As the vice chairman of Cummins (China) Investment Co., Ltd. and the general manager of Cummins East Asia Engine Division, Wang Hongjie personally participated in the negotiation and preparation of the Cummins engine joint venture project in China. Recently, Foton Cummins Engine Co., Ltd. (Fukuda Cummins), a light and environmentally friendly engine production base jointly established by Cummins and Foton, was formally put into production. The media interviewed Wang Hongjie for the first time.
Media: Please tell us why both sides finally confirmed each other as a joint venture object?
Wang Hongjie: “Entering the light commercial vehicle market†has entered the Cummins global strategic goal plan since the late 1990s. As the world's largest independent engine manufacturer, Cummins hopes to extend its product line from the medium-heavy duty to the lighter ones and enter the vigorously developing light commercial vehicle market, thus completing the all-round layout of light, medium and heavy product lines, and further strengthening Cummins Some technical and scale advantages.
How to take this first step takes a lot of consideration inside the company. The location of the production base is placed in mature markets such as Europe and the United States or in emerging markets such as China and India. Is using existing factory resources or setting up a new base from scratch? In the end, we decided to find a like-minded partner and set up a first-class modern production base to supply the global market. In Cummins' global operations, China is the most important overseas market, with the largest scale and the fastest growth rate. It has the most potential automotive manufacturers and huge consumer demand. "Aligning with major Chinese auto companies to achieve common development" is one of the core elements of Cummins' development strategy in China and is also the key to Cummins' success in China. We finally chose the leader in China's light commercial vehicle field - Foton Motors to take this crucial first step with us.
Foton Motors is one of China's 500 key companies and is one of the Top 100 Chinese listed companies selected by Fortune magazine. The development speed of Foton Motor in the past ten years is obvious to all, especially in the field of light commercial vehicles. The sales volume of products has been ranked the first in similar products for seven consecutive years. The high-end light trucks independently developed by Foton require the engine to meet international advanced standards in technology and technology, not only satisfying domestic demand, but also helping Futian achieve global development. To enter the international market, especially in developed regions such as Europe and America, it is necessary to achieve the highest level of emissions from vehicles. This requires the “heart†of the vehicle—the engine must meet the increasingly stringent emission standards of developed countries such as Europe and the United States. Break down environmental protection barriers and break into relevant markets. After entering the relevant market, Cummins' worldwide after-sales service network has also eliminated the worries of Foton Motor in the local market.
As the world's largest independent diesel engine manufacturer, Cummins is also the first multinational diesel engine company to carry out localization and continuous success in China. Its advanced technology and philosophy coincide with Futian's prospects. The two sides exchanged their opinions openly and honestly, and discussed in depth on the basis of win-win cooperation. At the beginning of 2006, they reached a cooperation intention. With the active efforts of both companies and the strong support of government departments, the Foton Cummins Engine JV was officially established in October 2007 and became a key construction project of the Beijing Municipal Government.
Working with Foton Motor to build Asia’s largest high-end light-duty diesel engine production base continues Cummins's tradition of sincere cooperation with outstanding Chinese companies for more than 30 years since entering the Chinese market. On this basis, our joint venture and cooperation in China has further deepened. The first-class light engine products produced by the Foton Cummins Joint Venture will not only supply Foton and other Chinese customers, but will also rely on the Cummins Global Network to provide support to outstanding OEM customers around the world. As a result, Foton Cummins will become a truly "world-class" production base.
Media: What are the outstanding performances of both sides in complementing each other?
Wang Hongjie: The successful cooperation with Fukuda once again proves that 1+1 can be greater than 2, especially when the partners have common goals and complementary advantages:
Cummins and Futian are in harmony in many concepts, one of which is the continuous pursuit of innovation. As a technology leader with a long history of development in the engine industry, Cummins has always been committed to product and technology innovation during its 90 years of development, has created a number of patented technologies and has produced more than 100 world records in various application areas. In the same way, this spirit of innovation is also key to Fukuda's rapid development in the past few years.
