The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

If Nanshan Transmission wants to enter the American automakers' transmission market on a large scale, it certainly cannot do so on its own.

BorgWarner does not have its own technical strength, and it is unrealistic for it to rely on itself to seize a large share of the future transmission market.

Since both parties need each other, this cooperation is a natural fit.

It only took three days for the two parties to finalize the framework contract for the joint venture.

The two parties also held a formal signing ceremony in Shenzhen and invited some local media manufacturers.

At the same time, Nanshan Transmission also announced that the joint venture will invest US$2 million in the United States to build a transmission factory with a maximum production capacity of 100 million units per year.

This factory and the new factory in Shenzhen will be the first factories in the world capable of producing 6AT automatic transmissions.

After this news spread, it immediately caused a huge response in the automotive industry.

On Aisin's side, Taiji Tanaka immediately called Moriyama Shuu to his office.

"Didn't you say that Nanshan Transmission's 6AT automatic transmission is expected to be launched the year after next?"

"Why are they already building new factories on a large scale?"

"According to the speed of construction of the Chinese, the 6AT automatic transmission will be installed on some models next year."

“How do we compete?”

Taiji Tanaka felt depressed when he thought that he would go to Toyota Motor tomorrow to report on Aisin's development progress of the 6AT automatic transmission.

He had originally asked the R&D department to speed up the process and strive to develop the product at the same time as Nanshan Transmission.

But the other party has now started building a new factory, which means that the development work has come to an end.

Even if there are some adjustments, they should not be big.

As for Aisin, it has not even decided on the final design plan.

Not to mention all kinds of testing work.

The gearbox is a very important part in the automobile factory and is working every moment.

Without sufficient testing, there is no way to launch the product on the market.

"President, I am also a little surprised by this information."

"Especially, BorgWarner chose to cooperate with Nanshan Transmission this time and established a joint venture in the United States to produce Nanshan Transmission's 6AT automatic transmission."

“This is something I’ve never thought about before.”

Moriyama Shuji was also feeling very depressed at this time.

Suddenly this news came out.

It seems that the product development progress of Nanshan Transmission is far from what I expected.

That's trouble.

"BorgWarner was once our partner. Don't you know their working style?"

"As a company managed by professional managers, their management only cares about the stock price and whether the revenue and profit meet the set requirements."

“Other things are not what people care about at all.”

Taiji Tanaka participated in the cooperation with BorgWarner in the early days and even went to BorgWarner to learn transmission technology.

But those are all old almanacs.

At this time, Aisin's strength in the field of gearboxes has surpassed BorgWarner, and naturally it does not want to continue sharing profits with the other party.

"President, this situation is something no one could have predicted."

"And when the 6AT automatic transmission was first introduced, the cost was definitely very high, and there was no way to promote and popularize it on a large scale."

“I don’t think it’s that serious.”

This was the only way Moriyama Shuma could comfort his boss.

What else to do?

"If Toyota's goal is to become an ordinary large automaker, then perhaps your explanation will be acceptable."

"But now Shoichiro Toyoda wants his company to surpass General Motors and become the world's number one."

“This situation is naturally different.”

"You have to be prepared. For the next year, you probably won't be able to think about leaving get off work early and having a weekend away."

The Japanese in the 1990s were still relatively hardworking.

The term "death from overwork" originated from Japan.

Unlike thirty years later, young people in Japan lie much more freely than Chinese people.

"I...I understand."

No matter how helpless he felt, Moriyama Shuji had no way of saying it out loud.

There is no way. The R&D center’s performance is not as good as others. If the attitude is not good, someone will be unlucky.

……

"Stephen, can your ZF 6AT be developed next year?"

As a traditional cooperative customer of ZF, BMW is naturally very concerned about ZF's new technology research and development.

In the past, many of ZF's new products and technologies were first installed and used in BMW models.

But starting with the 5AT automatic transmission, things began to change.

Nanshan Transmission has now started building a 6AT automatic transmission factory.

This means that BMW Group's new models will soon be equipped with 6AT automatic transmissions.

When Chitu 77 was launched some time ago, BMW had already felt the improvement of its opponent’s strength.

Now that the gearbox has made progress so quickly, Walls is even more worried.

That's why he called the president of ZF personally.

"Wols, don't worry, we have already stepped up the research and development progress of the 6AT automatic transmission project."

"According to the current situation, the product design will be finalized next year, and preparations for mass production will begin the year after."

"By 1995, ZF's 6AT automatic transmission will be ready for mass production and supply to customers."

"During the three to four years in between, we can conduct some tests in conjunction with the development of new models of our customers."

Stephen has one attitude when discussing internal matters, and naturally another attitude when dealing with the BMW president.

No matter what, let’s stabilize BMW first.

Otherwise, if the other party turns to support Nanshan Transmission, ZF's situation will be bad.

After all, even traditional partners have given up on ZF, so how will other customers view this?

Most likely, this is when the dominoes fall.

"Do you have confidence in developing a new generation of gearbox in such a short time?"

Walls is also a knowledgeable person.

Normally, it takes 5 to 10 years to develop a new gearbox.

Now after the drastic compression, the situation is definitely worrying.

After all, the further back you go, the more complicated the gearbox design becomes.

It stands to reason that more development time is required.

But now the situation is the opposite.

"The structure and design difficulties of the 6AT automatic transmission are much more complicated than those of the 5AT."

"But we at ZF have a very deep history in this area, and I have great confidence in the company's R&D team." Whether the confidence is real or false, Stephen's answer can only be confidence.

