Marine Valve,Air Compressor,Marine Generator Yangshan Marine (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. , http://www.shmarineparts.com
Since last year, natural gas vehicles have become one of the biggest subdivision highlights in China's sluggish heavy truck market. At the same time, the pressure of energy saving and environmental protection and the obvious economic benefits have also made many countries develop natural gas vehicles as an important means of reducing atmospheric pollution. While the development of domestic natural gas vehicles is booming, is the export of natural gas vehicles equally prosperous?
After interviewing a number of commercial vehicle manufacturers, the reporter learned that natural gas vehicles are faced with many difficulties and various restrictive factors in the export process. Therefore, car companies are more inclined to regard it as an auxiliary export vehicle.
Destination government support is the key
According to relevant person in charge of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, as of the end of May, heavy trucks achieved 14,000 vehicle exports, and natural gas vehicles accounted for only a small part of them. The major export destinations of natural gas vehicles for CNHTC are Thailand and Malaysia. A very important factor for the introduction of natural gas vehicles in these two countries is state support. The relevant person in charge of Zhongtong Bus stated that in 2012, Zhongtong had exported more than 1,400 passenger cars, and natural gas vehicles accounted for about one-third of the total. The models were mainly urban buses, and the export destination countries included Indonesia and the Philippines in Southeast Asia. Latin America, Colombia, etc., the introduction of natural gas buses in these countries is also inextricably linked with national support.
Although considering from the government's point of view, natural gas vehicles do have advantages in terms of energy saving and environmental protection, users are more concerned with the economics of buying and using natural gas vehicles. It is understood that with the same configuration, natural gas vehicles are usually 50,000 to 80,000 yuan more expensive than traditional fuel vehicles. Therefore, although natural gas vehicles can save energy and reduce fuel costs compared to conventional fuel vehicles, if the energy cost savings do not offset the higher car purchase costs, the incentive for users to purchase natural gas vehicles will be greatly reduced. Therefore, if the export destination country does not support it, natural gas vehicles will not be able to help users save costs, and natural gas vehicles will be difficult to break into the local market.
According to reports, CNHTC's natural gas heavy trucks can be exported to Thailand and Malaysia. Zhongtong's natural gas buses can enter the Philippines, Indonesia, and Colombia. This is largely because these countries have relatively abundant natural gas sources and do not need infrastructure. With huge investments, the local government has the idea to promote energy-saving and emission reduction through the promotion of natural gas vehicles. The market is also willing to follow up in order to reduce energy costs. Under this circumstance, China’s idea of ​​exporting natural gas vehicles coincides with the purchase intention of local governments and users, and the export of natural gas vehicles is much easier. In many countries such as Africa, natural gas resources are not sufficient. The promotion of natural gas vehicles requires substantial investment in infrastructure construction, and the government is reluctant to increase investment in related areas. It will be very difficult to develop natural gas vehicle market in these countries.
Another major destination country for China’s auto exports, Russia, began developing compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles as early as the 1980s. Today, natural gas vehicles are not new to Russia. The local government does not have much interest in importing foreign natural gas vehicles. China's exports of natural gas vehicles to Russia are more to cater to its already established natural gas vehicle market. "Our company will export natural gas vehicles to Russia as an auxiliary export method to a large extent and will not occupy a special position in the company's export strategy," said the person in charge of the JAC Automobile market in Russia.
Multiple factors restrict exports
Due to the limited technical conditions and shorter cruising range, natural gas vehicles are more suitable for countries such as Thailand and Malaysia where the land area is small and road transport is mainly short- and medium-distance. If the area is larger and road transport is again dominated by medium and long distances, most of these countries will not choose natural gas vehicles. In addition, in terms of power, there is still a gap between natural gas vehicles and conventional fuel vehicles, which also affects the enthusiasm of users to use natural gas vehicles.
