Speaking of hybrids, I believe many people will think of the sentence: "There are only two types of gasoline-electric hybrids in the world, one is Toyota, and the other is others." It can be seen that Toyota's The status of gasoline-electric hybrid technology in the automotive industry is evident.
I thought Toyota would keep this hybrid technology in its hands, but I didn’t expect that Toyota has reached a technology transfer agreement with Guangzhou Automobile Group in the near future. Guangzhou Automobile’s independent segment will launch and adopt it in 2021. Hybrid products of Toyota THS System (Toyota Hybrid System) may include gas-electric hybrid versions GS8, GM8 and other products.
After seeing this news, many netizens shouted: Toyota Hybrid will become Trumpchi Hybrid, and GAC Group will take off! Toyota Hybrid becomes Trumpchi Hybrid? Is it really that simple? Brother Jiang is here to chat with you today.
1. Why is Toyota willing to share hybrid technology?
Toyota’s hybrid technology has gone through four generations of development. The beauty of this technology is that it effectively combines parallel and series modes (planetary mechanism), and uses the energy control unit to calculate and control the ratio of electric drive and gasoline fuel drive to achieve the best hybrid ratio.
The question is, since it is a magic weapon, why would Toyota be willing to share it? The reason is that Toyota's first-generation hybrid technology patent is about to expire (the planetary gear core patent expired in Europe and the United States in February 2017 and expired in China in 2023). Moreover, Toyota's dual-engine models currently on the market all use Toyota's fourth-generation THS technology.
At this time, instead of holding on to the first-generation technology, Toyota might as well share it with its cooperating car companies. On the one hand, it can earn favors and facilitate resource replacement; on the other hand, it can promote its technology The concept allows other brands to follow the path it has set, allowing it to continue to maintain its leadership position in the future changes in automobile technology routes.
2. Why to GAC Group?
This is not the first time Toyota has shared hybrid technology. Many years ago, Toyota shared its hybrid technology with Japanese partners such as Mazda and Subaru. However, this is the first time that a complete set of technologies has been shared with GAC Group, a non-Japanese company.
It was previously reported that Toyota is cooperating with Geely to promote hybrid technology through its core Chinese hybrid supplier "Corun", but the details and progress of the cooperation have not yet been announced.
After seeing this, many netizens were confused. Since it was the first time, why did it go to Guangzhou Automobile Group? In Jiang Ge’s view, in addition to its status as an important partner of Toyota in China, there are also the following reasons:
First, local policies are relatively friendly to gasoline-electric hybrid technology. Looking at major first-tier cities across the country, Guangzhou can be said to be the only city that has introduced energy-saving indicators for hybrid vehicles. It is precisely with the support of this policy that Toyota is able to operate in this environment where "hybrid vehicles are not considered new energy sources." Gain stable sales.
The second reason is that GAC has strong strength in the field of new energy and has certain positive points in new energy. In the hybrid field, Toyota is indeed a "strong player", but in the domestically respected pure electric new energy field, it is a "junior". GAC happens to be a car company with strong new energy capabilities in China (stronger than FAW, and the GAC Aian series often enters the top ten new energy sales lists), and therefore, if the two cooperate, they may be able to complement each other's advantages.
3. What benefits can it bring to GAC?
Toyota is already using the fourth-generation system. What GAC has obtained is only the first-generation technology. Many netizens sneered at this. But is Toyota’s first-generation hybrid technology really that “old”? In fact, it is not the case. Although Toyota Hybrid has now developed into the fourth generation, when we look at the fuel consumption difference between it and the first-generation hybrid technology, we can still find that in terms of fuel economy, the first-generation Toyota Hybrid It still has advantages over ordinary fuel vehicles.
It is worth mentioning that what GAC has obtained is not partial hybrid technology and partial patent authorization from Toyota, but a complete set of hybrid systems. In other words, the hybrid models launched by GAC Group in the future will It will directly adopt Toyota's complete hybrid system. This not only saves GAC a lot of research and development expenses, but also ensures the fuel-saving effect of the vehicle.
However, considering that the purchase cost of the entire system is relatively high, and GAC has relatively few adapted models, the hybrid system Toyota will provide to GAC in the future will not be connected to the engine, but will combine the core technology and zero components. parts to share. This will help GAC reduce costs and also help differentiate the product advantages of the two companies.
And when the product is officially launched, it should be able to catch up with policy support for gasoline-electric hybrid models. Just some time ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments have reviewed and approved the new version of the "Measures for the Parallel Management of Passenger Car Enterprise Average Fuel Consumption and New Energy Vehicle Points", which for the first time proposed the concept of "low fuel consumption passenger vehicles" and clarified the preferential points calculation The detailed rules will take effect from January 1, 2021. The introduction of this policy positions hybrid vehicles as "low fuel consumption vehicles" and provides preferential policies. With the acquisition of hybrid technology and policy support, GAC really has a strong "assist" this time.
4. Can it help GAC take off?
Taken together, the benefits of GAC Group’s acquisition of Toyota Hybrid this time are quite huge. In the long run, Brother Jiang believes that this cooperation should focus on absorbing technology and improving capabilities. Stand on the shoulders of giants, develop your own technology, avoid being led by others, and cannot repeat the mistakes of the internal combustion engine field decades ago.
As for whether it can increase product sales, Brother Jiang feels that we should not have high expectations. Why do you say that? First of all, the market’s enthusiasm and acceptance for gasoline-electric hybrid products is not very high. And from the sales difference between hybrid models and non-hybrid models, we can also see that this segment has its limitations.
Secondly, as a representative of its own brand, Trumpchi has indeed achieved good results in the past few years. At its peak, the GS4 car alone could support the entire enterprise. However, as time goes by, shortcomings such as relatively high prices and insufficient brand power have become more and more obvious on GAC Trumpchi. Everyone knows the subsequent story. Trumpchi GS4 has dropped to outside the 20th place, and Trumpchi GS8 has no longer achieved the feat of 10,000 units. Therefore, gasoline-electric hybrid products based on existing models also face huge challenges in terms of pricing and strength.
Summary
In any case, as an independent brand, it is a good thing that GAC Group can harvest Toyota's hybrid technology. For GAC, it complements a new technological development direction; for consumers, it is expected that they can enjoy a mature and energy-saving hybrid system for less money. What expectations do you have for GAC’s hybrid? Welcome to follow "Cars Without Borders" and share your views on this matter.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.