Spring to winter, the extraordinary year of 2021 has passed. In this "14th Five-Year Plan" opening year, the national economic development has reached a new level, the commercial vehicle industry still maintains a high level of operation, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers data, in 2021 commercial vehicle sales of 4.793 million units, down 6.6% year-on-year. With the change of the environment, the market has gradually entered a period of market adjustment.
From the perspective of industry events and product upgrades, China Commercial Vehicle Network today released the "2021 Commercial Vehicle Inventory Industry Enters the Development Adjustment Period" to conduct a comprehensive inventory of the commercial vehicle industry events in 2021.
Sales decline The market has entered a period of adjustment
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, commercial vehicle sales in 2021 were 4.793 million units, down 6.6% year-on-year. In addition to the year-on-year sales of medium-sized trucks and light buses, the commercial vehicle segments showed different degrees of decline, of which the sales volume of the index heavy truck market was 1.395 million units, down 13.8% year-on-year.
The fluctuations in the commercial vehicle market in 2021 are mainly due to the changes in demand caused by the switching of China VI emission regulations for heavy-duty diesel vehicles, and the National V products are lower than the China VI products in terms of purchase costs and use costs, so the market prefers the China V products. In addition, factors such as the consumption wait-and-see brought about by the "blue card light truck" policy and the colder real estate development industry have also exacerbated the downward pressure on the commercial vehicle market.
Implementation of China VI emission standards for commercial vehicles
From July 1, 2021, the mainland will officially implement the China VI emission standards nationwide. The impact of the implementation of the China VI standard is all-round. On the enterprise side, the cost of product development and manufacturing will increase significantly, which in turn will affect the sales price of the end product. In terms of the purchase and use of users, on the one hand, the purchase price of vehicles has risen significantly, and on the other hand, the cost of using vehicles has also increased.
Before the implementation of the National VI standard, the commercial vehicle industry has been in a high operating range. In order to cope with the downward pressure on the market after the implementation of the National VI standard, various enterprises continue to promote strong promotional means at the market terminal to further "overdraft" the market demand. Since July 2021, commercial vehicle sales have declined significantly, especially in the heavy-duty truck market, where sales have fallen by more than 60% year-on-year for five consecutive months.
Governance of "large tons and small standards" and "blue card light trucks" new regulations landed
In August 2021, in order to further control the "large ton and small standard" light trucks from the source, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Production and Registration Management of Light Trucks and Small and Micro Passenger Vehicles" (Draft for Comments) to solicit public opinions and strengthen relevant technical requirements for light trucks. In the end, the new regulations for "blue card light trucks" landed on January 12, 2022, and were officially implemented on September 1.
The "New Regulations" require that the structural configuration of light truck vehicles should meet the following technical requirements: The tire load is not greater than 1.4 times the total mass. The nominal section width of the tire shall not exceed 7.00in (inch) or 195mm (metric); if the rear wheel is single tire, the nominal cross-sectional width of the rear tire shall not exceed 265mm (metric). 2． Engine (diesel) displacement: not more than 2.5L (refrigerated vehicle not more than 3.0L). 3． The internal width of the cargo compartment: not more than 2100mm (the dump truck is not more than 1800mm).
The national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network plan was released
In February 2021, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Outline of the National Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Transportation Network Planning (hereinafter referred to as the Outline). The "Outline" proposes that by 2035, a convenient and smooth, cost-effective, green intensive, intelligent, advanced, safe and reliable modern high-quality national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network will be basically built, so as to achieve international and domestic interconnection, three-dimensional accessibility of major cities across the country, and effective coverage of county-level nodes, and strongly support the "national 123 travel traffic circle" and "global 123 fast cargo flow circle".
The "Outline" clearly states that by the middle of this century, a modern and high-quality national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network will be built in an all-round way, with a world-class transportation infrastructure system, an effective balance between supply and demand in transportation, an equal quality of services, and a strong guarantee for safety. New technologies are widely used to realize digitalization, networking, intelligence and greening. Travel is safe, convenient and comfortable, logistics is efficient, economical and reliable, and "people enjoy their travel, and things are superior to their flow".
Optimize management policies and relax trucks entering the city
In February 2021, the Ministry of Public Security issued the "Guiding Opinions on Optimizing and Improving the Management of Urban Delivery Truck Traffic", which clearly stated in the opinions on classifying and implementing policies to facilitate the passage of trucks: further relax the restrictions on refrigerated transport vehicles in terms of models and travel times, and encourage the management of new energy distribution vehicles.
At the same time, it emphasizes the optimization of traffic management policies: clarifying the scope of urban delivery trucks, accelerating the construction of a hierarchical distribution system, scientifically formulating traffic management policies, reasonably setting the scope of truck prohibitions, and standardizing the setting of vehicle prohibition standards.
Encourage cities to appropriately relax the restricted tonnage according to the distribution needs, avoid simply dividing the right of way according to the type of vehicle number plate, and further subdivide the restricted tonnage for trucks below the light type in principle. At the same time, it is proposed to strictly prohibit the adoption of a "one-size-fits-all" measure to ban the passage of trucks for 24 hours in the city.
