With the joint venture of the sedan industry and the introduction of products, world-renowned automotive paint manufacturers such as PPG, DuPont, BASF, Kansai, and Nippon have been attracted to invest in China. Establish a joint venture or sole proprietorship automotive paint company to become the main supplier of automotive paint. And it is matched with the imported sedan, almost from which country the sedan product is imported, and it is matched with the sedan coating system from which country it is imported. That is to say, the high-end automotive paint market is almost entirely occupied by foreign brands.

The main supplier of original automotive coatings, state-owned coating enterprises (companies), traded the market for technology and funds. After joint ventures, some withdrew from the automotive coating market or even were eliminated; Although some have retained their original market, due to inflexible mechanisms, weak technological development capabilities, inability to keep up with pre-sales and after-sales services, and heavy historical burdens, coupled with the loss of technical backbone, the market is constantly shrinking. Currently, they only occupy a small share in the coatings market for commercial vehicles (trucks and buses), agricultural vehicles, and motorcycles.

With the transformation of state-owned enterprises and research institutions, private (including Hong Kong and Taiwan funded) automotive paint companies (factories) with flexible mechanisms have emerged, occupying a certain proportion of the automotive paint market, and some independent brand products have high recognition in the market. Automotive paint products from companies such as Zhongshan Bridge, Weixin Paint (Shenzhen), Shanghai Jinlitai, Changzhou Fulam, Dongguan Youli, etc.

With the rapid development of the sedan industry and the increase in sedan ownership, automotive repair coatings and coatings have also formed an industry in China. In the early 1990s, almost all car repair coatings were imported. Nowadays, the annual sales volume of car repair coatings is around 40000 tons, with domestic brands accounting for 70%; Foreign car repair coatings have also been forced to start localization to reduce costs.

Based on the fact that automotive coatings should have high-quality coating performance and be suitable for large-scale production, automotive coatings have high technical content, multiple varieties, large dosage, and high output value, and have already become a specialized coating in industrial coatings. It represents the technical level of a country's coating industry. In developed countries of the automotive industry, automotive coatings account for 15% to 20% of the total paint production. For example, the total production of coatings in Japan in 2004 was 1.848 million tons, of which automotive coatings accounted for 19.7% (15.99% for new car coatings and 3.71% for repair coatings). In 2005, the production of automobiles in China was 5.7 million, with a car ownership of 30-32 million. The sales volume of automotive coatings was about 240000 tons, accounting for about 6.5% of the total paint production.

In addition to cathodic electrophoretic coatings, automotive coatings in China are mainly organic solvent based coatings with high VOC content for intermediate and top coats (base coat+topcoat). In the past two years alone, five newly built car body painting lines by joint venture car companies (Shanghai GM, Tianjin FAW Toyota, Wuhan Honda, Guangzhou Toyota, and Honda) have been put into production using water-based base paint. Powder coatings are only used for coating automotive components.

The supply method has shifted from coating production under the planned economy in the past to delivery to chemical stations. Even if the task is completed, the method has shifted to following the laws of market economy, through bidding, direct supply from coating factories, and strengthened after-sales service. In recent years, it has developed into a system supply method, which has changed from settlement based on coating usage to settlement based on qualified coating products. The management of automobile coating production is developing towards specialized subcontracting management, where the production of the coating workshop in the automobile factory is jointly managed by the automobile factory, coating factory, coating equipment factory, or specialized management company. Joint ventures such as Hunan Guanxi, Tianjin PPG, and Shanghai BASF have signed contracts with relevant automobile factories for multiple coating lines (workshops) in accordance with the above model, to manage the production of coating lines and settle accounts based on qualified coating products. This supply method and specialized subcontracting management model are beneficial for coating companies or suppliers to directly obtain first-hand application information feedback for product improvement. In addition, according to the settlement method of qualified coating products, coating manufacturers are encouraged to pay more attention to targeted optimization of coating performance, focusing on coating efficiency (effective utilization rate of coatings) and one-time coating qualification rate. No longer, as in the past, coating factories do not care about coating costs, but hope that the higher the coating material consumption, the better (the thicker the coating, the higher the repair rate, the better).

1. Unify understanding, transform concepts, and pave the way for independent innovation

I feel from articles in professional journals that the coatings industry values coatings while neglecting them; Repeated introduction, digestion, absorption, and innovation cannot keep up; The understanding of the importance and complexity of automotive coatings and coatings is generalized, and there is a lack of systematic understanding. Before discussing the strategy of expanding and strengthening independent brands, it is necessary to unify the following understanding and establish new concepts.

