Jing Wong, Automotive Engineering Research Institute of SAIC Motor Group
1, a brief history of Korean automobile development
Automobile production in Korea began in the 1940s, but it really started in the early 1960s. Automobile manufacturers began to trial-produce automobiles by assembling imported parts to produce complete vehicles. In the 1970s, the South Korean government implemented the policy of "automobile localization", and various automobile companies began to introduce foreign production technology on a large scale. In 1980s, Korean automobile industry ushered in a period of rapid development. 1985 the output of Korean cars was 370,000, and 1995 reached 2.54 million. South Korea's automobile industry has also formed a market structure dominated by Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo and Ssangyong, and South Korea has become a world automobile producer. With the realization of automobile localization, the Korean government has implemented the export-oriented strategy. Since the 1980s, Korean cars have been exported in large quantities, and by 1995, cars were exported to1100000, ranking sixth among the world's automobile exporters.
197 The Asian financial crisis dealt a great blow to South Korea's automobile industry. In this storm, the Korean automobile industry was forced to make new adjustments. 1997, Ssangyong Motor Company was acquired by Daewoo due to insolvency; In the same year, Kia Motors was also auctioned by the government, and Hyundai Group merged Kia in 19981February, but soon the debt problem occurred within Hyundai Group. 1999, daewoo motor was also in debt of18 billion USD, and was finally acquired by General Motors in 2002 10.
Just when the world thought that the Korean automobile industry would collapse, the Korean automobile industry miraculously recovered again. But at this time, instead of sticking to the original "Korean model", it is attached to multinational automobile groups. In 2002, South Korea's automobile sales climbed to the highest level in history, reaching 3.42 million vehicles, including domestic sales of1620,000 vehicles, the highest level in the past five years, and exports of1800,000 vehicles (including vehicles assembled and produced by foreign-funded factories).
2. Development, reorganization and present situation of Korea Automobile Group.
At present, there are four major Korean automakers: Hyundai Kia Group, General Motors daewoo motor, Ssangyong Motor Company and Renault Samsung Motor Company. The development and operation of various automobile manufacturers in Korea are as follows.
2. 1, Hyundai Kia Group
Hyundai Motor was founded in 1967. 1968, started technical cooperation with Ford Motor Company of England to produce automobiles. 1973 After the first oil crisis, we began to research and develop domestic cars and set up Ulsan factory with an annual output of100000. 1975 In cooperation with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan, the original Korean Pony sedan was developed and exported. 1980 After the second oil crisis, with the sharp drop of domestic demand, according to the rationalization measures taken by the government in 198 1, cars and heavy trucks were specially produced. 1982, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan participated in the investment and entered the stage of comprehensive cooperation. 1985, a new factory with an annual output of 300,000 vehicles was completed, and strategic Excel cars were produced and exported to the American market, which was very successful. 1989, an assembly plant with an annual output of100000 vehicles was built in Montreal, Canada.
Kia Motors was founded in 1952. 196 1 year began to produce two-wheeled vehicles, 1963 began to produce tricycles, 197 1 year cooperated with Mazda motor company of Japan to produce four-wheeled trucks and cars. 1In August, 976, it acquired Asian automobile company and became a comprehensive automobile enterprise. With the business deterioration caused by the second world oil crisis in 1980, according to the rationalization measures of the automobile industry adopted by the Korean government in 198 1, light commercial vehicles were specially produced. 198 1 year, started to produce bongo light buses, and got rid of the deteriorating business situation because of its success. 1985, the Korean government revised some rationalization measures. 1in July, 1986, KIA company began to jointly produce Pride cars with Ford Company of the United States, and sold them in China. 1987, it began to export them to the United States through a series of dealers of Ford Motor Company.
1997, Kia Motors declared bankruptcy under the impact of the Asian financial crisis. At this time, KIA's debt has reached more than 7 trillion won (the exchange rate of won against the US dollar is about 1300: 1). Results After three rounds of international bidding, Hyundai Motor finally won the bid in 1998 10, 12/0/day, and Hyundai Motor officially merged with Kia Motors to form Hyundai Kia Motors Group. However, after the merger of Hyundai and Kia, it also exposed its own debt crisis, so it later formed an alliance with Dyke Group, and Dyke acquired the equity of Hyundai 10.5%. In 2002, the output of Hyundai Kia Group reached 2.46 million vehicles.
2.2. General daewoo motor Company
Xinjin Industrial Company was established in 1963, and Xinjin Automobile Company was established after 1965 acquired Guo Xin Automobile Company. 1972, it established GMK as a joint venture with American General Motors Company and began to produce automobiles. 1976 The business deteriorated, and its shares were acquired by Korea Development Bank and renamed as Shinhan Automobile Company. 1987, Daewoo Industrial Company took over the shares of Korea Development Bank. 1982, American general motors company handed over the management right, and 1983 changed its name to daewoo motor company. 1985 Fuping factory expansion (annual output of 400,000 cars). 1986, Le Mans car with Wofidcar concept was developed based on Kadeet car of Opel Company in Germany. 1987 began to export to the United States, but only 64,000 vehicles were exported. 1992, the cooperative relationship with American general motors broke down, thus adopting the policy of independent operation.
