On February 8, the 2023 American HVAC Expo 2023 (AHR Expo 2023) came to a successful conclusion in Atlanta. Midea Group's Household Air Conditioning Division, Building Technology Division, Industrial Technology Business Group and other units participated in the exhibition, and attracted professional customers, industry partners, and media from North America and all over the world to visit and exchange. Among them, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CEE and other regional energy efficiency alliances, together with large electric utilities, ASHRAE, the American Association of Authoritative Air Conditioning Engineers, ACCA North American Association of Largest Installers and other North American green development heavyweight delegations visited the air conditioning booth of the United States, fully affirming the breakthrough in heating technology made by Midea in the transformation of fossil fuel substitution. Ms. Zhang Xinyu, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, also visited the Midea Building Technology booth and had in-depth communication with Cheng Lin, General Manager of the Overseas Marketing Company of Midea Building Technology Division, to understand the products and exports of Midea Building Technology, encourage Chinese companies to actively explore the North American market, and praise China's intelligent manufacturing.
With the theme of "The Future is Now", Midea Household Air Conditioner showcased its leading scientific and technological achievements in promoting the decarbonization and electrification transformation of buildings, and provided users with energy-saving and efficient comprehensive heating solutions - a representative product matrix composed of innovative ultra-low temperature window heat pumps, a new generation of cold climate heat pumps, EVOX flexible inverter heat pump replacement packages and integrated heat pump water heaters; Relying on the solid product ecology, it has created a green and efficient heating solution for all application scenarios that meet the needs of all climate regions, all building scenarios, and both life and hot water, making up for the limitations of traditional heat pumps in building applicability and low temperature stability, and contributing green wisdom to "carbon neutrality".
In 2022, Midea Air Conditioning was designated by the New York government as the main partner to develop and deliver the first batch of 20,000 ultra-low temperature window heat pumps for use in public housing facilities in New York City, and will be used in batches in the decarbonization transformation of Boston, Chicago and other cities in the future. While better meeting the demand for green heating for multi-family housing, it is also contributing to the electrification process in North America. In addition to the window heat pump that has achieved category breakthroughs, Midea has also cooperated with the U.S. Department of Energy to participate in the formulation of high-energy efficiency standards for ultra-low temperature heating, which means that Midea will play a leading role in promoting the green upgrade of the overseas single-family residential gas furnace replacement market. In addition, Midea's EVOX system is a flexible inverter heat pump replacement solution specially developed for the replacement needs of existing users of the central air duct system in the mainstream residential scene in North America. It is an effective solution under the general trend of heat pump switching, and truly helps North American user households switch to energy-efficient heat pumps at a lower cost and easier installation method. In the latest product survey conducted by ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America), the largest installers association in North America, EVOX received a whopping 98% of installers' willingness to try it out, and its sales in North America will usher in a rapid growth of 200%+ in 2022.
As a system-level solution provider for core components of consumer appliances, GMCC and Welling, both of Midea's Industrial Technology Business Group, bring American-style air duct machines, light commercial air conditioners, window air conditioners, and refrigerators, heat pump hot water, vehicle thermal management and other "multi-scenario, full-coverage" compressors, motors, heat pumps and other products and solutions were unveiled. Qiyun Zhang, Head of GMCC & Welling's Americas Market, said: "As one of the more mature and leading markets, North America is not only large in scale but also has sufficient growth potential, and is one of the important overseas markets for GMCC & Welling. We will explore more localization in the North American market, and establish deeper 'connections' with customers and consumers through 'technology-product-delivery-service', and ultimately strive to become the world's leading and trusted system-level solution provider for core components of consumer appliances." At present, GMCC & Welling's factories in Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani in Thailand and India have been put into operation and will radiate to Southeast Asia and the global market, and the factories and R&D centers in Brazil and North America have also been included in the global layout plan.
In recent years, heat pump products have attracted much attention from the HVAC industry and the consumer market. Adhering to the concept of "Discover Easy Comfort", Midea's Building Technology Division brought Midea's comprehensive air-to-air and air-to-water heat pump solutions to the exhibition. Air to air includes Midea Building Technology's latest small multi-product for the American market, Atom X, which can be connected to a gas stove to bring an efficient and comfortable heating experience to the home. Air to Water includes M thermal Arctic Split, Swimming Pool Heat Pump, Sanitary Hot Water Heater and commercial heat pump products suitable for a variety of commercial scenarios. Midea Building Technology combines the needs of refrigeration, heating, domestic hot water, floor heating and other needs to provide users with diversified solutions. In October 2022, Midea Building Technology officially started laying the foundation stone in Italy for the new production and R&D base invested in Europe. According to the plan, the new production site will invest 60 million euros, including a heat pump production center and an R&D center, which is expected to start production in the second quarter of 2024.
In order to be closer to the market and customer needs, Midea Group Globalization adheres to localized management, and closely combines the cultural, economic and other characteristics of the local market to optimize targeted services. At the same time, Midea will also work with partners to further strengthen its pre-sales and after-sales technical support capabilities, and ultimately "feed" innovative R&D and product iteration with market feedback closer to consumer needs.
Midea's U.S. R&D center is the first R&D center established by Midea overseas, and the R&D personnel are all localized talents who have been deeply engaged in the field of home appliances for many years, and are not only very professional in their own technical fields. At the same time, they also have a deep understanding of the local home appliance market in North America, and also have a very in-depth study of local users, and have developed a series of products for Midea to meet the local needs of the North American market, helping Midea to open the North American market with its own brand in one fell swoop. It is understood that Midea currently has the largest and most complete household air conditioning industry chain in China, accounting for the first place in the overseas market for 16 consecutive years.
In the future, Midea Group will continue to accelerate the pace of "going global", strive to practice the strategic axis of "global breakthrough", continue to increase overseas scientific research investment and overseas talent cultivation, provide products and services that are more in line with the global market demand, and help the global HVAC and refrigeration market to be more low-carbon, more reliable and greener.