Cummins and Futian also uphold the same solemn commitment to the environment. It is this sense of mission to the environment that allows us to develop environmentally friendly engine products that will not only meet the user's demand for performance, but will further confirm our solemn commitment, which is to make every effort to create a cleaner environment.
Our solid partnerships also come from the same global perspective. As a world-leading power equipment manufacturer, Cummins products have been sold and serviced in more than 190 countries and regions around the world. At the same time, Foton is also committed to becoming one of the world's leading automotive manufacturers. This common vision of global development prompted us to come together.
Cummins is the only company in the world that has independent development and production capabilities for the five key engine systems and has unparalleled advantages in system integration. The deep accumulation of nearly one hundred years, as well as R & D, manufacturing, distribution and service networks all over the world have laid the foundation for its further development and expansion. Fukuda aims to achieve the goal of “the highest occupancy rate of high-end light trucks in the worldâ€, and Cummins Engine is the best choice to cross international environmental protection barriers, improve overseas market services, and create core competitive advantages. With the advantages of Cummins in the field of diesel technology and the world's leading comprehensive strengths in design, production, sales and service, Foton Motor’s grand overseas strategy can be achieved through the addition of this powerful “heartâ€. "Effect.
By the same token, Foton Motor has also built an ideal platform for Cummins to enter the light commercial vehicle market. As the driving force of the new technology wave in China's commercial vehicle market, Foton Motor has developed into a large-scale state-controlled listed company group in a cross-regional, cross-industry, and cross-ownership system in less than 15 years. The capital Beijing is the management center in Beijing. Nine provinces and municipalities including Tianjin, Shandong, Chongqing, Hunan, Hubei, Liaoning, Guangdong, and New China have established bases for complete vehicles and parts. Research and development branches are distributed in China, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and other countries and regions. Especially in the field of light commercial vehicles, Foton Motor has occupied the top position of China's light vehicle sales for many years and is steadily among the global market.
This time Cummins and Fukuda jointly entered the light vehicle market in China, which is in the ascendant, and is the perfect embodiment of complementing each other and striving for a win-win situation. Fukuda can get the most advanced product and technical support in the cooperation with Cummins, enhance the competitive advantage of the power system, and further improve the product structure chain. Cummins got a strong host factory foundation through cooperation with Foton, which ensured the market scale of the new products after they were put into production, and laid a solid foundation for further sustainable innovation and development.
The long-lasting industry advantage of Cummins and Futian's extremely dynamic development potential is a perfect combination. In the face of opportunities and challenges, both parties have demonstrated extraordinary response capabilities. From the beginning of the joint-venture negotiations, large-scale light engine projects were officially completed, and the joint ventures have been working together for the purpose of seeking common ground while reserving differences and striving for a win-win situation. They have jointly worked together to establish an environment-friendly light engine industrial base in the capital.
Media: What are the future prospects of the ISF series light engines that will be put into production this time?
Wang Hongjie: The ISF engine embodies Cummins's ninety years of R&D experience, embodying Cummins' unique ability to integrate intake air, combustion optimization, filtration, and aftertreatment systems to meet today's most stringent international emissions and engine performance standards. . The ISF light engine is the best choice for light commercial vehicles such as light trucks. First of all, ISF has low fuel consumption, long life, clean and environmental protection, high reliability, low maintenance cost and good comprehensive efficiency. It can effectively improve the performance of high-end light trucks such as energy-saving, high-efficiency, safety, and low-emission, and meet the needs of high-end customers in the logistics market. It has made outstanding contributions to achieving intelligence, light weight, and humanity.
The ISF engine is an important means for Foton to enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of its products. According to the joint venture plan, two-thirds of the engines will be used in the Foton model, and one-third of the engines will be used in other domestic and international OEMs.
