This is the first large-scale automobile factory for Volkswagen to convert internal combustion engines into electric vehicles, and it is also the first large-scale automobile production base in the world to seamlessly convert into electrification. From the technical structure, assembly method and materials used, all the upper-level design and bottom-level logic are fundamentally different from the past.
Zwickau factory is the "bright line" of mass transformation.
Volkswagen proudly put Zwickau on the gorgeous stage in the spotlight, bearing the ambition in the field of vehicle assembly, and the process of transformation once became the focus of attention in the industry. This manufacturer hopes to develop the world's largest pure electric product matrix, so as to prove that it can still survive as strong as ever in the field of automobile manufacturing after the end of the internal combustion engine era.
But little known is that there is another "dark line".
20 19 1 month, Volkswagen set up a new parts department under the group (Volkswagen? Group? Components (hereinafter referred to as VWGC) is responsible for the research, development and production of strategic components, trying to build a stronger supply chain system in the journey to the blue ocean of the new four modernizations. After three years of spin-off, the new round of parts reorganization will involve a business volume worth 35 billion euros.
Everyone in the industry knows that Toyotomi's high profit and high reliability are closely related to its strong supply chain system. In the era of fuel vehicles, Toyota's supply chain control is the strongest among the automobile manufacturing giants-the subsidiaries of the first echelon such as Denso, Aisin Seiki, Toyota Synthetic and Aichi Steel are strong, and the second echelon such as Donghai Materialization, Dafeng Industry and Central Clockwork are also different. A series of parts suppliers are basically in the leading position in the industry.
In order to grasp the new blue ocean of the new four modernizations transformation, the public's thinking has changed. They not only spend a lot of money to promote the transformation and transformation of Zwickau and other automobile factories, but also try to build an independent, self-controlled and independent supply chain structure with core technologies in the electrification era through the game of VWGC.
The game behind the parts
On the track of the new four modernizations, from 20 16 to 20 18, Volkswagen saved more than 750 million euros in German factories. According to the overall planning of the Group, this figure will increase to 2 billion euros in 2025. In the field of spare parts, in 2065,438+09 and 2020 alone, the whole group will invest 870 million euros for the transformation of R&D and electrified parts.
This means that since 20 15, Volkswagen's investment share in electrified parts has increased from 5% to 40%. It is planned that by 2023, the Group will invest a total of 3.8 billion euros in the production of related parts, most of which will enter the mass production stage.
VWGC's business is divided into five new parts:
Engine and Casting (Engine? & amp？ OEM), "Gearbox and Electric Drive" (Gearbox? & amp？ Electric? Drive), chassis, electric cars and seats. Each business area is responsible for the whole process from development to procurement to production, which is independent in budget and research and development. In addition, VWGC also undertakes the whole cycle of battery from production to recycling.
Back in 20 18, VWGC, which is still under construction, has produced more than100000 traditional engines and 8 million gearboxes for the group. However, with the advancement of electrification transformation, the company must gradually reduce the output of parts and components in the traditional fuel era in the next decade, and ensure to avoid a sustained impact on profits.
Some sources have told foreign media that the average profit rate of VWGC is about 4%? -? 5%, the exact value depends on different products. For the sake of profit, about one-tenth of employees will be laid off in the next five years. However, considering the current labor agreement in Germany, in the next 10 year, some production plants with better operating conditions will not take layoffs.
Thomas Simell, CEO of VWGC (Thomas? Schmall) declined to disclose the specific profit rate of the parts business, but he said that the goal at this stage is still to achieve the profit rate target of 6%. However, he also predicted that it would be difficult for parts suppliers switching to electric vehicles to raise the rate of return to more than 10%, and Volkswagen would rely on scale effect to survive this difficult transition period in the future.
"By 2025, we plan to produce as many as 654.38+million new cars at the Kassel plant in Germany, which will make us one of the largest suppliers in the global market. Such a scale will help us shape a more competitive production role in the world. "
In order to support the huge investment in electrification, Volkswagen is looking for a new source of income for VWGC. According to the group's plan, they will invest about 3.6 billion euros in the electric vehicle parts business in 2023, but it also means that funds and budgets in other fields will be limited.
