◆? 16 R&D Achievements This technology week shows the scientific and technological achievements of Dongfeng Motor during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, including 16 items including Windlink, the first independent intelligent networked car system, and Dongfeng Sharing-VAN, the first L4 class long-distance self-driving car, covering engines, pure electric vehicles, hydrogen energy, intelligent networked vehicles and military vehicles. At the event site, three major technological achievements were released: a new generation of high-performance supercharged direct injection engine C15TDR, Sharing-VAN technology architecture platform 2., and My@ADAS autopilot system. Among them, C15TDR is known as "the strongest autonomous engine" in China, and the high-efficiency version has a thermal efficiency of 41.7%, a maximum power of 125kW and a peak torque of 26N·m, which meets the national six emission standards. Its thermal efficiency exceeds that of Toyota Dynamic? Force? 2.5L hybrid (41%) and Honda Earth Dream 2.L hybrid (4.6%).
"c15tdr" autopilot is another key point. At the opening ceremony, Dongfeng held the signing ceremony of the "Pilot Project" for autonomous driving, and formally reached cooperation with 11 institutions including Yuanrong Qixing and Tsinghua University. According to the plan, Dongfeng will put no less than 2 self-driving cars in Wuhan for demonstration operation between 22 and 222. What are the main R&D ideas behind these technologies? In 217, Dongfeng put forward the goal of "lightweight" in addition to "electrification, intelligence, networking and enjoyment". This "five modernizations" constitute the main line of Dongfeng technology development. In the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" stage, Dongfeng has improved in the five modernizations. For example, lightweight, mastering the hot forming of 18MPa high-strength steel and extrusion casting technology of high-performance aluminum alloy; Electrification, realizing the synchronous development of EV, HEV, PHEV and FCV technical routes. According to Tan Minqiang, director of Dongfeng Technology Center, Dongfeng will continue to carry out research and development according to the idea of "five modernizations" during the "14 th Five-Year Plan" period. The key points of "five modernizations" are: lightweight, considering the balance between cost and performance; Realize 8V high-voltage application technology by electrification, and realize the demonstration operation of hydrogen fuel cells; Intelligently realize L3+ mass production; Networking expands the application ecology around Windlink; * * * Enjoy data * * *.
the "windlink" is a "big and comprehensive" feature of Dongfeng technology research and development, covering almost everything from hot fields such as fuel vehicles, new energy and intelligent networking to niche technologies such as hub motors. At the opening ceremony, Dongfeng power exchange technology was also made public for the first time. According to the staff, it is expected that the first batch of power exchange stations will be officially put into use in May 221, first serving Dongfeng and T3 to operate vehicles.
◆? 3 billion R&D investment can make achievements in every field, which stems from Dongfeng's strong investment in independent research and development. In 27, Dongfeng Motor started the research and development of its brand passenger cars. In the following ten years, it invested a total of 95.7 billion yuan in research and development and obtained 982 invention patents. According to the EU's Scoreboard of Industrial R&D Investment in 218, Dongfeng invested 547 million euros (RMB 4.3 billion) in R&D in 218, ranking third among China car companies after SAIC and BYD. During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, this high investment trend will continue. On October 13th, Dongfeng Group formally submitted the prospectus of GEM, intending to raise 21 billion yuan in A-shares, and finally invest 3 billion yuan in R&D, which will be used for high-end new energy vehicle projects, new generation vehicles and forward-looking technology development projects of Lantu brand, as well as supplementary working capital. Among them, the investment quota of the Shan Lan Tu project reached 11 billion yuan. Although the total amount is not small, from the perspective of market competition, these inputs are not "more" but "less". In 219, Dongfeng Group sold 2.932 million vehicles, ranking third among automobile enterprises in China. However, the main sources of sales are Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Honda, two joint ventures, and the commercial vehicle sector. China brand passenger car business, the current performance is hardly in line with Dongfeng Group's expectations. From January to September, 22, the cumulative sales volume of dongfeng fengshen was 45, vehicles, ranking 16th among China brand passenger cars, and there was a big gap compared with Geely, Wuling and Changan. Zhu Yanfeng, Chairman and Party Secretary of Dongfeng Group, pointed out that "at present, the domestic automobile market has entered a slight growth, and the stock competition situation is becoming more and more severe". This cognition reflects Dongfeng's crisis consciousness in the face of the current situation. Further increase in technology research and development to enhance product competitiveness has therefore become the only way for Dongfeng during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period. Especially in the two fields of new energy and intelligent network connection, Dongfeng is facing completely different technical requirements and competitive pressure from traditional fuel vehicles. On the basis of the research and development achievements in the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", it is an inevitable choice for Dongfeng to face the future by enhancing its strength around the "five modernizations".
◆? Market-oriented, it should be noted that technology research and development is not a purely technical issue. As Zhu Yanfeng said, we should "originate from the market and finally the market", and pay attention to the combination of technological achievements and market demand, instead of making innovations on paper. How to combine technology and market organically? For Dongfeng, the primary problem is to cultivate the "longboard". Sixteen R&D achievements show that Dongfeng has basically completed the construction of technical system during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, and has the ability of forward R&D and modular and platform R&D, making up the "short board" of independent research and development in the past.
But in the market competition, no short board is just the foundation, and having a long board is the advantage. Learn from the experience of other car companies: Toyota's TNGA architecture and hybrid technology, Volkswagen's turbocharging and powertrain, Tesla's intelligence and three-electricity technology. Any head company relies on its unique "housekeeping skills" to win the favor of consumers. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, if Dongfeng wants to make a difference in the technical field, it undoubtedly needs to identify a subdivision and cultivate its own comparative advantage. In March, dongfeng fengshen changed its bid, and the new letter label "AEOLUS" (Fengshen) replaced the Shuangfeiyan used by Dongfeng. The bid change is not only to differentiate with Dongfeng's existing product system, but also to differentiate with the past. At the brand level, dongfeng fengshen is reshaping.
the brand reconstruction of "dongfeng fengshen AX7』" cannot be separated from technical and product support. Among the existing technological achievements, it may be the key to the success of the new Fengshen to choose which one to focus on and give Fengshen a unique brand value. Besides Fengshen, Lantu also faces the same problem. In the current high-end electric vehicle market, new power brands such as Tesla and Weilai have gained a large number of fans, and traditional giants such as Volkswagen and BMW are planning to make a comeback. Only by bringing users a special experience in the three-power system and intelligence can the road of high-end Lantu go smoothly.
◆? Conclusion From this year's "Science and Technology Innovation Week", Dongfeng, as a veteran central enterprise, does not lack technology and R&D strength, and can quickly complete the layout in the frontier fields such as hub motors, domain controllers and hydrogen energy. However, there is still a long way to go between technological advantages and market recognition. Besides the ability, it is more about thinking. How to achieve "less but better" on the basis of "big and complete", Dongfeng needs more thinking. (Text/car home? Jiang Pingping)