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27-06-2007
China's
auto parts exports have increased more than
sixfold in the past five years, nearly topping
$1 billion in April and emerging as one of the
fastest-growing categories of Chinese industrial
products sold overseas. More than half of these
auto parts go to the United States; most of
the rest go to Europe and Japan.
The
rise of Chinese auto parts exports is part of
a much broader shift. While China has room for
considerable further growth in auto parts exports
to the United States, it is not competitive
overseas in bulky products - like car seats
- that are uneconomical to ship, nor can it
export parts that need to be manufactured close
to a car factory for quality-control reasons.
China's
rising labor costs and strengthening currency
are also making automakers leery of becoming
too dependent on China for parts that can be
shipped.
The
latest wave of Chinese auto parts exports is
nonetheless on the rise, led by domestic Chinese
auto parts manufacturers like Wonder Auto that
are rapidly gaining strength and starting to
enter markets around the globe.
Soaring
output at auto assembly plants in China is generating
enormous demand for auto parts and creating
the economies of large-scale production previously
possible only in North America, Europe and Japan.
With
at least a half dozen Chinese automakers planning
to start exporting in the next few years, Chinese
auto parts will soon be going overseas not just
in crates but as part of fully assembled cars.
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