German automakers to wrestle for China

　　According to auto. sohu.com, when the EV agreement came to a standstill between Japanese automakers, Renault and Nissan, and China’s Wuhan city, German automakers lost no time to conquer this promising market in Wuhan too. Nevertheless, they did not partnership with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, but the Ministry of Science and Technology.

　　On July 16 and 17, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology conducted a seminar on Sino-German EV technology collaboration. Meanwhile, German’s Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development took the lead to hold a discussion on the collaboration of EV technology and standards, followed by German deputies including German Association of Automotive Industry, German automakers, VW,DAIMLER, BMW, as well as officials and experts from German’s IM BERGE.

　　The EV pilot program has been rolled out in many cities, which provides a good opportunity for Japanese and German automakers to promote their EV technology and standards. As for Chinese government, the problem deserves studying that how to strengthen Chinese indigenous EV standard through technical exchanges and cooperation, but not controlled by others.

　　Germans are fully prepared to conquer China’s EV market.

　　During the seminar on 16, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, along with officials from technology and power system in Wuhan, Hubei province, China automotive technology & research center, Dongfeng Motor, and many universities including Tongji and Tianjin Universities, has participated to discuss Sino-German EV pilot program, battery-charging technology, infrastructures, operation management model, and government stimulus. In addition, they also discussed how to promote Sino-German collaboration on EV R&D and industrialization, and the development of EV and other industries in China and German.

　　Wan Gang, leader of experts on national “863” program of energy-saving and new energy vehicles, said to auto sohu that the seminar is important for Sino-German project of renewable energy cooperation. The project was initiated in the end of 2003, involving bio-fuels, synthetic fuel, and diesel technology. With the development of EV technology, this project is paying more and more attention to EV field.

　　According to insiders from VW, besides Wuhan city, German government and automakers also planed to partnership with other cities to launch pilot programs of EV, promote their EV technology, share experiences of the pilot test program, and exchange ideas with Chinese automakers and standard organizations.

　　Compared with Japanese automakers, the cooperation between German government, automakers and Chinese EV industry involves wider fields with higher level, but keep low profile.

　　On March 6, Wuhan government and German energy agency jointly signed the letter of intent to exchange demonstration project experiences of EV marketing entry and preparation, including EV, charging infrastructures, and plans of traffic and transportation. Wan Gang, minister of Ministry of Science and Technology, led Chinese deputies to visit German for inspecting German EV operation.

　　On July 2, Sino-German Forum on EV was held in Tongji University. Wan Gang, Minister of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, along with Annette Schavan, German Federal Minister of Education and Research, unveiled the Sino-German EV joint research center and signed the Sino-German scientific cooperation joint statement of EV on behalf of both sides. In addition, six German and four Chinese universities signed the Sino-German scientific cooperation memorandum of electric vehicles as well as related scientific and technological cooperation agreement.

　　During German Chancellor Angela Merkel visiting China on July 15 to 18, both sides released Sino-German joint communiqué envisaging strategic partnership, deciding to support Sino-German alternative power platform and strengthen both countries’ collaboration on EV field.

　　The EV agreement between Nissan and Wuhan city came to a standstill

　　Germans accelerated their plans, while the agreement between Nissan and Wuhan city didn’t go smoothly. On March 25, Renault-Nissan Alliance has finally signed the agreement with Wuhan government. Compared with the initial one, the final agreement has been shrunk and pilot test electric vehicles produced by Nissan have dropped to 25 units from 300 units.

　　On April 10, 2009, the Renault-Nissan Alliance (the Alliance) announced a partnership with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China for Zero-Emission Mobility, a first step in bringing Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) to China, and signed memorandum of understanding with Wuhan government. According to MOU, within 3 years, Wuhan will purchase 300 Nissan EVs to launch its pilot test program through local government or EV supplier procurement.

　　Citing from some insider, the cooperation between the alliance and Wuhan government gave rise to differences.

　　Firstly, should pilot test vehicles be supplied by Nissan for free, or purchased by Wuhan government? Secondly, the precondition for both sides signing MOU lies in Nissan’s promise to manufacture EVs in Wuhan. However, it chose Guangzhou as its manufactory. On November 22, 2009, Nissan, along with Dongfeng Motor signed MOU with Guangzhou city government to promote the development of EV industry, deciding to manufacture their EVs in their Guangzhou Huadu plants in the future.

　　Thirdly, Nissan EVs are still excluded from China’s announcement of automakers and products. In addition, the differences between Nissan and Wuhan city emerged from building capitals in terms of battery-charging and maintenance stations.

　　China strategy: learning from other countries

　　No matter from the cooperation between China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and German government and automakers, or China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the alliance, the most important part is involving the cooperation of EV and charging standard. For example, Nissan will provide MIIT with electric vehicle (EV) information and propose a comprehensive plan, including a blueprint for a battery-charging network and programs for mass marketing EVs.

　　According to auto.sohu.com, as for EV charging infrastructure, Wuhan government has already adopted some German equipment.

　　Sources from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers told auto sohu that, it’s favorable for China’s EV development to cooperate between China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and German government and automakers. We could learn from different technology and standards through collaboration with different automakers. However, China still could sustain the independent innovation to formulate standards. We would not copy any standards, but learn from them.

　　Nevertheless, he also said Japanese and German automakers cooperate with Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as well as Ministry of Science and Technology respectively. Thus, those two ministries need more technical exchanges and communication. (Translator: Qinghua /serena)

　　See original Chinese report please click: http://auto.sohu.com/20100726/n273759106.shtml