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Sany Challenges Komatsu’s Grip on Indonesian Construction Machinery Market
Akihiro Komuro The battle between major Japanese and Chinese construction machinery companies is intensifying in Indonesia. As the growth of the Chinese market slows, China’s Sanichi Heavy Industries is accelerating its overseas expansion in search of new sources of revenue.
Komatsu, which has a stronghold in Southeast Asia, is responding by introducing mid-priced machines and expanding its maintenance bases. Who will dominate the growing market following China will also affect the power structure of the construction equipment market in Asia.
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GWM Opens Smart factory in Thailand, Renovates GM’s Factory
Akihiro Komuro China’s Great Wall Motor (GWM) has announced the official opening of a plant in Thailand. The company acquired the plant from General Motors (GM) in 2020 and has been working to make it smarter by installing advanced AI-based equipment. It is the company’s first smart factory to be opened in Southeast Asia. The amount of investment for the renovation has not been disclosed, but the company has indicated that it plans to invest 22.6 billion baht (about 79 billion yen) in Thailand.
The production capacity is 80,000 units per year, and it is expected to produce HVs first. In the future, the plant will also produce EVs. The company plans to allocate 60% of the vehicles produced to the Thai domestic market and 40% for export to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and Australia.
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Vinfast Begins Taking Orders for EVs
Akihiro Komuro Vinfast, an emerging Vietnamese automaker, has started taking orders for its first EV, the VFe34. The VFe34, a C-segment SUV crossover type, uses a 42kWh battery and can travel 300km on a full charge. The domestic sales price is VND 690 million(about 3.31 million yen). The battery will be provided on a subscription basis (fixed fee service). The monthly fee is set at VND 1.45 million, the same level as the cost of running on gasoline. When the battery’s charge performance drops below 70%, it can be replaced with a new one. This is said to reduce the initial cost for customers and at the same time guarantee the quality risk of the battery.
As a promotion until the end of June, the company will offer a discount of VND100 million and a free battery subscription service for one year. In addition, customers who replace their gasoline-powered cars will receive VND30 million per car from the Vin Group’s Green Future Fund. If they cancel the purchase, the deposit of 10 million dong will be fully refunded. According to Vinfast, 3,692 orders were recorded in 12 hours after the start of orders on the 24th.
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PSR-HDMA Present Webinar April 21, 2021
Current and Future Supply Chain Concerns For Medium and Heavy Vehicles Will Be Discussed
Erik Martin 
Chris Fisher Power Systems Research April 21, 2021, produced a one-hour webinar with the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) discussing current and future supply chain concerns, especially as they affect Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles.
The presenters included:
- Chris Fisher – Senior Commercial Vehicle Analyst, Power Systems Research
- Erik Martin – Director, Asia Region, Power Systems Research
- Richard Anderson – Director, Market Research & Analysis, HDMA
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China-led Proton Is Revitalized
Akihiro Komuro Sales of Malaysia’s national carmaker Proton are booming, with its market share in the country reaching 27.3 % in February, hot on the heels of another national carmaker, Produa’s 38.8 %. This is not a single month irregularity; for the full year 2020, the rate is 20.5%. For the full year 2020, the share is 20.5%, almost doubling in just two years from a record low of 10.8% in 2018. This is the first time in seven years that the market share has recovered to the 20% level.
The turning point of the turnaround offensive was a capital/business alliance with a Chinese manufacturer: in September 2017, the company accepted a 49.9% stake from Geely Automobile’s parent company and began importing the right-hand drive version of the X70 SUV, which it produces and sells in China, at the end of 2018. As soon as this became a hit, the company switched to domestic assembly in Malaysia at the end of 2019, and introduced an additional small SUV, the X50, in September 2020.
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China and South Korea Increase Investment in Indonesia
Akihiro Komuro China and South Korea are increasing their investments in Indonesia. According to BKPM (Indonesia’s Investment Coordination Agency), China (including Hong Kong) accounted for $8.4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020, up 11% from the previous year, and South Korea accounted for $1.8 billion, up 64%.
Japan, which has been the driving force behind investment to date, has seen a clear decline of 40% to $2.6 billion. Singapore ranked first in FDI in 2020 with $9.8 billion, followed by China and Japan in second and third place, then the European Union in fourth place, and South Korea in fifth place.
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Doosan Infracore Unveils Wheel Loader with “Transparent Bucket”
Doosan Infracore announced in March that it had introduced the industry’s first wheel loader with a “transparent bucket” function.
The transparent bucket is a system that allows the wheel loader driver to see even blind spots in front of the bucket through the monitor in the cockpit. The innovative system records images in front of the wheel loader with cameras installed at the top and bottom and shows the combined images in real time using a curved projection method.
The front of the wheel loader has been considered a major safety issue due to blind spots. With the transparent bucket function, however, the driver can easily check the blind spot in front of the bucket with a monitor to prevent safety accidents.
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Tesla Proposes Investment in Indonesia to Promote EV Industry
Akihiro Komuro The Indonesian government announced on Feb. 5 that it had received an investment proposal from Tesla. The country is the world’s largest producer of nickel, which is essential for the production of batteries for EVs. In order to promote the EV and battery related industries, Indonesia had invited Tesla to invest in the country.
Details of the talks between Indonesia and Tesla cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality agreements, but it is said that they have mainly discussed battery and energy storage solutions. The Indonesian vice-minister said, “If Tesla only wants to buy raw materials, we are not interested. The proposal is more than the procurement of raw materials and extends to energy storage systems such as MegaPack, PowerPack and Powerwall,” he said.
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Hyundai To Custom Design EVs for each Customer
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group is launching a new business to produce EVs to order, according to customer preferences. It is designed to be used for corporate purposes such as delivery and car sharing, and the body design and loading capacity can be flexibly changed to suit the intended use.
The company will take advantage of the characteristics of EVs, which have a higher degree of freedom in design than gasoline vehicles. The company will also introduce a business model that does not involve mass production to accelerate the growth of its EV business.
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Honda Launches Electric Bike for Business
Honda announced the “GYRO e:” and “GYRO CANOPY e:” as planned commercial models of electric three-wheeled scooters for business use that use replaceable batteries. The new models will be marketed as the Honda e: Business Bike series together with the BENLY e: business electric two-wheeled scooter, which has been sold to corporate customers since April 2020.
The GYRO series will be used in many business applications such as deliveries. The GYRO series is a three-wheeled model with one wheel in the front and two in the rear to increase stability, and there is also a “CANOPY” model with a roof and wipers that can handle a little rain.
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