Toyota Technology Dominance
Toyota Motor is dominating the global market for the fuel cell, electric and hybrid vehicles patents. Toyota has been developing technology and process patents far ahead of its competitors. From 2011 to 2015, Toyota engineers were granted 9,807 patents for inventions related to alternative-powered vehicles. The gap between Toyota and second place almost doubled. Volkswagen outspending every company and yet did not even make it to the top-10 on the list.
Top 10 automotive patent recipients in 2015 |
|
| # of patents | |
| 1. Toyota | 4,214 |
| 2. Hyundai | 2,469 |
| 3. Bosch | 2,390 |
| 4. Denso | 2,169 |
| 5. Honda | 2,039 |
| 6. Ford | 1,837 |
| 7. Daimler | 1,575 |
| 8. GMC | 1,435 |
| 9. Beiqi Foton | 1,223 |
| 10. Nissan | 1,188 |
