For the car, the engine and gearbox are the most important core components. If the current independent brand engine has a certain substitute for foreign brands, then the transmission field is another sight: more and more automatic cars, but our country has not been able to independent research and development production and market applications of automatic transmission Achieving a qualitative breakthrough, about 95% of the more than 10 million automatic transmissions that are newly sold each year are equipped with foreign brand automatic transmissions. Experts believe that the automatic transmission is undoubtedly the biggest “suffering part†of the Chinese auto industry at the moment. In the research and development and production of new energy vehicles, lessons should be learned from it.
Multinational corporations monopolize core parts and independent brands rely on "foreign" gearboxes
In English, the word corresponding to the gearbox is transmission. It has the meaning of "transmission" and refers to the function of the gearbox. Another word is gearbox, the "gearbox," which describes the gearbox as a "case" gear combination.
Wang Shengtang, honorary president of the China Gear Professional Association, said, “Gears are a symbol of industry. There are gear images on our national emblem, and cars account for nearly two-thirds of the gear industry. In a car, it is small to wipers and lifts. Glass, as large as gearboxes and drive axles, all require gears, while China's gear imports are mainly used for automotive automatic gearboxes."
It is understood that the common automatic transmission can be divided into: hydraulic automatic transmission (AT), mechanical continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), electronically controlled mechanical automatic transmission (AMT) and dual clutch automatic transmission (DCT). Compared with the manual transmission, the automatic car is more convenient to open, and it is more comfortable to sit up; at the same time, the advanced engine and automatic transmission combination has high fuel economy. In Europe and America, even heavy trucks are generally equipped with automatic transmissions.
China is the world’s largest auto market. In 2015, China’s auto production and sales exceeded 24 million vehicles. It is estimated that at present, automatic transmission accounts for about half of the country’s total automobile sales in the year, and the transmission of more than 10 million automatic transmissions is almost monopolized by multinational companies such as Japan’s Aisin, ZF, and Borgwara. For foreign investment in the local production, or for pure imports. The size of domestic autonomous automatic transmissions is only about 500,000 units.
“The automatic transmission is the most painful part of the Chinese auto industry.†Wang Shengtang said that due to the large investment in independent R&D, low efficiency, and high risk, many domestic auto companies have chosen the “realism†road, that is, purchasing off-the-shelf foreign brands automatically. The gearbox has become dependent on foreign countries for a long time and has given up its independence. To this end, China has to spend 30 billion to 50 billion yuan each year to import automatic transmissions.
The reporter found that the current automatic transmission of self-owned brand cars mostly depends on foreign technology or pure import: Dongfeng own-brand passenger cars A9, AX7, L60, etc. all adopt the Aisin 6AT gearbox, AX5 uses a German GETRAK DCT gearbox , Dongfeng commercial vehicle representative Tianlong flagship is using ZF transmission; FAW's own brand red flag, Pentium is using Aisin automatic transmission. As for domestic buses such as the Yellow Sea, Jinghua, and Foton, and youth, automatic transmissions use products from Allison of the United States and ZF from Germany.
Self-research and development adherents few investment big applications less business support
In our country, there are few companies that have long insisted on independent research and development of automatic transmissions. Only a handful of companies have persisted for many years and have developed and produced automatic transmissions. However, lack of brand recognition and lack of product reputation have resulted in a limited number of vehicles, making it difficult for companies to expand scale, reduce costs, and improve technology. Difficult to get into.
“We shouted and worked hard for a decade or two, but the entire industry is still at the initial stage of industrialization.†Wang Shengtang expressed regret when he talked about the Chinese automatic transmission industry.
The most common automatic transmission is AT, which has mature technology, stable operation and rapid development. A few years ago, there were a large number of 4AT passenger cars on the Chinese market. Today Jeep Free Light, Land Rover Aurora, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and other cars are already equipped with 9AT. Although the market demand is the largest, there are few domestic auto and component companies that independently develop such automatic transmissions.
According to industry insiders, one important reason is that the multinational giants hold all the patents of AT technology and it is very difficult for Chinese companies to rush out of their own patents.
But there are exceptions, a private company named Shandong Shengrui Drive Co., Ltd. made 8AT, and assembly in the Landwind X7 and other vehicles. Not only that, Chery has developed the CVT technology and achieved self-sufficiency in the automatic transmission of its models. The spare parts company Hunan Jiangrong Rongda Vehicle Transmission Co., Ltd. also has CVT technology.
