An Analysis on the Chinese Market Entry of Korean and Japanese Automotive Firms

Abstract

The booming demand for motor vehicles in China has made China the most rapidly growing market in the world. Therefore, virtually all global automakers have significant investments in China or in the process of investing there. Especially, explosive volume increase and large margins made by producers such as VW in China got other global automakers to pay attention to the potential of Chinese auto market. Among major players, Korean and Japanese automakers are showing brilliant performance despite their late-comer status in Chinese auto market. Against this background, this study analyzes Chinese market entry of Korean and Japanese automakers centering on Hyundai and Toyota and forecasts their long-term success strategy. More specifically, this study analyzes Chinese market entry of Korean and Japanese automakers from the perspective of timing of entry, choice of local partner, mode of entry, choice of location, and product portfolio. In the Chinese market, especially in case of automotive industry, there are considerable restrictions on market entry. This restriction results from the intention of Chinese government to protect its infant automotive industry. Toyota and Hyundai which are to be studied in this paper are so-called “late-movers.” These two late-movers showed the difference in choosing Chinese local partner. And it seems to come from the difference of their core competence. Hyundai teamed up with BAIC, while Toyota partnered with China’s first automaker, FAW. Also when a specific automaker advances into the passenger car market, there is a question about what it should pursue first between auto parts industry and finished car industry. It is common that finished car industry comes first since the auto industry’s peculiar subcontracting system requires finished car industry to come first. In other words, usually parts manufacturing, production management, sales/service come later than the production of finished car. While Hyundai’s parts companies entered China at the same time with Hyundai, Toyota took the backward approach in terms of mode of entry. From the perspective of choice of location, Toyota and Hyundai don’t lag behind VW or other major players in Chinese auto industry. Toyota chose Tianjin area while Hyundai picked Beijing area. These two areas are included in the same developed east area where income and consumption level per capita are higher than the west and the middle area. In terms of choice of product, it seems reasonable that Hyundai decided to choose small- or mid-sized sedan such as EF Sonata or Elantra, because making a small car product is an essential component of any emerging market strategy. On the other hand, Toyota intends to avoid fierce competition by focusing on premium sedan such as Crown, because the mid-size sedan market is full of players. Lastly, this paper made three suggestions for late-entrants such as Hyundai and Toyota to maintain their position and succeed in Chinese auto market on the long-term basis. Those three suggestions are 1) pursuing full-line policy, 2) establishing auto financing company, and 3) maintaining good connection with Chinese government.;중국의 급격히 증가하는 자동차 수요는 중국을 세계에서 가장 빠르게 성장하는 시장으로 만들었다. 그래서, 거의 모든 세계의 자동차 메이커들이 중국에 상당한 규모의 투자를 하였고, 하고 있는 중에 있다. 특히, VOLKSWAGEN과 같은 기업이 보여주었던 양적인 면에서의 폭발적인 증가와 높은 이윤은 다른 세계적 자동차 메이커들로 하여금 중국시장의 잠재력에 대해 주목하게 하는 계기가 되었다. 주요한 자동차 메이커들 중에서도, 한국과 일본의 자동차 메이커들은, 늦게 중국 시장에 진출하였음에도 불구하고, 놀라운 성과를 보여주고 있다. 이러한 배경 하에서, 이 논문은 한국과 일본 자동차 기업의 중국 시장 진출을 분석한다. 좀 더 구체적으로 말하자면, 진입 시기, 현지 파트너의 선택, 진입 방식, 입지의 선택, 차종의 선택이라는 관점에서 현대와 토요타의 중국 시장 진출을 분석하고자 한다. 그 이후에는 현대와 토요타가 중국 시장에서 자리를 잡고 장기적인 관점에서 성공하기 위한 전략적인 측면을 다루었다. 여기에서 제시되는 세 가지 전략은 다양한 차종을 생산하는 능력을 키울 것, 자동차 할부 회사를 세워 앞으로의 자동차 판매를 활성화할 것, 그리고 중국 정부와의 우호적인 관계 안에서 장기적인 사업 전략을 세워나가야 한다는 것이다.