Yili Electromagnetic breaks through international monopolies, reshaping the market landscape of core air suspension components with a domestic strategy.
36Kr learned that recently, Ningbo Yili Electromagnetic Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yili Electromagnetic") has completed a strategic financing of tens of millions of yuan, exclusively strategically invested by Qingxin Capital. The funds will mainly be used for expanding new production lines, constructing new factories, and R&D investment. With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, air suspension systems have become a core configuration for enhancing the driving experience due to their advantages of intelligence, comfort, energy saving, and safety. According to Marklines/CITIC Securities data, the global air suspension market size will reach 76.5 billion yuan in 2025, while China's air suspension market size will reach 31.9 billion yuan. Founded in 2017, Yili Electromagnetic is committed to developing and producing key components of high-end vehicle air suspension products, such as distribution valves and CDC damping solenoid valves used in air supply units. Currently, the company has more than 50 team members, with technical personnel accounting for over 50%. In terms of product portfolio, based on the team's previous development experience, Yili Electromagnetic's products cover gas distribution valves, multi-chamber solenoid valves, CDC solenoid valves, pressure-holding valves, and valve-pump integration, fully covering the product line related to solenoid valves in air suspension systems. These products are important components of air suspension systems, responsible for achieving multiple adjustments of chassis height and adjustable hardness of the chassis, greatly improving the comfort and handling of vehicles.
Yili Electromagnetic Partial Products
In terms of market applications, 36Kr learned that in its early stage, the team successfully provided the Lotus FREE with a distribution valve through Konghui Technology's air suspension system. Currently, the product has been applied to many models such as Lynk & Co, Chery, and Zeekr, becoming the first domestic distribution valve supplier to partner with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Additionally, with the mass production of models like the Chery Star ES and ET, Yili Electromagnetic's gas distribution valves have successfully been equipped in 8 models, with cumulative delivery of distribution valve products exceeding 120,000 sets. This year, Yili Electromagnetic will also add mass production for 8 more models, covering SUVs, sedans, MPVs, commercial vehicles, light trucks, and others.
Yili Electromagnetic - Distribution Valve Assembly Production Line
Previously, the domestic air spring pressure holding valve market was mainly dominated by international suppliers such as Germany's VOSS. By the end of last year, Yili Electromagnetics made significant progress in the field of pressure holding valves, successfully achieving large-scale production and realizing import substitution. The company's head said. According to plans, Yili Electromagnetics will continue to increase R&D investment. Founder Chen Xiaoqi stated that it is expected that by the end of 2024, the company’s stiffness valves and CDC electromagnetic valves will also achieve SOP mass production, further enriching the product line and enhancing market competitiveness. "Yili Electromagnetics' vision is to become the top company in valve market share within the air suspension field and to be a leader in this Niche market." Note: The word "Niche market" at the end seems to be partly in Chinese due to a possible typo or encoding issue in the original text. It should be translated as "niche market". So the corrected last sentence would be: "Yili Electromagnetics' vision is to become the top company in valve market share within the air suspension field and to be a leader in this niche market."
Yili Xiangshan factory (expected to be completed and put into production in August)
Investor perspective
Qingxin Capital automotive industry investor Chenghao Shi stated: We see the potential of Yili Electromagnet in cost reduction and technological innovation for domestic production. With the upgrading of automobile consumption and the intensification of configuration competition among original equipment manufacturers, the willingness of domestic independent brands to configure air suspension systems is rapidly increasing. In the future, mainstream models priced above 300,000 yuan will be equipped with dual-chamber air springs+CDC shock absorbers as standard, mainstream models priced between 180,000 and 300,000 yuan will be equipped with single-chamber air springs+CDC shock absorbers as standard, and models priced between 120,000 and 180,000 yuan will be equipped with CDC shock absorbers as standard. This will drive the market size of related electromagnetic valves to exceed 10 billion yuan. As the first domestic company to break the foreign capital monopoly and achieve large-scale mass production, and still the only domestic company to achieve mass production and supply, Yili Electromagnet has an absolute first-mover advantage and supply chain cost advantage. In the future, we will work together with Yili to jointly develop and expand new customers and continuously introduce new technology products to maintain Yili's leading advantages.
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