Some fear Chinese automakers' playbook is existential threat to US auto industry

Miami Herald

6 days ago

DETROIT - Aggressive component-sharing efforts have contributed to lower cost structures at many Chinese automakers, and there's an increasing push for Western automakers to catch up.
The strategy stretches from internet-connected vehicle technologies and electric vehicle powertrain systems to actuators and even engines that once defined models. Automakers agree to use common specifications for vehicle parts, sometimes at the behest of the government, to create economies of scale, ensure quality and offer better functionality to customers.
The effort has contributed to lower-cost and technologically advanced vehicles from China that people like Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley have called an existential threat to the U.S. auto industry.
"We have to beat (Chinese EV giant) BYD, and we're not going to do it with cheaper batteries," Farley said last week during a panel at the Reindustrialize summit in Detroit. "We're going to have to do that with smarter engineering and better supply chain and manufacturing."
A key part of that, said Terry Woychowski, president of automotive at Caresoft Global Technologies Inc., a benchmarking consulting firm, is common parts between brands and automakers.
"To compete from a cost perspective and time perspective, there needs to be much more sharing of components," he said at the company's vehicle tear-down facility in Livonia.
He gave an example: Three automakers go to a supplier for a windshield wiper motor, each providing several thousand specifications for the parts. The supplier agrees to make the individual part for 100,000 vehicles for each company. In contrast, Chinese brands are increasingly agreeing on a list of requirements for a supplier to produce one part many times over.
"If you could all get together and say, 'OK, we took 8,000 requirements (each), and we made it 4,000, and we've all agreed - boom. Can you make that for all of us?' You say, 'Yeah, 300,000 at scale,'" Woychowski said. "We all need a motor to do this, but we all think we're smarter than anyone else, and that our smartness is what makes us a better product.
"Who would know?" he continued. "Who would care? Nobody. It's got to work. But we fixate on those things because we rely on 100 years of experience. We rely on our specs. We rely on the way we specify a product."
As a result, Chinese automakers take advantage of greater economies of scale and introduce product faster compared to U.S. companies for a part of the vehicle that probably won't make or break a sale, Woychowski said.
Meanwhile, some automakers in China adopting a common structural design have reduced their bill of materials costs by 5-10%, said Sharath Reddy, senior vice president of research and development at Magna International Inc. Standardization also has been key to unlocking product development timelines of less than two years and driving reliability and quality benefits from tested designs built at scale.
Reconciling different engineering philosophies, protecting intellectual property and balancing standardization with the need for differentiation, however, can be a challenge, Reddy said. Additionally, legacy companies work with processes and specifications that have been put in place over decades.
"For them, adopting standardization can take years," Reddy said in an email, "especially as it needs to align with sourcing cycles."
That's less of a challenge for the startups and new brands working from the ground up in China, he added. Additionally, the role of government and the work of organizations like the China Automotive Technology and Research Center and China Society of Automotive Engineers have contributed to accelerating adoption.
For example, the government's standardization of the hardware interface and communication protocols for charging ports for new-energy vehicles, including EVs and plug-in hybrids, allows drivers to use any public or private charging station. That access has helped EV adoption, whereas it's struggled in the United States, where automakers traditionally have used a different charging port from Tesla Inc.
"In North America and Europe, there isn't the same level of centralized collaboration. OEMs tend to operate more independently, which makes broad standardization harder to achieve," Reddy wrote. "That said, we're seeing signs of change. With rising cost pressures and increased competition - especially from Chinese OEMs - some global automakers are beginning to revisit how they approach standardization."
The most effective use of this approach is sharing components that aren't tied to a brand's identity or for areas where customers don't interact with the vehicle, such as structural parts, seat frame closures, actuators and certain electronic modules, Reddy said. More challenging areas are lighting, exteriors, interiors, powertrains, advanced driver assistance systems and infotainment.
"These areas often define the user experience and brand identity," he said, "so OEMs typically want more control and differentiation there."
Shifting consumer expectations
The line for what parts are important for differentiation is shifting, experts said. As the lifespans of gas- and diesel-powered vehicles extend amid a bumpier transition to EVs, automakers are pressed on where to invest. Plus, newer technologies like the interior's digital cockpit experience are increasingly becoming a way for models and brands to separate themselves from the competition.
Bill Russo, CEO of consulting and investment platform Automobility Ltd. in Shanghai, said "the foreign brands have had to rethink, because the whole pricing strategy and the whole content strategy has always been pegged around brands that are defined and differentiated based on their driving performance. It's not about that in the 21st century."
