There is no distinction between joint ventures and independent brands in the exploration of new technologies. Currently, it is clear who is shouting slogans and who is urgently addressing user needs.

As the market in 2024 accelerates towards the direction expected by Chinese automakers, consumers' perception of joint ventures seems to be concentrated on words like old-fashioned and conservative. With the increasingly obvious trend of the industry's comprehensive entry into electrification and intelligent transformation, does the word "joint venture" in our eyes really only refer to brand halo or user reputation that has not been completely concealed?

How to survive? Or, how to confront the current market changes? For any joint venture automaker, it has become a very thorny issue.

In the past two years, indeed, many joint venture automakers have lost their ideas in the chaos, changing their main business to foreign exports, or reducing their enterprise scale in the simplest and most brutal way, or even exiting China altogether.

But on the other hand, based on years of technological accumulation and system construction in China, as well as deep research and judgment on the automotive industry, we can still clearly see that leading brands such as Volkswagen, Toyota, and Honda have not given up.

As a rational observer of industry development, blindly predicting the decline of a company's future is never advisable.

Through observation, you will find that the rapid technological change, coupled with the rapid change in consumer trends, has not eroded the ambition of joint venture automakers. On the contrary, in China, these companies' thinking on promoting and implementing new technologies is not as stubborn and rigid as outsiders might think.

In many people's impression, Toyota's style of doing things is cautious and stubborn, unique to Japanese automakers, compared to the radical Volkswagen. As China's new energy industry enters a new stage of fierce development, Toyota has gradually fallen behind.

However, in the 2.0 era of joint ventures, if you say that Toyota is willing to give up catching up with the electrification process or has lost momentum for transformation, that must be too subjective. As the core carrier of Toyota's joint venture business in China, GAC Toyota's insights into new technologies, new trends, and new generation consumers are actually very advanced.

At this stage, some people like to flaunt their ego, while others are keen on deeply cultivating technological ponds.

Since last year, GAC Toyota's concept of "intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine" has been proposed, and today it has intentionally set its Technology Day, focusing on aligning with the future development direction of China's auto market.

In other words, in terms of technological iteration, from introducing the fifth-generation THS hybrid technology to achieving parallel progress in multiple paths of PHEV, EV, FCEV, and even leading the industry with disruptive black technologies such as solid-state batteries;

For consumer-recognized intelligent evolution, from choosing to cooperate with Huawei and Tencent to create China-specific intelligent cabins, to partnering with Momenta to promote the rapid implementation of end-to-end high-level autonomous driving, and even continuing to collaborate with Pony.ai on fully autonomous driving...

Such GAC Toyota actually meets our impression of a new-era automaker with a sense of urgency and a strong willingness to transform.

The word "joint venture" should not be a term that opposes "independent." For automakers in China, when China's auto market actively exhibits a higher evolution speed than the global industry, every automaker capable of following the pace of the times and providing advanced products for Chinese consumers deserves respect from the outside world.

From "Produced in China" to "Researched in China"

"In the 2.0 era of joint ventures, a lying-down development style is not advisable."

This is a warning given by China's auto market to all joint ventures, but for Toyota, some decisions have been made since the moment when electric transformation began to comprehensively affect the Chinese market.

Unlike many Chinese automakers' forward-thinking development ideas, Toyota did not take extended-range hybrids, plug-in hybrids, or pure electric technology as the first point of contact, nor did it put the concept of a refrigerator, TV, and large sofa into the cabin, which might give people the illusion that Toyota's research on new consumption trends is insufficient. But in fact, from the perspective of "technology driving life," Toyota's logic of technological evolution has been unreservedly integrated into the joint venture company's system in recent years.

As the fuel era comes to an end, electrification opens a new chapter in the industry. New automakers want to achieve overtaking through the advantages of three-electric technology, thereby incorporating the market share originally belonging to traditional automakers into their own sphere of influence.

But today, I dare say that many people overlook one point: the space given by the industry for electric transformation is not about completing the handover between old and new forces.

