Desay SV's sword refers to intelligent and networked automobiles

Since the joint venture era, he was dispatched to China as the general manager, and became the chairman of the new domestic company after independence. Along the way, Chen Chunlin, a Singaporean Chinese, has witnessed and led the transformation and growth of Desay SV in different periods.

"Pay attention to R&D investment" and "You have me, I have you", Chen Chunlin, Chairman of Desay SV Two high-frequency statements in an exclusive interview with "CEConline", because of the insistence on the former, after the "halo" of foreign investment faded in 2010, Chen Chunlin led Desay SV, which was converted to domestic investment, to successfully embark on a path of independent development, and After 7 years, he led the company to log in to the capital market; the latter is the symbiotic relationship advocated by Chen Chunlin under the trend of "four modernizations of automobiles" (electrification, networking, intelligence, and sharing), which also guides Desaixi. Wei launched a series of new layouts for smart cars.

Desay SV is one of the largest automotive electronics companies in China. At present, the products cover in-vehicle infotainment systems, air-conditioning controllers, driving information display systems, etc. With the accelerated development of smart cars, we are actively developing automotive intelligence and networking to form three new businesses: smart cockpit, smart driving and Internet of Vehicles plate.

The course since independence

In 1986, Desay SV was a joint venture by Philips Car Audio, Hong Kong Kingsoft Group and Huizhou Industrial Development Corporation (predecessor of Desay Group). Zhongou Electronics Industry Co., Ltd. was established in Huizhou; in 1998, the German Mannesman Video entered the Philips car audio system, and Chen Chunlin took over the "scepter" of the joint venture at this time; in 2001, Siemens acquired Mannes Man VDO, the company changed its name to Siemens VDO Automotive Electronics (Huizhou) Co., Ltd. Siemens and Desay Group hold 70% and 30% of the joint venture respectively. In 2007, Siemens’ shares were sold to Continental AG as a whole; in 2010, Desay SV acquired all the shares held by Continental AG, and Desay SV’s Sino-German joint venture has officially come to an end.

Chen Chunlin said frankly that Desay SV will face both internal and external pressures after being fully domesticated: First, it needs to fill the vacancy of 25% of the market share, which is the business of "internal supply" to foreign affiliates in the joint venture era ; Second, while filling, it is necessary to maintain the continuous growth of overall performance and eliminate external doubts. Desay SV can still develop by leaps and bounds after leaving the "rich halo" of German automotive electronics.

Two years later, Desay SV has filled the 25% vacancy. Since 2014, Desay SV has experienced a blowout growth, with an average revenue growth rate of nearly 50% for three consecutive years. In 2017, Desay SV ushered in a new highlight. Its sales revenue exceeded 6 billion yuan from more than 1 billion yuan in 2010, and it was successfully listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The key to Desay SV's success comes from Chen Chunlin's emphasis on R&D and innovation, and insisting on focusing and improving professionalism, and product development is confined to the field of automotive interiors. After being independent, Desay SV will accelerate the development of new products such as driving information display system and display modules and systems based on the in-vehicle infotainment system and air-conditioning controller business.

"Growth must depend on investment. At that time, I was very clear that investment should be invested in R&D. I think this is fundamental. If you don't focus on R&D investment, but prefer to invest in equipment and other aspects, the company will It will also become a very ordinary enterprise." Chen Chunlin said that since 2010, Desay SV has maintained a high proportion of R&D investment. From 2016 to 2018, its R&D investment was 341 million yuan and 424 million yuan respectively. and 543 million yuan, accounting for 6.0%, 6.96% and 10.04% of the company's revenue for the year respectively.

Apart from the continuous heavy investment in R&D and innovation, another important factor is the construction of the company's talent echelon. From 2010 to 2017, Chen Chunlin also called it the "second entrepreneurship" stage. "Without foreign support, there will be bumps and bumps. Therefore, after independence, we must change everyone's thinking and mentality, and the requirements for the following people are the highest. Fundamental is trust. Don’t be afraid of hardships, don’t be afraid of difficulties, and dare to rush forward. This is the basic spirit of talking about 'secondary entrepreneurship' at that time." During this period, Desay SV has increased the training of Chinese management talents and formed a new core management Team, and attaches great importance to the training and introduction of technical talents. Since 2010, Desay SV's R&D personnel have grown from more than 300 to nearly 2,000, with a growth rate of 200%. Today, the R&D team has exceeded 40% of the company's total.

After Desay SV went public, Chen Chunlin did not step into his "comfort zone" logically. Instead, he made a full bet on the smart car business and increased investment in the development of smart connected products; To further emphasize the "third entrepreneurship", the key words this time are professionalism and responsibility. In his view, Desay SV can achieve today's industry status without the rigor, ingenuity and professionalism of the team. As for the so-called responsibility, Chen Chunlin said, "There are bound to be risks in running a business. Every employee should have an entrepreneurial spirit and should take responsibility for what they do, rather than just follow the established things, knowing that they will fall into the pit and continue to fall. Instead, it can be adjusted flexibly at any time."