In order to meet this challenge, the senior management of VWGC promoted the cooperation with Japan's NSK Bearing Seiko Co., Ltd. 20 19, which helped VWGC to concentrate more energy and focus on the related transformation of autonomous driving and electrification business. The ultimate goal is to take the transaction with NSK as the blueprint for transformation and make other core businesses of Volkswagen more stable.
In order to make up for the business loss that the competitiveness is not enough to achieve the profit return target, VWGC is also looking for new sources of income, such as selling mobile energy storage equipment and recycling some raw materials of used batteries.
Volkswagen, "close" to Toyota
As mentioned above, Toyota's parts company is very important in the traditional fuel era, but at the moment of the new four modernizations, Japan's largest automobile manufacturer is still trying to control the supply chain dominance in the electrification era.
2065438+June 2008, Toyota officially concentrated its electronic parts business on Denso. By April of this year, all the electronic parts factories under the Group were handed over to Denso, and about 1600 Toyota employees jumped ship. According to the plan, Toyota will transfer the R&D function of related business to Denso before 2022, forming a new system from development to production. With the bet on the production of electrified parts, Toyota has also accelerated the strategic pace of "controlling" Denso, and Akio Toyoda's direct entry into Denso's board of directors is the most important signal.
In Japan, the transformation of Denso in the new four modernizations era is called "second venture" by the industry. Both visible performance figures and invisible behind-the-scenes struggles are an integral part of Japanese automobile history. In horizontal contrast, the establishment and operation of Volkswagen's VWGC is a real "first venture". Although there is no transformation burden left over from the traditional fuel era, it also faces many practical tests of tactics and specific tasks.
VWGC recently released a set of data:
On Volkswagen's latest electrified model ID.4, the department contributed about 40% of the value to the supply of spare parts, which was 10% higher than that of similar Volkswagen internal combustion engines. "Automobile Commune" found out the anatomical map of VWGC's spare parts supply to ID.3, and found that VWGC's contribution to the latter's spare parts is almost the same as that of ID.4. It can be seen that the contribution rate of Volkswagen Group's internal supply chain system to MEB platform vehicle parts can basically be maintained at about half at present.
In addition to the first exposure of the contribution of ID.4 parts, VWGC also disclosed the specific production details of this new car parts for the first time. The pure electric vehicle based on MEB platform has become an important driving force of VWGC's current business, and the research and development and production of electrified parts have also become the key indicators of VWGC's competitiveness.
Judging from the location of parts manufacturing, VWGC mainly includes Kassel, Brunswick and Salzgit at this stage.
Among them, Kassel's parts factory was once the largest gearbox production base of Volkswagen Group, and now it has become a modern factory mainly driven by electricity. According to VWGC's capacity planning, Brunswick will be built as the company's new battery system production center, which mainly undertakes the battery production of MEB platform models.
After the transformation, Salzer Special Factory has been endowed with a broader supply chain vision by the Group, and the key components of rotors and stators are produced here. It is reported that a pilot factory specializing in recycling used batteries will also start operation in Salzer. The factory will recycle metals and valuable raw materials from batteries that cannot be reused, with the ultimate goal of recycling more than 90% batteries in the future.
It is worth mentioning that China-oriented Volkswagen ID series electric drives are mainly produced in Tianjin, while the battery system is undertaken by FAW-Volkswagen's Foshan factory. As ID.4 has been manufactured in China and will be produced in the United States in the future, the parts production in these areas will be localized in two countries.
1 1 In the mid-term, the motor product APP3 10 of Volkswagen ID.4 was officially released by Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., and the ID.4 produced by FAW-Volkswagen? ID.4 produced by CROZZ and SAIC Volkswagen? X will be equipped with APP3 10 products produced in Tianjin. In the future, in addition to ID.4-related models, APP3 10 will be installed on other new cars based on MEB platform. In the European market, the production base of APP3 10 is in Kassel, Germany.
From "camping" to "building roads"
VWGC's contribution to Volkswagen's internal electrified vehicles can be seen from ID.3 and ID.4, which have been included in the ID family. If we continue to dig deep into the current business fundamentals of VWGC, its layout and direction not only illustrate Volkswagen's electrification ambition and concrete practice, but also reflect many problems and essential laws of the whole new energy industry chain in Germany and even the world.
