Traditional automakers face an “existential threat” from China’s auto industry which is moving faster to design vehicles and reduce costs, an executive of an engineering services company said Thursday.
“They can change incredibly fast,” said Terry J. Woychowski, president, automotive of Caresoft Global, a Michigan-based engineering services company. Caresoft analyzes vehicles for customers, including automakers and suppliers.
Chinese automakers can develop new models in 14 to 18 months compared with 36 to 48 months for traditional automakers, Woychowski said. Such traditional auto companies are “three to five years behind from a technology standpoint,” he said.
Chinese automakers are using artificial intelligence extensively during design, according to a Caresoft slide that accompanied the talk.
The executive spoke at a Society of Automotive Analysts event. It was held at an Auburn Hills, Michigan, regional office of Nanterre, France-based automotive supplier Forvia.
Outside the Forvia building, Caresoft had two vehicles on display that it acquired from Chinese automaker BYD. One was an electric vehicle car. The other was a hybrid BYD Shark truck, which has an electric powertrain and a 1.5-liter engine to ensure the vehicle’s battery remains charged.
Caresoft has a technical center in Livonia, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, where it analyzes such vehicles.
Woychowski is a former General Motors Co. executive who has spent 47 years in the auto industry.
Chinese and traditional automakers are “talking different languages,” Woychowski said.
Established automakers emphasize the time a model can go from 0 to 60 mph and horsepower and torque, he said. Chinese automakers emphasize technology and connectivity, where vehicles can connect to the internet or other cars and trucks, the Caresoft executive said.
In China, automakers and suppliers have a more cooperative relationship while traditional automakers are often more confrontational with suppliers, he said.
BYD, the largest automaker in China has “vertical integration we haven’t seen since the days of Henry Ford,” including in-house battery production, Woychowski said.
Traditional automakers need to revamp their operations, the executive said.
“We need to do it quickly,” he said. “The only strategic advantage you can have at the end of the day is speed. We have work to do.”
Thursday’s event also had a series of roundtable discussions. The subject of China’s auto industry came up again.
“We’re going to have to change our mindset,” Scott Cieslak, chief commercial officer of Detroit Manufacturing Systems, said. “We’re playing from behind.”
Chinese automakers are likely to produce vehicles in countries near the U.S., said Tu Le, founder of Sino Auto Insights, a consulting firm. “The Chinese are surrounding us,” he said.
In April, he said at an Automotive Press Association webinar that auto dealers from Canada attended this year’s Auto Shanghai Show expressing interest in in Chinese vehicles.
“You don’t think they’ll be manufacturing north of the border?” he said Thursday at the SAA event. “That’s the reality.”
