We know that Guangzhou Automobile Group is a joint venture partner of Toyota. In fact, in the China market, there are many cases in which foreign companies send technology to China. Mazda, for example, provided technology to Pentium. Nissan has delivered technology to Qichen Automobile. Mercedes-Benz also delivered technology to BAIC. But the output of these technologies is either outdated or paid for. This time, Toyota's delivery technology to Guangzhou Automobile Group is a relatively advanced hybrid technology, which is the core thing of Toyota.
GAC plans to launch Toyota hybrid technology on 202 1. So this cooperation can be regarded as the success of GAC? Or is Toyota's helpless choice in the era of pure electric vehicles?
1 Toyota disclosed 23,000 hybrid technology patents as early as 20 19.
It is understandable that Toyota is the strongest manufacturer of hybrid technology in the world at present. However, the dominance of a single company cannot change the overall prosperity of the market. So far, when it comes to hybrid fuel and electricity, Toyota and Honda are the first ones that come to mind. German, American, Korean and other manufacturers are dismissive of mashups. Instead, I made my own fuel-saving plan. For example, German cars have been using 48V light mixing system recently, while American cars now support cylinder closing technology in 2.0T models, and Korean cars have developed CVVD engines.
Toyota originally wanted to make hybrid a development trend. Other manufacturers will use Toyota's technology, and Toyota only needs to collect patent fees. But what I didn't expect was that other manufacturers were not interested in Toyota's things, and even Honda bypassed Toyota's patents and came up with its own hybrid scheme. Therefore, Toyota has gradually opened its patents since last year.
At the end of 20 19, Toyota published a list of 23,740 patents, including the patents for parts centered on engines and batteries, and the THS hybrid power scheme that Toyota has always been proud of. Try to attract other manufacturers to join the mixed camp in a free way.
Coincidentally, Toyota is doing this, and Volkswagen and Tesla are doing the same. In 20 14, Tesla became the first automobile manufacturer to open its patented technology to the outside world. At that time, Tesla held more than 600 patents in the world, including more than 400 in the United States and 7 in China. Tesla's idea is to let more manufacturers develop pure electric vehicles and make the whole industry prosper.
The same is true for Volkswagen, which authorizes other automobile companies to open its modular platform MEB for pure electric vehicles. You know, Volkswagen has invested more than 6 billion euros to develop the MEB platform, which carries the public's "road map? E "strategy, more than 80 new energy vehicles that Volkswagen Group will launch before 2025 are all supported by MEB platform. With such an important production platform, the public also wants to open to the outside world.
Therefore, Toyota's hybrid technology for GAC is Toyota's judgment on the trend of the whole industry.
If we don't open the patent, will Toyota hybrid technology be in our hands?
If the hybrid technology is divided into three stages, the 48V light hybrid system is "weak hybrid", the oil-electric hybrid represented by Toyota is "medium hybrid" and the plug-in hybrid is "strong hybrid".
Now, the 48V light mixing system represented by German cars has been widely used. First, it is promoted by parts suppliers such as Volkswagen OEM and Bosch. Secondly, the technology of 48V mixed light itself is not very complicated, and it is very simple to realize. Therefore, many independent brands have joined the 48V light-mixed camp and achieved a certain degree of improvement.
Needless to say, plug-in hybrid power is subsidized by the state as a new energy vehicle at present, so the plug-in hybrid power market is a prosperous scene from national policy to enterprise research and development.
Therefore, most manufacturers are either "weak hybridization" or skip "medium hybridization" and directly develop "strong hybridization". Therefore, the "medium hybrid" represented by Toyota is only supported by Toyota. Although Toyota is one of the largest manufacturers in the world, it is difficult to promote the overall prosperity of the industry by its own strength.
In addition, Toyota applied for a large number of hybrid patents in the early days, and other manufacturers must obtain permission to use them. Tesla announced on 20 14 that it would allow other companies to use Tesla's patents, which set off an "open source movement" in the automobile industry. Unlike Toyota's open technology patents, Tesla does not need to apply for the use of Tesla patents, that is, Tesla allows you to use relevant patents by default and will not sue. So the patent is open, Tesla is more thorough than Toyota.
So if Toyota persists, it will really be in its hands to develop hybrid technology for such a long time. Therefore, from 2065438 to September 2009, Toyota signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with GAC and FAW, which included carrying fuel cell technology on joint venture vehicles, expanding the cooperation scope of hybrid vehicles and promoting the development of electric vehicle models.
3 mixed patents can be used, but parts still need to be bought.
Toyota has opened up its technology and given the outside world an open attitude. At the same time, FAW, GAC and Toyota have been joint ventures for so long, and there are also hybrid models, and they are already familiar with hybrid cars. Toyota can also take this opportunity to sell more parts of Denso and Aisin Seiki to FAW and GAC. Because Toyota THS hybrid system is made by Japan BluE Company? Nexus is developed and supplied by Toyota, Denso and Aisin Seiki. Therefore, Guangzhou Automobile uses Toyota hybrid patent. Even if the patent is free, the related parts still need to be imported.
For GAC, the use of Toyota hybrid technology can enhance the product strength in a short time, and it can also be regarded as a technical endorsement to form differentiated competition with other independent brands. At the same time, GAC can also use Toyota's technology for secondary research and development and cultivate R&D teams. It is also conducive to the future development of GAC new energy vehicles.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.