Many years ago, when China's automobile industry was still in its infancy, its own brands and domestic cars were in an all-round backward position in all aspects, so it was normal to have imitations and knockoffs in many aspects. The technology of the joint venture brand itself cannot really serve the independent brand, so at the core technology level, especially the engine, gearbox and chassis, it has become the shortcoming of the independent brand, and consumers are not satisfied with the independent brand in these parts. And there is no way for independent brands to solve these problems by buying technologies and components from other brands, so many independent brands are stuck.
in recent years, although many independent brands have been forced to leave the domestic market with the continuous price war of independent brands, those independent brands that have survived have actually performed better and better in many core technologies, especially in engine and chassis technology. For example, Honeycomb Yichuang, a subsidiary of Gre2.T Wall Motor, has been purchased by brands such as BAIC at present, and the lemon platform and tank platform are the foundation of the chassis structure, and the whole is relatively advanced; Changan Automobile's Blue Whale series engine will soon be adopted by Changan Ford, and its overall performance is also quite excellent. Geely and Volvo's engine technology cooperation and CMA platform have served many new cars, while Chery and BYD have performed very well in engines and chassis. Basically, these car companies will not return to the era of purchasing backward Shenyang Aerospace Mitsubishi engines, even the Xinchen power engine, which is known as BMW's technical support, is now out of sight.
but we still find a problem, that is, the engine and chassis technology of our own brands seems to be no longer a problem, especially in terms of the texture of engines and chassis with medium and low displacement, many domestic cars have already performed very well, and maybe the high-end models need to work hard. However, we also found that for these car companies that have survived and made remarkable progress in engine and chassis, it seems that they are still in a "stuck" position in the automatic gearbox carried by vehicles. As we can see, the self-owned brands that have survived and sold well at present, the gearboxes produced and developed by themselves are still mainly dual-clutch gearboxes, and as we all know, the technology of dual-clutch gearboxes has been "open source", which is equivalent to Android in the mobile phone system. Anyone can use it, and it can be matched to the new car with a little adjustment, but the disadvantages of dual-clutch gearboxes are also obvious, and it is obvious that it can't carry large torque. Therefore, these independent brands can only use gearboxes from other manufacturers in mid-to high-end models.
At present, most of the automatic gearboxes used by Changan, Geely and Great Wall in mid-to high-end models come from Aisin and ZF. For example, Changan CS75? The 6AT, 8AT gearboxes used in PLUS, CS85 and CS95, and 8AT gearboxes used in Geely Xingrui are all from Aisin. Haval H9 and 9AT gearboxes mounted on the Great Wall Gun are all from ZF. As the leaders of their own brands, we have hardly seen them produce an automatic gearbox product, let alone put it on a production car.
In fact, some third-party suppliers in China are also making automatic gearboxes. For example, Sheng Rui has launched two generations of 8AT gearboxes. However, this brand of automatic gearboxes is basically only used by independent brands of first-line, third-line and fourth-line brands, and now the independent brands equipped with Sheng Rui gearboxes have basically been eliminated. However, the first-and second-line independent brands do not fully recognize the reliability and product strength of Sheng Rui gearbox, so they can only spend more cost to purchase the gearbox of Aisin and ZF.
of course, we all know that our own brands are not hopeless enough to stand being stuck in the automatic gearbox. In fact, judging from the progress of gearbox and chassis, our own brands are still relatively inspirational. Obviously, there are some unavoidable difficulties, which makes it difficult for our own brands to make achievements in the automatic gearbox. In fact, to put it bluntly, as the most recognized gearbox type today, the core technology of automatic gearbox is monopolized by manufacturers such as Aisin, ZF, Honda and GM. It is almost impossible for any independent brand trying to develop its own automatic gearbox to completely bypass the related patented technologies, which are the core of automatic gearbox, but it is impossible for these manufacturers to sell the core technology to their own brands. Therefore, independent brands have made no achievements in automatic gearboxes, and they can only make up the number through the so-called self-developed dual-clutch gearboxes, which can make some immature CVT gearboxes.
Therefore, in fact, independent brands are not willing to ask for help or be controlled by others at the level of automatic transmission. It is true that many core technologies of automatic transmission have been monopolized, and the possibility that independent brand manufacturers can achieve breakthroughs is too small, and they may spend a lot and still get nothing. So now many independent brands can only choose dual-clutch gearbox equipped with their own engines, and automatic gearbox has become a "dark injury" of independent brands!
This article comes from the author of Chejia, car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.