Some time ago, it was reported that Toyota decided to provide hybrid electric technology system to Guangzhou Automobile Group, and what Toyota provided would be its complete THS hybrid system. Prior to this, Toyota also shared THS hybrid system with other Japanese partners of Toyota such as Mazda and Subaru, but this time, it was the first time that it authorized core hybrid technology to foreign car companies.
You know, THS hybrid system is the core technology that Toyota has always been proud of. Why did Toyota hand it over to a foreign car company, and what is the attraction of GAC to make Toyota "break the ring"? Behind this wave of operation has aroused everyone's infinite reverie.
does pie really fall from the sky?
There has been a saying in the automobile circle that "there are only two kinds of hybrid electric vehicles in the world, one is Toyota and the other is other", which is enough to reflect the leading position of Toyota hybrid technology in the global automobile industry. Although Honda's i-MMD has the strength to compete with it now, THS has already left a deep image of a hybrid brother in people's minds.
Toyota Motor Corporation began to invest in research and development of hybrid technology in 1969, and the first generation of Toyota hybrid technology was officially unveiled in 1997. Its core is the planetary gear mechanism, which skillfully combines parallel and series modes. Through the energy control unit, it can accurately match the electric drive and gasoline fuel drive, and can achieve the best hybrid power ratio under various working conditions, providing energy-saving and sufficient power output.
it was the first generation Toyota Prius equipped with the first generation THS system, which was also the first mass-produced hybrid car in the world. At that time, the official fuel consumption given by Toyota was 28km/L, about 3.57L/1km, which was absolutely amazing at that time.
up to now, the Toyota THS system has developed to the fourth generation, and it also occupies a large share of the HEV market in China. In September this year, the cumulative sales volume of Toyota Shuangqing family in China has exceeded 1 million. At the same time, Toyota also plans that by 225, the global sales of HEV and PHEV models will exceed 4.5 million. However, Toyota has now authorized this housekeeping technology to GAC, so it has created an opponent for itself and shared the market share.
Toyota is certainly not a fool, which is actually the result of combining multiple factors.
The most important fuse for Toyota to share THS technology is that Toyota's first-generation hybrid technology patent (the core patent of planetary gear) will expire in China in 223. However, even the first generation of hybrid technology is still a valuable technical concept in the industry. Instead of invalidating patent protection, it is better to seize the last chance to realize technology realization. Although it is open for free, it can also further benefit from technical consultants.
On the other hand, Toyota Motor Corporation opened its technology patents as early as April 219, and provided Toyota with the right to use the motor, electronic control, system control and other vehicle technologies for free, with a total of 23,74 patents, with a term of 23. If GAC can successfully "take off" with THS technology, other car companies will naturally follow suit.
this can be said to play an extremely important role in consolidating Toyota's leading position in the industry. We know that with the in-depth development of new energy vehicles, the energy-saving technical routes of car companies have become more and more abundant in recent years, among which Honda i-MMD can be said to have posed a threat to Toyota THS. But now Toyota has opened THS to other car companies, so as long as some car companies catch up with Toyota's THS technology, it will be difficult for their hybrid technology to break away from Toyota's technical route in the future, so that Toyota will become the industry standard and maintain its leading position in the field of HEV all the way. Toyota's move is wonderful enough.
the charm of China market and GAC
I know the logic behind Toyota's open hybrid technology, but why China car companies? Moreover, we know that Toyota has two joint venture partners in China, FAW and GAC. What charm does the latter have to become the first choice for Toyota's hybrid technology sharing?
First of all, China's new energy vehicle market has quite strong favorable policies. In the new edition of "Measures for Parallel Management of Average Fuel Consumption of Passenger Car Enterprises and New Energy Vehicle Points" adopted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the concept of "low fuel consumption passenger car" was put forward for the first time, and the preferential rules for point accounting were clarified, which will be implemented on January 1, 221. In addition, the preferential policies of exemption from purchase tax and consumption tax that new energy vehicles can enjoy at present may also be inclined to energy-saving vehicles in the future. This also means that the hybrid energy-saving vehicles represented by Toyota and Honda will be included in the environmental protection category under the new management measures, which provides a very broad future development space for HEV technology.
as for why Guangzhou automobile was chosen, it actually has something to do with local policies. Guangzhou is the only city in China that opens the lottery for energy-saving vehicles. HEV models listed in the catalogue can be shaken separately, and the winning rate is much higher than that of ordinary fuel vehicles. Therefore, HEV models represented by Toyota and Honda are quite popular in Guangzhou, where the number limit is limited.
on the other hand, the advantage of GAC lies in the geographical aspect. We know that the endurance and performance of new energy vehicles in the northern region with low temperature will not reach the ideal state, and the attractiveness of new energy products will be greatly reduced. Even Toyota hybrid vehicles with fuel economy and peace of mind are difficult to enter the eyes of northern consumers. This has also become one of the important reasons why Toyota finally chose GAC.
There is no doubt that GAC will greatly enhance its competitiveness in the HEV market after acquiring THS technology. It is reported that Toyota has reached a technology transfer agreement with GAC Group, and GAC's own brand will launch hybrid products equipped with Toyota THS system next year. ? Toyota THS model with lower threshold is expected to become a new sales growth point of GAC's own brand, but in the future, if GAC can achieve technological breakthrough through this system, it may be able to fly into the sky in one fell swoop, but if it just imitates technology blindly, it will eventually be led by Toyota.
This article comes from the author of Chejia, car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.