Toyota's Powertrain Philosophy for Customer's Smile

Authors

Masanori Sugiyama, Executive General Manager of Engine Engineering Field, Toyota Motor Corporation, Aichi, Japan

Year

2015

Print Info

Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Reihe 12, Nr. 783

Summary

In-house development of core technologies is the key element of Toyota Motor Corporation's philosophy to deliver optimum powertrains to customers in every region around the world. Historically, Toyota has developed its engines, transmissions, and electronic components in-house. More recently, Toyota has extended this approach to motors, inverters, and batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Furthermore, last year, Toyota also began production of its in-house developed fuel cell (FC) powertrain components. Each country and region around the world has a different energy situation, road environment, and customer expectations. Rolling out a single powertrain in every region at the same time is unlikely to provide an effective solution for energy and environmental issues. For example, differences in the road environment, such as the state of highways and congestion, yearly distances driven, fuel quality and price, and the availability of alternative fuels, are important consideration points of the optimum powertrain that we wish to deliver.