19 CHINA DAILY Monday, February 26, 2018 Motoring

Rivals race to China’s brands strive for tech edge meet rising Experts: Domestic automakers must grasp opportunities, make most of latest market trends, Hao Yan reports. demand for

hinese automotive experts have highlight- car sharing ed the need to react Cquickly and seize mar- ket trends to meet customer By LI FUSHENG demand if domestic automakers [email protected] are to capitalize on opportunities to lead future global develop- China’s booming car-sharing ment in the industry. sector has great potential, with Nine Chinese automakers demand unlikely to be fully met joined hands on Feb 5 in Beijing by current industry players in the to proclaim their brands’ strong short term, according to consul- rise through synergies in inno- tancy fi rm Roland Berger. vation and transformation, to In a recent report, Roland Berger carry their responsibilities for estimated that Chinese people’s the future development of the demand for car rental and ride- industry. hailing would surge to 37 million Attendees at the recently trips a day this year, about 4.5 times held China EV100 2018, a non- the fi gure in 2015. government, non-profit forum That means the market in 2018 is discussing the future of electric a goldmine worth 380 billion yuan vehicles, said that many Chinese ($60 billion), the consultancy fi rm auto brands are embracing the said, and the cake is too large for opportunity to grow via develop- players in the sector to swallow up ing new technology that can help in the near term. revolutionize business models in The vast market potential is the domestic market. attracting new players to jump on “A new technology, bred the bandwagon, with the latest domestically or abroad, is more being Ctrip, a Chinese online travel likely to realize profi tability, and service provider. competitiveness in commer- Ctrip launched its car-sharing cial application in China,” said business ahead of Spring Festival, Liu Shijin, vice-president of the with an initial fl eet of 10,000 cars, China Development Research according to Beijing News news- Foundation, who attended China paper. The service is now available EV100 in January. in megacities, including Beijing, Zhang Baolin, chairman of Shanghai and Guangzhou, and will Chongqing Chang’an Automobile be expanded to more cities soon. Co, shared a similar point of view Wang Yuchen, CEO of Ctrip’s and said that Chinese automak- car-sharing unit, said the company ers are exploiting the advantages Visitors get up close with Chinese startup Nio’s ES8 SUV at an auto show in Guangzhou. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY used to focus on the daily or even of integrating new business mod- long-term car rental business, but els in the current evolutionary demand for car use over shorter market climate. Hefei, capital of province, ply chain are the key foundations chain, said Liu from the China periods is also huge. “Conventional Chinese car where JAC Motors is headquar- for the Chinese brands to turn Development Research Founda- Earlier this month, Chinese ride- makers and new players who tered. their dreams into reality. tion. “Chinese auto brands are hailing company Didi Chuxing have joined the race are cooper- “We are integrating our Taking advantage of the world’s competing side by side with their announced plans to partner with ating with each other in research resources in our joint ventures,” largest car market has helped Chi- international peers. Despite being automakers, charging network and development and produc- Both parties use said Xiang Xingchu, president nese brand automakers to set a weak in some areas, Chinese car operators and after-sales service tion,” Zhang said earlier this of JAC Motors. “Both parties use blistering pace of development makers are ahead of the world in providers to build an open car-shar- month at the China Automotive their products and their products and technologies and gain a strong foothold. Local other areas,” he added. ing platform. Brands Development Summit in in an equal way to better sup- branded cars accounted for 43.9 Having accurate insights into The 12 carmakers involved Beijing. technologies in an port development and further percent of the domestic market Chinese customer demands is just include leading new energy car Anhui Jianghuai Automobile equal way to better help the upward climb of JAC’s last year, up 0.69 percent. one of the advantages enjoyed producers BAIC BJEV and BYD, as Co, or JAC Motors, is one exam- brands.” More than 10.8 million local- by domestic auto brands, since well as the international Renault- ple of a domestic manufactur- support development The Hefei-based car maker brand vehicles were delivered last these companies have devoted -Mitsubishi Alliance. er that has shifted its business has also worked with Nio Auto, a year, 3 percent more than in 2016, themselves for a long term to the Ogi Redzic, senior vice-president model towards the future and is and further help Shanghai-based developer of high- similar to the overall market’s market patterns and consumer of Connected Vehicles and Mobil- developing into the new automo- performance electric vehicles. The annual growth rate of 3 percent, preferences, according to Zhang ity Services at Renault-Nissan-Mit- tive business environment. the upward climb of two companies have built a pro- according to the China Associa- at Chang’an. subishi, said the potential business JAC Motors joined hands with duction plant to manufacture the tion of Automobile Manufactur- “We seize the market trends bet- and technology opportunities the German automaker Volkswa- JAC’s brands.” electric sports utility vehicle, Nio ers. ter, so Chinese brands are well- alliance will explore with Didi were gen AG in November last year ES8, which is set to roll off the Chinese automobile brands equipped to meet the demands of “quite promising”. Xiang Xingchu, president of JAC to develop and sell commercial production line in the first half are developing right here in the Chinese customers,” Zhang said. In December, Mobike, a major Motors vehicles powered by both com- this year. world’s largest auto market, and Chinese bike-sharing operator, set bustion and new energy power Chairman of Nio, William Li, that has helped bolster the already Contact the writer at