The automotive industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by the need for reducing vehicle emissions, surge in demand for electric vehicles, and growing importance of technologies such as battery technologies, and electric, connected and autonomous vehicles. In the last three years alone, there have been over 1.2 million patents filed and granted in the automotive industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Electric vehicles in Automotive: Hybrid vehicle gear transmission.  Buy the report here.

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According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 619,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the automotive industry, there are 290+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry. 

Hybrid vehicle gear transmission is a key innovation area in electric vehicles 

In hybrid vehicles, the automatic gearbox not only changes gears, but also toggles between hybrid and electric mode based on two factors: depressing the accelerator pedal and the battery’s charge level. The vehicle switches between these modes depending on the driver’s input.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies.  According to GlobalData, there are 70+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established automotive companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of hybrid vehicle gear transmission. 

Key players in hybrid vehicle gear transmission – a disruptive innovation in the automotive industry  

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators. 

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’. 

Patent volumes related to hybrid vehicle gear transmission

Company Total patents (2021 - 2023) Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies
Honda Motor 412 Unlock Company Profile
Toyota Motor 224 Unlock Company Profile
NTT 215 Unlock Company Profile
Porsche Automobil Holding 207 Unlock Company Profile
BYD 121 Unlock Company Profile
General Motors 88 Unlock Company Profile
Schaeffler 86 Unlock Company Profile
Nissan Motor 79 Unlock Company Profile
Hyundai Motor Group 67 Unlock Company Profile
Aisin 67 Unlock Company Profile
Dana 62 Unlock Company Profile
BorgWarner 60 Unlock Company Profile
Zeppelin-Stiftung 60 Unlock Company Profile
Hitachi 58 Unlock Company Profile
Ford Motor 56 Unlock Company Profile
BAE Systems 53 Unlock Company Profile
Mitsubishi Motors 50 Unlock Company Profile
JTEKT 46 Unlock Company Profile
Melrose Industries 43 Unlock Company Profile
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 39 Unlock Company Profile
AB Volvo 33 Unlock Company Profile
Polaris 33 Unlock Company Profile
Bayerische Motoren Werke 32 Unlock Company Profile
Magna Powertrain 29 Unlock Company Profile
Jing-Jin Electric Technologies 26 Unlock Company Profile
American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings 26 Unlock Company Profile
Kia 24 Unlock Company Profile
Hyundai Mobis 24 Unlock Company Profile
Robert Bosch Stiftung 22 Unlock Company Profile
Tata Motors 18 Unlock Company Profile
Doosan Infracore 18 Unlock Company Profile
Renault 18 Unlock Company Profile
Hyliion Holdings 17 Unlock Company Profile
Nidec 17 Unlock Company Profile
Yanmar Holdings 16 Unlock Company Profile
Oshkosh 15 Unlock Company Profile
Mazda Motor 14 Unlock Company Profile
Doosan 14 Unlock Company Profile
TAE Technologies 13 Unlock Company Profile
Linamar 13 Unlock Company Profile
Valeo 13 Unlock Company Profile
Alpraaz 12 Unlock Company Profile
Denso 11 Unlock Company Profile
Beijing Automotive Group 11 Unlock Company Profile
Panasonic 11 Unlock Company Profile
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 10 Unlock Company Profile
Stellantis 10 Unlock Company Profile
Suzuki Motor 10 Unlock Company Profile
LG 9 Unlock Company Profile
Kubota 9 Unlock Company Profile

Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics

Honda is the key player in hybrid vehicle gear transmission and has filed 412 patents. The company has come up with EVT transmission, which uses conventional automatic transmission fluids (ATF).  It is the only OEM with a manual hybrid in its line-up, which was offered in the original Insight and CRZ that uses a conventional Honda MTF-3. Toyota, NTT and Porsche Automobil are the other key players in hybrid vehicle gear transmission.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the automotive industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Electric Vehicles (EV).

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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.  

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.