The above-mentioned automatic driving scenario is an important link of Yutong Bus (600066) intelligent travel system. Facing the second half of the bus industry, Yutong Bus believes that it will change in the direction of integration and development of electrification, intelligence and networking. Among them, regarding autonomous driving, Yutong not only builds cars, but also provides solutions, including trunk bus solutions, micro-circulation solutions in parks and scenic spots, and intelligent transportation solutions at airports.
The bright spot of Yutong is not limited to intelligence. As the first listed company in China's bus industry, Yutong Bus occupies the first place in the domestic large and medium-sized bus market for 20 consecutive years, showing many advantages of leading enterprises in the industry. For example, in Zhengzhou, the base camp, Yutong Bus has the world's largest production base of more than 3,700 mu of buses, with an annual output of more than 60,000 units; Under the concept of product innovation as the core competitiveness, we won heavyweight awards such as "China Industry Award".
Even at the moment when the demand of bus market is weakening, Yutong bus still ranks first in sales. In the first half of the year, the market share of buses over 7 meters reached 30.54%, and that of new energy buses over 7 meters reached 20.51%. Both indicators ranked first in the industry.
From the experience hall of the new energy exhibition area to the installation workshop, from the research center of fuel cell and hydrogen energy engineering technology to the L4 level automatic driving scene, Yutong Bus presents the development direction of electrification, intelligent networking, high-end and internationalization to the industry.
Market share is the highest in the industry.
Overseas new energy business contributes to revenue highlights
As a well-known brand in the industry, Yutong Bus has a high appearance rate on heavyweight occasions. The 70th anniversary of the National Day military parade and ceremony, serving the Boao Forum for Asia for six consecutive years, the 2018 Council of Heads of State of the Young Island Cooperation Organization, the 2019 G20 Summit and other activities, etc., Yutong T7, which is positioned as a high-end public business bus, is good at completing various travel service guarantees.
According to Yutong Bus, the company has 126 product series, which serve various commercial vehicle segments such as highway passenger transport, tourist passenger transport, bus passenger transport, group commute, school bus, airport car ferry, and special bus. As a model of China's automobile industry changing from product export to technology export, by the end of 2021, Yutong Bus has exported more than 80,000 vehicles, which have been sold in batches to more than 40 countries and regions all over the world, forming a development layout covering six major regions such as America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, CIS, Middle East and Europe.
In 2022, Yutong continued its leading position in the industry. In the first half of the year, 11,402 buses were produced and 11,567 buses were sold, occupying the head market share in large and medium-sized buses; Among them, the company performed brilliantly in the new energy bus market, selling more than 3,000 vehicles in the first half of the year, twice as many as the second place in the industry.
This achievement is hard-won. In recent years, the bus market has also faced multiple pressures, such as repeated epidemics, changes in new energy subsidy policies and contraction of domestic economic development. According to the data of China Bus Statistics Information Network, in the first half of 2022, the total sales volume of buses over 7m in the industry was 29,702, down by 25.43% year-on-year; Back in 2021, the sales volume of buses of 7m and above in the industry was 87,525, a decrease of 9.15% compared with 2020.
Compared with the overall domestic market under pressure, Yutong Bus's overseas sales data rose against the trend. In 2021, its overseas sales scale increased by 44% to 4.488 billion yuan, and its gross profit margin increased by 2.61 percentage points to 31%. "On the one hand, the growth of the overseas sales scale of our company is due to the better control of the domestic epidemic situation, the stable supply chain of our company and the smooth delivery to overseas customers." ; On the other hand, thanks to the promotion of the company's direct sales and other strategies, the brand competitiveness has been improved; Finally, Yutong has the advantage of accelerating the promotion of new energy products. Regarding the high gross profit level of Yutong Bus in overseas markets, the relevant person in charge of Yutong Bus explained, "The rapid development of new energy buses in the world brings higher value and better profitability, as well as the improvement of value chain management and control ability brought by the promotion of direct sales mode."
According to reports, Yutong Bus invested heavily in the early stage of overseas markets. At present, more than 200 employees are distributed overseas to carry out business: "At present, more than 60 countries around the world have completely liberalized epidemic control. We hope to seize the opportunity of recovery and increase market share. "
At the same time, Yutong new energy bus market share not only ranks first in China, but also leads overseas. At present, there are nearly 170,000 Yutong new energy buses in operation all over the world, covering Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Britain, France and other European countries.
