The rapid development of China's automobile industry has brought unprecedented opportunities to the battery industry. The average increase in total battery output in the past 10 years has been higher than in Germany, the United States and other developed countries. At present, China's battery consumption is mainly concentrated in the automotive market and the motorcycle market, both occupy the majority share, the share of consumption is 74%; the electric bicycle market accounts for 8%; exports account for 7%, and other uses account for 11%.

With the further expansion of China's car ownership, lead-acid battery replacement frequency is very high. Therefore, the market also shows a cyclical demand pattern, which will further stimulate the consumption of lead-acid battery products in this area.

The market demand for lead-acid batteries in China grows at an annual rate of 15% to 40%, and the output has exceeded 30 million kVAh for many years. The rapid growth in market demand for batteries has also contributed to the acceleration of industry development, the increase in the number of battery manufacturing companies, the expansion of production scale, and the increasingly fierce market competition.

As lead-acid batteries have the advantages of low cost and mature technology, they will continue to dominate the industry in the near future. In the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” development target plan for the battery industry in China, the development goal for lead-acid batteries by 2010 is 66.792 million kVAh.

Accelerate development At present, the equipment utilization rate of most domestic battery production plants has exceeded 90%, and some even reach 100%. The output of car battery companies represented by sails, camels, and unification has been steadily increasing. The output of starter batteries has reached 5.44 million, 1.96 million, 2.3 million, and 520,000 kVAh respectively, of which the production of sails has accounted for 27.2% of the total industry volume. In order to meet the growing market demand, Sailing Company has increased its annual production capacity by 15%. It also upgrades production technology, and introduces advanced technology and advanced testing equipment to increase production efficiency. Technical improvements mainly focus on higher power maintenance-free. High-end SLA (sealed lead-acid battery) products. While expanding capacity, Yangzhou Huafu Industry Co., Ltd. focuses on light-weight and high-capacity SLA power with faster discharge speed and longer life.

In recent years, through mergers and reorganizations, the production scale of battery companies has continued to expand. Some large-scale enterprises have developed rapidly and their industry concentration is above 40%. As early as the 1990s, the battery industry started asset restructuring and mergers and acquisitions. Nandu Battery Company and Zhoushan Battery Factory implemented asset reorganization and successfully transformed Zhoushan Battery Plant into another production base of sealed batteries of Nandu Company. Immediately afterwards, Harbin Coslight Group merged with Antu Battery Factory and became Guangyu Yanbian Battery Company after restructuring. In 1999, Beijing Battery Factory was acquired by Beijing Capital Group. In 2003, Ha Guangyu Group Company and Shenyang Northeast Battery Storage Co., Ltd. reached a reorganization agreement, and Ha Guangyu entered the Shenyang Northeast Battery Co., Ltd.

While large-scale lead-acid battery manufacturers continue to expand their production scale, a large number of private enterprises have sprung up. For example, Zhejiang Lighthouse Group Co., Ltd. was acquired by Zhejiang Wolong Group in 2003 and renamed Zhejiang Wolong Lighthouse Battery Company after restructuring.

The challenges are severe. The developed countries and regions such as the European Union and the United States have long been constraining the development of lead-acid battery manufacturing in their own countries and have been purchasing from developing countries such as China for the sake of protecting their own environment. At present, China has become the largest lead-acid battery exporter. Lead-acid battery export tax rebate policy was canceled in 2006, the export market competitiveness decreased, some uncompetitive SMEs suffered serious losses or even face closures, to a certain extent, accelerating corporate mergers and restructuring and the industry reshuffle.

The automotive battery industry, which used to have the advantage of China's locality, is currently facing severe challenges from foreign companies. Multinational battery companies are optimistic about the great potential of the Chinese market and have invested and built factories in China. The United States Johnson Controls, Sony, Sanyo, Hitachi and other famous companies have established battery production bases in China, and will also gradually expand the market from large cities to small and medium-sized cities. Companies such as NEC and Bosch, which mainly produce software and appliances, have also begun to extend their business reach to battery production. With the influx of multinational companies, domestic battery manufacturers are facing more fierce competition.

Although some battery companies in China have high output and large scale, they are large but not strong. More than 80% of their products are in the low-end market, but their competitiveness in high-tech and high-value-added products is still very weak.

Industry sources said that multinational battery companies seized high-end battery market in China, intensifying market competition.