Toyota supplies HV technology to China - First gives it to Guangzhou Automobile

 Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:

トヨタ、中国にHV技術供給　まず広州汽車に

【イブニングスクープ】

自動車・機械 中国・台湾

2020/10/15 18:00日本経済新聞　電子版

トヨタ自動車はハイブリッド車（HV）の基幹システムを中国自動車大手の広州汽車集団に供給する。海外企業へのHV技術の外販は初めて。中国では2021年からHVを省エネ車として優遇する。日本勢は部品企業も含めてHVに強い。ガソリンエンジンの使用も認める中国の環境車政策をビジネスに生かす動きが広がってきた。

トヨタ、デンソー、アイシン精機が共同出資する電動車向け駆動装置の開発販売会社、ブルーイーネクサス（愛知県安城市）が広州汽車へのHVシステム供給で合意した。中国民営自動車大手の浙江吉利控股集団傘下の吉利汽車への販売でも大筋合意したようだ。

広州汽車に供給するシステムは発電用と走行用のモーターを2つ搭載した駆動装置で「プリウス」などに使われるトヨタ独自のシステム。モーター1つのものと比べて、より省エネ効率が高い。今後5年で10万～20万台分の規模を供給し、さらなる外販拡大を目指す。

トヨタのHVシステムはこれまでマツダやSUBARUなど国内勢に供給してきた。中国勢への供給が明らかになるのは今回が初めて。中国は21年からHVなどを「低燃費車」と位置づけて優遇する方針を打ちだしている。電気自動車（EV）の扱いが少なくても、HVの生産割合が多ければ同国の排出規制をクリアできるため、ガソリン車を多く扱う現地メーカーがHV対応を急いでいるもようだ。

19年春からは中国で関連技術の特許を無償開放しているものの、実際の開発や量産は難しく、システムそのものへの需要が高まっている。

トヨタの19年の中国販売は過去最高の162万台だったが、シェアは約6%にとどまる。20年に同国市場でEVを投入したが、販売実績は1～8月で2000台弱にとどまる。これまでHVは現地合弁から中国市場に供給してきたが、資本関係のない現地大手にシステム供給することで、HV機運を高めたい考えだ。

中国規制に対応し、日産自動車もHVを強化する。21年に中国に独自のHV技術「eパワー」の搭載車を初めて投入する。現地で売れ筋の主力セダン「シルフィ」など、搭載車種を今後3年で5～6車種まで増やす計画だ。

英調査会社のLMCオートモーティブによれば世界の新車市場におけるHVの割合は20年の7%から30年には26%に拡大する見通し。欧州などではメーカーの二酸化炭素（CO2）の平均排出量を引き下げる「CAFE規制」が導入され、対応策としても需要の拡大が見込まれている。

もっとも足元ではEVシフトが進む。欧州では英国が35年、フランスが40年までにガソリン車の販売を禁止する方針。米カリフォルニア州も35年までに販売されるすべての新車を排ガスを出さない「ゼロエミッション車」にする制度の導入をこのほど知事が打ち出した。同車種の割合は30年に16%の見込みだがさらに増える可能性がある。

長期的な視点ではEVや燃料電池車（FCV）など排ガスゼロ車への本格的な移行は避けて通れない。HVで時間を稼ぎつつ、いかにEVなどを収益源に育てるかが、自動車メーカーの競争力を左右する。

Translation

Toyota Motor would supply the core system of hybrid vehicles (HV) to Guangzhou Automobile Group, a major Chinese automobile company. This iwa the first time that HV technology had been sold to overseas companies. In China, HVs could be given preferential treatment as energy-saving vehicles from 2021. Japanese companies were strong in HVs, including car component companies. There was a growing movement in business to utilize China's environmental vehicle policy which allowed the use of gasoline engines.

Blue E-Nexus (Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture), a company for the development and sales of electric vehicles and jointly funded by Toyota, Denso and Aisin Seiki, had agreed to supply HV systems to Guangzhou Automobile. It seemed that they had generally agreed to sell to Geely Automobile, which was under the umbrella of Geely Holding Group and was a major Chinese private automobile company.

The system supplied to Guangzhou Automobile was a driving device equipped with two motors for power generation and running, and it was Toyota's original system used in "Prius" and so on. The energy saving efficiency was higher than one motor. Over the next five years, it would supply 100,000 to 200,000 units and aim to further expand external sales.

Toyota's HV system so far had been supplied to domestic companies such as Mazda and Subraru. This was the first time that its supply to the Chinese had been revealed. Since 2009. China had announced a policy of giving preferential treatment to HVs and other vehicles as "fuel-efficient vehicles." Even if the number of electric vehicles (EVs) handled was small, if the production ratio of HVs was high, it could get through the country's emission regulations. so, it seemed that local manufacturers that were dealing with the many gasoline vehicles were rushing to support HVs.

Although patents for related technologies had been released free of charge in China since the spring of 2019, actual development and mass production were difficult and demands for the system itself were increasing.

Toyota's sales in China in 2019 reached a record high of 1.62 million units and its share was only about 6%. EVs were launched in the country's market in 2020, but sales had been less than 2000 units from January to August. Until now, HVs was supplied to the Chinese market through a local joint venture, but the company hoped to increase HV momentum by supplying the system to major local companies with no capital relationship.

In response to Chinese regulations Nissan would also strengthen its HV. In 2021, it might launch in China the first vehicle equipped with its own HV technology "e-power". The company planned to increase the number of vehicle model equipped with it to five to six models in the next three years, such as the locally-selling mainstay sedan "Sylphy,".

According to LMC Automotive, a British research firm, the proportion of HVs in the global new car market was expected to increase from 7% in 2020 to 26% in 2030. In Europe and elsewhere, "CAFE regulations" was introduced to reduce the average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of manufacturers, and HV demand was expected to grow as a responding measure.

However, the EV footing shifting was in progress at the moment. In Europe, the UK planned to ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 and France by 2040. The governor of California in the USA had recently announced the introduction of a system to make all new cars sold by 2035 into "zero-emission vehicles" that would not emit exhaust gas. The ratio of this type of model was expected to be 16% in 2030, but it could increase further.

From a long-term perspective, a full-scale shift to zero-emission vehicles such as EVs and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) would be inevitable. While buying time with HVs, how to nurture EVs as a source of revenue would influence the competitiveness of automobile manufactures.

              So, Toyota Motor is adjusting its automobile production strategy on how to develop HVs as a source of revenue at the moment. This strategy would influence its competitiveness in automobile production in future when the demand for EV become the main stage to compete for market shares.