This is not unrelated to the decline of the auto market in 2018 and the accelerated reconstruction of the entire auto industry by the "four modernizations of automobiles". Wind data shows that in 2018, the net profit of the auto industry dropped by 20.85% year-on-year. Auto parts companies, which are the upstream industry chain of auto companies, are also generally under pressure from performance. The entire auto industry has entered a cold winter. The "four modernizations of automobiles" has become a trend. Although there is no specific timetable for the arrival, how to keep up with the pace of industrial upgrading, continue to maintain corporate performance and expand the market scale in the future, and take advantage of the new opportunities brought by industrial adjustment to consolidate and upgrade industrial and Market position is a problem that Desay SV has to think about. Chen Chunlin believes that this requires not only taking advantage of the situation, but also taking the initiative to make new choices.

The future under the "Four Modernizations"

At the moment, Chen Chunlin is facing a difficult task: in the cold winter of the auto market and the "four modernizations of automobiles", how to provide this mature company? The company strengthens the new growth point of "intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving and Internet of Vehicles".

Chen Chunlin said that under the impact of the cold winter and industrial adjustment, the more the team must be motivated to fight in the organization, and the more determined the R&D innovation must be in the matching and reorganization of resources. To invest, don't use the "short-term and fast" mentality to gain short-term performance and interests, but use it as an opportunity to accelerate self-transformation.

To this end, Chen Chunlin is accelerating the revitalization of the internal resources of the organization. First, Desay SV is discussing readjusting the internal organizational structure according to the three new product lines of intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving and Internet of Vehicles, matching and reorganizing internal resources, and focusing more on the organizational structure for future smart cars. business. Second, the current investment in R&D and innovation is also mainly focused on three new directions, including early-stage technology research and development and later-stage application development. This can also be confirmed in Desay SV's 2018 annual report. Due to the downturn in the downstream passenger car market, Desay SV's revenue declined in 2018, but its R&D investment still increased by 29.84% year-on-year, and the R&D expenses reached 543 million yuan, accounting for 10.04% of operating income.

At the same time, in the face of the external environment, Desay SV focuses on becoming a "resource linker" and on cooperation with all parties. In Chen Chunlin's view, in the field of automobile intelligence and networking, although the traditional automobile industry chain companies, new forces such as Weilai, Ideal and Xiaopeng, as well as different players such as Internet companies represented by BAT are fiercely competitive, every Every enterprise should focus on the areas that they are good at, and keep an open attitude, and finally form a situation of "you have me, I have you".

In terms of scientific research institutions, Desay SV has jointly established a network security laboratory with Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, and is committed to the research of automotive electronic network security; Work together in technical exchanges, talent training, and scientific and technological research. On the enterprise side, Desay SV has reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent Automobile Association to carry out close cooperation in the field of Internet of Vehicles; signed a cooperation agreement with Baidu to carry out R&D cooperation in the field of autonomous driving and Internet of Vehicles; cooperated with NVIDIA and Xpeng Motors Signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop L3-level intelligent driving systems... Chen Chunlin said, "Desay SV has established a close relationship of trust and cooperation with car manufacturers in the long-term cooperation, and has established a close relationship of trust and cooperation with Internet companies and new start-ups. There is also cooperation, and we are just in the middle, which can connect the needs of all parties like a bridge and provide new value services.”

From the current point of view, Desay SV integrates in-vehicle infotainment, driving The intelligent cockpit business of multiple systems such as information display, air conditioning controller, body control and communication module has received orders for the projects of Chehejia, Changan Automobile and Tianji Automobile in 2018, and is expected to start mass production within this year. In the field of intelligent driving, Desay SV has achieved mass production of various products such as 360-degree high-definition surround view system, automatic parking system, driver behavior monitoring and identification system; L3-level intelligent driving jointly developed with Xiaopeng Motors The system is scheduled to be mass-produced in 2020. In the field of Internet of Vehicles, Desay SV has established big data analysis and application teams in Chengdu and Huizhou, and built its own big data platform; and officially released the Internet of Vehicles strategy in 2018, proposing that Desay SV will focus on " The strategy of collaborative innovation, flexibility and efficiency, and providing safe and warm connected car products and services”, and strives to build a million-level user platform in 2020; it has won awards from FAW-Volkswagen, Chery Jaguar Land Rover, Changan Mazda and other car companies. Orders for projects such as the Internet of Vehicles platform, OTA, and situational intelligence have gradually been commercialized.

Facing the future, Chen Chunlin has even greater expectations for Desay SV, "In the future, we will play a more active role in the ecosystem and will no longer be a pure hardware provider. The relationship between the car manufacturers will become closer, no longer a simple relationship between Party A and Party B, but a closer partner, and ultimately a provider of safe, comfortable and environmentally friendly travel services.”

div>