The Cummins ISF engine offers unparalleled fuel economy and industry-leading power-to-weight ratio compared to comparable weight and size products. It is more compact, lighter, and capable of delivering more power and torque, with more load capacity. Strong; able to provide stable fuel injection pressure at various speeds, good fuel economy; advanced thermal management system allows the engine to work at higher temperatures, thereby reducing the vehicle's cooling system volume and cost; due to reliability Increased, simple structure and easy maintenance, maintenance and use costs are greatly reduced; ideal for off-highway equipment such as light trucks, China Cards, light passengers, pickup trucks, MPV utility vehicles, SUVs, and other off-road equipment such as small construction machinery and small generator sets. .
What we want to emphasize here is its environmental performance. The 3.8-liter ISF, now in production, and the ISF 2.8-liter engine, which will be put into production later this year, use an advanced Cummins emission treatment system to meet Euro III and Euro IV environmental standards. Moreover, thanks to the advanced modular design, the ISF engine platform can be quickly upgraded to meet more stringent emission standards in the future, such as Euro V and Euro VI.
We firmly believe that the unique performance advantages and low-emission environmental features of the ISF engine will create a unique competitive advantage for this series of products, both in China and in the international market. We are especially confident in the Chinese market. From the central government to the local governments in China, they are constantly emphasizing the goal of energy conservation and emission reduction and achieving sustainable development, and constantly increasing the enforcement of environmental protection laws and regulations. Our low-emission, environmentally friendly power products are of great use.
Media: Will there be further deepening of the cooperation between Cummins and Futian?
Wang Hongjie: There is no doubt about this point, and we both have consensus. We have established effective communication mechanisms through high-level regular meetings and other forms. This future-oriented, all-round strategic partnership has deepened mutual understanding and communication between the two sides and created more opportunities for cooperation, deeper, and mutually beneficial cooperation.
Today we are celebrating the start-up of Futian Cummins Light Engine. Our cooperation will soon expand to Futian's full range of products. We will see Futian light trucks not only equipped with Cummins engines, but also Futian Zhongka, heavy trucks, passenger cars. SUVs and hybrids. We hope that the power products for future Futian commercial vehicles will cover a full range of light, medium and heavy engines locally produced by Cummins in China. In addition, as a member of the Beijing New Energy Industry Base, we will also actively cooperate with Futian's new energy base construction, strengthen technical cooperation in various aspects such as research and development, and explore new areas for cooperation in new energy fields such as hybrid power.
Media: What are your expectations for the future of the joint venture company?
Wang Hongjie: Foton Cummins is Cummins's first light diesel engine production base in the world, and the products will be sold in both China and overseas markets. Under the background of emphasizing environmental protection and energy conservation on a global scale, ISF has emerged as an innovative green engine power product and has a broad opportunity for domestic and international market development. This is why, in the current global economic crisis, Cummins still regards this light engine joint venture project as the key point, and continues to invest manpower and material resources to ensure the smooth progress of the project.
I hope that Foton Cummins will serve as a manufacturing base for domestic and foreign markets for ISF engines, and will continue to produce light diesel engines of good quality and cost-effectiveness, supplying China and even the global market.
While succeeding in the Chinese market, I am also convinced that the products of the Foton Cummins Joint Venture Co., Ltd., with the support of the Cummins Global Network, will surely make a difference in overseas markets. Cummins global network covers 190 countries and regions, with more than 500 dealers and more than 5200 agent outlets. Over the past year, both Cummins and Fukuda have been deeply studying and formulating overseas expansion plans for Foton's Omar high-end light trucks.
With the strong support of our joint venture partners, the central government and local governments have emphasized the positive policies of environmental protection and energy conservation. Beijing Foton Cummins will continue to make progress, write new legends for Cummins Power's glorious journey, and move forward for Futian to a world-class automotive company. The process has injected new power and contributed to the development of the automotive industry in Beijing and even China.