ZF, a transmission manufacturing company from Germany that is renowned worldwide, is familiar to Chinese car consumers, but it is still unfamiliar to Chinese truck users. Facing the vast space for development brought about by the lagging “Chinese truck market”, ZF has established 18 factories in China since 2006. ZF Transmission Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. is one of them. Its main business is the development, production and sales of commercial vehicle gearboxes. Wolfgang Vogel, executive director of the ZF Group's commercial vehicle and special drive system, said at the beginning of the company's establishment: “It is only time for ZF's truck transmission project to enter China. The Chinese commercial vehicle market will continue to expand in the coming years. 16-speed synchronous gearboxes are increasingly needed by automotive manufacturers."

In 2007, the unprecedented performance of the truck market made it a solid step forward for ZF who had just arrived in China. "The large-scale implementation of China's weight-based toll collection, the continuous rise in fuel prices, and the formation of the China's expressway network have all prompted the Chinese transportation industry to reshuffle, presenting a point-to-point inter-provincial long-distance transport. The logistics distribution centered around the city circle is The main mode of transportation. This situation gave the large market capacity for high-powered, large-displacement, high-profile trucks. ZF took a fancy and made it timely, and later proved that we were right." Mr. Holzner, General Manager of ZF Drive Technologies (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., said to reporters with confidence.

Looking forward to fostering a sense of responsibility in the Chinese market

Although ZF's sales figures in Hangzhou did not fully satisfy the ZF board of directors, ZF knew that each investment was a long-term investment and ZF saw the great potential of the future development of the Chinese truck industry. . Wei Guoqing, director of marketing and sales at ZF Transmission Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., has strengthened this view. Director Wei mentioned that ZF’s international success has proved that our choice is correct. The road conditions in China are very similar to those in Europe. This determines that China's truck transportation market needs the same speed ratio as the European transportation market, strong hill climbing power, multiple gears, simple use, and comfortable gear shifts. The ZF transmission is undoubtedly one of the best choices. Weight-based charging allows users to shift from a single overloaded transport to a comprehensive consideration of operating costs; trucks develop to multi-axles, high horsepower, and large displacements. ZF's product features just meet the increase in horsepower and increase engine output torque. Demand.

Director Wei further pointed out that with the full implementation of the national standard in 2008, the advantages of ZF will be further reflected. ZF's 16-speed transmission has a higher overall speed ratio, which is more suitable for the characteristics of the large torque and low speed of the three engines of the country. It ensures the adequate climbing ability while increasing the maximum speed and maximum economic speed of the vehicle. Mr. Holzner also emphasized on this point: The implementation of the National III standard may cause the overall sales of trucks in the Chinese market to decline, but our ZF market share will certainly increase because of the increase in the sales of one unit in the high-end market. It may give us opportunities. Therefore, what ZF currently needs to do is to cultivate the Chinese high-end market together with the ZF-supported vehicle manufacturers, and to promote the introduction of new products according to market development needs and policy changes.

As an independent supplier of foreign investment in China, ZF does not regard himself as a bystander. From the product introduction, he can see his sense of responsibility for the Chinese market.

Original Quality World Technology Leads China's Transmission Market Trend

The Ecosplit gearbox, which was put into production at the Hangzhou plant in China, is currently one of the highest-end products in ZF's international manual gearboxes. Mr. Holzner stressed, "We will not bring lagging technology to China. We must bring the most advanced products to China and lead the Chinese market to a higher level, so that there will be room for mutual benefit. Moreover, we always All are considering how to make our products more adaptable to the Chinese market. We have passed strict and even harsh tests for each OEM. We cannot be responsible only for independent suppliers. What we need is common with OEMs. The growth has been jointly recognized by the market.” He also revealed that in 2008, ZF will bring its world's leading AMT technology to China, so that the working conditions of Chinese truck drivers can be better improved. "The construction of a harmonious society in China should start from the spotlight. We also have the same responsibility as component suppliers."

When talking about the current localization of ZF to reduce costs and increase market share, Mr. Holzner assured the reporter that ZF will not sacrifice product quality in exchange for the market. This is contrary to ZF's principle of doing things. . "We always believe that good products will have good returns, and good ways and processes will be more important." Wei Director jokingly said: Instead of allowing ZF to concentrate on how to lower the quality, it is not as good as developing a new product. It's easy.

Indeed, the principle of quality for German companies has long been known. ZF's initial site selection in Hangzhou was to take into account that the technical level and processing technology of spare parts suppliers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are relatively complete and mature. Director Wei further emphasized that when he first entered China to select parts suppliers, ZF's technicians chose to work with parts and components companies for 6-8 months to create qualified products that fully comply with the German certification standards. Similarly, the gearbox production line in Hangzhou is the internationally unified production line. ZF believes that high-quality products are needed in China's truck market. The Chinese truck market in 2007 has proved that high-profile trucks are no longer the tip of the iceberg. In 2008, ZF and the OEMs jointly promoted. With regard to the pulling of end-users in the market, ZF’s quality advantages will become more prominent.

Gear shift accelerates reengineering the Chinese market

Zhejiang Fuhua Group’s Fu can be said to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the ZF transmission. General Fu told reporters that since the purchase of the Dongfeng Tianlong vehicle equipped with ZF transmission, the user will have to name Dongfeng Tianlong. The reason is simple: ZF's transmission has a large overall speed ratio and good quality, which meets the high speed requirements and high attendance requirements of customers' vehicles. In addition, in addition to the increase in the turnover rate of the car, Fu said that the maintenance cost of the car is well controlled. Fu said that when he first purchased the Dragon, he was specially equipped with a clutch to wait for regular replacement, and the car could run 1.1 million kilometers. Due to the good start-up performance of the ZF transmission, the original clutch plate wears very little and the clutch plate is more equipped. It is useless. Rich can not help but sigh: "Zef really became my career in the transmission."

At the end of 2007, Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd., a key strategic partner of ZF Hangzhou, specially held a special promotion meeting for Dongfeng Tianlong Heavy Trucks equipped with ZF transmissions. The attendance of all the major leaders of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles and ZF Hangzhou demonstrated that the two parties attach great importance to the current cooperation model and expressed both sides' confidence in the sales of ZF's Dongfeng Tianlong Market in 2008.

Dongfeng Tianlong, as a representative of high-end new heavy trucks in China, sold more than 20,000 units in less than two years. In the configuration of high-end models, ZF has naturally become a 100% gearbox supplier for Dongfeng Tianlong. It can be said that Dongfeng Tianlong is in front of the stage and ZF is quietly behind the stage. However, aiming at ZF's goal of entering the Chinese market - reaching 10% of China's market share in 2008, it aims at how to allow Chinese consumers to accept high-priced products and adapt to the highly-changing 2008 truck market so that "German speed" can be adapted" China's speed and other issues, through dialogue with Mr. Holzner, General Manager of ZF Driveline Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., have already felt that the German train is shifting gears in China.

Faced with the special Chinese truck market, facing a strong competitor, for a foreign-funded enterprise with an annual output of only 30,000 units, how to attack the city is the biggest issue. After more than a year's run-in with the Chinese market, Mr. Holzner understood the weight and significance of 10% market share in China. Mr. Holzner finally pointed out that ZF is different from other gearboxes on the market. Once it enters China, it has a clear goal and positions the mid-range and high-end markets: "We will not stand still and wait for the market to develop to the high end. ZF understands that offensive is The best defense."