The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 448: A major blow, a hectic response
"Moriya, Toyota Motor called and asked when our 5AT automatic transmission can be developed."

As an important parts company under Toyota Motor Corporation, Aisin is responsible for the research and development and production of various gearboxes.

Most of Toyota's gearboxes are supplied by Aisin.

The most widely used automatic transmission now is 4AT, which is similar to the situation in the global automotive industry.

Nanshan Transmission invited so many OEMs to Shenzhen to attend the mass production ceremony of the world's first 5AT automatic transmission.

This incident has brought a huge impact to Toyota.

President Shoichiro Toyoda personally called Aisin's head, Taiji Tanaka, to inquire about the development of the 5AT automatic transmission.

Since most of the main car models in recent years are using 4AT automatic transmissions, no manufacturer in the world is promoting 5AT automatic transmissions.

So there is no pressure within Aisin.

The research and development plan of its own 5AT automatic transmission has been postponed again and again.

"President, according to the tacit understanding we have formed with major transmission manufacturers such as ZF, BorgWarner and JATCO."

"In the next five years, no manufacturer will launch a 5AT automatic transmission."

"From the perspective of engine and gearbox matching, the 4AT automatic transmission can already meet most working conditions."

"Under this circumstance, developing a 5AT automatic transmission is not particularly meaningful, either from a cost perspective or a performance perspective."

"So although we have previously formulated a development plan for a 5AT automatic transmission, it has only been a theoretical discussion so far."

“The actual production validation work has not yet begun.”

Moriyama Shuu's words made Tanaka Taiji feel nervous.

Is its own 5AT automatic transmission still just on paper?
The key point is that the drawings are not ready for mass production and have not yet been verified.

Even the drawings haven't been fully completed yet.

What should I do?
Based on past experience, it would be impossible to develop a new 5AT automatic transmission without three to five years.

How can this be good?

"If we start developing the 5AT project right now, when will we be able to produce a product that can be mass-produced?"

As the president of Aisin, Taiji Tanaka's first priority is to meet the needs of its major shareholder, Toyota Motor.

Then, we need to consider some practical situations within our own company.

This time, Shoichiro Toyoda called him personally, which means that Toyota is very eager to launch a car equipped with a 5AT automatic transmission as soon as possible.

So what's there to hesitate about?
Regardless of your abilities, your attitude must be correct.

"The gearbox is not only a regulator of the engine's power output, but also a decisive factor in the vehicle's driving performance."

"The design and adjustment of the gearbox is directly related to the vehicle's power, economy, comfort and reliability, and is an important indicator of the vehicle's technical level."

"It will take us at least three years to develop the 5AT automatic transmission alone."

"After that, we need to adjust some parts of the gearbox in combination with the matching work with various engines."

"Then we will invest in building new production lines for assembly and production."

"This process basically takes more than five years."

Moriyama Shuji certainly wouldn't dare to say anything too definitive.

Otherwise, it will be troublesome if we cannot produce the product in time.

Although Nanshan Transmission has launched a 5AT automatic transmission, they have not even seen the finished product and are not clear about its specific structure and performance.

It can be said that there is no reference material at present, and Aisin engineers need to figure out and develop it on their own.

This is also very time-consuming.

Similarly, developing a 5AT automatic transmission from scratch may take five to six years, or even seven to eight years.

But if you consciously avoid patents and develop replicant products based on someone else's design, then you may be able to accomplish it in two to three years.

The gap is huge.

"Five years is too long. By that time, all BMW Group products will probably have been replaced with 5AT automatic transmissions."

“Then how do we sell our products?”

"Especially for Lexus, we focus on high-end luxury models. If the configuration is not as good as their mid-range models, consumers will definitely not accept it."

Although Taiji Tanaka is the head of a parts company, he is not involved in the specific sales of complete vehicles.

However, he can certainly understand some normal psychological activities of consumers.

Because of this, he could understand why Shoichiro Toyoda called him personally.

"If we want to go faster, we can only wait until we get the 5AT produced by Nanshan Transmission, disassemble it for testing, and then develop our own transmission based on their product."

"This way, we can save about two years."

As Aisin's R&D director, Moriyama Shuzo certainly doesn't want to copy others.

