Italian car to China seeks cooperation to focus on auto parts

In order to seek opportunities for the development of the Guangdong automobile industry, on November 22nd, the Italian Foreign Trade Commission and the Italian Federation of Industry organized a delegation of auto industries to visit Guangzhou. They wanted to make a bridge and investigate the feasibility of investing in Guangdong, allowing Italian auto companies and Chinese companies to establish cooperation. At the same time, the Italian Automobile Industry Association and the Guangdong Automobile Industry Association signed a cooperation agreement to seek further development.

Visiting China to seek cooperation opportunities The event was co-organized by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italian Automobile Industry Association and the Turin Industrial Federation, and received the Guangdong Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the Guangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Guangdong. The provincial committee, the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the Guangdong Automobile Industry Association supported the project.

It is understood that the Italian delegation consists of 66 representatives of Italian companies, of which 12 companies have factories, offices or agents in China. The delegation will visit Guangzhou and Shanghai as the two most important automobile manufacturing bases in the country. The goal is to allow Italian auto companies to establish cooperative production and supply relationships with Chinese companies and to investigate the feasibility of investing or setting up factories in China in order to facilitate Live business opportunities brought about by the rapid expansion of the auto industry.

MAUROFerrari, vice chairman of the Italian Automobile Industry Association, said that the advantages of the Italian automotive industry lie in technological innovation, especially in automotive emission reduction, energy saving, security, connectivity and other advanced technologies. It has a total of 3,500 companies and more than 1.2 million related employees in the country, with a total production value of approximately 38 billion euros, of which 3% is used for research and development, and exports exceed 13 billion euros, equivalent to 34% of turnover.

Or focus on the car supporting field However, the huge automobile output value of Italy has also begun to enter the downward track under the influence of the financial turmoil. More importantly, in China, the world's largest market, the development of Italian automobile brands lags far behind Japan, Germany, and the United States.

At present, Fiat, an Italian car company, has cooperated with GAC Group to set up a joint venture in Changsha. “Guangzhou GAC Fiat will shoulder the task of letting Chinese consumers understand the Italian automobile industry.” Zheng Xiancong, general manager of GAC Fiat, said that GAC Fiat will start production in the first half of 2012. Currently, part of the civil construction has been completed and all procurement work is in full swing.

Zhan Qinghong, general manager of Guangzhou Automobile Group, said that Guangzhou Automobile's first self-owned brand, “Xiangchen”, has the shape, accessories and platforms to cooperate with Italian companies and has broad cooperation space in the future. However, according to GAC's joint venture experience, joint ventures must overcome cultural differences, have sufficient communication and trust, and have competitive products.