Automobile industry gathers new development momentum in Binhai New Area

With advantages including its huge scale and fully-fledged systems, the automobile industry of Binhai New Area in North China's Tianjin City has become a stronghold of the entire sector over the past few decades. Its automobile output accounts for over 90 percent of Tianjin's total vehicle production.

Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor officially inaugurated its new energy vehicle (NEV) project in Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City on June 29, 2020. With an investment of nearly 8.5 billion yuan (about $1.3 billion) and a total area of 1.97 million square meters, the NEV project - covering six major manufacturing techniques such as punching press, assembling and welding, and battery workshops - is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in June 2022.

It is anticipated that the completion of the NEV project will greatly boost the production of the brand's hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV), attract a number of supporting firms to set up branches, promote the formation of industrial clusters, and facilitate the structural upgrading of the local automobile industry.

Xu Liuping, secretary of the Communist Party of China Committee of the China FAW Group and chairperson of the carmaker, stressed that with notable geographical advantages and a sound business environment, Binhai New Area is the most charming and vibrant economic place in the Bohai Economic Rim area and a key hub of the Maritime Silk Road.

Xu continued that both China FAW Group and Toyota Motor will further strengthen their cooperation with Binhai New Area and show a firm determination to promote their automobile industry in Tianjin in the future.

Meanwhile, other top carmakers from home and abroad have also taken similar approaches to further enlarge their presence in Binhai New Area in recent years.

For instance, Vitesco Technologies, the powertrain business of German auto supplier Continental, started to build its Asia-Pacific research and development center in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area in September 2020. The new center, scheduled for completion in 2021, will specialize in technologies for hybrid and electric powertrains. Its major products comprise power electronics, electronic control and software systems for NEVs.

According to its project development plan, Vitesco Technologies will make an additional investment to the new center in the next five years, introduce a set of world-class research and testing facilities, and attract talents from all over of the world.

Meanwhile, FAW-Volkswagen officially rolled out its Audi Q3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid cars, plug-in hybrid SUV Tayron GTE automobiles and COUPE SUVs in its assembly lines in Tianjin in the first half of 2020, marking its latest efforts to further enrich the major products of the region's auto sector.

Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor made its debut in the NEV market by introducing its latest electric Izoa vehicles in May 2020, which, together with hybrid vehicles, helped promote its growth.

Moreover, Great Wall Motors, one of leading home-grown carmakers, has been working on the introduction of new products and the expansion of its presence in the NEV market as well.

Binhai New Area will continually support local carmakers to launch more high added-value products, optimize their NEV and intelligent connected vehicle products, and promote their structural upgrading.

In addition, it will leverage its strengths to attract more supporting firms, expand the scale of the local automobile industry, better serve the development of the entire sector, and assist all involved enterprises in having a brighter future.