Intensified "Involution" in the Automotive Industry: Connector Enterprises Break the Dilemma and Achieve Cost Reduction & Quality Improvement through Collaborative Innovation

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Jan 19,2026

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The competition in the new energy vehicle market has reached a white-hot stage. Automakers' demand for cost reduction continues to transmit upstream to the supply chain, leaving automotive connector enterprises caught in the dual challenges of "simultaneously reducing costs and improving quality". Against this backdrop, industry players have stepped out of the limitations of pure price wars and built a core path for sustainable development by making efforts in three dimensions: design innovation, process optimization and collaborative cooperation.

At present, the model iteration cycle of automakers has been shortened to 1–2 years. The dual pressure from price war involution and high costs of technological iteration has forced connector enterprises to restructure their cost structures. Traditional cost-reduction approaches were mostly limited to material substitution, which is prone to induce quality risks. In contrast, leading enterprises have taken the lead in exploring full-life-cycle cost-reduction solutions. TE Connectivity upgraded its machined terminal assemblies to stamped ones through design innovation, cutting production processes while achieving a 20% cost reduction. Meanwhile, it promoted the integration of terminal series, streamlining seven to eight specifications down to four, which not only significantly improved the product current-carrying capacity but also achieved the goal of efficient cost reduction.

Collaborative symbiosis has become the core industry consensus to break the predicament. Amphenol has focused on building an in-depth collaborative system with automakers and chip manufacturers, promoting product category simplification and standardized usage expansion to control costs from the source. Industry experts further call on automakers to take the lead in unifying platform interface standards, reducing production fluctuations caused by design changes, and comprehensively improving the overall operational efficiency of the industrial chain. In addition, mold process iteration and intelligent manufacturing upgrading are also key means to cut costs and enhance efficiency. By continuously optimizing mold technology, TE Connectivity has increased the production efficiency of the same-model products by 1.5 times within five years, consolidating its cost advantage.

Industry insiders stated that connector enterprises are in urgent need to transform from "cost followers" to "technology definers". Only by relying on innovations in three dimensions—design, process and collaboration—and completing cost optimization on the basis of ensuring product reliability, can they seize a competitive advantage in the wave of automotive industry transformation.

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