Suspension system company Shijia Technology secures exclusive contract for MPV models from leading automakers | Early-stage project

36Kr has learned that Shijia Technology, a domestic air suspension supplier, has won the exclusive nomination for an MPV model of a leading automaker, and the project will enter SOP (delivery) in the fourth quarter of this year. 36Kr understands that this vehicle is positioned in the mid - to large - sized MPV market and is a benchmark model in the Chinese MPV industry.

Wu Weimin, the founder of Shijia Technology, told 36Kr: "The company has spent a great deal of effort to enter the supply chain of this vehicle because one of the most prominent selling points of MPVs is comfort, and this vehicle is especially so. The core improvement of air suspension in user experience lies in comfort. Therefore, winning the exclusive nomination for this vehicle means that Shijia Technology has taken the lead in the industry in terms of air suspension comfort."

Eight - in - one integrated closed - type air supply module + thousand - stage adjustable adaptive sky/ground damping algorithm to build a hard - and - soft integrated competitiveness

Shijia Technology was founded in 2021 and mainly engages in the R & D, production, and sales of core components, software and hardware, and system solutions for air suspension systems. Most of the company's founding team members come from new car - making forces and first - tier multinational suppliers. This year, 36Kr learned that "Shijia Technology has significantly upgraded its team. The former general manager of Hefei Vehicle Engineering R & D Center and the person in charge of chassis core technology R & D of NIO is now the chief scientist of Shijia Technology."

As the localization process of air suspension accelerates, many powerful enterprises and even listed companies have emerged in the air suspension field.

Compared with other air suspension suppliers, one of Shijia Technology's advantages is its early layout. The company's main product, the electronic control module of the air suspension system, has undergone two generations of R & D: one is the first - generation control products applied to air springs, multi - chamber springs, semi - active dampers, and magnetorheological dampers; the other is the eight - in - one integrated closed - type air supply module.

Wu Weimin introduced to 36Kr that the eight - in - one integrated closed - type air supply module integrates multiple functional units such as air compressors, solenoid valves, controllers, dryers, and filters. Since it uses the internal air - circuit circulation technology, compared with the external air - circuit circulation technology, the whole system is smaller in size, lower in noise, and higher in efficiency.

The improvement of integration and efficiency reduces the system cost. According to Shijia's calculation, compared with the current mainstream products, this solution can reduce the cost of the whole - vehicle system by thousands of yuan, which will accelerate the penetration of air suspension into mainstream models priced at around 200,000 yuan.

In addition, this module adopts a software - hardware decoupling design and has an open interface protocol, which can be flexibly adapted to the new - generation central computing platform and EE architecture, thereby improving the compatibility and integration efficiency of the whole - vehicle system.

Besides hardware, Shijia Technology also attaches great importance to "soft" capabilities. The company has pioneered the "thousand - stage adjustable adaptive sky/ground damping algorithm" for adjusting air suspension. Wu Weimin said that this algorithm can adjust the vehicle's posture and suspension stiffness according to different road conditions and driving states, thus making the driving experience smoother.

Attacking the full - active suspension and striving to be the first enterprise to launch the air - circuit architecture

Shijia Technology foresees that the implementation of autonomous driving will make the chassis a more important competitive point in the automotive industry in the future. Users of autonomous vehicles will emphasize more on the "smooth - as - silk" driving experience, and this experience mainly depends on the upgrade of air suspension technology. Therefore, the more intelligent and comfortable full - active suspension will become the new favorite in the industry with the opportunity of autonomous driving.

However, the localization rate of full - active suspension is not high. Currently, models such as Zunjie S800, NIO ET9, and the upcoming new - generation Li L9 are all equipped with products from overseas suppliers.

Shijia Technology spotted the opportunity of full - active suspension early and has made great investments in this direction. On the basis of the semi - active suspension system, the company introduced hydraulic active power. As a result, this full - active suspension system can actively control spring stiffness and vehicle body posture, realizing dynamic and real - time adjustment of the vehicle's vertical, pitching, and rolling movements. Shijia Technology estimates that the performance of the full - active system has been improved by about 30% compared with the traditional semi - active solution.

There are two technical paths for full - active suspension: system + hydraulic and magnetorheological + linear motor. Shijia Technology has chosen the former, "which is similar to ZF's technical route." Wu Weimin explained the company's choice of the technical route as follows: "The durability and maturity of the hydraulic system are higher, so the products can be launched more quickly, and the company can seize the market faster. If we choose the magnetorheological + linear motor route, we need to overcome the durability problem, and the corresponding products will take 3 - 5 years to be applied."

Currently, Shijia Technology is the first domestic air suspension supplier to complete the research on the core technology of full - active suspension. The company is conducting POC verification (concept verification in the early stage of the project) for a large - scale overseas customer.

In addition, Shijia Technology is exploring to complete the last link of full - active suspension - preview. Wu Weimin told 36Kr: "Without preview, it can't really be called an active suspension. And preview requires the combination of vehicle engineering and intelligence. Shijia Technology plans to complete the real closed - loop of full - active suspension by investing in a vision company."

To build a deeper moat, Shijia Technology is also planning to develop into a high - pressure air - circuit platform technology company, "supplying air not only to the suspension but also to seats, tires, camera cleaning, etc." Wu Weimin's vision is that no company in the world has launched an air - circuit architecture yet, and Shijia Technology aims to be the first. "This is also the company's survival strategy of walking on two legs."

In terms of technology and products, Shijia Technology is trying to expand its boundaries, but in terms of choosing the track and customers, it is relatively focused. Regarding the quite popular embodied intelligence track in recent years, Shijia Technology admitted that the company has received an embodied intelligence order with a relatively considerable amount this year, but the company does not plan to enter this track rashly. "Unless we find a product that can solve the pain points of embodied intelligence, we won't tell empty stories."

On March 20th this year, Shijia Technology's factory in Pinghu, Zhejiang, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 sets, was officially completed, and the company has stronger industrialization capabilities. In the future, Shijia Technology will undoubtedly become an important force in promoting the localization of full - active suspension.