Affected by the complex economic environment at home and abroad, the growth rate of major economic indicators of my country's auto industry slowed down in the first half of this year. The revenue and profit levels of the auto parts manufacturing industry are much better than the overall performance of the auto industry, but the overall import and export trade of auto parts is not as good as the same period last year, especially in imports.

According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first half of this year, the cumulative import value of auto commodities nationwide was 38.828 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 19.13%. The total import of auto parts ended the growth trend of last year, and the cumulative import was 15.973 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 9.89%.

The decline in the total amount of imported auto parts needs to be carefully analyzed from multiple perspectives. Ye Shengji, Deputy Secretary-General of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that from the double-digit growth in the import amount of my country's auto parts in the past, to the sharp decline in the first half of this year, it can be found that the domestic auto parts industry's imported parts substitute products are increasing, and the quality of the imported parts is increasing. On the other hand, some key components still cannot get rid of their dependence on imports. In fact, domestic joint ventures contribute a considerable proportion to the import value of parts and components.

Imports of most parts and components fell

From the perspective of sub-categories, the import value of most auto parts in the first half of this year has shown a downward trend, and the importing countries are still dominated by Germany, the United States and Japan.

Statistics show that in the first half of the year, 303,300 automotive engines were imported, a year-on-year decrease of 17.27%, and the import value was 803 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 23.13%. %; the import value of auto parts, accessories and body was 13.469 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 9.71%; the import value of automobile and motorcycle tires was 288 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 18.25%, of which the import value of automobile tires decreased by 17.78% to 287.5 million US dollars ; The import value of other auto-related goods was 1.413 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 0.26%.

Among the auto parts, accessories and body products, in addition to the 534.22% and 5.62% increase in the import value of electronically controlled fuel injection devices and seat belts, the import value of airbags, transmissions, and drive axles all fell by more than 10%. Imports of car bodies and shock absorbers were US$14.4 million and US$384.8 million, respectively, with relatively small declines.

Key components still rely on foreign companies

For a long time, some key raw materials, components and high-end equipment of my country's automobile industry have been heavily dependent on imports. Although domestic companies have made breakthroughs in core parts research and development, technical reserves, and production processes, many key auto parts still need to be imported for a period of time in the future.

In the first half of the year, the year-on-year increase of 534.22% in the import value of electronically controlled fuel injection devices and related parts was somewhat unexpected. From January to June, 93,545 sets of electronically controlled fuel injection devices were imported, worth about US$1.59 million. The electronically controlled fuel injection device is an indispensable device for automobiles to improve fuel emission standards, especially in the context of the continuous escalation of domestic diesel engine emissions. The demand for products and key accessories also showed explosive growth.

In addition, as an important component for small-displacement vehicles, the import value of engine superchargers reached 120 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 25.86%. Equipping with small-displacement turbocharged engines has become the main trend in the development of the domestic automobile market, but this industry is still firmly controlled by foreign investment, and the technology, product quality and production capacity of independent brands still need to be broken through.

In the first half of this year, the import value of my country's auto transmission-related parts was 4.9241 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 13.06%. Among them, the import value of automatic transmission and its parts for cars was 3.383 billion US dollars; the export value was 833 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 8.22%. Compared with the same period of the previous year, the trade deficit continued to shrink, mainly due to the increased investment of foreign investment in technology and plant construction in China, the increase in investment in Sino-foreign joint venture transmission projects, the gradual release of production capacity, and the increasing production level of domestic transmission companies and upstream suppliers. We can also confirm from the huge import value of automatic transmission parts that the automatic transmission industry still has a great dependence on foreign capital.

From import to local production

We should note that in the first half of the year, the national auto industry enterprises above designated size completed a total of 521.813 billion yuan in fixed asset investment, a year-on-year increase of 12.86%. Among them, the investment in the auto parts manufacturing industry reached 365.147 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.07%, and an increase of 45.038 billion yuan. Accelerating the development of parts and components and improving the manufacturing system are the main tasks for the development of my country's automobile industry in recent years. While promoting the progress of the parts industry, the rapid influx of foreign parts and components enterprises cannot be ignored. Ye Shengji believes that the increased investment of foreign parts and components companies in China has reduced the import volume of parts and components for the domestic auto industry to a certain extent.

In recent years, the changes in import tax rates in my country's auto parts industry have been relatively stable. At the same time, the "Guidance Catalogue of Foreign Investment Industries" has been revised several times, and the opening of the auto parts industry has gradually increased. In the field of key parts, more and more investment projects are encouraged. The more refined, this not only promotes the entry of advanced component technology into China, but also brings pressure and challenges to domestic enterprises. From the perspective of the importing countries of auto commodities, in the first half of the year, the import value of auto commodities from Germany was 12 billion US dollars, and the imports from Japan were 6.4 billion US dollars, down 18.66% and 26.68% respectively. Imports from the United States were $6.489 billion, down 6.57%.

The investment of foreign parts and components companies in China continues to expand. Statistics show that in recent years, the average annual investment of the German Bosch Group in China is about 3 billion yuan, focusing on new business expansion and production capacity enhancement. The German mainland has invested more than 1 billion euros in the Chinese market in the past five years, and will maintain this investment rate in the next five years. Affected by the depreciation of the yen, Japanese component groups such as Denso have become more cautious in overseas investment, but their efforts to find local partners in China have not diminished.