In European countries where new energy vehicle technology is at the forefront of the world, opening the market depends on excellent product performance and unique advantages. "Customers in the local market are very professional, and Yutong electric bus brand actually faced doubts in the early stage of sales." The relevant person in charge of Yutong Bus said that at first, a French customer tried the company's products for half a year before placing an order for purchase. During this period, two things left a deep impression on the other party. "First, Yutong Bus can run for one day after charging, and its battery life is unexpected; There was no failure in two and a half years, which completely changed the stereotype that Chinese cars are' low-end' products. "
According to reports, Yutong Bus invested heavily in the early stage of overseas markets. At present, more than 200 employees are distributed in overseas places to carry out business: "At present, more than 60 countries in the world have completely liberalized epidemic control and more than 70 countries have completely liberalized it. We hope to seize the opportunity of recovery and increase market share. "
"Three Horizontal and Five Vertical" Layout of New Energy Technology Platform
Intelligent travel system accelerates enterprise transformation
A new round of scientific and technological innovation drives the automobile industry to accelerate its transformation. Facing the constantly adjusted market environment, Yutong Bus said: "The automobile industry will change in the direction of integration of electrification, intelligence and networking."
In fact, technological innovations such as new energy have brought new impetus to the development of the industry. According to the data of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the penetration rate of domestic new energy vehicles has increased by 24%, and the penetration rate of intelligent networked vehicles has increased to 18%. Specifically, vehicles in urban public transport will take the lead in realizing automation. At present, the penetration rate of new energy in urban public transport buses is 98.9%.
This is compatible with the business advantages of Yutong Bus. Yutong has accumulated a lot of practical experience in the process of electrification of urban bus, and built its own new energy core technology platform.
Since the launch of the first pure electric bus with completely independent intellectual property rights in 1999, Yutong's new energy core technology research and development has been laid out for more than 20 years. Up to now, it has formed a "three horizontal and five vertical" layout-"three horizontal" covers pure electric power, hybrid power and fuel cell power system, supporting the demand of various market segments such as public transportation, passenger transport and tourism; "Five verticals" include on-board energy system, motor system, electric control system, charging system and hydrogenation system. Yutong has the ability of self-research, self-control and industrial production.
"Among them, vehicle control is the core of Yutong's new energy technology platform, and it is also the field where we invest the most and have the strongest strength. The R&D team of more than 100 people has realized the independent design and production of vehicle software and hardware." The relevant person in charge of Yutong Bus introduced.
In the research and development of the "three horizontal" power system, Yutong's technical research and development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles has also been settled for a long time. As early as 2009, Yutong produced the first two extended-range fuel cell buses; In 2018, Yutong began to demonstrate and promote fuel cell buses. At present, 458 buses have been promoted in the market, and they have operated more than 35 million kilometers safely in Zhengzhou, Henan, Zhangjiakou, Hebei and Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu. At this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, Yutong Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus has provided services in the core area.
According to reports, compared with the traditional lithium battery energy storage device, the energy storage device of hydrogen fuel cell is hydrogen bottle, which has the advantages of long-term storage and long-distance transportation, and is less affected by environmental factors such as temperature and humidity. At the same time, hydrogen-fueled buses can solve the problem of mileage anxiety of high-powered vehicles, and the cruising range can reach 300 to 500 kilometers after being filled with hydrogen in 5 to 10 minutes.
"Yutong's new generation products are running well overall, and the hydrogen consumption per 100 kilometers is reduced to less than 5 kilograms." This is in sharp contrast with the products in the early years. According to the relevant person in charge of Yutong Bus, during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, an overseas automobile brand provided two hydrogen fuel cell buses to China. Although the performance of the products was ahead of the world at that time, the hydrogen consumption per 100 kilometers also needed more than ten kilograms.
In Yutong Bus's view, as a green and low-carbon energy source, hydrogen fuel cell has broad research and development prospects. According to the domestic long-term plan of hydrogen energy development, it is estimated that hydrogen energy will account for 12% to 15% of the energy structure by 2035. At present, the state has approved five pilot cities of hydrogen energy in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou and Zhangjiakou for industrial development.
Driven by the whole hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, it can also build a fuel cell demonstration operation urban agglomeration, which will drive the overall development of related urban parts industry and infrastructure industry. Yutong Bus introduced that taking Zhengzhou as the center, Xinxiang, Anyang, Jiaozuo, Kaifeng, Luoyang and other surrounding areas have joined in providing hydrogen energy supply and cultivating key parts industries; Meanwhile, local enterprises such as Beijing Yihuatong and Shanghai Remodeling will be attracted to land in Henan, and the shortcomings of regional parts industry will be filled.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the research and development of power system, automatic driving has become an important part of Yutong Bus Intelligent Travel System. Since 2019, Yutong has started commercial operation of L3 intelligent driving and L4 self-driving buses. At present, Yutong Bus's intelligent travel system not only provides self-driving vehicles, but also provides WitGO's intelligent travel solution, which revolves around six cores: intelligent car, intelligent road, intelligent platform, unmanned station, automatic charging and cloud control platform, as well as two foundations of 5G network and intelligent network security. The whole solution can provide services for automatic parking, automatic charging, over-the-horizon perception and decision control.