But if the leader pushes you so hard, you can only make decisions based on the situation.

Don’t think that the Japanese have a high moral bottom line, it’s impossible!

"We have to find a way to get the samples of Nanshan gearbox as soon as possible. If that doesn't work, we can ask Toyota to help us get some samples from them."

"Just say it's for verification use, I guess Nanshan Transmission should give it to you."

"Otherwise, there would be no need to send an invitation letter to Toyota Motor for the mass production roll-off ceremony of the 5AT automatic transmission."

Although it is a bit embarrassing to ask shareholders for help for such a small matter.

However, considering the urgency of the schedule, Tanaka Taiji, who was already a little overwhelmed, couldn't care less at this time.

If many years later, many OEMs begin to use 5AT automatic transmissions in large quantities, but Aisin still cannot produce such a product.

That's when it was truly embarrassing.

"That's an idea."

"Otherwise, if we wait until we purchase a mass-produced car equipped with their 5AT from the market, we will probably have to wait even longer."

Moriyama Shuji would certainly not reject this proposal made by his leader.

Anyway, this is the way to reduce the pressure on the R&D center to the greatest extent possible.

……

Another company that is in a bit of a mess like Aisin is ZF.

As the most important transmission supplier for many automobile giants such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes, ZF is very powerful.

They not only produce gearboxes, but also chassis parts and electronic components, and are considered to be among the top giants in the automotive parts industry.

ZF has always been leading the development direction of the European transmission market.

When the company was founded in 1915, it began to develop automotive transmission products.

However, in terms of technical level, they cannot be considered the best in the world.

After all, the 4AT automatic transmissions of other automakers such as General Motors were launched earlier than ZF.

In order to become the world's number one in terms of technology and production scale, ZF's management team has put in a lot of effort.

Their 5AT automatic transmission has also been under development for many years.

Historically, in 1990, ZF launched the world's first five-speed automatic transmission for passenger cars, the 5HP.

At this time, ZF once again took the leading position in the field of gearboxes.

Now that this rhythm has been suddenly disrupted, ZF is naturally a little flustered.

"Stephen, our 5AT automatic transmission prototype has been developed and is now undergoing various tests."

"If there are no accidents, we will conduct vehicle compatibility tests with BMW."

“It was finally put into mass production and launched on BMW’s latest models at the end of 1990.”

As ZF's R&D director, Mikas was called by President Stephen early in the morning to report on the latest developments of the 5AT automatic transmission.

This project can be said to be the most important project of ZF in recent years and is related to the development in the next ten years.

According to their original idea, ZF could become the world's first transmission manufacturer to launch 5AT.

At that time, we will cooperate with various OEMs to quickly expand the company's scale to a higher level.

However, all this changed because of the emergence of Nanshan gearbox.

"We will communicate with BMW and accelerate the matching test in the next three months, and strive to launch models equipped with our 5AT products within next year."

Although there was no way to grab the first place, Stephen didn't want ZF to fall behind for too long.

Otherwise, if Nanshan Transmission fails to gain a foothold, future work will be difficult.

BMW has always been very supportive of ZF's work, and most of its products are equipped with ZF's gearboxes.

Therefore, the 5AT planned by ZF will naturally be installed on BMW models first.

"This may be somewhat difficult, mainly because of our own testing work, and we also need to adjust the structure of each part based on the matching of the whole vehicle."

"Otherwise, the performance of the gearbox cannot be optimized."

People who work in technology sometimes simply think about technical issues without considering too many other things.

Mikas has been in charge of this project for seven or eight years, so he naturally doesn't want to see any imperfections due to rushing the work in the last two years.

"Huaxia has already launched the world's first 5AT product. We can't wait any longer."

"The client certainly doesn't want us to keep waiting, right?"

Stephen explained the situation simply and clearly.

However, Mikas still frowned and said, "Our 5AT is currently being developed in parallel with the new generation of BMW 5 Series and 3 Series models."

"Unless BMW can speed up the development of new models, even if our 5AT is put into mass production ahead of schedule, it will not be installed in vehicles."

The situation in the automotive industry is obviously different from that in many industries.

One thing after another, it's not enough to just get one part right.

It's not that Stephen doesn't understand this principle, but he is very anxious.