1997, Daewoo acquired the insolvent Ssangyong Motor Company. However, by 1999, daewoo motor company itself was in debt of18 billion dollars, and had to ask for help from European and American automobile companies. In 2000, Ssangyong Company broke away from the overwhelmed daewoo motor Company. It was not until 20021October 17 that the sale problem of Daewoo, which lasted for three years, was solved. General Motors formally acquired Daewoo and established General Motors daewoo motor Company. Among the newly established shares of GM Daewoo, GM owns 42. 1%, Daewoo's creditors own 33%, and Suzuki owns 14. 9%, China SAIC owns 10%, which is the first time that China automobile enterprises have participated in the international automobile industry restructuring. In 2002, GM daewoo motor produced 600,000 cars.
2.3 Ssangyong Motor Company
1954, Hedong Huan Automobile Factory was established, which is a professional manufacturer of jeeps and special vehicles. 1962 changed its name to Hedong Huan Automobile Industry Company, producing passenger cars and special trucks. 1977 changed its name to east Asia automobile company, and the Korean government selected it as a specialized manufacturer of special vehicles when it took measures to rationalize the automobile industry in 198 1. 1984, it acquired He Ju Automobile Company, which specializes in producing jeep, and produced Korando jeep. /kloc-0 was taken over by Ssangyong group in 1984,/kloc-0 took over the management right of British Panther West Wind Co., Ltd. in 1987, and/kloc-0 was renamed Ssangyong Motor Company in March 1988. 1988 10 produced the family van jeep,/kloc-0 sold the Kallista racing car in April 1992, and/kloc-0 sold the independently developed Musso jeep in the second half of 1993. 199/kloc-0 signed a technical cooperation contract with Mercedes-Benz in February, 19921month, and signed a capital cooperation contract. 1997 began to produce CHRMAN series high-end cars. But also in this year, Ssangyong Motor Company was acquired by Daewoo Company due to insolvency. In 2000, Daewoo Group itself was in jeopardy, and Ssangyong Company was reorganized and transformed again, eventually becoming an independent company. In 2002, the output of Ssangyong Motor was 88,000 vehicles.
2.4. Renault Samsung Motor Company
1997, the cars produced by Samsung group were put into the market. 1999, Samsung motor company was in trouble. In 2000, Renault Automobile Company of France purchased 70% shares of Samsung Automobile Company and established Renault Samsung Automobile Company. In 2002, Renault Samsung produced 47,000 cars.
3 South Korea's automobile industry development for reference to China.
The development of South Korea's automobile industry has experienced a process from scratch, reaching its peak in the 1990s, then being impacted by the Asian financial crisis, and gradually recovering in recent years. When South Korea's automobile industry was in full swing, there was an upsurge of learning the "Korean model" in China. When the Korean auto industry bottomed out, the domestic industry had doubts about the "Korean model" and even felt that the Korean auto industry was useless. It's time to calmly analyze the Korean auto industry. China and South Korea are also late-developing countries. The development of Korean automobile industry has experienced ups and downs, but there are still many experiences for China to learn from.
(1) The Korean government has adopted effective supporting policies for the development of the automobile industry, which has played a good role in planning and coordinating automobile enterprises.
(2) Pay attention to the cultivation of independent development ability, which should be said to be the essence of the development of Korean automobile industry.
(3) Take the road of collectivization development, which is the necessary guarantee for the formation of independent development capability and the only way to improve international competitiveness.
(4) Successful export-oriented strategy and global operation are wise choices made by Korean automobile industry based on its own characteristics and international development trend. Some people may say that some of these characteristics are the reasons why the Korean automobile industry has suffered setbacks. Admittedly, South Korea has gone too far in some aspects, but generally speaking, the author thinks these four points are the source power to promote the development of South Korea's automobile industry and overcome difficulties.
What can China's automobile industry learn? (1) At present, there is a serious phenomenon of "scattered, chaotic and poor" in China's automobile industry, and there is still a problem of blindly concentrating automobile projects all over the country. Therefore, the China government should learn from the South Korean government's practice and strengthen the planning and coordination of the automobile industry. (2) Strengthening the cultivation of independent development ability has become a top priority. At present, China's automobile production ranks among the best in the world, but the core technology has never been in its own hands. Without core technology, China automobile industry will have no right to speak, and without core technology, China automobile industry will not have real great development. Therefore, China should learn from Korean experience and make full use of the opportunity of joint venture and technical support to realize independent development. (3) China automobile industry should take the road of collectivization development, and it is necessary to give some support to the three major groups. (4) China automobile enterprises should further integrate global resources and realize global operation.