SUPPLIER EYE

For a couple of decades, virtually every global original equipment manufacturer spent significant capital and attention raising their sales/production profile in China. It became the world's largest light vehicle market by 2010 and has not looked back. Forming new joint ventures to expand their portfolios through the extension of global offerings, several OEMs even took the opportunity to design China-specific variants. Western OEMs followed these JVs, and scores of European, North American, Japanese and Korean Tier 1 and 2 suppliers followed their OEMs, creating a local supply of global components as China became an integral cog in the machine.

A presence in China is core to success for many industry players. China produced about 28 million light vehicles in 2023, based on S&P Global Mobility's estimates. China is not only key for Western OEM profitability, from a volume perspective it is the largest single market (about 31% of the world in 2023) with the highest growth profile. It also resides between Europe and the U.S. from a content and vehicle segment profile. Additionally, global unibody platforms from virtually every global OEM count on China for significant contributions. As recently as 2019, non-Chinese OEMs accounted for 13 million units (53%) of China's light-vehicle output.