In 2023, one of the bright spots of China's economy is the dazzling results of new energy vehicle exports. According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs, in the first 11 months, China's automobile exports were 47620,000 units. Exports are expected to exceed 5 million units, setting a new record. It can be said that China's auto industry has been at the forefront of the world in the new energy transformation.
New energy vehicles are making great progress overseas, but Chinese car companies are also facing some problems. As a late-developing country, China's auto industry is taking the road of joint venture introduction and independent innovation, and local car companies have long been in a position of learning and catching up, and highly focused on the local market. Recently, the EU's anti-monopoly "murmur", the lack of adaptation to the market in some countries, and the short-term "return" of new energy vehicles to the sea all show that the road for Chinese car companies to grow into global car companies is not smooth sailing.
In this case, China's new energy vehicle industry should take "global localization" as the starting point to make up for the shortcomings of sales, service, and brand when participating in global competition. Localization means global thinking and local action, which is a combination of globalization and localization, which requires automobile companies to not only have a global vision and strategy, but also go beyond simple standardization and carry out targeted localization innovation in the target country. For China's new energy vehicle companies, it is necessary to do a good job of "global localization" from the current vehicle export to the deep participation in cross-border competition in the future.
The technical characteristics of new energy vehicles require global localization. Automobiles as mechanical products can be completely standardized, but new energy vehicles as intelligent driving platforms are different. Although Chinese automakers strive to lead the global innovation frontier in terms of algorithm models, laser and visual recognition, intelligent cockpits, and power batteries, at the same time, autonomous assisted driving requires algorithm training on road data, local applications in intelligent cockpits, and energy infrastructure for charging and swapping, all of which need to be localized in target countries. The combination of globalization and localization will enable China's new energy vehicles to meet both production efficiency and user needs, thereby strengthening its competitive advantage.
Brand building also needs to be glocalized. With the deepening of international competition, global brands will emerge in China's new energy vehicle industry. This will be a "co-creation brand" that adapts to the cultural characteristics of various countries and the characteristics of social communication, and meets the needs of consumers in a multicultural context. The integration of globalization and localization will make China's new energy vehicle brands and services closer to consumers in various countries.
Automobile is an important industry related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and at present, protectionism is rising around the world, and transnational or regional barriers have emerged. In the future, once the global industry is restructured, China's new energy vehicle industry may face more policy risks. In this case, local production can help to avoid these risks. At the same time, on the manufacturing side, new energy vehicle companies have a strong degree of integration of the industrial chain and a strong ability to control localized innovation. Globalization and localization promote each other, which helps to form a community of interests in the new energy vehicle industry.
Of course, glocalization also means that China's new energy vehicles will face more business challenges, such as financial risks, intellectual property risks, and first-class risks, which put forward higher requirements for the strategic thinking, business capabilities, technology research and development, and policy communication of car companies. At present, the global development of China's new energy vehicles is still in the early stage, and the so-called "going overseas" is still dominated by vehicle exports, and the development of global localization is not deep and balanced enough. To this end, China's new energy vehicle companies should strengthen coordination while exploring their own ways to avoid falling into vicious competition.
Localization is inseparable from China. China's huge market capacity, complete manufacturing industry chain, developed Internet, and effective policy support will provide strong backing for the global development of new energy vehicles. At present, there are Chinese car companies such as Geely, which have successfully operated multiple multinational brands around the world, car companies like BYD that carry out global vertical integration from upstream lithium resources to terminal car sales, and car companies like SAIC that use brand equity to explore developed markets. The localization of Chinese characteristics will help China's new energy vehicles better participate in global competition, and over time, China may contribute a new model to the world's automotive industry. (This article**: Economy** Author: Song Qi).
*:Economy**.