2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of FAW in China, and as the most representative and historical brand of FAW, Jiefang has fulfilled the mission of "the eldest son of the national car" with the glorious achievements of leading the way. On December 16, the Liberation 2024 Business Annual Conference with the theme of "Focus on Customers, Innovation and Change, Win-win Together, and Lead a New Journey" was held in Wuxi.
A new beginning
2024 will be the first year of 30 years after the liberation of the century-old brand process, Wu Bilei, chairman of FAW Jiefang and secretary of the Party committee, proposed in his speech at the conference that in 2024, it will focus on "1 leader, 5 major battles, 4 major tasks, and 4 guarantees" to formulate a strategic layout, which emphasizes the "cohesion of new energy and the realization of leapfrog breakthroughs" in the five major battles.
In 2023, FAW Jiefang's new energy transformation is steady, and important progress has been made in various businesses, with the overall annual sales in the domestic market expected to be 250,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 47%, and the new energy sales volume will increase by 106% year-on-year, a record high. In 2024, Jiefang has set an overall target of 350,000 units, with a 23% share of medium and heavy-duty trucks and the first in the sales industry, a 15% share of light vehicles, the first in the industry in terms of growth rate, and the first in export growth.
It is understood that on September 29, 2021, Jiefang established a new energy business department to accelerate the layout of new energy, and released the new energy "15333" strategy, planning five vehicle platforms of heavy, medium, light, micro and passenger, and carrying out all-round technical reserves on the three technical routes of pure electric, hybrid and fuel cell. At the same time, FAW Jiefang has also joined hands with partners such as CATL, Bosch Power, and Envision Technology to form a strategic alliance for the development of the new energy commercial vehicle industry to strengthen the layout of the entire industrial chain of electric heavy trucks.
New directions
In the first exchange meeting, Li Sheng, general manager and deputy secretary of the Party Committee of FAW Jiefang, analyzed that the state will cancel the purchase tax until 2027, and the battery technology is constantly iterating, and the cost is declining every year. Driven by these three factors, new energy commercial vehicles are growing rapidly, and it is expected that in the medium and heavy truck market, new energy will usher in greater development in the future.
According to reports, Jiefang developed and put into place 8 in this yearThe 5-ton lightweight new energy tractor increases its cruising range and extends the cruising range of the standard tractor by 25%. There are also flat floor trucks, intelligent muck dump trucks, etc., which will be launched next year. At the same time, for potential incremental markets such as ports, mines, and long-distance special lines, 4 2 port tractors and mine version tractors have also been developed, from pits to storage yards and even to thermal coal plants.
New routes
Ji Yizhi, deputy general manager of FAW Jiefang, is in charge of the new energy division, and he believes: "The economic development in the next few years must be inseparable from the automobile industry, and the automobile industry must be inseparable from new energy. At present, the penetration rate of the entire industry is about 5%, but its volume must have increased significantly, which is unquestionable." He analyzed that the future of new energy commercial vehicles may not only be a means of transportation, but may even have financial attributes and energy attributes.
It is reported that Jiefang will fully switch to the new energy 2 just released in November in 20240 products, covering its four major strains of traction, cargo, dump and special, including a total of 50 configuration upgrades and 52 performance upgrades, and will also launch some exclusive new energy platforms.
In terms of pure electric technology route: Jiefang has mass-produced fast charging and hybrid products. In addition, Jiefang also independently develops light, medium and heavy electric drive axle products. The "Liberation Era", established by Jiefang and CATL, has been officially operated, mainly for the back-end operation of new energy pure electric vehicles, and will expand the technology business in the future to build product competitiveness and unique advantages in technology. In addition, in September this year, Jiefang joined hands with Envision Power, the world's leading battery technology company, to build a project of more than 10 billion yuan, with one center and two bases, specializing in the production of battery cells and packs, and building Jiefang's manufacturing capacity in the field of batteries.
In terms of hybrid technology roadmap, the hybrid of light trucks has already been launched, and the hybrid of heavy trucks will also be launched in January 2024.
In terms of gas power technology route: Jiefang's gas power products have been mass-produced, including, traction, unloading, and cargo, such as 4The 2-meter urban distribution of cold chain fuel cell vehicles has also been ready for mass production. It is understood that Jiefang has launched 1,000 fuel cell vehicles, and the mileage of a single vehicle has exceeded 100,000 kilometers. In addition, Jiefang has made strategic investments in the field of fuel cells and established a joint venture company for layout, focusing on the integration of stacks including systems, related production lines, which are currently in assembly and production, and can have the conditions for trial production by early 2024.
In addition, Jiefang released a hydrogen engine in 2023, which will be put into trial launch in 2024, so that in places where there is more by-product hydrogen, there is no need to purify, and solutions can be quickly combined with the energy resources of various places. Ji Yizhi said, "The development space of new energy is indeed very broad, the key is how we break through the previous mode of thinking, to innovate and change, there are opportunities everywhere." ”
In 2024, FAW Jiefang will continue to promote the implementation of the "15333" new energy strategy, continue to make breakthroughs in core technologies, model products and industrial chain layout, focus on the life cycle pain points of new energy users, and lead the transformation of the new energy industry in the commercial vehicle industry. Facing the future, Jiefang will work with partners in the new energy industry ecology to promote the development of the entire industry, and at the same time build its own competitiveness, open a new chapter, and create a new journey.