There is no "who will replace who" relationship between joint venture automakers and independent automakers. Their true purpose lies in optimizing consumers' driving experience and ultimately integrating the environmental issue of "sustainable development" into the future ecology of the automotive industry.

In China, with the rapid iteration of various new energy technologies, what energy drive form is the optimal solution?

Nowadays, we do not deny that when PHEV and REV models that can be charged and refueled occupy the core of public opinion, consumers will naturally believe that this is the most cost-effective power solution at the moment.

However, for the Chinese market, which sells 25 million new cars per year, can we propose a viewpoint: using the most reliable technology to meet the diverse consumer needs of various regions is actually more important than emphasizing only the one-sided product advantage of "charging is cheaper than burning oil."

At this year's Technology Day, the reason why GAC Toyota once again emphasized the technical key points of "intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine" is to change consumers' perception of hybrid technology and traditional automakers' advancement in intelligence with its own approach.

The fifth-generation intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine, which deeply integrates the advantages of oil and electricity and truly achieves extreme balance, is the optimal solution for hybrids.

Peng Baolin, Deputy General Manager of GAC Toyota, not only said, "As the world's first brand in intelligent electric hybrids, the biggest feature of GAC Toyota's intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine is extreme balance." He further explained, "Intelligent electric hybrid dual-engine is not a superficial disruption of single-point data, but a deep satisfaction of extreme balance!"

In terms of development, the hybrid technology that has undergone five iterations over 20 years has once again consolidated the conclusion that "there are only two kinds of hybrids in the world, one is Toyota, and the other is everything else." I dare not say that such a judgment can be conveyed to everyone, but it is obvious that Toyota's in-depth exploration of "hybrid" must be comprehensive.

To put it simply, "whether it can get a green license plate" is not what the technical term "Toyota's fifth-generation THS" pursues.

Its so-called comprehensive evolution aims to provide Chinese consumers with the optimal new energy driving experience, encompassing continuous optimization and upgrades of all key components such as engines, motors, batteries, and overall structure.

It is not simply driven by a motor or engine, but provides ample power output to the vehicle through the coordination of oil and electricity; it does not advertise with laboratory single-point extreme thermal efficiency, but achieves the low fuel consumption consumers care most about in the full-speed range with a wider range of high thermal efficiency operation.

Perhaps these two aspects are the biggest characteristics of Toyota's latest hybrid technology. There is no fancy technical promotion, nor supplementary brainwashing marketing. But through long-term market validation and comparative testing under real-world conditions, since this hybrid technology can perfectly cover current consumer pain points, for consumers, as long as GAC Toyota can provide sufficiently advanced technical support without lowering standards, isn't it a good thing?

Chinese consumers are hard to please.

Indeed, after so many years of internal competition in the auto market, consumers' picky gaze has more or less put pressure on various automakers. But at the same time, after all this competition, automakers like GAC Toyota are also very clear that strengthening local research and development and accelerating the speed of localized technological iteration is always the right thing to do rather than being forced to participate in competition.

With the new four modernizations taking center stage, in fact, the path of helping consumers reduce vehicle usage costs through the fifth-generation THS hybrid technology is now mature. Then, at GAC Toyota's Technology Day, another momentum I can feel must be all about enhancing the intelligent experience.

In the past, it was understandable that joint ventures found it difficult to cooperate with Chinese technology companies on intelligent technology.

Nowadays, when GAC Toyota chooses to deeply integrate with Huawei on the in-vehicle system and also hopes that Tencent can add more popular application apps to its in-vehicle system, there can only be one reason: as a joint venture company and also as a Chinese enterprise, GAC Toyota will not ignore any Chinese consumer's thoughts on new experiences.

The 2.0 era of joint ventures needs the example of GAC Toyota

As everyone knows, 2024 is a difficult period when everyone is in anxiety but has to constantly face off against each other, with bayonets drawn. In contrast, joint ventures always struggle in the midst of incessant verbal sparring and price offensives.

