What can Fukuda get from a good marriage with Daimler?

During the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to China, Beiqi Foton and Daimler signed a "Joint Venture Contract" and established "Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd." (hereinafter referred to as "joint venture company"). After eight years of love and long-distance running, Fukuda and Daimler finally entered the wedding hall.

How good is this marriage, what can the joint venture bring to Futian, and how can Beiqi Foton be so infatuated for eight years? Let us pass the "Announcement on the Signing of a Joint Venture Contract with Daimler AG, Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Co., Ltd." (hereinafter referred to as the "Announcement") issued on July 16, 2010 by Futian and January 2009. On the 6th, the relevant contents disclosed in the Proposal on the Joint Venture with Daimler AG and Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Co., Ltd. for the Production of Medium and Heavy Trucks and Their Engines Project (hereinafter referred to as the "Proposal") passed by the board of directors of Futian. check it out.

● Financing

Recently, Futian continued to expand. In the first half of 2010, several projects were launched: On January 14, Fukuda held the launch ceremony of Auman GTL's new energy-saving heavy truck technology transformation project at the Huairou Auman plant. The project investment was 2.6 billion yuan. At the end of the year, Futian announced the capital increase of 340 million yuan for Beijing Futian Cummins Engine Co., Ltd.; on June 3rd, at the signing ceremony for major industrial projects in Beijing, Futian and the government of Changping District signed a contract. Beiqi Futian Heavy Machinery Project settled in the agreement, the project plans to invest about 2 billion yuan;

Futian Shandong Weifang Automobile Factory held a ground-breaking ceremony in the High-tech Industrial Development Zone, with a total investment of 4.5 billion yuan in project planning. In the expansion of overseas markets, Foton plans to increase KD partners from the original 4 to 15 in 2010 and will establish a wholly-owned factory in Mexico. Such a huge investment plan really tests Futian's capital operation ability.

The “Announcement” disclosed: “The total investment of the Foton and Daimler joint venture company is RMB 6.35 billion, and the registered capital is RMB 5.6 billion, of which Foton Motor’s physical contribution of assets related to the Auman business is RMB 2.8 billion. RMB; Daimler AG and Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Co., Ltd. jointly contributed 2.8 billion yuan in cash."

For Futian, which currently has a market value of 22 billion yuan, other projects initiated in the first half of this year have already invested over 10 billion yuan. The financing pressure is not small, and the 2.8 billion yuan cash provided by Daimler is indeed a huge amount for the project. stand by.

The term of the joint venture disclosed in the original "Proposal" was 30 years, and the "Joint Venture Contract" formally signed has extended this period to 50 years. With Daimler's investment amount remaining unchanged, the number of joint ventures has been extended, and Fukuda has made significant concessions and sacrifices during the negotiations from the "Commercial Vehicle Joint Venture Agreement" to the "Joint Venture Contract."

●Products

According to the "Announcement", the products produced by the joint venture company are divided into three parts:

The first is Futian's existing Auman heavy trucks, including Auman H2, ETX3, 5 series, 6 series, and 9 series. This part is the current Futian product, which is the same as before the joint venture.

The second part is the "Aulman" medium and heavy truck hybrid model equipped with OM457 engine. At the Beijing Auto Show this year, the Auman BTX exhibited by Foton was an ETX equipped with an OM457 engine.

The third part is the OM457 engine with emission standards up to Euro V. The OM457 engine is not currently Daimler's best heavy-duty diesel engine. At present, the Mercedes-Benz flagship heavy-duty truck Actros's matching engine is OM510LA and OM502LA series, the maximum horsepower can reach 598PS. The OM457 engine is mainly assembled on Mercedes-Benz's economical heavy truck Axor. At present, the Bluetec version of the OM457LA engine assembled by the Mercedes-Benz heavy truck can achieve even more stringent EEV emission standards than the Euro V.