"Then let's ignore BMW's reaction for now. Next week the company is going to hold a press conference to announce to the media that we have also developed a 5AT automatic transmission."

"Then I will arrange for the sales department to take action as soon as possible. In addition to continuing to promote and expand the use of BMW, Volkswagen, Peugeot Citroen, Renault and Fiat and other customers must also take action as soon as possible."

Stephen is a little flustered now and feels that he must respond to the mass production of Nanshan Transmission 5AT as soon as possible.

Otherwise, by then the market will be monopolized by others, and it will be very difficult for you to seize it.

“But our products are not mature yet?”

Mikas, who was born as a doctor of engineering, was obsessed with technology, which made Stephen speechless.

“Although the technology still needs to be improved, it has been successfully developed.”

"As long as a customer is ready to use it, we can complete the matching development in the next period of time."

"Isn't it?"

Stephen took a deep breath and looked at Mikas with a very serious expression.

At this time, Mikas, who was slow to react, finally understood the current situation.

In the end, the arms are no match for the thighs, so we must work according to the president's ideas.

……

"Wesker, what do you think about us cooperating with Nanshan Transmission in China to produce their 5AT automatic transmission?"

As the president of American auto parts giant BorgWarner, Wolff is a pure businessman.

He doesn't know much about technology, but he knows a lot about the market.

BorgWarner is the largest transmission company in the United States and supplies some of its products to several major automakers.

In recent days, due to the mass production of Nanshan Transmission's 5AT, automobile companies and transmission companies around the world have been paying attention to this matter.

Many people have become unable to sleep at night.

Especially for various transmission companies such as Aisin, JATCO, and Hyundai Mobis, their 5AT is still a long way from mass production.

The situation at BorgWarner is actually not very optimistic.

But Wolf felt that he did not need to be nervous and only needed to find the best business cooperation route.

"It's not impossible."

"Nanshan Gearbox is a Chinese company. The gearboxes they produce have to be shipped to America, so the delivery cycle is relatively long."

"The most important thing is that our customers probably don't want to purchase such an important product as the gearbox directly from China."

"General Motors can cooperate with Chinese companies to produce OEM models, so we can also cooperate with Nanshan Transmission in the field of 5AT automatic transmissions."

"At that time, they will provide various components of the gearbox and assemble them in our factory."

“It was then supplied to customers such as General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler Motor.”

Wesker is Wolfe's direct subordinate, so naturally he would not object to the boss's proposal.

And objectively speaking, this plan is not unfeasible.

In the early years, BorgWarner started technical cooperation with Aisin of Japan, and the two parties even established a joint venture to jointly produce 4AT automatic transmissions and other products.

Now that we have reached the era of 5AT, it is obviously possible for them to cooperate with Nanshan Transmission in turn.

"Since you think it's possible, arrange for someone to contact Nanshan Transmission as soon as possible."

"We will try to finalize this plan within the next half month."

"Then we can report our 5AT solution to each customer as soon as possible so that they can know what's going on."

Wolfe is a man of short temper.

The launch of 5AT by Nanshan Transmission has dealt a heavy blow to the global transmission industry.

All gearbox companies are scrambling to consider countermeasures.

At this time, if BorgWarner can seize the opportunity, it may be able to turn a bad thing into a good thing.

By then, BorgWarner's gearbox sales may be able to return to its peak again.

……

"Austin, it seems that your previous judgment of Jiang Hui was very correct."

"This is a Chinese who is completely different from ordinary Chinese people."

"Under his leadership, the BMW Group has achieved rapid development."

"Today, the export efficiency of various models has set a historical record."

"What's even more surprising is that his Nanshan Transmission has become the first company in the world to launch a mass-produced 5AT automatic transmission."

On the plane, GM's Sales Director Edward and R&D Director Austin came to China together to participate in the 5AT mass production launch event of Nanshan Transmission.

On the one hand, we want to understand what the 5AT produced by Nanshan Transmission is and how its performance is.

On the other hand, it is also a consideration of how to cooperate with Nanshan Transmission in the future.

In the 4AT era, there are many gearbox manufacturers that can produce such products.

General Motors doesn't need to cooperate directly with Nanshan Transmission.

But in the 5AT era, the situation has obviously changed.