"Intelligent traffic is a major trend." The relevant person in charge of Yutong Bus said that in the intelligent travel system consisting of trunk subway+large intelligent networked bus+microcirculation, the intelligent travel scheme can be used to solve the main problems such as driver fatigue driving and traffic congestion. "First, it can make travel faster, and the average bus running speed can be increased by about 30%; Second, punctuality, through technologies such as automatic driving and assisted driving, the punctuality rate can be improved. "
According to reports, at present, the intelligent travel system scheme built by Yutong has been demonstrated. In Nansha, Guangzhou, the relevant automatic driving line has been put into trial operation for more than 200 days, becoming the punch-in place of online celebrity.
Investment in research and development continues to increase.
Prepare to seize the opportunity of market recovery
Behind the brand proposition of "traveling for a better life", Yutong shows the influence of the leading enterprises in the industry, which can't be separated from many factors. For example, competitive products and solutions, customer-centered service concept, and strong investment in new technology research and development. At the moment when the market environment has changed, Yutong Bus believes that there is still a chance to seize the market service dividend.
Yutong Bus pays attention to providing customers with all-round worry-free service. During the transition from "manufacturing+selling products" to "manufacturing service+solutions", it took the lead in successfully implementing CRM customer management system in the industry, and set up 2,000 after-sales service organizations around the world to meet the diversified needs of customers.
The company is generous in giving back to the public shareholders. In the past 25 years, it has paid dividends 23 times, totaling 17.167 billion yuan, accounting for 64.24% of the accumulated net profit of 26.723 billion yuan. Put the whole A-share market, and its dividend rate can also rank in the top ten.
R&D investment and capacity upgrading are also highly valued. According to the introduction, Yutong Bus has carried out three large-scale technological transformations with the funds raised by rights issue and its own funds, forming three production bases, namely Shibalihe Plant, New Energy Plant and Special Vehicle Plant, currently located in Zhengzhou, with a total production capacity of 65,000 vehicles/year. In addition, Yutong Bus's R&D expenses accounted for more than 5% of its revenue in recent years, and R&D personnel accounted for more than 20% of its total number. In the first half of this year alone, Yutong Bus spent 743 million yuan on R&D, accounting for 9% of its revenue.
This also confirms that Yutong Bus has always been good at insight into the potential needs of customers and layout forward-looking products. For example, in the 1990s, seizing the opportunity of market demand explosion, it took the lead in launching double-decker sleeper buses suitable for long-distance passenger transport; Since 1997, the research and development of new energy buses has started, which has achieved a long-term leading position in the domestic and foreign new energy bus market; In 2008, we launched the first professional school bus in China, and participated in the formulation of national safety standards for special school buses; After 11 years of R&D and verification, Yutong T7, the first high-end public business bus product in China, was launched in 2016, breaking the monopoly of foreign brands.
At present, Yutong's outstanding market performance has been widely recognized. With the development and industrial application of key technologies such as power system, Yutong Bus currently has 1,999 valid patents, and has won the World Bus Alliance (BAAV) series awards and the World Bus Expo series awards for many years. In addition, it has won more than 500 honors such as China Industry Award, three national science and technology progress awards, industrial enterprise quality benchmark, China Design Red Star Award and two red dot awards.
For the next bus market prospect, Yutong Bus still holds a good attitude. According to reports, although the bus demand market in the first half of the year is expected to weaken due to epidemic situation and other factors, the market demand is expected to be gradually released in the second half of the year, when the total volume of the industry may account for more than 60% of the whole year.
This conclusion is actually based on Yutong's various judgments. Including the national energy strategy to promote the development of hydrogen fuel cell industry, the fine adjustment of inter-provincial travel control, the demand for urban micro-circulation public transport derived from the "last mile" travel problem of citizens, and the purchase tide brought by customers' seizing dividends when the subsidy of new energy policy comes to an end, etc., will all promote the development of demand market.
At the same time, for Yutong Bus, which is widely deployed in the world, the next export market is promising. Yutong Bus said that due to the improvement of the competitiveness of China's bus industry chain, the export volume of the bus industry increased by about 20% in the first half of this year, and the overall market share increased, of which Yutong Bus alone accounted for about 30% of China's export market; In the second half of this year, Yutong can still seize opportunities in overseas markets: "First, new energy. In recent years, Yutong new energy buses have been rapidly promoted overseas. In the second half of this year, in Europe, Latin America, CIS, Southeast Asia and other countries, new energy still has a big growth opportunity; Second, with the relaxation of epidemic control, the traditional passenger transport and group markets are recovering rapidly; Third, seize the cooperation opportunity of "the belt and road initiative" project; Fourth, seize the structural opportunity. Faced with the rise of bulk materials, some export-oriented countries have gained fiscal surplus, such as Kazakhstan and other tourism.