2. In the combination of coatings and coatings, the path of integrating coatings and coatings should be taken

The domestic coating industry has long neglected coating processes, and coating research institutes and factories do not establish coating application (coating) laboratories. Under the planned economy, painting is considered the responsibility of users, and sales and after-sales service personnel also lack professional knowledge in painting. Since the beginning of the market economy, although after-sales service has been strengthened, it is still a weak link compared to joint ventures. A veteran expert who has been engaged in the development and research of automotive coatings for over 40 years, In recent years, with the opening of our country and more exposure to coatings and coatings from developed countries, we deeply feel that there are still serious shortcomings in the combination of coatings and coatings among Chinese people. Our coatings have a greater gap in construction performance compared to the inherent performance of coatings compared to developed countries. Coating workers should have a better understanding of coatings, improve their coating processes, and improve their construction performance.

Coatings are finished products of paint companies, but not end products. Automotive coatings are raw materials used by automobile manufacturers, and only when applied to automobiles as coatings (coatings) can they become end products. High quality and qualified coatings often fail to obtain satisfactory coating films due to improper construction. The system supply method, specialized management mode, and settlement method based on qualified coating products that have developed in recent years have integrated coating and coating. The products of coating companies are no longer coatings, but coatings.

Technical personnel (units) engaged in the research and development of coatings should not only be proficient in the manufacturing technology of coatings, but also be familiar with the coating process technology. Starting from the design of coating formulations, it is necessary to consider the user's needs (technical requirements, coating conditions, and cost-effectiveness, etc.). By conducting experiments and recommending coating processes, we can guide users to use coatings well, achieve pre-sales service (advanced development) and after-sales service, master first-hand information on the coating site, continuously improve coating performance, and take the market as a guide, integrate the technological progress of similar products at home and abroad, and continuously launch upgraded and upgraded products.

Fortunately, among the key technology development projects in the paint industry's "11th Five Year Plan" development goals, 6 of them involve the development and research of painting process technology. This has laid a good foundation for establishing the concept of "integration of coatings and coatings".

3. Rectify the relationship between introduction and independent innovation

In the past 20 years, China's automotive industry and automotive paint industry have continuously set off a new wave of introduction and cooperation. Introduction projects are everywhere, joint venture automobile companies and joint venture wholly-owned paint companies are blooming everywhere, and world-renowned automobile companies and automobile paint companies have entered the Chinese market. The strategy of exchanging market for technology and capital during a period of shortage of funds and technology is correct and in line with the overall thinking of reform and opening up. In the context of economic globalization and regional integration, it is difficult to separate the national from the world. However, relying solely on imports, not innovating, or having no own brand requires being controlled and bullied by others; How to achieve independent innovation based on introduction, digestion, and absorption, and make the introduced technology a booster of independent innovation, has become a common topic in the paint industry. The home appliance industry has grown on the basis of introducing, digesting, and absorbing technology. It not only has its own brand and occupies the domestic market, but also has development experience that is worth learning from across industries.

China's automotive industry has also embarked on a path of introduction, absorption, and re innovation. If Tianjin FAW Xiali, a state-owned enterprise with a history of 20 years, also carries a heavy historical burden. After completing the localization of Xiali in the 1990s, it began independent research and development on this basis, becoming the dominant economy sedan market for many consecutive years. The healthy and rapid development of enterprises is the result of adhering to independent innovation, overcoming core technological difficulties, forming independent system research and development capabilities, and continuously launching upgraded and upgraded products guided by the market.

The idea of independent innovation of Dongfeng Automobile is to look inside and outside the group, both domestically and internationally, to find all available resources, absorb and integrate all advanced technological achievements for my own use, and on this basis, carry out integrated innovation, absorption, digestion, re innovation, and original innovation.

Enable the joint venture company to play an important role in the new round of independent innovation.

Some domestic car companies spend money to jointly design and develop cars with independent intellectual property rights with well-known foreign design companies. There are different opinions on this cooperation method, which is referred to as "having property rights but no knowledge" and cannot truly represent the research and development capabilities of the enterprise.

The situation of China's automotive coating enterprises (especially state-owned enterprises) is very similar to that of Tianjin FAW Xiali, and they should also take the path of introduction, digestion, absorption, and re innovation. Develop independent system research and development capabilities, and continuously launch upgraded and upgraded products guided by the market. On the basis of independent innovation, we will use the introduction of technology as a booster, and the products, technologies, and management models of joint ventures as the goal of catching up, integrating all advanced technological achievements for our own use.