12 Chinese companies in global top 100 auto suppliers: Report

Massive market with challenges

With huge auto market scale and continuously growing consumer groups, China remains attractive for global and domestic car parts manufacturers.

Xin Ning, president of China Automotive Daily, said the heartland of the world's automobile industry has accelerated transfer to China, offering companies massive strategic opportunities.

In the first half of this year, car production and sales reached 12.57 million and 12.9 million units, up 24.2 percent and 25.6 percent year-on-year, respectively, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufactures showed.

A total of 17 million units of cars are expected to be sold this year, with 2.4 million new energy vehicles, said Chen Shihua, the association's deputy secretary-general.

Chen, however, emphasized the current risks that Chinese auto suppliers face – chip shortage and the price premium of raw materials, such as steel, nonferrous metals and precious metals.

Software defines the car

As new energy, artificial intelligence and internet ecology reconstruct the auto sector, suppliers are in fierce competition to scramble for a piece of the booming market.

"We have entered an era when 'software defines the car and those who master core technologies, for example, chips, are in the top class," said Wu Lijun, the product CEO of Chang'an Automobile Group.

Zhu Guangwei, vice-president of Bosch China, also emphasized putting simultaneous focus on both software and hardware in the digital transformation of auto suppliers.

"China is Bosch's largest single market in the world, and the country has been ahead of the globe in smart vehicle sectors. Bosch set up a new division in charge of intelligent drive and control last year, and an innovative software development center, to better get involved in the future trend," Zhu said.