Driven By Policies And Technology, The Brake Pad Industry Embarks On High-End Transformation; Shandong Huaruifeng Leads The Green And Intelligent Trend

At the start of 2026, China's brake pad industry is undergoing an unprecedented structural transformation. As the mandatory implementation of the revised Technical Specifications for Automobile Brake System Components draws near, environmental protection, intelligence and high performance have become the core keywords of industry competition. Market concentration is accelerating, and local enterprises are seizing new development opportunities through technological breakthroughs and global layout. As a backbone enterprise deeply rooted in the brake pad sector, Shandong Huaruifeng Machinery Co., Ltd. takes technological innovation as its driving force, keeps pace with industry trends, and continues to invest in green manufacturing and intelligent upgrading, injecting strong momentum into the industry's transformation.

Rigid policy constraints have become the "catalyst" for industry restructuring. The new version of the technical specifications, to be officially implemented in 2026, clearly stipulates that the friction coefficient fluctuation range of brake pads must be controlled within ±10%, while completely prohibiting the launch of products with copper content exceeding 5%. This standard aligns with the new EU ECE R90 regulations and China's upcoming National Emission Standard Stage Ⅶ, directly addressing the environmental pain points and quality shortcomings of the brake pad industry. According to industry reports, after the policy takes effect, 20% of small and medium-sized OEMs will withdraw from the market due to the high cost of environmental protection transformation. The industry's CR5 concentration rate will surge from 42% in 2023 to 55%. Against this backdrop, Shandong Huaruifeng made early arrangements. Its independently developed low-copper ceramic brake pads have a copper content of less than 2% and a friction coefficient stability within the range of 0.38±0.02. These products have not only passed the pre-certification of the new national standard ahead of competitors, but also obtained EU market access qualifications, with export volume increasing by over 30% year-on-year, making the company a direct beneficiary of policy dividends.

Technological innovation is reshaping the industry's competitive landscape, with greening, intelligence and lightweighting emerging as the core development directions. The explosive growth of new energy vehicles (NEVs) has brought structural opportunities to the industry. In 2023, China's NEV sales reached 9.5 million units, with a penetration rate exceeding 35%, and a market scale of 20 million units is expected to be formed by 2025. The 12-15% increase in the overall weight of NEVs and the popularization of regenerative braking technology have raised higher requirements for the high-temperature resistance and low-drag performance of brake pads, driving the market share of low-drag brake pads up from 28% in 2020 to 41% in 2023. Shandong Huaruifeng accurately grasped market demand and established a joint laboratory with the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its independently developed carbon fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite brake pads achieve a braking performance attenuation rate of less than 15% in high-temperature environments above 800℃, with an average product weight reduction of 15% and a cost saving of over 10 yuan per unit. These brake pads have been successfully supplied to NEV manufacturers such as BYD and GAC, with an annual supply volume exceeding 5 million sets. Meanwhile, the company has made a forward-looking layout in the field of intelligent brake pads. The new-generation products integrated with temperature sensors and wear monitoring modules can real-time feedback the status of the braking system, meeting the needs of L3 and above autonomous driving models. At present, small-batch trial production has been completed, and the products are about to enter the marketization stage.

Global layout and industrial synergy have become the key paths for enterprises to break through. In 2023, China's brake pad export volume increased by 17.6% year-on-year, among which the market growth rate of RCEP member states reached 24.8%. Southeast Asia has become a new growth pole with an average annual automobile production growth rate of 9.7%. Shandong Huaruifeng seized the opportunities brought by the "Belt and Road Initiative" and RCEP, established an overseas warehousing center in Thailand, and built a sales network covering more than 120 countries and regions. Among them, the export share to the ASEAN market has increased to 32%, becoming the core growth driver of the company's overseas revenue. In the domestic market, relying on the complete industrial chain supporting advantages in East China, the company has built a supply chain system with a 50-kilometer raw material procurement radius. The automation rate of the production line has reached 72%, an increase of 18 percentage points compared with three years ago, shortening the new product development cycle to 11 months. It has successfully entered the original equipment (OE) market, established long-term strategic cooperation with many domestic commercial vehicle enterprises, and its supporting share has been continuously increasing.

Industry experts pointed out that the period from 2025 to 2030 will be the "golden transformation period" for the brake pad industry. The market scale is expected to grow from the current 36.5 billion yuan to 68 billion yuan, of which NEV-specific brake pads will contribute more than 60%, and the market share of intelligent brake pads is expected to reach 15%. Faced with this opportunity, Shandong Huaruifeng will continue to increase R&D investment, plan to raise the proportion of R&D expenses to 6% of revenue in the next three years, focus on breaking through the large-scale production of carbon-ceramic composite materials and the adaptive technology of brake-by-wire systems. At the same time, it will expand the intelligent production base, add an annual production capacity of 8 million sets, and strive to become a leading domestic and internationally renowned brake pad solution provider.

Driven by both policies and market demand, the brake pad industry is bidding farewell to low-level competition and moving towards a new stage of high-end, intensive and global development. Shandong Huaruifeng's development path, with technological innovation as the core, green development as the foundation and global layout as the support, provides a useful reference for the transformation and upgrading of local brake pad enterprises. In the future, with the continuous release of industrial synergy effects, China's brake pad industry is expected to occupy a more important position in the global market, and leading enterprises like Shandong Huaruifeng will surely write a more brilliant chapter in the wave of high-quality industry development.