“It's hard to have a local company develop an automatic transmission, but there are not many self-owned brand companies that are willing to use it. Even if they are more expensive, everyone is willing to use foreign mature technology, and they are reluctant to give local companies an opportunity, or even a local one. It is necessary to drive down prices," Wang Shengtang said.
Last year, Chery stripped the transmission technology to Zhejiang Wanliyang Transmission Company. Some analysts believe that the reason for this is that only one Chery company's entire vehicle production cannot significantly reduce the R&D and production costs of CVT technology. The divestment aims to reduce Chery's burden, and it is hoped that through the Wanliyang component company, the CVT will be provided to more vehicle companies.
In recent years, some domestic companies have made progress in DCT research and development. SAIC, GAC, JAC, BYD, Chang'an, Geely, etc. have all or will soon be listed on their own DCT models. However, industry insiders pointed out that this does not mean that Chinese companies have completely overcome the DCT technology, their technical processes and software are still to be improved, and the stability of use remains to be tested.
Don’t give up lessons when it is not appropriate to give up fuel vehicle technology new energy vehicles
Many people believe that in the era of globalization, major auto companies in the world are sourcing globally. Chinese companies do not have to make great efforts to independently research and develop technologies such as automatic transmissions, and it is cost-effective to purchase and integrate mature products in the world. Moreover, with the current promotion of new energy vehicles, China can abandon its own research and development of automatic transmission technology for fuel vehicles.
However, Chen Qingtai, chairman of the Chinese automotive industry and the chairman of the China Electric Vehicles Centennial Association, and former executive vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers Zhang Shulin, etc., talked about the gap between and development of independent brands and foreign brands and said, “Traditional technology Do not chase, die immediately," so can not but chase, after all, how long the process of electric vehicles instead of fuel vehicles, but also said that not good. In today's globalization, technology can be used for reference, but it cannot be relied upon. Establishing an independent brand must have its own core technology.
Zhong Shi, an analyst in the automotive industry, said that the Chinese auto industry should not only see the future of new energy vehicles and take practical actions, but should also face the reality and live in the moment. Last year, the market share of new energy vehicles in China was 1.3%. If we use the development of new energy vehicles as an excuse to evade the reality, it will become an "ostrich policy."
Jianghuai and other auto companies related responsible person said that China has put forward more and more stringent automobile emission standards for the next decade, if independent brands do not work hard on the engine, automatic transmission and the matching of the two core technologies, it will be difficult to achieve compliance and survival.
According to report, in the past, independent brands such as Jianghuai, Chang'an, and Great Wall had encountered “price increases†and “limitations†when purchasing automatic transmissions from multinational corporations, resulting in the production of some popular self-owned brand models. . It can be seen that if companies lack core technologies, they will lose their competitive advantage and develop their autonomy. In the next decade or so, China's auto market will continue to expand. If we continue to be controlled by the core technology and surrender the market share, the dream of a big change in the Chinese auto industry will become an illusion.
As regards global procurement, it should not be used as an excuse for "taking in" for some domestic companies. Zhong Shi said that it is not advisable to build cars behind closed doors, but China’s auto industry chain is heavily dependent on foreign capital. Most profits in the world's largest markets are taken away by foreign investors; multinational companies in Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea are global purchases, but the company’s The self-sufficiency rate of the domestic auto industry chain is very high. Only in this way can the huge local industry be promoted and the country prosperous and prosperous.
In fact, although the public will also use Aisin, Honda does not exclude ZF, but this belongs to the global optimal allocation category, and there is a fundamental difference with the "unilateral dependence" of domestic companies. More often, German passenger car and commercial vehicle companies either use their own variable speed technology or are relatively enthusiastic about ZF in their home countries; Japanese car companies mostly support Aisin (Toyota Holdings) and Gatco (Nissan Holdings); The late Hyundai Kia Group also pursued independence and built an automatic transmission technology system including DCT, CVT, and AT.
Wang Shengtang and Zhong Shijun stated that the Chinese auto industry needs more national spirit and long march spirit; it is hoped that domestic auto companies will support the development of the domestic autonomous automatic transmission industry and draw on the joint development model of European, American and Japanese OEMs. Dominant forces make technological breakthroughs, instead of rejecting cooperation with a big idea.
A number of people in the industry expressed emotion that although China has been difficult to catch up with Europe, the United States, and Japan in the core technology of fuel vehicles, when developing new energy vehicles, it is important to keep in mind the lack of fuel truck technology and the "pain" that the market has lost. Honestly grasped from technology development.
"If new energy vehicles are to repeat the previous model and buy a few large parts of foreign countries, to be a shell, stick their own brand, and name them 'technical integration', this approach is useless," said Chen Qingtai.
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