Multiple measures should be taken to implement the policy of serving truck drivers
On October 13, 2021, the Ministry of Transport issued a notice on further strengthening the parking service of trucks in highway service areas. Subsequently, the General Office of the Ministry of Transport and the General Office of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions issued the notice on deepening the construction of "Driver's Home" and Improving the Quality of Operational Services. Solve the problems and difficulties encountered by truck drivers in many aspects of work, such as eating, living, traveling, and stopping from multiple angles.
It is understood that the construction of the "driver's home" will rely on the existing national and provincial trunk gas stations, logistics parks, industrial park service facilities, etc., combined with the actual needs of truck drivers to stop and rest, to provide truck drivers with basic services such as parking, rest, dining, bathing, laundry, toilets, etc., to effectively improve the parking and rest environment and conditions for truck drivers, so that truck drivers can "eat hot meals, drink hot water, take a hot bath, and stop a rest assured car."
Rectify the freight platform to protect the rights and interests of users
On April 30, the Office of the Inter-ministerial Joint Conference on the Coordinated Supervision of New Transportation Formats interviewed Manbang Group and Shenzhen Yishi Lala Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Lala Company).
The interview demanded that the Manbang Group and the Cargo Lala Company should face up to the existing problems and immediately carry out rectification. First, it is necessary to earnestly enhance ideological awareness. Adhere to the bottom line of safe and stable development, fully implement the main responsibility of enterprises, and resolutely rectify business behaviors that harm the legitimate rights and interests of truck drivers. Second, it is necessary to rationally formulate business rules. Before the adjustment of major business rules such as transaction rules, dispatch rules, freight rules, and charging standards, it is necessary to communicate and negotiate with truck drivers, deeply understand the demands of driver groups, and optimize and adjust the problems that drivers reflect and concentrate in a timely manner. Third, we must earnestly fulfill our social responsibilities. It is necessary to further care for and care for the truck driver group, focus on the difficult problems of truck drivers in social security, freight income, work rest, etc., take effective measures with heart and affection, and strive to improve the operating environment of truck drivers.
China Logistics Group was established to integrate 3 million trucks
In December 6, 2021, with the approval of the State Council, China Logistics Group Co., Ltd. was officially established. The newly established China Logistics Group is composed of the former China Railway Materials Group Co., Ltd., China Eastern Airlines, China COSCO Shipping Group and other enterprises with state-owned enterprise background, aiming to build a new type of central logistics industry enterprise with complementary advantages and diversified equity structure.
In the future, China Logistics Group will make efforts in many fields such as supply chain logistics, people's livelihood logistics, cross-border logistics, etc., to create a diversified integrated logistics business including transportation, warehousing, distribution, cross-border e-commerce, etc., strive to reduce social logistics costs, focus on enhancing international competitiveness, and strive to build a world-class comprehensive modern logistics enterprise group with global competitiveness.
It is reported that China Logistics Group will integrate nearly 3 million social road freight vehicles, which is conducive to the cost reduction and efficiency of the logistics industry on the one hand; on the other hand, it will promote the optimization of road transport.
The localization of imported commercial vehicles was officially announced
On August 23, 2021, Volvo Trucks and Jiangling Motors Co., Ltd. (Jiangling Motors) formally signed an agreement to acquire Jiangling Heavy Duty Truck Co., Ltd. (Jiangling Heavy Duty Truck) and its production base in Taiyuan.
Volvo Trucks said that through the acquisition of Jiangling Heavy Duty Truck, which is 100% controlled by Jiangling Motors, Volvo Trucks will establish a wholly-owned Volvo Trucks production base in China to better serve China, the world's largest truck market. The new Taiyuan site will start producing Volvo FM, FH and FMX series heavy-duty trucks for Chinese customers at the end of 2022.
So far, after the liberalization of foreign ownership restrictions in the commercial vehicle industry, the major foreign truck companies in the Chinese market have announced their localization. 2021 is the main stage of the production line construction of foreign-funded truck enterprises, and 2022 will become the "first year" for the production of localized products.
A number of commercial vehicle companies completed restructuring and mergers and acquisitions
On September 8, 2021, with the approval of the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, "SAIC Iveco Hongyan Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd." was officially renamed as "SAIC Hongyan Automobile Co., Ltd." As early as January 4, 2021, Shangchai issued an announcement to start the process of acquiring SAIC Hongyan shares. On August 26, 2021, the delivery of major asset restructuring assets of Shangchai Co., Ltd. was completed. On December 6, 2021, Shanghai Diesel Engine Co., Ltd. was renamed "Shanghai New Power Automobile Technology Co., Ltd.", and SAIC Motor's commercial vehicle territory began a new chapter.
In addition, Weichai Group's strategic restructuring of Lovol Heavy Industry and Geely Commercial Vehicle's acquisition of Shandong Tangjun Ouling have also become key events in the restructuring and merger of commercial vehicle companies in 2021.