Hubei Daily News reporter Huang Junhua Xie Huimin Zhang Jin

Six years ago, Geely Group became the focus of the global auto industry when it acquired Volvo, a famous European car company, for US$1.8 billion.

Six years later, with the benefits of Volvo's technology, Geely Group accelerated its deployment in central China and settled in Hubei.

On August 5, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement with Hubei Yangtze River Economic Belt Industrial Fund Management Co., Ltd. and Wuhan Municipal Government. Provincial Party Secretary Li Hongzhong and others met with Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Group, and his party that night. Recently, this reporter conducted an exclusive interview with Li Shufu.

Settled in Hubei to expand the domestic market

Reporter: As a Fortune 500 company, what is Geely Group looking for in Hubei?

Li Shufu: In recent years, the overall situation of Hubei's economic development has been very good. In particular, the Party committees and governments at all levels in Hubei attach great importance to the work of attracting investment, and the investment environment is very good. The concept of "industry first, entrepreneurial leader" put forward by the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government is very constructive, and we are very encouraged.

The Party Central Committee's deployment of supply-side structural reform is wise. We are stupid birds and we have made strategic adjustments earlier. At present, Geely's main problem is that its production capacity is insufficient and its products are in short supply. We must make efforts from the technical side and the quality side, continuously increase the market share, and "squeeze" out the uncompetitive enterprises. In the past, we opened up foreign markets, mainly targeting developing countries, but these countries suffered from political turmoil and large economic fluctuations, and we suffered a lot. In the future, we will first expand the domestic market, expand the market share at the doorstep, and then enter the European and American markets.

Join hands with Changjiang Industrial Fund to deploy cutting-edge automotive technology

Reporter: In this signing, in which areas will Geely Group and Hubei strengthen cooperation?

Li Shufu: The contracted projects mainly focus on two aspects.

The first is to join hands with Changjiang Industrial Fund and Shanghai Yunbai Investment Co., Ltd. to jointly initiate the establishment of a merger and acquisition fund. The initial fund size is about 4 billion yuan. It is planned to introduce internationally advanced technologies such as driverless vehicles, new energy vehicles, and core automotive components into Hubei to promote the development of my country's own brand vehicles.

Second, Mingtai Investment Company, a subsidiary of Geely Group, will invest 8.5 billion yuan in Huangpi District of Wuhan City to build a Wuhan racing sports cultural tourism town. The project will build an international-standard secondary racing circuit, a racing theme park, an experiential luxury car display and sales center, and a racing-themed hotel to fill the gap in the central region where there is no large-scale racing circuit. With the development of the automobile industry, motorsports will become an important cultural tourism industry with huge development potential. The project is located in Wuhan, which will promote the development of the motorsports cultural tourism industry in Hubei and even Central China.

The development of the automobile industry should focus on solving three major problems

Reporter: In recent years, the automobile industry in Hubei has developed rapidly, and Wuhan has gathered major automobile brands and is becoming China's automobile city. As one of the leaders in China's auto industry, what advice do you have on the development of the auto industry in Hubei?

Li Shufu: The competition in the automobile industry is fierce. The next step is to aim at three major problems and make precise efforts.

First, to further enhance independent innovation and research and development capabilities. The lack of independent research and development capability directly affects the healthy and sustainable development of my country's auto industry, and has become the biggest obstacle to the development of the auto industry. my country's auto industry has had joint ventures with foreign companies for many years, but its own research and development level has not kept up. The fundamental reason is the lack of local development talents with experience and advanced technology. After the acquisition of Volvo by Geely Group, a large number of Chinese engineers have been trained, and the level of independent innovation and research and development has been greatly improved. With the development of intelligent interconnection technology, automobiles will become the next generation of mobile intelligent terminals. At present, Volvo leads the trend of intelligent interconnection and autonomous driving. Through Volvo's technology, we are increasing investment in research and development in this area, hoping to be at the forefront of the world.

Second, further improve the parts supply system. At present, my country's auto parts industry is still relatively weak, the simultaneous R&D capability is not strong, and the supply system is not perfect. Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States and other countries and regions have already established a complete auto parts supply system. To enhance the market competitiveness of my country's auto industry, especially the competitiveness of overseas markets, it is necessary to speed up the construction of the local auto parts production and supply system, otherwise it will become more and more passive. However, from the current situation, in addition to the disadvantage of its own scale, capital, and technology compared with foreign systems, the establishment and improvement of the local system is also faced with the dilemma of barriers. Many OEMs conduct synchronous research and development with supporting manufacturers when they first design models. Long-term technical cooperation, mutual trust and shared concepts have made the cooperative relationship between enterprises increasingly close, and the new supply system wants to break the This barrier is very difficult. In order to change the status quo, we must pay more attention to the standardization, serialization and generalization of products, increase investment in research and development, especially the research and development of weak links, actively face the environment of global procurement and selective procurement, and promote enterprises to strengthen Cooperate and coordinate, face a broader market, and actively seek more development opportunities.

Third, to further improve the brand image. Brand is a very real value embodiment, and its essence is the recognition and preference of consumers for product technology, product quality, product service, and user experience. Different brands represent different product values ​​and market positioning. An influential brand can lead the consumption trend of the times. In recent years, my country's comprehensive strength and international status have been greatly improved, China's backbone has been straightened, the Chinese people's backs have been stiffened, and China's own brands have also developed. The image of Chinese auto brands has also been greatly changed and improved, but the overall impression is that the price is relatively cheap, the technology is relatively backward, the quality is not very reliable, and the service level is not very satisfactory. Compared with foreign auto counterparts, there is still some gap in the overall strength of China's auto industry's own brands. To change this situation, we must encourage independent innovation and cultivate a large number of talents. Geely wants to improve its automobiles, quality and service, establish a good image of Chinese brands in the world, and make a contribution to enhancing the global competitiveness of Chinese automobiles.