According to the plan, China will begin to implement the national five emission standards (similar to the European V standard) as early as 2014. The traditional overseas markets for heavy trucks in China, such as Russia, the Middle East, South America, and other countries and regions, also generally begin to implement the Euro IV emission standards, and Euro V emission standards will soon be implemented. If the engine produced by the joint venture involves only meeting the European EV emission standard OM 457, and Daimler does not continue to provide follow-up upgrade emission technologies, then the OM 457 engine will not lag behind for only 5 years, and it will be 45 years thereafter. In the year, the joint venture company can only rely on its own R&D strength to improve the performance of the engine.

It is worth noting that, in the joint venture between Foton and Daimler, Daimler did not launch any vehicle products. This is unfair to Fukuda. The "Motion" has described: "Daimler will provide expert and technical support to assist Auman's medium and heavy truck product upgrades to meet the technical requirements of both the future global joint ventures and other target markets for Auman's medium and heavy truck products." Know if this part of the content is within the "Joint Venture Contract" formally signed.

Although Daimler failed to bring vehicle products to Futian, the Auman GTL heavy truck project launched by Foton this year was a remedy for this regret. The Auman GTL heavy truck is internally coded as H4. In fact, the development of the H4 heavy truck was already in planning when Futian and Daimler contacted in 2003. The Auman GTL is a heavy truck product based on the Mercedes Actros. Although its appearance has changed, the internal structure and Actros are no different. It will be a good combination to match the Mercedes-Benz OM457 engine with the GTL that inherits the Actros structure. The Auman GTL hybrid will also be a very heavy truck in the Chinese market. Of course, Auman GTL will also have common versions of Weichai and Cummins engines.

●Technology

According to the "Announcement," the "joint venture will invest in establishing its own research and development center in accordance with the relevant industrial policies of the country and develop the medium- and heavy-duty truck products for sale in the Chinese market." This was the case in the earlier "Proposal". Description: “The joint venture company will invest in the creation of a technology center, which will enable it to independently develop, develop and improve the research and development capabilities of its vehicles, chassis and its key components for each series of vehicles. Developed competitive new medium-to- heavy-duty card products suitable for joint ventures globally, and can support joint ventures as R&D center functions for both parties' global cooperation. Daimler AG will provide expert guidance, technical training, and necessary development of technology hardware and software. The introduction of technology, etc. to provide support to the technical center in order to achieve the overall optimization of Futian Auman products, OM457 engine adaptability improvements, making it more suitable Futian Auman products."

From "developing a competitive new medium-to- heavy-duty card product suitable for the joint venture company globally, and supporting the joint venture company as the R&D center function of the global cooperation between the two companies" to "developing medium- and heavy-duty truck products for the Chinese market". Daimler has greatly discounted the commitment to support joint venture R&D. Obviously, this is also caused by the change in the target market from the global shrinkage to China.

● brand

The vehicle products of the joint venture company are bound to use the "Futian" "Ouman" trademark, in which "Mercedes-Benz power" is marked on the entire heavy-duty engine equipped with OM457. This model has both advantages and disadvantages. The good news is that Fukuda is able to retain its own brand and continue to enhance its brand value; the downside is that Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd. cannot use the "Mercedes-Benz" brand and its market influence - especially It is impossible to directly use Daimler's aura when entering overseas markets.

● Parts and components

Obviously, after the joint venture, Foton will be able to secure some Daimler suppliers in addition to the OM457 engine, which will be beneficial for upgrading Auman's heavy truck parts and even the quality of the entire vehicle. At the same time, Daimler can also choose from Fujia's excellent Chinese suppliers to include its strong global purchasing system, or persuade its own suppliers to move factories to China to reduce Daimler's own product purchases. Cost, improve competitiveness.

● Market

For the domestic heavy-duty truck market, although various groups of capital have entered recently and various types of capital have entered, the competition is extremely cruel and fierce. However, the current big pattern has basically been set: Liberation, Dongfeng, CNHTC, Shaanxi Auto, and Auman will join the first group. SAIC Iveco Hongyan, Jianghuai, Beiben, and Hualing are the second group, and will continue to launch the impact of the first group; while the rising stars of GAC, Jirui, Chang'an, and Universiade may come from behind and make a difference. To be tested by the market.

