As one of the three types of automatic transmissions, CVT gearboxes are mostly used in entry-level models. Japanese cars are especially keen on CVT gearboxes. The core component of CVT gearboxes is steel belts, but the current mainstream The steel belts and steel chains of CVT gearboxes basically come from two suppliers, Bosch and Schaeffler. With such a huge market, why doesn’t China manufacture the steel belts of CVT gearboxes?
In fact, it’s not that our domestic companies don’t want to build it, but that they really can’t. At present, the only company in my country that can independently develop and produce CVT gearboxes is Wanliyang. Wanliyang’s latest CVT?25 model gearbox can withstand a torque of 250 Nm. Its steel belt is also provided by Bosch. Why is China so powerful? Manufacturing, but can’t even make a small steel belt like a CVT gearbox? In fact, there is only one country in the world that can manufacture steel belts for CVT gearboxes, and that is Germany. Not Japan, the United States, France and other countries. This is mainly due to the following reasons:
1. Patent barriers and cost issues
Germany’s automobile industry started early and has strong technology accumulation. It established patent barriers early. Currently, the patents for the transmission mechanism of CVT gearboxes are in the hands of two German companies. The main patents for steel belts belong to Bosch, and the main patents for chains belong to Schaeffler. Any company that wants to produce steel belts or steel chains must either purchase the patent licenses of these two companies, which are relatively expensive, or bypass the technology and start from scratch. Domestic cars started late. If they develop steel belts for CVT gearboxes, the cost will be very high. Very high, direct procurement will help save costs.
2. The technical difficulty is extremely high
Many people think that the steel belt is just an iron chain made of steel? Is it that difficult? Let’s look at the cross-section of the steel belt below. We can see that the steel belt is actually composed of many triangular steel plates. Each steel plate is coupled to the conical wheel of the CVT gearbox to transmit power. The structure itself is not The calculation is complicated, but the requirements for steel are extremely high. At present, the best quality steel companies in the world are in Japan, Europe and the United States. The technical level of Japan's five major steel companies is 30 years ahead of the world. While domestic mainstream steel companies mainly use ordinary steel, Baosteel is stronger in special steel. For example, razor blades are made by several foreign companies to be sharper and more durable, while CVT gearboxes are better for The requirements for durability, fatigue resistance and strength are higher. Only a few steel companies in the world can produce it.
Taking a step back, even if domestic companies have spent great efforts to conquer this technology, because Bosch and Schaeffler have been working in this market for a long time, this kind of zero-speed gearbox that has very high requirements on the life of the gearbox For parts, most car companies will not trust your products at all, so the result can only be thankless.
3. Different technical routes
If we look at the use of gearboxes in domestic cars, we will find that almost all domestic cars under 100,000 yuan use CVT gearboxes. Most domestic cars priced above 100,000 yuan use dual-clutch gearboxes, and higher-priced models will use AT gearboxes. For domestically produced cars, CVT gearboxes will only be used in low-end models, while dual-clutch gearboxes are the focus of research and development by various car companies. This is because dual-clutch gearboxes have a higher upper limit, higher transmission efficiency, and are more suitable for Domestic strict emission policies, and CVT transmissions are solved by purchasing products from suppliers.
Therefore, the reason why domestic companies do not produce CVT gearboxes is that they cannot manufacture them and the technology is extremely difficult. Although if the country really has the power to tackle the problem, it will definitely be able to overcome this technical problem. , but there is no need for this. The market share of CVT gearbox steel belts is only so large, and it is almost divided up by the two companies. There is not much market space for other companies. So don’t worry about whether China can’t produce this or that. After all, the ballpoint pen refill incident is still fresh in our minds.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.