In 2019, the cooperation intention between BYD and Toyota was frequently reported by the media. Just yesterday, the two automobile "giants" BYD and Toyota officially got married!
On March 25, 2020, BYD and Toyota announced that they had established a joint venture, BYD Toyota Electric Vehicle Technology Co., Ltd., in Shenzhen.
Che Shiduo found through QiChacha that the company’s registration date was March 25, with a registered capital of 345 million yuan, consisting of Toyota Motor Corporation and BYD Co., Ltd. each investing 172.5 million yuan. , each party holds 50 shares. Zhao Binggen, assistant to the president of BYD Automotive Engineering Research Institute, serves as the legal person and general manager of the joint venture. Directors of the joint venture include Tatsuro Ueda, chairman of Toyota China, Koji Toshima, general manager of Toyota Motor's electric project, BYD senior vice president and automotive engineering research Dean Lian Yubo and others.
In terms of the scope of production and business activities, the new company will mainly engage in the design and development of pure electric vehicles and their derivative vehicles, as well as parts for pure electric vehicles and their derivative vehicles; Import, export, sales and after-sales service of parts, components and assemblies.
Joining forces?
In fact, as early as July 19 last year, the two companies had announced their cooperation in developing pure electric models of cars and SUVs as well as power batteries. According to what was said at the time, the new models jointly developed by both parties were planned to be launched in 2018. It will be launched into the Chinese market before 2025 and is expected to display the Toyota logo.
BYD is China's leading brand of new energy vehicles and has many years of technical experience and market accumulation in the field of pure electric vehicles. Toyota is the world's top automobile manufacturing brand. BYD has a comprehensive and advanced layout for core three-electric technologies, and has ranked first in global sales of new energy vehicles for four consecutive years since 2015; while Toyota has decades of experience in manufacturing HEV gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, with cumulative sales worldwide It has purchased more than 14 million electrified vehicles and has made remarkable achievements in the hybrid vehicle market. The two parties seized the development opportunity of the pure electric market and reached a cooperation to establish a pure electric vehicle research and development company, aiming at the future layout of the new energy vehicle market.
The new BYD Tang EV
In fact, the two parties have very similar understandings of the ecology of future automobile manufacturing, and both have an open attitude toward new energy vehicle technology. BYD, for example, announced that its pure electric e-platform launched in 2018 will be open to the entire industry for sharing. Other companies can cooperate with BYD and use the e-platform to jointly develop technologies and products. The latest information shows that in addition to partners such as Toyota and Daimler, BAIC, Changan, Dongfeng, Daimler and other companies have already cooperated or discussed with BYD on jointly developing electric vehicles using e-platform technology.
At the end of 2018, Toyota sold the first-generation THS core technology to Toyota's Chinese core parts supplier Corun for one yuan, and Corun then licensed the HTS technology to Geely. . In April last year, Toyota announced that it would provide free use rights to its core electrification technology patents accumulated in the research and development of hybrid technology. The more than 20,000 open patents involve gasoline-electric hybrid power, plug-in hybrid power, and pure electric power. , fuel cell and motor, electronic control, system control.
Everyone gets what he needs?
In fact, it is not news that BYD has joined forces with foreign companies. As early as 8 years ago, BYD had invested in another automobile giant Daimler to establish the Denza new energy vehicle brand. The cars produced by it were positioned as It is a joint venture high-end electric vehicle brand.
Dengza 500
BYD e6
Everyone knows the result. Denza failed to give full play to its genetic advantages. Both parties agreed. The incubated Denza has only produced one model in so many years. It has a strange appearance and a lot of interior designs that were not outstanding by BYD at the time. Not only does it have a long range, but the price is also extremely high, and it is slow to change models and upgrades. Because of this, Tengshi even requires long-term capital injections from both parties to survive, becoming a typical prodigal son.
Even the Denza Concepts and technologies, even the central control rotating PAD that BYD is proud of on current models, have been moved to the Denza X cabin without any changes. Denza is very much anticipated, but its sales volume just cannot increase, or in other words, Denza's sales cannot match its level of attention.
Dengshi X
What is the reason? Che Shiduo believes that the above reasons are not the key. The core problems of Denza lie in three aspects.
First of all, when Denza was founded, the domestic new energy vehicle market was just getting started, with vague policies, high manufacturing costs, and almost no market demand.
Secondly, Denza is inextricably linked to BYD e6, and does not carry the Mercedes-Benz logo. The price premium of the product itself is really limited.
Finally, Denza is the product of Daimler’s cooperation with BYD Automotive Industry Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of BYD, rather than BYD’s parent company, BYD Co., Ltd., which is cooperating with Toyota this time. Shiduo believes that BYD has reservations about the importance it attaches to Denza.
In fact, the sales of BYD's new energy vehicles have always relied heavily on the domestic market. After years of development, this market still relies heavily on policy support. At a time when policies are cooling down, subsidies are about to be fully phased out, and unbundling policies are unclear, BYD is already facing a halved sales decline in new energy models.
Being a "leader in new energy vehicles" is an honor, but it is also a shackle. Giving up the "leadership in new energy vehicles" to rising stars such as Tesla is something BYD is absolutely unwilling to face. .
As for Toyota, according to Toyota’s plan, it will sell more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles by 2030, accounting for half of its total global model sales, while hybrid (HEV) and plug-in Hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) will account for 4.5 million vehicles, and fuel cell (FCV) and pure electric vehicles (EV) combined will account for 1 million vehicles. At present, Toyota is focusing more on hybrid models. Pure electric models require the support of more professional partners in battery technology. It is very stressful to realize this vision alone.
Toyota Shuangqing E: THS system plug-in hybrid version
China has now become the world's largest new energy market, and the new energy vehicle market, especially the pure electric vehicle market, Toyota's market share is still quite limited. Toyota urgently needs a domestic new energy leader to support each other in technology and market. It has a large domestic new energy market share, and BYD, which is almost unique in the world in terms of three electric technologies, has become the first choice.
For BYD, this is an opportunity to reshape the brand and go global; for Toyota, this is an opportunity to transform products and break through its own framework.
In fact, at the beginning of the cooperation between Daimler and BYD, the argument that "BYD is embracing Daimler's thigh" was rampant. However, after years of accumulated reform and evolution, BYD at this time is far from the image of BYD at that time. This time BYD and Toyota jointly formed a joint venture, and the cooperation has become the main theme of the trend of the Internet media. Many people even think that "BYD" Suffered a loss."
Different from the strategies of traditional Sino-foreign joint venture car companies, at least BYD Toyota and Cooperation do not go directly for money. Their joint venture focuses more on the technical level. Both parties Both companies adhere to the principle of reciprocity in technology, which will not only help Toyota to prepare for the future market in advance with pure electric models as a breakthrough, but also help BYD to take advantage of Toyota's strengths in refined production, hybrid technology, etc., thus promoting the brand's growth. develop.
Although the joint venture between BYD and Toyota is a "strong alliance", it is also "each getting what it needs". Chase will continue to pay attention to the progress of BYD's Toyota joint venture project.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.