The electric drive and stamping parts of the two cars are made in Kassel factory, and the first gear gearbox (1 speed? Gearbox); Rotor and stator are produced by Salzer special factory, and most parts of chassis and battery system, including shock absorber, steering system, brake, transmission shaft, battery system and battery cover, are produced by Brunswick factory ... In addition, gearbox cover is produced in Poznan, and Hanover factory is mainly responsible for motor cover. Manufacturing of the shell).
The above-mentioned production layout and location planning constitute VWGC's current contribution of 40% to the group's parts value. It can be seen that it is the general idea of the transformation and upgrading of the mass supply chain to take greater initiative in the supply of spare parts and control more manufacturing value in their own hands.
However, it is worth mentioning that Volkswagen has other important suppliers-Weipai Technology, a powertrain company under Continental Group, provides its drive control unit, while NXP, a semiconductor manufacturer, is the exclusive supplier of Volkswagen Battery Management System (BMS) ... And Volkswagen will also make batteries/battery units in the future, and will join hands with Northvolt, a Swedish battery manufacturer, to produce them at a special base in Salzer. At present, the collaboration between the two companies has gradually entered the right track.
Volkswagen and Northvolt announced in June 2065438+2009 that they will set up a battery production plant in Salzer in 2020 and start mass production in 2023/2024. The target for the first year is 16 GWh, and the target for the future is to expand to 24 GWh. In 2020, Volkswagen announced that it would invest about 450 million euros to build a special factory in Salzer. After the reconstruction, the base will continue to be rented by the joint venture company of Northvolt.
The battery production in Salzer is an important step for Volkswagen to transform into electrification, and the group has set up its excellent battery center here. Despite this, Volkswagen will still need to purchase batteries from external suppliers on a large scale. According to the group's plans in Europe and Asia, the annual storage capacity of required batteries has exceeded 300 million kWh in a short period of time.
It can be seen that in the key "three electricity" of electric vehicle manufacturing, the realization of motor technology has always been relatively easy, so VWGC has basically covered most motor-related businesses; In the field of batteries, it is more difficult to test the hardware conditions, so Volkswagen took over the battery packaging and integration, but the battery units/cells still rely on LG Chem, Samsung SDI, SK Innovation and contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (the European version of ID.3 is mainly provided by LG Chem, the China market is mainly contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, and Wanxiang A 123 and Guo Xuan Hi-Tech, which have not been specified). Of course, the accumulation of electronic control software is the most difficult, so Volkswagen relies on NXP for BMS abroad, while China mainly purchases from Sheng Jun Electronics.
In addition to "camping", we must also "build roads".
If Kassel, Brunswick, Salzer and other production bases are all key fortresses guarded by Volkswagen Group, then the "Green Logistics" plan, as the last link of the supply chain, has been given the special task of connecting the fortresses and improving the transportation efficiency of parts. According to Volkswagen's internal planning, the "green battery logistics" of Zwickau MEB factory has been put into operation. Compared with truck transportation, transporting batteries by rail can reduce about 1 1000 tons of carbon dioxide every year.
As mentioned above, the battery supply of ID series comes from LG Chem's factory in Poland. These batteries are transported by Volkswagen's "Green Logistics" train to the Brunswick Parts Base of VWGC, and then assembled into battery products that can be installed at any time, and then arrived at Zwickau Vehicle Assembly Plant by "Green Logistics". It is worth mentioning that these point-to-point parts "channels" can realize automatic transportation and unloading, and the whole process uses the special container for Volkswagen battery logistics.
Volkswagen, a giant manufacturing ship, has realized the importance of mastering the leading role of parts on the road of electrification, but from the group All? In terms of pure electric route, although the proportion of traditional mechanical parts has declined, the hardware threshold brought by batteries still exists, and the software part is also divided by each family, so it is difficult to be independent.
To sum up, the spare parts business with a value of up to 35 billion euros has a long way to go to reality. As a result, performance can also be improved. At present, there are still many local standards in the whole new energy industry chain in China and even in the world that are not as unified and mature as traditional fuel vehicles, and the supply system is not as developed as fuel vehicles for a hundred years.
It is difficult to package, and most outsourcing is also risky. From this dialectical point of view, it is not easy for Huawei to build a complete vehicle, but it is also conceivable that the risk is at the end of the journey of building a new force.
Text/North Shore
-
Wechat searches for "Car Commune" and "One-sentence Comment" to follow the official account of WeChat, or visit the Daily Auto News Network for more industry information.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.