According to relevant person in charge of CNHTC: "Since natural gas vehicles are still limited by technical conditions in terms of cruising range and dynamics, the natural geographical environment of the exporting destination country will restrict the export of natural gas vehicles to a certain extent." According to another report, Shaanxi Auto currently has established transportation routes for natural gas vehicles between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Sochi in Russia. This is mainly due to the better road conditions of these lines and can meet the demand for natural gas vehicles. In addition, the cold winter in Russia will have a great impact on natural gas engines. In order to adapt to this unique weather condition, technical changes must be made to natural gas engines. “So, when we export natural gas vehicles, we must consider the conditions of the destination country’s road conditions, weather, etc.†Jianghuai’s sales manager for the Russian market told reporters.
Although Thailand, Malaysia and other countries have introduced natural gas vehicles in China, this does not prove that the prospect of exporting natural gas vehicles to these countries is bright. According to the relevant person in charge of CNHTC, “Thailand, Malaysia and other countries have limited economic strength, and their land area is not large. The truck market is relatively small, and it is subdivided into natural gas trucks. The market accommodation capacity is even more limited. These countries are importing. After a batch of natural gas trucks will not be imported for a long time, so although we have successfully exported natural gas trucks to these countries, it does not mean that once and for all, if these countries are no longer imported for a long period of time. Natural gas trucks, then we must continue to open up other markets, and always be prepared so that once the demand for natural gas trucks in certain places arises, we can immediately produce and manufacture them."
Oil prices are another factor that affects the export of natural gas vehicles. “If the price of oil continues to rise, the export situation of natural gas vehicles will certainly become better and better. However, the international oil prices have fluctuated and even fell repeatedly, and the export of natural gas vehicles will face great difficulties.†Insiders said he further analyzed There are two main selling points for natural gas vehicles: one is to reduce fuel costs; the other is to reduce emissions. The rise in oil prices is a major driving force for companies to develop natural gas vehicles. Reducing energy consumption and saving money are places that users pay more attention to when buying natural gas vehicles. Therefore, whether it is for the users or the car companies, the drop in oil prices is not conducive to the promotion of natural gas vehicles.
“Under the influence of the continuous fluctuation of international oil prices, enterprises will more and more use natural gas vehicles as an auxiliary export vehicle, and will adjust their export strategies based on constant changes in oil prices and gas prices,†said the industry insider.
Survive in the gap between multinational commercial vehicle giants
Although domestic commercial vehicle enterprises such as Zhongtong and CNHTC temporarily occupy a place in the Southeast Asian market, the situation is not optimistic. It is reported that the Southeast Asian commercial vehicle market was previously dominated by Japan's commercial vehicle giants. Its technical strength, advanced management experience, development of the Southeast Asian market has also been a long history, has accumulated a lot of market development experience, China's commercial vehicle prices To enter this market must compete with Japanese commercial vehicle giants.
"In the case that competitors have advantages in terms of technology, management, market development, etc., on the one hand, we must save costs, reduce vehicle sales, and create price advantages in all aspects of design, production, sales, etc.; Continuously improve the technical level, narrow the technological gap with Japanese automakers. We must also make good quality and do a good job of after-sales service, so that users of export destination countries gradually recognize our brand.†Industry sources told reporters that in addition to natural gas vehicle exports to In addition to these aspects, we must also develop the local natural gas vehicle market step by step based on the conditions of natural gas sources in various countries, and the willingness of local governments and markets to use natural gas vehicles. Therefore, China's natural gas vehicle export is actually looking for its own living space in the middle of the competition among multinational commercial vehicle giants.
From this perspective, the export of natural gas vehicles must not be blindly optimistic, and companies must maintain a cautious and rational attitude. At the same time, as a kind of clean energy vehicle that is currently applied in the automotive field, natural gas vehicles have great potential for reducing energy consumption, saving costs, reducing emissions, and improving environmental quality. In the long run, China's natural gas vehicle exports have bright prospects. Therefore, although there will be many twists and turns in this process, as long as Chinese car companies are willing to work hard to overcome difficulties in the development process, the export prospects of natural gas vehicles will become better and better.
Car prices look down on the export of natural gas vehicles