The automobile air conditioning pipeline is one of the components used in the air conditioning system. It connects the automobile air conditioning components installed in various parts of the automobile to form a complete set of automobile air conditioning system pipelines. The automobile air-conditioning pipeline is generally composed of aluminum tube, pressure and temperature sensor, charging valve, connector (pressing plate, nut, etc.), rubber tube, aluminum sleeve, O-ring, plastic cap, etc.

The automobile air conditioning pipeline can be divided into high pressure pipe and low pressure pipe according to the pressure, among which the pipeline from the compressor to the expansion valve is a high pressure pipe; The pipeline from the expansion valve to the compressor is a low-pressure pipeline. According to the refrigerant state, it can be divided into gas pipe and liquid pipe. The refrigerant in the gas pipe line is gaseous, and the refrigerant in the liquid pipe line is liquid.

The upstream of the automobile air conditioning pipeline industry is the aluminum processing industry for automobiles, the rubber hose industry for automobiles and the sensor industry. The downstream customers are mainly domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers and their parts suppliers, with a high degree of customer concentration.

According to the statistics of the China Automobile Association, in 2021, China's automobile production and sales will be 26.082 million and 26.275 million, with year-on-year growth of 3.4% and 3.8%, ending the three consecutive years of decline since 2018.

At present, there are many production enterprises in the industry with low market concentration and fierce competition. The industrial competition pattern is characterized by the following two aspects:

Competition among small and medium-sized private enterprises in low-end market

At present, there are a large number of private enterprises in the automobile air-conditioning pipeline industry. Most of these enterprises are small in scale, with simple production equipment, low production technology, non-standard management and lack of quality assurance. Therefore, these enterprises mainly participate in the market competition of low-end products, and their main market is the after-sales market.

② Competition between large private enterprises and joint ventures in medium and high-end markets

At present, the main enterprises participating in the middle and high-end market competition include: Shanghai Automotive Air Conditioner Parts Co., Ltd., Changzhou Tenglong Automobile Parts Co., Ltd., Changzhou Shengshida Automobile Air Conditioner Co., Ltd., ContiTech Fluid Technology (Changchun) Co., Ltd., Shengduo Shengshida Automobile Fluid Connector (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Bondi Automobile System (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Tianjin Dianzhuang Air Conditioning Pipeline Co., Ltd., etc. The above enterprises have been operating in the industry for a long time, with large production scale, high technology and management level, stable customer groups and market shares, and have formed a certain market position. At present, most of these enterprises are involved in the competitive pattern of global procurement of parts and components, and mainly serve well-known domestic and foreign vehicle manufacturers and international auto parts suppliers with high requirements for product quality and process.

As far as the degree of marketization is concerned, the shareholders of some enterprises in the automotive air-conditioning pipeline industry have decades of cooperation or equity relations with vehicle manufacturers. There are certain characteristics of internal support, geographical protection and market segmentation in the industry, so the marketization competition is not sufficient. However, in order to reduce production costs and ensure product quality, vehicle manufacturers gradually open procurement to other external automobile air-conditioning pipeline enterprises with product quality and price advantages. Moreover, China's auto parts industry has begun to integrate into the international cycle and enter the global procurement system. From the perspective of the overall industry development trend, the degree of marketization of the auto air-conditioning pipeline industry will be further improved in the future.