More people in China ride than drive, which means they are looking for a vehicle space to live in and enjoy, he explained. The bragging right of the car, Russo said, isn't about the 0-60 mph acceleration.
"When the transition happens to EV, it goes from an analog to more of a digital measure of technology differentiation," he said. "It's not that I-get-the-good-stuff-if-I buy-the-bigger-engine way of thinking about product planning. I get the good stuff or I opt in for more intelligence, more experience, more comfort, more cabin comfort."
As a result, even engines are increasingly becoming an area of commonality. Horse Powertrain Ltd. is a joint venture between China-based Volvo parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and French automaker Renault SA that produces engines, transmissions and other powertrain parts, including for hybrids. Horse also said publicly that it's supplying engines for Mercedes-Benz and other brands.
With 17 plants and five research and development centers on three continents, Horse now has its eyes set on expanding into North America, CEO Matias Giannini said on a recent visit to Detroit.
Traditionally, engines were a part of the DNA of a brand or model. Although that still might be true for performance-oriented vehicles, it may not be as much of a priority for other offerings, creating opportunity for economies of scale, Giannini said.
Collaboration may be a move to save on costs to fill out a company's portfolio for ICE and hybrid vehicles when capital is spread thin investing in EVs and other advanced technologies that automakers see is their future, Giannini said.
"By 2040, 50% of vehicle sales still will not be EVs," he said. "A lot of OEMs had given up (on investing in ICE), and they're realizing there is more than one road to net zero (carbon emissions). We offer solutions to close gaps, as companies realize they need to have more hybrids, and the biggest question is: What is the most efficient way? We can help them get the volume they need."
Giannini said cost savings depend on whether an automaker uses an off-the-shelf product or develops something with Horse. The manufacturer makes 8 million engines and transmissions per year and has $17 billion (15 billion euro) annual revenue outlook.
What the industry says
General Motors Co. had said it's going "all in on EVs," only to reverse that decision by announcing plans to launch plug-in hybrids in 2027 in North America. A representative for the Detroit automaker declined to comment on shared component efforts, citing competitive reasons. GM has partnered with Hyundai Motor Co. on vehicle development, supply chain and clean-energy technology, with GM CEO Mary Barra in recent months teasing that more information on that collaboration will be coming soon.
In a statement, Stellantis NV - parent of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram - shared that the automaker isn't a part of any external or industrywide standardization effort, but that it uses collaboration and scale across its 14 brands globally.
Ford Motor Co. spokesperson Mike Levine pointed to the Dearborn automaker's partnership with Volkswagen AG that shares platforms and plants. For example, the VW Amarok truck is based on the Ford Ranger pickup, and both are built at a Ford plant in South Africa. Ford and GM have also developed together nine- and 10-speed transmissions.
Ford also referred The Detroit News to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which didn't respond to a request for comment.
German supplier Robert Bosch GmbH seeks standardization of products within its portfolio to save on costs, though automakers define their individual specifications, spokesperson Tim Wieland said in a statement.
Japanese supplier Denso Corp. spokesperson Andrew Rickerman said in a statement that standardization is an area the company is always evaluating. Denso leverages a "core and customize approach" when co-developing products with customers in which it presents a core product that can be altered for the unique applications and requirements of individual customers and the regions in which they operate.
"This approach allows us to produce dependable products," Rickerman said, "that still offer opportunities to innovate for consumer value, helping us make continual advancements in traditional and new product areas."
SAE International in the United States works with stakeholders to develop standards in the automotive and aerospace industries. The organization's standards are voluntary, though it does provide information to governments developing regulations when requested.
Regarding China, "they have certain benefits that we may not recognize as easily in a free market society where their market is somewhat constrained to a certain degree," Christian Thiele, SAE's senior director of ground vehicle standards, said about government support and subsidies in China for standardization.
But industry collaboration in the United States to improve safety, health and other benefits for customers has been ongoing for decades. ADAS, driver monitoring systems and sustainability are major topics today Thiele said. SAE reviews existing standards every five years, though some areas that represent rapidly changing technologies, like those around the North American Charging Standard, are discussed more frequently.
"Getting 125 engineers in the room, you might think sometimes it's efficient, but it doesn't get that efficient, because now you have a lot of strong-willed individuals with their opinions," Thiele said. "But what you're doing at the end of the day is you're delivering the best product there is."
And even in these discussions, Chinese competitors are participating as they look to expand into the U.S. market, Thiele said.
"You may not get a complete vehicle on four wheels from BYD next week," he said, "but eventually that will happen."
Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.