Automotive e-ssentials

TÜV SÜD Greater China has granted EAC (OTTC) certificate to Anhui Ankai Automobile Co., LTD. (hereinafter as "Ankai"). Dirk Hinzpeter, Director of Mobility, TÜV SÜD Greater China, attended the certification ceremony. This is the first EAC (OTTC) certificate issued by TÜV SÜD Greater China in collaboration with National Automobile Institution of the Russia Federation (hereinafter as "NAMI") since January 2015, when the Customs Union began to initiate mandatory vehicle certification. Issuance of this certificate also reflects TÜV SÜD's powerful influence and global resource superiority in whole-vehicle testing and certification, which will render authority and support for Ankai to explore overseas markets.

In recent years, domestic automobile brands have been actively exploring overseas markets across Chinese borders. Russia, as the world's largest country in terms of territorial area, has a natural appeal to all automobile enterprises and has become an emerging automobile market overnight. It is well-known that the Customs Union countries, represented by Russia, have extremely strict requirements on imported vehicles. So for Chinese automobiles to enter Customs Union countries, the vehicle type certification (OTTC certification) is required. It is a standard imposed by the Customs Union countries on vehicle motors and other auxiliary parts regarding safety, quality and environmental protection. As a mandatory certificate required by the Customs Union for motor vehicles, the OTTC certification, similar to the Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA), is the "passport" to access the Customs Union countries.

Before that, the authorized agents of the domestic automobile enterprises who wanted to export to these Customs Union countries, could directly apply for OTTC certificate with the issuing body or testing body of the destination country. In this process, they often had to deal with various challenges like poor technical communication, languages, multi-party cooperation, logistics and transportation. Since the official enforcement of Customs Union Technical Regulation "TP TC 018/2011" in January 2015, it is compulsively required by the Amendment to this Regulation that all new and used vehicles circulated in the Customs Union countries must be provided with ERA-GLONASS system/device. This means that, for any vehicle exported to Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and other Customs Union countries, ERA-GLONASS certification becomes an essential part in its whole-vehicle certification. This raises higher requirements for domestic automobile manufacturers.

In consideration of the various challenges, TÜV SÜD offered customised certification solutions based on the actual conditions of Ankai and worked together with NAMI and TÜV SÜD's local partners to carry out all GOST certification work including ERA-GLONASS. In respect to such customized business mode, Mr. Dirk Hinzpeter, Director of Mobility, TÜV SÜD Greater China, said that, "Currently, TÜV SÜD has entered a partnership with NAMI. For the GOST part of OTTC certification, it is capable of providing different combinations of GOST testing services to domestic customers and advising applicable certification approaches in accordance with different demands of customers. TÜV SÜD aims to help domestic automobile manufacturers obtain OTTC certificate without going abroad and explore overseas markets."

As a representative of domestic luxury bus brands, Ankai has always been devoted to improving its own technological strength, with its products exported to over 100 countries and regions. The passing of the quite challenging CU certification proves that Ankai is ready to enter overseas markets. "TÜV SÜD has controlled the project progress throughout the process and assisted Ankai to obtain the OTTC certificate. This has not only lightened the burden of the import/export project team, but also significantly reduced the certification period, thus guaranteeing the delivery of products on schedule," said Mr. Li Guojun, Deputy General Manager of International Sales Company, Ankai.