Recent discussions surrounding the alleged broken brake pedal of a premium EV have sparked widespread concern both inside and outside the automotive industry.

As a veteran in the auto parts industry whose company mainly operates as a Tier 2/Tier 3 supplier—though we do not manufacture safety-critical components—I feel deeply connected to this dilemma. Seeing such news leaves me shocked, yet at the same time, it feels like an inevitable tragedy stemming from the distorted hyper-competition in recent years.

It is hard for outsiders to imagine just how brutal the pressure on China’s automotive supply chain has become.

Let me give you a concrete example using real data: We produce a standard automotive tube spec’d at Outer Diameter 7mm × Wall Thickness 2mm × Length ~4m, manufactured under the GB/T3639 standard with bright annealing, using 10# steel (equivalent to EN10305-1/4, E235 internationally). A few years ago, the market price for this product held steady at around 20 RMB/kg. Today, that price has been ruthlessly squeezed down to 15–16 RMB/kg.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Across the auto parts industry, products experiencing far steeper price drops are everywhere.

Faced with relentless demands for “annual price reductions” (annual cost-downs) from OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, the entire supply chain is trapped in the eye of a destructive price war storm. A disheartening phrase circulates within the industry: “If you won’t do it, someone else will.”

Factories are tied to this sinking ship, trapped in a desperate dilemma:

• Accepting orders: Profit margins are bled dry. To survive, factories are forced to cut costs to the extreme, sometimes even taking dangerous risks on materials, manufacturing processes, and Quality Control (QC)—unknowingly planting time bombs for future quality defects.

• Refusing orders: The company immediately faces idle capacity, lost revenue, and layoffs, plunging straight into a struggle for survival.

Automobiles are complex industrial products tied directly to human lives, and the brake pedal is a zero-tolerance “baseline safety component.” When the hyper-internalized competition (Neijuan) turns into a race to the bottom that values low price over safety, today it’s a brake pedal—what will it be tomorrow?

Endless price wars ultimately ruin not only the foundation of auto parts suppliers, but also the safety of every driver on the road. It is high time to reflect on this “kill the goose that lays the golden eggs” supply chain squeeze. The automotive industry must return to what truly matters: quality and safety!