“Having come from traditional enterprises, I believe that it’s crucial to act according to one's capabilities. Besides cost control, the pace of expansion should also be well managed,”

stated Fu Yuwu, Honorary Chairman of the China Society of Automotive Engineering and Chairman of the Huachi Foundation, during an interview with several media outlets, including The Paper, at the 2024 China Society of Automotive Engineering Annual Conference and Exhibition while reflecting on the past decade of the new car-making powers.

This veteran in the automotive industry, who has been in the field since 1970, also shared his insights on topics such as the Raobin Award, the high-quality development of the Chinese automotive industry, the gains and losses of new car-making forces, and autonomous driving.

Automakers need to seek cooperative paths in the new era

Today, the new four trends of electrification, connectivity, intelligence, and sharing are increasingly impacting the automotive industry, as China’s automotive sector rapidly develops amid unprecedented changes. However, this new era also introduces new challenges and sets new demands for all industry practitioners.

Regarding the future direction of Chinese automakers, Fu Yuwu highlighted that an important keyword is “cooperation.” He stated, “There are too many automakers in China now, both traditional and new forces, and there will be more foreign wholly-owned enterprises in the future. How should we navigate this path? I believe we must build international brands and century-old enterprises; restructuring and group development in the industry might be a trend. Without forming groups and scale effects, companies will lack competitiveness. In the era of intelligence and electrification, everyone is seeking cooperation because the investment is too significant.”

Reflecting on the most commendable and reflective aspects of the past decade for new car-making forces, Fu Yuwu noted that the most commendable element was the “catfish effect” they introduced, which significantly fostered the entire industry’s development through their innovation, vitality, and brand building. However, during the reflective part, Fu, as an experienced industry figure, expressed some concerns.

“In the past decade of survival of the fittest among new car-making forces, only about a dozen remain at the 'table,' while over 300 have been eliminated. Each of those remaining fought fiercely to survive and are excellent, but this still doesn’t guarantee their continued survival in an extremely fierce competitive landscape. Therefore, I think they must have a sense of crisis and explore the next development path,” Fu Yuwu reminded. “Traditional enterprises must also have a sense of crisis; failure to transform will lead to failure. The new forces must also pursue change and seek cooperation; otherwise, how long they can stay at the table remains uncertain.”

Emphasizing talent cultivation in the Chinese automotive industry is never too much

Fu Yuwu further emphasized, “Nothing can replace teams and talent. China must accelerate the cultivation of high-end talent needed in the automotive industry; it cannot be overstated how important this is, and no support is excessive.”

As Honorary Chairman of the China Society of Automotive Engineering, Fu Yuwu, along with several industry veterans such as Zhang Jinhua, Zhao Fuquan, Sun Bohuai, Guan Xin, Ge Songlin, and Liu Shiquan, co-founded the Beijing Huachi Automotive Culture Foundation (hereinafter referred to as “Huachi Foundation”) in 2014 to promote automotive technology advancement, innovative development, and to encourage innovative talents; it is the first non-profit public welfare organization in the country and the only neutral public welfare organization in the automotive industry.

Over the past decade, the Huachi Foundation has focused on innovation in the automotive industry and talent cultivation. Fu Yuwu remarked, “For the older generation of automotive professionals, we established the Raobin Award; for the younger generation, we support youth talent programs, such as the Formula Student initiative—from combustion vehicles to electric vehicles to autonomous driving, we’ve cultivated numerous talents. Many other projects also focus on talent from abroad. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, returnees have played a significant and irreplaceable role.

“In the last decade, we’ve done various things, but I feel it may not be enough. In the next decade, we still need to focus on innovation and talent growth; we particularly hope to continue leading in innovation and foster more innovative talents in the Chinese automotive technology sector.”

Innovation as the soul, achieving high-quality development in the automotive industry

Sustainable development has become a consensus among major countries worldwide and has also emerged as one of the mid-to-long-term strategic goals for the entire automotive sector. In addition to integration, collaboration, and innovation, Fu Yuwu emphasized the concept of sustainable development in the automotive industry, stating, “Achieving sustainable development, steady progress, and looking far ahead is our shared mission for the next generation, the next decade, and beyond.”

When asked what critical areas Chinese automotive companies should focus on to achieve high-quality sustainable development, Fu Yuwu believed, “The mission of the automotive industry going forward is not just to become stronger but to genuinely realize high-quality development, with innovation at its core. Firstly, we must ensure that innovation is the soul of our sector. Secondly, we must focus on core technologies and achieve significant breakthroughs; we call for, guide, and expect breakthroughs from 0 to 1. Thirdly, the entire industry must shift towards high-quality development, promote automotive culture, develop industry self-discipline, advocate core values, shoulder social responsibility, and realize sustainable development.”

During the entire interview, “innovation” was the most frequently mentioned term by Fu Yuwu when discussing the Chinese automotive industry. This is also, in his view, the key to leading the high-quality development of China’s automotive sector, having witnessed the industry’s evolution from non-existence to market leadership.

Fu Yuwu stated, “The core of high-quality development is innovation. Now that we have reached a scale of 30 million vehicles and exported 6 million, are we doing enough in terms of innovation? I believe there is still a significant gap between our current situation and the ideal state.”

In this veteran's perspective, for Chinese automakers to achieve high-quality development, they should also “advocate positive and optimistic values during their development process. Companies must be profitable and shoulder social responsibilities, especially leading enterprises that must take on this mission. To truly become global leaders, a powerhouse in the industry, and build international brands requires collective efforts from the entire automotive industry.”