The market restructuring of the automotive interior industry has been brewing for a long time! Recently, with the news that the industry's boss, Johnson Controls, issued a desire to sell its automotive interior business, this major adjustment has clearly entered a deeper phase.
In 2005, the world's top ten automotive interiors suppliers were reported as: SAS Societe Generale, Visteon, Johnson Controls, Foglia, Colin-Ekman, Lear, and Magna subsidiary Inti Seoul, Cornell, Ann Tonglin, and Samah Pago. After ten years, Johnson Controls has sold its interior business in the past two years; Visteon and Magna have sold or are selling their interiors; Colin-Ekman was closed down in 2007; Soges, Sa Ma Paige and Cornell have rarely seen newspapers.
Of course, the market demand for the entire automotive interior industry is still in place. From the standpoint of each company's strategy, An Tonglin’s pace of dominance in the industry is accelerating. Foglia has strong growth in North America and Asia, and Lear has steadily expanded and further consolidated its position in the interior and seating industries. It can be seen that in the future, the global car interior giant will become “smaller and stronger”. The strength of Faurecia, Lear, and An Tonglin will become stronger and stronger, and the ranking of Japanese and Korean companies such as Toyota Textile is expected to advance. It is not impossible for a regional car to enter the top global rankings.
Automotive interior is not the sunrise industry that European and American companies respect
Johnson Controls's desire to sell its auto business is shocking. After all, it is the world's largest independent supplier of automotive interior components and seats. However, in recent years, it is an indisputable fact that Johnson Controls has gradually invested funds for the development of the benefits of building facilities and energy power. At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, Johnson Controls' energy and power segment showcased a wide range of products and solutions for energy power, power battery, and start-stop systems. These decisions have limited the strategic investment capabilities of its main business vehicle interior business unit.
Why does Johnson Controls do this? In an interview with the media, his CEO Alex Molinaroli gave two reasons for the cyclical nature of the car and the large investment in car seats. On June 17th, Jiang Hui controlled RE-CARO senior manager of car seats external communication Gao Huimin said in an interview: "Because of OEM customization and product size, etc., first, interior parts suppliers need to be close to the vehicle company to build factories. , Provides JIT (zero inventory) delivery; Second, R & D investment is large, investment in equipment requires high. In general, the initial investment in interior products is large, but the benefits are slow and the profit is relatively low. "She told reporters that smart, no one The arrival of trends such as driving brings new opportunities for interior component suppliers. However, this requires sustained and substantial investment in forward-looking technology innovation to support Johnson Controls' leading position. “At present, the development cost of the interior industry is about 3% of the total revenue, but the profit is only 3%. The development fees and profits of the electronic control industries such as Denso, Delphi, and Bosch are all close to 10%. Low profits and slow recovery are characteristics of the automotive interior industry." On June 17, Zhuang Zhiqiang, deputy general manager of Toyota Textile, told reporters. With the rapid development of the “Internet” and automotive electronics, European and American companies that have always paid attention to the return on investment feel that it is more difficult to continue doing so. It is also expected that European and American large companies such as Johnson Controls, Visteon and Magna will sell interior trim. In the case of strong profitability, high market share, and technological advantages, Johnson Controls sells its auto business segment, and its return rate is obviously higher, and thus more funds will be invested in the company's future development strategy.
From this perspective, automotive interiors are not the sunrise industry in the eyes of European and American companies. They have adjusted their strategies and sought other development opportunities. It is reported that the founder of Magna had been trying to build a car after entering the auto parts industry, but he had never been able to do so. In recent years, Magna sold its interior business, freeing up resources to concentrate on the development of major businesses such as electronics, powertrains and batteries. Perhaps in the future of new energy vehicles, Magna is not a dream. Visteon currently focuses on higher value-added automotive electronics and air-conditioning businesses, and continues to acquire similar businesses from other companies in order to increase Magna's competitiveness in this area.
Autonomous interior companies can take the opportunity to enter
"The car interior is less profitable than the car seat. The profits of Johnson Controls and Geely are relatively low, and products with low added value are generally unwilling to be done by large parts and components companies in Europe and America." Zhuang Zhiqiang told reporters, “Future automotive interior products may be made by some self-owned brand companies. However, if large companies sell too much, the technical capabilities of the companies that have received the orders are not kept up to date. This will also become a problem that restricts the development of the industry.”
On May 19, 2014, Huayu Automotive stated that its wholly-owned subsidiary Yanfeng Company and Johnson Controls Automated Global Automotive Interiors have confirmed a reorganization joint venture company. Ultimately, Yanfeng and Johnson Controls each accounted for 70% and 30% of the equity; 2013 In August, Visteon completed the sale of its 50% equity stake in Yanfeng Visteon, a Chinese joint venture company, to Hua Yu Automobile, which means that Huayu Automotive has acquired a joint venture with Visteon.
So, if Johnson Controls sells its auto business successfully, will Huayu Auto buy back its joint venture with Johnson Controls? The person in charge of Johnson Controls told reporters that it is only now beginning to assess. It is too early for someone to come in and there are various possibilities, such as overall or partial sale, joint ventures, and the establishment of a separate listed company. The reporter learned that Huayu Motors is very likely to participate in it, and its acquisition of the joint venture with Johnson Controls should be predictable, which has driven Huayu Automotive into a global leader in the interior trim industry. “No one wants to become a supermarket. All companies are willing to become more advanced players in the more segmented areas.” said Maryann Keller, automotive consultant for DollarThriftyAutomotiveCar Rental Group, “The auto parts giant is increasingly keen to become The 'chicken head' of the market segment, rather than the 'oxtail' in the wider area, 'the model of the auto parts group has no longer worked, especially in the traditional auto parts manufacturing sector. ”
Shenyang Zhongda Huanxin Refrigeration Technology Co., Ltd.