So far, Austin has not heard of any other transmission company that has developed 5AT.

"I think 5AT is just the beginning. Nanshan Transmission may become the first company in the world to launch 6AT automatic transmission in the future."

"In the future, Nanshan Engine and Nanshan Technology will continue to bring us surprises."

"Jiang Hui's understanding of the automotive industry is beyond our imagination."

"His talent in this area is unmatched by ordinary people."

Austin has been dealing with Jiang Hui for so many years, so he naturally has a very clear understanding of Jiang Hui's level of strength.

Anyway, he admitted defeat and knew he was no match for his opponent.

"Fortunately, such a powerful competitor is now our partner, otherwise it would be really troublesome."

"Japanese and Korean car companies have caused us so much trouble."

"If a Chinese automaker is added to the mix, the domestic auto market will become even more chaotic in the future."

As the sales director, Edward's main concern is naturally the sales area.

The rapid rise of BMW Group has undoubtedly brought an impact to many car companies.

If General Motors did not have OEM cooperation with BMW Group, its sales would definitely be affected to some extent.

"Yes, so this time we come here, we must strengthen the cooperation between the two sides."

"The shareholders also have the idea of ​​establishing a Chinese joint venture in the future to formally enter the Chinese market."

In this life, China's automobile market has undergone very little changes compared with the same period in history.

The time when various joint venture car companies appeared has also been advanced.

Similarly, due to the rapid economic development, the scale of the domestic automobile market has also expanded significantly.

Historically, the output of China's automobile industry this year is only 64 vehicles.

This number is completely incomparable to the more than 1500 million vehicles in the United States.

Now with the appearance of Jiang Hui, China's automobile production this year will definitely exceed 100 million vehicles, and may even reach the threshold of 200 million vehicles.

Each car has tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of parts.

The driving effect of the industrial chain is huge.

As automobile production increases several times, many people and companies will naturally benefit.

As a result, the overall economic environment has improved a lot after the domestic reforms.

The pressure from all aspects has also become less.

"Since Nanshan Transmission is going to mass-produce 5AT automatic transmissions, we must purchase a batch and study them carefully."

"Let's see if we can use it on Cadillac models first."

General Motors is the world's largest automobile company.

Naturally, we don’t want to lag behind our peers in the application of new technologies.

It would be fine if 5AT had not appeared, but now that it exists, there is no way GM would not use it.

Even if the price is higher at the beginning, it doesn’t matter.

Anyway, it is installed in luxury cars like Cadillac.

……

"Mizuno, what impact do you think the 5AT automatic transmission that has emerged in China will have on the automotive industry?"

As the president of Honda Motor, Taro Shimahara is naturally very concerned about the hottest information in the industry.

Most of Honda's gearboxes are developed and produced by itself, and currently mainly use 4AT and 5MT gearboxes.

They are also designing a 5AT gearbox solution, but according to the plan, it will take another seven or eight years for it to enter mass production.

The current situation of Nanshan Transmission has undoubtedly disrupted their rhythm.

Therefore, Taro Shimahara must carefully evaluate the impact of this matter.

"The internal structure of the 5AT automatic transmission is much more complex than that of the 4AT."

“And the precision requirements for each part are higher.”

"I don't think the quality of the 5AT produced by Nanshan Transmission is very good."

“There’s no way they can be at this level.”

Mizuno Munemori obviously did not regard the emergence of Nanshan Transmission as a threat to himself.

In his opinion, Nanshan Transmission's claim that it has developed the world's first 5AT is pure sensationalism.

In a few years, when various quality issues emerge, we will probably be in big trouble.

"I also think this is a bit strange. Everyone knows the level of China's automobile industry."

"Although the situation has changed a bit since the emergence of the BMW Group, many things in essence cannot be changed."

Taro Shimahara breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, thinking that what Mizuno Munemori said was what he was thinking as well.

"So I think the institute can just speed up the process according to the original plan."

"There is no need to disrupt all the original arrangements because of the emergence of Nanshan Transmission."

From Taro Shimahara's reaction, Mizuno Munemori understood what leadership meant.

Then naturally we have to follow what the leader means.

Anyway, for things like this, there is no way to confirm which path is the right one in the short term.

(End of this chapter)