haoyan@ up a car-sharing business with reg- trains in a 50-50 in said the domestic market and sup- robust local automotive supply chinadaily.com.cn istered capital of 20 million yuan in Southwest China’s Guizhou prov- ince. It said that users will be able to unlock, lock and park cars and make payments by using the same Nissan’s Easy Ride to go head-to-head against Uber app they use to rent shared bikes. In January, Meituan-Dianping, YOKOHAMA — Facing a future times the current size of the taxi China’s largest online platform in which self-driving cars may market. Nissan has embraced for ordering food, buying movie curb vehicle ownership, Nissan new technologies, launching tickets, and booking restaurants, Motor is taking its fi rst steps to the Leaf, the world’s fi rst mass- announced that it would soon becoming an operator of auton- market , in 2010. The launch its own car-hailing service omous transportation services, company was an early proponent in seven Chinese cities after testing hoping to break into a segment of self-driving cars, pledging in its related app in Nanjing, Jiangsu set to be dominated by Uber 2013 that it would market fully province, for about 10 months. Technologies and other technol- autonomous cars in 2020. Investors are bullish about the ogy fi rms. Although it has been rolling sector as well. In January, Chinese In partnership with Japanese out automated highway driving automaker announced its mobile gaming platform operator functions and self-parking capa- ride-hailing brand Cao Cao had DeNA, the automaker will begin bilities in a growing number of fi nished its fi rst round of funding, public fi eld tests of its Easy Ride its models, rivals ranging from raising 1 billion yuan. service in Yokohama next month, Tesla to Subaru have installed “The completion of the Series A becoming among the fi rst major increasingly advanced self-driv- round of funding represents the automakers anywhere to test ing features in their cars. market’s confi dence in us,” said Liu ride-hailing software developed GM and Daimler are building Jinliang, Cao Cao’s chairman. in-house, using its own fl eet of and expanding car-sharing ser- The ride-hailing platform is the self-driving electric cars. vices, and GM has said it plans to fi rst of its kind to be invested in and Easy Ride, which Nissan plans launch a self-driving taxi service operated by a Chinese automotive to launch in Japan in the early next year. company. 2020s, is meant to feel more like Nissan also has its own car- It now offers services in nearly a concierge service on wheels, sharing service using its ultra- 20 cities and plans to expand into making — for example — restau- compact battery electric models, more this year. rant recommendations while the but after years of trials, the ser- Cinese customers are enthusi- car is on the move. vice is available only in Yoko- astic about such services as well, The announcement follows hama, home to the automaker’s as shown by a Roland Berger sur- an agreement by Nissan and its A self-driving vehicle using the Easy Ride service based on the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle developed by Nissan and headquarters. vey that found that 71 percent of automaking partners Renault mobile gaming platform operator DeNA Co, is shown in Yokohama, Japan. TORY HANAI / FOR CHINA DAILY After bringing in Ogi Redzic, respondents are willing to pay more and Mitsubishi Motors earlier who previously led the automo- for better mobility services in China. this month to explore future tive business group of mapping cooperation with Chinese trans- battery-electric cars to Didi Chux- its service and potentially relieve data fi rm Here Technologies, to portation services conglomerate ing for a new electric car-sharing some of that profi tability pres- head Renault-Nissan’s mobility Didi Chuxing. service it is setting up in China. sure they could face if they were services division in early 2016, These moves mark a push by He noted, however, that Nissan to try to race to the bottom in Nissan in the past year or so has the automaker to avoid becoming and its alliance partners could terms of pricing,” said Jeremy begun to gear up its strategy to the ‘Foxconn of the auto indus- We want to enter explore a broader agreement, Carlson, automotive analyst at compete in the new transporta- try’: a mere vehicle supplier to which might possibly involve IHS Markit. tion area. ride and car-sharing companies. into this segment Nissan providing self-driving taxi Automakers are looking for Its partner DeNA is one of the “We realize that it’s going to technology to the dominant Chi- ways to profit from the rise of world’s biggest social gaming net- take time to become a service by partnering with nese ride-hailing service. car-sharing services, which along works with 30 million users. The operator, but we want to enter with self-driving cars, are likely company’s expertise in developing into this segment by partner- companies which are Niche market to lead to a decrease in vehicle real-time user interfaces and pay- ing with companies which are Creating an upscale autono- ownership and chip away at ment systems will help give shape experts in the field,” Nissan’s experts in the fi eld.” mous taxi service, rather than future profi ts. to the taxi service platform. chief executive, Hiroto Saikawa, Hiroto Saikawa, chief executive trying to beat other companies IHS Markit expects global sales The company already operates told Reuters in an interview this offi cer of Nissan on price, could help Nissan of autonomous vehicles will soar a user-sourced car-sharing app in month. against bigger competitors like to more than 33 million units in Japan, and had been developing A person close to the deal Uber, market experts said. 2040 from 51,000 in 2021, while a self-driving taxi system with a has said that the agreement is “By doing something with Goldman Sachs has predicted Japanese robotics startup before Cao Cao has attracted investors’ interest intended to explore opportunities a more premium feel, it could that the ride-hailing market will teaming up with Nissan. with its ambitions for the nationwide for Nissan and others to supply allow Nissan to charge more for grow eightfold by 2030 to be fi ve REUTERS market. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY