According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Hitachi, Japan’s largest industrial electronics group, plans to expand the production capacity of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles, and it is expected to invest 20-30 billion yen, with the goal of expanding production capacity by 70 times by 2015. Hitachi will initially expand its production capacity by more than 600% by this fall.
Currently, Hitachi has received orders from GM for the production of lithium-ion batteries for 100,000 hybrid cars. General Motors plans to sell these cars from next year.
According to the report, Hitachi will expand its production capacity to meet the demand of 700,000 hybrid vehicles per year.
ã€News Reviews】
1. If the electric vehicle is the mainstream of the car after the oil is used up, the lithium-ion battery for the electric vehicle will surely be popular, and companies with in-depth R&D and investment in the lithium battery will become the giants of the future auto parts industry, and may even be possible. Change the global auto parts supplier pattern. Many companies that will put lithium batteries for automobiles into production in recent years are not among the top 100 auto parts companies in the world. Only Bosch, Continental Group, Magna, Johnson Controls, Hitachi (automotive business) are among the top 100 auto parts companies. ) and so on also strive to occupy a leading position in the field of lithium batteries, and mostly through joint ventures or acquisitions to achieve control of this strange but potentially huge market.
2. Most of the companies planning to mass-produce lithium batteries adopt joint ventures for R&D and production. This will not only reduce the risks and costs of individual companies, but also make some non-vehicle lithium battery companies (such as Toshiba, Samsung SDI, LG Chemicals) has entered the auto parts supporting field, and the market prospect of these new entrants may be better than the current top 100 parts companies.
3. Only Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Daimler, BYD and other direct investment (in the form of joint ventures or self-production) of lithium batteries are used in vehicle manufacturers. In many preparations for hybrid power or electric vehicles, but there is no own battery core supplier, lithium battery companies in the face of bargaining power in front of car prices may be better than now.
4. However, these lithium battery companies are also facing great cost pressure and trade protection threats. For example, South Korea's production and sales certification system for lithium batteries in Japan has caused Japan to worry about trade protection. It can be seen that the lithium battery is a major issue concerning the safety of the auto parts industry. The major foreign auto markets are carefully protecting their own R&D and production capabilities.
5. For China, which lacks autonomous and core auto parts technologies, the battery and motor systems for hybrid/electric vehicles are important opportunities for Chinese companies to become leading global suppliers. In this respect, the gap between Chinese companies and foreign countries is not as large as the current core technology of parts and components, and there is no foreign country that is several years older than China. With China's own cost advantage and experience accumulated in batteries for electric bicycles (especially lithium batteries), it is entirely possible for China to produce a very cost-effective product for lithium batteries for hybrid/electric vehicles. Occupy the highest end of technology.