Along with similar automakers, GAC Toyota naturally cannot avoid being disturbed by these external factors. However, throughout history, since the development of China's auto market still follows rationality, when GAC Toyota can make the decision to cater to the latest market requirements, using new technologies combined with the capabilities of Chinese technology companies to build a new ecosystem, I believe that surviving well and setting an example for other joint ventures is still an obvious thing.

"Will a joint venture company holding a technology open day for the first time be a bit inexperienced?"

In this era when everyone has a technology festival, perhaps this is the first impression of the outside world towards GAC Toyota's move. However, if we look at it from the perspective of purpose, I would argue that compared to the pie-in-the-sky technological promotion of other startups, GAC Toyota wants to show more that, in the face of the impetuous auto market environment, it is truly providing constructive measures and forward-looking technologies for industry development.

Not for traffic, but to respond to doubts; not to criticize anyone, but to work down-to-earth.

In China, everyone says that a new era has arrived. New energy is the core force driving industry transformation, and intelligence is a prerequisite for dominating the entire industry's future. Regarding this, joint venture companies that are used to being cautious may be a bit confused, but to say that they should unconditionally give way to newcomers, I think that incorporates some excessive elements.

How do joint venture companies plan for the subsequent development of China's auto market?

At this stage, by iterating on existing technologies, such as the fifth-generation THS hybrid technology mentioned earlier, or collaborating with local companies to build a new ecosystem, such as GAC Toyota collaborating with Huawei and Tencent to empower the intelligent cabin, most joint venture automakers have chosen to quickly change their past work efficiency and thinking to keep up with the industry's forward development trend.

As for the future, undoubtedly, with competition becoming even more intense, these measures will only be further accelerated.

In GAC Toyota's new circle of friends, Huang Chi, the Market Vice President of Momenta, an autonomous driving company, first said that the end-to-end high-level autonomous driving solution jointly developed by the two parties will soon be equipped on the new bZ3X model.

In terms of hardware alone, based on the NVIDIA 254tops computing platform, the entire vehicle is equipped with 11 ultra-high-precision cameras, 5 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 1 lidar (126 lines), providing 360-degree omnidirectional perception and sufficient vehicle-end computing power; at the algorithmic level, based on Momenta's data flywheel, after massive production data reflow, autonomous learning, and rapid iteration, system performance limits can be improved through OTA.

Consumers may not have much concept of the pros and cons of these parameters, but we only need to know that when Toyota is willing to extend an olive branch to Momenta, a top Chinese autonomous driving company, in order to keep up with the changes in China's auto market and to perfect the high-level autonomous driving loved by Chinese consumers, GAC Toyota has never slackened.

And similarly, since announcing the establishment of a joint venture with Pony.ai and Toyota (China) in August last year to support the future mass production and large-scale deployment of Robotaxi, we can now truly experience the fully automated service of taking an unmanned taxi from ordering to arrival in Nansha, Guangzhou, which is presumably evidence of GAC Toyota's proactive layout for China's future automotive life.

Looking back at the past 20 years, like most joint ventures, GAC Toyota has tasted the dividends of "market for technology" and has also experienced quite a bit of pain from niche markets. During this period, for the exploration of the topic from "Produced in China" to "Researched in China," GAC Toyota cannot possibly have no ideas.

So, regardless of whether the results announced on this Technology Open Day are detailed or not, it is undeniable that GAC Toyota now has the ability to upgrade its new generation models with Chinese characteristics, strengthen its model year products quickly and flexibly, and fully develop new joint venture vehicles on site.

Moreover, it is evident from the upcoming bZ3X that the on-site development team of GAC Toyota is deeply involved in the research and development of each new car, and provides the best solutions based on the needs of Chinese users.

In China, listen carefully to the voices of Chinese consumers. In the future, the cry of "there is no way out for joint venture car companies" will definitely become more frequent. Is this cruel? yes. But this does not mean that the balance between joint venture and autonomy will unconditionally tilt towards the latter.

As it is said, joint ventures are essentially Chinese car companies. The industry is rolling, the market is rolling. Who would remain indifferent? Second tier players have not given up yet, and it is even more unlikely for GAC Toyota, which is willing to bring all the dark technologies from behind the scenes to the front stage.