文档介绍：(144-155)Q1'02_ChinaAuto_v5 1/7/02 10:56 AM Page 144
144
A tune-up
for China’s auto industry
Paul Gao
Global carmakers could manage their costs and capital in China—and
gain a strategic option for their global operations—by contracting out
the manufacture of whole vehicles to panies.
aced with the prospect of stagnant global sales over the next five
F years, the world’s biggest carmakers are jockeying for a share of one
of the few buoyant national markets. China’s domestic car sales, growing
at more than 10 percent annually, will probably account for 15 percent of
(144-155)Q1'02_ChinaAuto_v5 1/7/02 10:57 AM Page 145
145
TONY STONE
global growth over the next five years. So far, global automakers have pur-
sued essful joint-venture strategies by investing heavily in assembly plants
operated by Chinese partners. But petition in China heats up, a new
tack may be needed in the quest for profitable market share.
An asset-light strategy would have the major panies concentrate
on what they do best—developing products and brands—while contracting
out not ponent supply but also the whole assembly process to
Chinese automakers that can capitalize petitive cost structures.
Although scaling back capital investment in such a healthy market might
seem bold, outsourcing manufacturing is neither mon in other indus-
tries nor entirely unprecedented in this one. Moreover, the nature of the
Chinese auto industry and market makes outsourcing particularly attractive.
Outsourcing might also help Chinese automakers take their first steps to
ing a global manufacturing resource. But if the strategy is to work,
global carmakers must build up the skills of these Chinese partners, which
in turn must embrace contract manufacturing as a more profitable path to
creating a petitive industry than launching their own brands.
(144-155)Q1'02_ChinaAuto_v5 1/7/02 10:57 AM Page 146
146 THE McKINSEY QUARTERLY 2002 NUMBER 1
Competition is