the most advanced technology to China, and China, on the other hand, due to widely applying the electric vehicles, is most likely to play a more active role in setting standards for electric vehicles. With the joint efforts of Chinese and foreign companies, China's automotive electronics technology may achieve a leading position in the world.
5. The fifth, also the most disappointing discovery by Gasgoo.com is that a majority of China' traditional auto-parts makers are losing their industrialist spirit, which they need to re-evoke immediately. China's rapid economic development is bringing auto-parts companies more development opportunities and more temptation at the same time. Dilution in early sprit of excellence has turned into the biggest potential risk for them to acquire international competitiveness. This is obviously a short-sighted behavior. Giant multinational corporations mostly have a history of hundred years- sticking to their own business for as long as they can, after years of accumulation, they finally become the giants they are today.
China has become the world's biggest auto market and auto producer. It is, however, in need of the support of a strong auto parts industry to rank among the strong countries in the world. The guiding function of the selection activity- Top 100 "Most Competitive" Auto-Parts Suppliers Award 2010, held by Gasgoo.com will encourage the Chinese auto-parts suppliers to benchmark and narrow the gap with the rivals, and the winners can otherwise set a good example in the industry, helping improve the industry's overall technology and management level, and enhance global competitiveness.
The organizer revealed that the selection activity has been highly commented for its substantial influence on China's auto parts industry. The activity will thereby be held every five years in the future, and through each activity Gasgoo.com will be dedicated to singling out from all angles, such as customer satisfaction, technological innovation, social responsibility, etc., the most competitive industry players.
