Empirical analysis of R&D capability in China’s automotive firms

R&D capability is the core of technological capability. At present, China has become the second largest market and the third largest automaker country in the world. But the quantitative and systematic research on the R&D capability of automotive firms in China is not enough. In this paper, we synthetically evaluate the R&D capability of China´s 18 main automotive films who own independent brand instead of foreign brand by using input-output model and analytical hierarchy process, entropy weight coefficient method and regression analysis method. The relationship between the capabilities of R&D input and R&D output is investigated as well. It is found that there is nonequilibrium and big difference among R&D capability of China´s automotive firms, in which the R&D capability of traditional big firms is weaker than that of the later comer. According to the R&D capability scores calculated through the mathematical model established in the paper, three gradients of firms are drawn. Enterprises with strong R&D capability insist on pursuing the road of independent R&D primarily and cooperation as auxiliary.