Three Chinese firms listed among global top 20 auto suppliers

Three Chinese enterprises are among the top 20 global automotive suppliers, according to the 2024 Global Automotive Supply Chain White Paper released on Thursday.

The three, namely CATL (7), Weichai Group (8), and HASCO (16), were the best performing supply chain companies of the country in 2023 in revenue, with the three registering supply chain revenue of 285.25 billion yuan ($39.96 billion), 241.67 billion yuan, and 159.52 billion yuan, respectively.

The White Paper, jointly released by China Automotive News and global consultancy firm Roland Berger, announced the names of the Top 100 Global Automotive Supply Chain Companies and the Top 100 Chinese Automotive Supply Chain Companies on Thursday.

Bosch, Denso, ZF, Hyundai Mobis and Continental remained the top five supply chain companies globally in 2023, with the 4th and 5th ranked swapping places.

According to Yuan Wenbo, a partner at Roland Berger, the overall revenue of the global top 100 auto parts suppliers increased 13.2 percent on a yearly basis last year. With the recovery of investment and consumption activities, the rebound of the auto market boosted the overall profit margin of auto parts suppliers to 6.1 percent in 2023, a significant rise compared with the 5.4 percent in 2022.

Chinese auto suppliers are becoming increasingly important in today's automotive value chain. According to the White Paper, the scale and total profits of China's parts and components enterprises rebounded rapidly in 2023.

The added value of parts revenue in new energy and intelligent sectors accounted for 34 percent of the total added value, maintaining a leading position in the revenue structure. The profit growth of new energy components accounted for 36 percent of the total added value, while the net profit of intelligent electronic parts has maintained 200 percent growth for two consecutive years, the White Paper said.

Ye Shengji, chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said at the launch ceremony of the White Paper that China's new energy and intelligent connected vehicles own development advantages globally and suggested further strengthening the foundational technology research. He also said that enterprises should follow the trend of interdisciplinary and cross-industry integration.

The acceleration of supply chain companies seeking opportunities abroad, as well as the promotion of green and low-carbon development of the automotive supply chain are also important, Ye added.