Dandong Huanghai Strives for Excellence in CV Market
2009-05-27 Source：english.chinabuses.com
Summarize：---An Interview with LI Haiyang, President of the Bus Builder
While continuing to maintain its predominance in city bus market in 2008, Dandong Huanghai Automotive Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred t ...
---An Interview with LI Haiyang, President of the Bus Builder
While continuing to maintain its predominance in city bus market in 2008, Dandong Huanghai Automotive Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Dandong Huanghai) strengthened its efforts in R&D and marketing of its tourist coaches. A successful launch of its whole spectrum of tourist coaches has not only given a big boost to the bus builder’s image, but also elevated its product mix to a new high level.
LI Haiyang, President of Dandong Huanghai
By the end of 2008, Dandong Huanghai saw a large increase in its sales of tourist coaches and city buses. However, the worldwide financial crisis this year has dragged down its sales volume quite significantly.
The changing market condition is now posing a big challenge for Dandong Huanghai to execute its strategic adjustment. LI Haiyang, a 36 year old young man in charge of the 57 year old bus builder, however, is still quite upbeat about the company’s future when talking about how the company is weathering through the current economic downturn.
The following is the excerpt of the interview with LI Haiyang, Chairperson of the board of Dandong Huanghai.
Q: since the start of 2009, China’s large- and medium-sized buses & coaches market has witnessed a sharp contraction. Do you think the market is now going through a thorough reshuffle? When is the market going to bottom out?
LI Haiyang: the global financial crisis and the upgrading of China’s railway network combined have indeed imposed a huge negative impact on China’s large- and medium-sized bus & coach market. Every bus & coach builder is now going through a very hard time. It can be said that the market is now in a period of transition, but the time won’t last long. Optimistically speaking, the situation will change for the better in the near future.
Q: the statistics available show that the export of China’s buses & coaches was severely affected by the ongoing economic downturn. Where does your optimism come from?
LI Haiyang: I have always been quite confident about China’s city bus market. To develop public transport, not only conforms to government’s call for building an energy-saving society, but can also stimulate domestic consumption. As various local governments begin to offer financial supports, the domestic bus market will soon recover from the current economic malaise.
Even though adversely affected by the international financial crisis, China’s tourism industry is expected to grow in many years to come. Thus, the weaker demand for tourist coach at present is only temporary.
As to the sharp decline of export volume, I don’t think that we should feel pessimistic. It is still a fact that many developing and underdeveloped countries are still yet to build up sound public transport systems. The economic slump has put these governments in a better position to add more public transport facilities. The entry of China’s bus & coach products into the global market is now unstoppable. Currently, it is a very important period for us to better our overseas marketing networks and beef up the quality of our products. From the current statistics of my company, I can tell that Huanghai’s export volume this year will surpass that of 2008.
Q: the dire market condition is believed to be a big challenge for every enterprise that is going through a transition. Some say the timing of Huanghai’s strategic adjustment is not quite good. Do you agree?
LI Haiyang: time has never been quite good for our company’s development. However, thanks to the perseverance and consistent efforts of every Huanghai employee, we have grown from a previously small factory to the massive proportion at present. In 2008, our company together with our parent company realized sales revenue of RMB 6.3 billion (about USD 922.401 million) and paid taxes totaling RMB 256 million (about USD 37.4822 million). After all these years development, we have successfully nurtured a corporate culture that values openness and hard work. Undoubtedly, the current economic climate is posing a big challenge for us. However, we believe Dandong Huanghai will grow even stronger after the crisis is over.
Q: The advantage of Dandong Huanghai lies in large- and medium-sized buses. However, the competition in the bus market has been intensifying since the beginning of this year. What has Huanghai been doing to cope with the ever competitive rivals?
LI Haiyang: Dandong Huanghai has been developing the domestic bus market for many years. Till now, we have acquired a deep understanding of customers’ needs and cost control. Since 2008, we have successfully bolstered up the price-performance ratio of our products by introducing new techniques and new materials. In 2009, the price wars between bus builders became increasingly fierce and the local protectionism was on a rise, which have hindered our development. However, we believe our buses and coaches will win customers’ recognition in the long run. Currently, we have already developed buses & coaches measuring between seven to eight meters long, which will render us some new competitive edges.
Q: Dandong Huanghai does not rest in ease while expanding its presence in China’s bus market. What is the future development for your company?
LI Haiyang: we always strive for becoming a first-class commercial vehicle builder in China. Till now, we boast two well recognized brands, namely Huanghai and SG in the market. Moreover, we are fully confident to become one of the top-class auto parts suppliers in the global market. Last year, we acquired an Axle R&D Center from one of the Global Top 500 Enterprises in the USA. In addition, we bought the core assets of Changjiang Bus and set up Changzhou Huanghai. As the pillar of SG Group, we are currently backed up by Germany-based Man AG and Italy-based Iveco, two internationally famed enterprises. The quality parts & accessories with cutting-edge technologies will continue to strengthen our core competitiveness in the future.
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