However, from the sales data from January to June 2010, the sales volume of heavy trucks of the First Group accounted for 83% of the nation's heavy truck sales, and the degree of concentration was already high. Therefore, the real factor that can help Futian increase its domestic market share is to improve product quality and technology level and improve the quality of after-sales service, to establish its own characteristics in more and more homogenized products, and to provide the best for different situations of users. Operational solutions. The joint venture with Daimler has not helped Futian in these areas. With the continuous increase in the cost of domestic heavy trucks and the increasing demand for high-end products from heavy-duty truck users in China, sales of high-end heavy trucks imported from Europe will continue to expand in the Chinese market. Daimler's Mercedes-Benz heavy trucks have surpassed Volvo to become the most heavily sold heavy truck brand in China. And with the impact of the joint venture with Foton on the Chinese market, Daimler will have a greater chance of expanding its market share in China than other European heavy truck manufacturers.

For overseas markets, Fukuda is even more disadvantageous. The "Motion" once mentioned: "The Zhongcai and its engine joint venture project is the first step in the global cooperation between the two sides, and it is also the operational center for the future global cooperation between Russia, South Asia and Central and South America. It is the management of the global cooperation between the two parties. Decision-making, R&D, production, supply chain management, marketing management and other centers, and joint ventures such as Russia will serve as regional production and sales centers.

After the completion of the project, both parties intend to establish a Russian joint venture within 2 years, a South Asia joint venture within 3 years, and a Sino-South American joint venture within 5 years. "In the "Announcement", such Lingyun aspirations have all gone to nothing, only "in the scope of the joint venture company to sell to any product outside China, will be led by Futian Automobile under the support of Daimler." "We saw at the same time: On November 24, 2009, Daimler and Russia's largest truck manufacturer Kamaz signed a joint venture agreement, the two sides will set up two joint venture companies in Russia, and the production of Mercedes-Benz in Russia's factory Actors and Axor series trucks.

On March 9, 2010, Daimler also announced that it will invest 970 million U.S. dollars in the construction of a truck near Chennai in southern India for the next five years. Production will include light, medium and heavy trucks; March 30, 2010, Daimler The company said it will expand the production of commercial vehicles for its Mercedes-Benz brand in Brazil from 2011 onwards. Obviously, in the officially signed "Joint Venture Contract", Daimler has abandoned Fukuda and wants to exclusively enjoy overseas markets such as Russia, South Asia and Central and South America. The joint venture with Fukuda is also aimed at sharing a bigger cake in the huge Chinese market. Domestically, Foton and Daimler appear to be partners in different market segments, while in overseas markets, Foton and Daimler will be tit-for-tat competitors.

What has Fukuda got from a joint venture with Daimler? funds? For others to marry. product? Extremely limited. technology? It is less pitiful. Brand? Still rely on yourself. Parts? It can only be said that everything is needed. market? Obviously wolf burglary! Auman has completely incorporated the Auman segment into the joint venture. In stark contrast to this, the strategic cooperation between MAN and China National Heavy Duty Truck in 2009: Through this cooperation, Sinotruk passed the price of 85 million euros, and won Man's TGA truck series and D20, D26 and D08. This kind of engine and other parts assembly production technology, and part of the upgrade of the imported technology during the technology license agreement to share intellectual property rights. Compared with the joint venture between Foton and Daimler, the heavy truck can be described as a big deal. In a joint venture with Daimler, what Daimler gave was, at least, a huge profit every year in a 50-year joint venture. Fukuda has made a significant amount of tuition on the road to internationalization.

What can we get from a joint venture with a foreign automotive company? Is everything possible to seek a joint venture or self-reliance? Is it the introduction of a product or an independent research and development? Is using a foreign brand for yourself or creating your own brand? Is using the market for limited technology or is it developing a broader market on their own? . For foreign car manufacturers, China has a huge market potential; for domestic car manufacturers, our future should be the world!

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