He also plans to arrange personnel to formally communicate with BMW's design team and start making some preliminary preparations for the installation of 6AT.

After hearing what Stephen said, Walls, who was originally a little worried, felt a little relieved.

Although ZF's new product launch speed is slower than Nanshan Transmission, it is still at an acceptable level.

After all, the automobile industry of this era was far from as competitive as it is in later generations.

……

"Bill, do you think that a car equipped with a 6AT automatic transmission will have a greater impact on sales than a car equipped with a 5AT automatic transmission?"

The 6AT automatic transmission has been a hot topic in the automotive industry recently.

Peterson naturally heard about it as well.

Ford Motor Company has also established its own transmission research and development team.

They plan to produce some of the gearboxes themselves in the future.

However, according to the current progress, it is definitely impossible for Ford to launch a 6AT automatic transmission earlier than other professional transmission manufacturers.

That leaves Ford with basically two options.

Either it is not equipped with a 6AT automatic transmission, or it is equipped with a 6AT from Nanshan transmission.

Peterson doesn't really want either of these options.

"For cheap cars under $1, even a 6AT is too luxurious, let alone a 5AT."

"So this incident will not have any impact on their sales at all."

"But for luxury cars or models with higher prices, it depends on the performance of competitors."

"If most of them are not equipped with 6AT, then people will think it is normal not to have it, and the impact on sales will be relatively limited."

"On the other hand, if you don't carry it, it will become abnormal, and at that time it will have a greater impact on sales."

After Bill said this, Peterson immediately asked another question, "Do you think other car manufacturers will use the 6AT produced by Nanshan Transmission on a large scale?"

In many cases, we can only draw a conclusion on whether we are capable or not by comparing ourselves with our opponents.

Therefore, the choices of other car companies are very important.

"BorgWarner and Nanshan Transmission have established a joint venture to build a new plant in Detroit to produce 6AT."

"But as far as I know, the other party has not reached any agreement with us on 6AT during this period."

"I have reason to believe that they have already reached a cooperation direction with General Motors or Chrysler."

"So by then there will definitely be a number of models equipped with 6AT automatic transmissions."

"Especially with the tightening of regulations and people's attention to environmental protection, low-fuel-consumption models are more popular among people."

"With the same engine, equipping it with 6AT will undoubtedly further reduce fuel consumption."

“And the ride will be smoother.”

Bill didn't give his answer directly, but the meaning was clear.

It is definitely better to have a ride than not to have one.

This is especially true from a sales perspective.

"Since that's what you think, I'll arrange for the people at the procurement center to have a good communication with BorgWarner."

"Let's see how we can better cooperate on 6AT in the future."

Although Bill is Peterson's subordinate, he is a member of the Ford family.

He will be the president of Ford Motor Company in the future.

So Peterson still attaches great importance to his opinion.

It's like you are the general manager of a company, and one of your employees is the boss's son.

You must pay attention to his opinion.

Since General Motors and Ford have both taken action, Chrysler naturally cannot remain indifferent.

As long as BorgWarner's people reveal some of the movements of General Motors and Ford to others, the other party will take action.

BorgWarner Nanshan Transmission, a newly established joint venture, is still in the planning stage for its new factory, but it already has several potential orders.

This further stimulated many competitors.

"President, I heard that General Motors and Ford are discussing the introduction of 6AT automatic transmissions in new models."

"Once their products are equipped with 6AT, fuel consumption will be further reduced, and our advantage in this regard will become smaller."

Shoei Saito is very concerned about changes in the American market.

This is the market that Toyota attaches the most importance to.

"I have heard the report from Aisin. Their 6AT automatic transmission will not be developed until 1995 at the earliest."

"It was estimated that large-scale mass production would not be until 1996, or even later."

"At best, we can only consider using it on some of the next generation of models."

“There’s no way to do it in a short period of time.”

Shoichiro Toyoda immediately paid attention to the movements of Nanshan Transmission and BMW Group.

But the actual situation was even worse than he thought.

"This is not a solution. Do we have to consider equipping some of our models with Nanshan gearbox products?"

When Saito Shoei said this, Toyoda Shoichiro immediately said, "Why not?"

Compared with Honda and Nissan, Toyota is still very bold.

When it comes to many key choices, they can make decisions boldly without procrastinating.

Of course, Shoichiro Toyoda definitely did not mean to give up Aisin and choose Nanshan Transmission. This is impossible.

They just want to urge manufacturers within the system to improve their competitiveness in this way.

Wait until Aisin's level is improved before making adjustments.

"Then we can try it out on some Lexus models first?"

"I would like to take this opportunity to learn about the technical level of Nanshan Transmission's 6AT?"

Saito Shoei felt that he understood Shoichiro Toyoda's thinking.

I've heard of small-scale collaborations where the technology of the other party is acquired and then passed on to manufacturers within the system, allowing them to improve their technical level as quickly as possible.

Finally, kick them out.

Many OEMs have used similar methods before.

Even after another thirty years, there will still be OEMs doing this.

This is the case whether at home or abroad.

"Well, let's start with Lexus."

"The price of 6AT will definitely not be cheap at the beginning, and ordinary models cannot afford such cost increase."

"When the time comes, I will arrange for people from the purchasing department to contact Nanshan Transmission and ask them to settle the matter as soon as possible."

Now that you have an idea, implement it as soon as possible.

Shoichiro Toyoda saw this very clearly.

For Nanshan Transmission, this is a pleasant surprise. (End of this chapter)