Recently, there are relevant reports that four car companies, GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. Changchun Fengyue Company, and Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd., have carried out recalls for some of their models with potential safety hazards, and the total number of recalled vehicles is 138899.
As for the reason for the recall, it is mainly due to problems in the internal procedures of the vehicle VSC (Body Stability Control System), which has caused the vehicle safety hazard. Therefore, the relevant car companies choose to upgrade the relevant systems for the recalled vehicles free of charge, thereby eliminating safety hazards.
Foreign monks, not good chanting!
Perhaps many readers will be curious when they see this, shouldn't the English abbreviation of body stability control system be ESP? Why would Toyota be a VSC? The reason why different titles appear is mainly because the R & D companies are different, and the system has different names, such as the name ESP developed by Bosch.
The role of the body stability control system is to greatly improve the vehicle handling safety system and driving convenience, for example, when the vehicle has emergency turns, emergency acceleration and emergency braking and other emergencies, the vehicle can quickly perceive and take corresponding braking measures. However, from the information disclosed by Toyota Motor, the specific reason for Toyota's recall of vehicles is that the driver may not be able to open the system when he restarts the vehicle again after shutting down the VSC system, increasing the risk of vehicle collision. It should be noted that Toyota's body stabilization system is provided by Aisin's ADVICS.
In fact, this is not the first time Toyota has launched a recall due to the VSC system. Toyota Canada also recalled about 50,000 Sequoias a few years ago due to problems with the procedural logic of the vehicle's stability control system.
In addition to Toyota Motor, global car companies, including Mercedes-Benz, have recalled vehicles because of hidden dangers in the body stabilization system. To some extent, foreign brands still have drawbacks in the safety and security of parts or systems, and they are not in the perfect stage.
According to the monitoring data of The Institute of Intelligent Vehicles of Gaogong, in 2021, the number of new vehicles (excluding import and export) in the Chinese market (excluding import and export) equipped with electronic stability systems such as ESP/ESC/DCS (excluding independent ABS) was 18.6819 million units (an increase of 5.85% year-on-year), and the front-loading rate was 91.6%. In other overseas markets such as Europe and the United States, ESP has become the standard.
To some extent, although foreign parts suppliers have a large number of orders and supply body stability control systems to car companies around the world, from a technical point of view, they are still not in a mature state. It should be noted that due to the recent impact of the epidemic in Shanghai, it is difficult to transport and spread parts imported through The Port of Shanghai to all parts of the country, which affects the production capacity of the overall automotive industry.
Independent brands should rise!
In fact, in recent years, with the localization of chassis components in the technical gradually into the standard stage to meet the requirements of car companies, coupled with data and protocol interfaces are more open, the competitiveness of domestic spare parts suppliers is rapidly improving.
Taking Naxen Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd., which was founded in 2016 as an example, the Natsen ESC produced by it can provide comprehensive value-added functions in addition to integrating the three functions of ABS anti-lock braking system, TCS traction control system and VDC vehicle dynamic control. It is worth mentioning that the company's series of chassis control products have reached cooperation with many automakers such as Changan and GAC, as well as autonomous driving companies.
In other words, today's local auto parts suppliers in the mainland have been recognized. Therefore, local spare parts companies are expected to become key spare parts suppliers of independent brands in the future. Many people may wonder why local auto parts supply problems in related fields have not been solved during the epidemic prevention and control period, since local auto suppliers have excellent product competitiveness. In this regard, the author believes that this is mainly because the relevant spare parts have not been matched and tested, so they cannot play a substitute role.
However, it is certain that with the continuous emergence of negative news from foreign spare parts suppliers, relevant departments and vehicle manufacturers will pay more and more attention to the supply of local parts, which is absolutely beneficial to the development of the mainland automobile industry chain.
summary
Toyota has implemented a recall of defective products, and although it is certain that it has always been responsible for the Chinese market, it is undeniable that there are loopholes in the quality and safety control of parts. Therefore, the author has to speak out here, rather than relying too much on foreign parts suppliers or trusting joint venture brands, it is better to focus on the development and improvement of the local automobile industry.