Photo/Illutration Motor components for electric cars and other models are put on display by Yutaka Giken Co. at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition held in Guangzhou, China, on Nov. 18. (Akihiro Nishiyama)

GUANGZHOU, China--At the recent Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition here, a humble space for parts firms’ displays was reserved among a collection of booths for electric cars and other types of vehicles.

Yutaka Giken Co. from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, which is affiliated with Honda Motor Co. and famed for expertise in exhaust systems’ components for gas engines, showcased its motor parts for such eco-friendly models as EVs at a booth.

A representative said Yutaka Giken is promoting products among emerging makers in China.

“We are working to make more people know that we can supply high-quality parts even to EVs,” said the official.

Yutaka Giken's sales in China traditionally accounted for about half of its total revenue. However, the figure was down by 24 percent between April and September of this year from the same period the previous year.

“The environment is difficult but the only thing we can do is keep going,” said a Yutaka Giken representative.

Auto parts manufacturers from Japan such as Yutaka Giken are struggling to keep pace with the growing demand for EVs in China, the world’s largest market.

Japanese-affiliated suppliers have long provided components to gas-powered vehicles, because Japanese automakers were apt to have full lineups of gasoline models.

And the circumstances of parts manufacturers are now even harsher than the plight of automakers.

Beefing up efforts to release items intended specially for EVs and other decarbonization-oriented automobiles, suppliers are desperate for survival. However, an increasing number of corporations are considering withdrawing from China, according to auto industry sources. 

Another Honda affiliate, Yachiyo Industry Co., which handles fuel tanks and sunroofs in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, put on display a tank being developed for hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles at the Guangzhou automobile show, which ran through Nov. 26.

GAC Toyota Engine Co., a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp. and a local enterprise, exhibited an engine that it had produced exclusively for Toyota’s automobiles.

“We must weigh expanding our sales channel beyond our own group,” said a GAC Toyota Engine official, explaining the reason.

Auto parts makers are increasingly alarmed at the possibility of their being abandoned by car corporations, as automakers in Japan are hastily shifting to EVs in the Chinese market.

“Automakers are simply able to seek new suppliers of EV components in local areas,” stated an auto industry insider. “But parts providers’ being not chosen by them will mean that everything is finished.”

Japanese suppliers have some advantages given that gas-powered vehicles and EVs share certain technologies.

But local rivals in China are pitching not only advanced technologies but also affordable prices, fueling competition to win orders there.

Another blow being dealt to foreign-affiliated manufacturers is Beijing’s demand that EVs and other such models should be produced solely from Chinese-made parts at some point as a result of friction between the United States and China. 

According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, sales of gas vehicles and hybrid cars were 1.28 million units, or 60 percent of all passenger cars, in October.

But the number declined by upward of 100,000 units year on year almost every month this year.

A Japanese government source noted that many Japanese-affiliated auto parts suppliers are seeing their sales declining.

“Companies may start exiting from the Chinese market in a growing number of cases next year at the earliest, unless steps are taken,” the insider said.

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