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On Feb. 27, a poster with "FAW Toyota" in the upper right corner went viral on the Internet, showing that the price of the pure electric model bZ3 is less than or equal to 100000 yuan.

Then the news sparked a heated discussion on the Internet, some media pointed out that the price of Toyota bZ3 is no more than 100000 yuan, does it mean that the price of the car should be reduced by 90, 000 yuan before it is officially listed? However, several media reported that this price may be for the bZ3 rental version of the model, the purchase of the rental version can enjoy up to 32000 yuan of local government subsidies, and the configuration of the vehicle and the normal version sold in the market will also be adjusted accordingly, so the final purchase price of the vehicle may be less than 100000 yuan.

Toyota officials did not respond to the above news.

It is understood that FAW Toyota bZ3 officially launched, a total of 3 new models, the pre-sale price range of 18.98-219800 yuan. The new car, built on the e-TNGA platform, is the first model launched by BYD in cooperation with Toyota, which is designed by Toyota. BYD provides three electricity technology, including BYD's motors and batteries, and it is also Toyota's second bZ series model. Unlike the first model, bZ4X, the new car is only produced and sold by FAW Toyota, while GAC Toyota is not involved in production.

In terms of appearance, the new car continues the Toyota bZ series model design style, with a closed intake grille on the front face, LED daytime driving lights on both sides, and several LED light sources in the headlamp cavity. Compared with other Toyota models, the new car design is more futuristic and the whole is very avant-garde. On the side of the body, the overall shape of the new car is simple, the lines are smooth and simple, the door handle is designed for the hidden door handle which is very popular in electric vehicles, and the opening mode is inward folding design, which is very novel. In addition, the position of the rear triangular window of the new car is very back, almost connected to the rear, which can ensure the permeability of the passengers in the back seat. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new car are 4725/1835/1475mm, wheelbase is 2880mm, positioning medium-sized pure electric car, the overall size is closer to Tesla Model 3. For comparison, the length, width and height of Model 3 are 4694/1850/1443mm and the wheelbase is 2875mm. In the rear part, the new car taillights also use the popular penetrating lamp group, which has a clear sense of layers, and the internal light source is treated with a special shape. There are a large number of triangular geometric LED light sources on the V-shaped light strips on both sides, which seems to be highly recognizable.

In terms of interior decoration, the new car adopts a new design style, which is equipped with a vertical central control screen, which can realize the touch operation of air conditioning, audio, car window, trunk and other functions, and the special-shaped steering wheel adopts the flat style of the upper line. at the same time, a lot of physical keys and knobs are cancelled in the car, which looks full of science and technology.

In terms of power, the new car is equipped with TZ200-XS002 motors provided by BYD's Fudi, and provides high and low power versions for consumers to choose from, which are 49.92kWh and 65.28kWh, respectively, and the corresponding motor power is 135kW and 180kW. The battery, also from Fudi, is a lithium iron phosphate blade battery with CLTC mileage of 517km and 616km, respectively.

In the past two years, Toyota has done two major things to spark heated debate in the car circle. The first thing happened in December 2019, when Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda personally unveiled 15 electric vehicles and announced a decade-long electric vehicle plan, including the Toyota bZ3 model mentioned above. The second thing is that Toyota suddenly announced a change of boss not long ago. According to the plan, Akio Toyoda, the third generation of Toyota who has led Toyota for 13 years, will step down as president (CEO) from April 1 this year. At the same time, Sato, Toyota's chief brand officer and head of the Lexus brand, will take over the post of new president. After the change, Toyota announced a wave of major personnel changes, including Yuki Nakajima as chief technology officer and Yoichi Miyazaki as chief financial officer, in addition to the first personnel change for Toyota in 14 years. Behind a series of major changes is the "slow electric transformation", Toyota hopes to speed up the electric transformation through the above changes.

According to Toyota's product plan, Toyota will launch 30 electric vehicles by 2030, when pure tram sales will reach 3.5 million. According to Automotive Industry concern, although Toyota has set huge transformation goals, compared with BYD, which is the first to stop production of fuel vehicles and has gradually entered the Japanese market, the pace of Toyota motorization appears to be difficult.

According to the data, Toyota's total global sales in 2022 was 10.48 million, ahead of Volkswagen's 8.3 million, ranking first in the world for three consecutive years, but Toyota showed a year-on-year decline in both the Japanese home market and the Chinese market. Toyota's cumulative sales in China fell 0.2% to 1.9406 million vehicles, its first year-on-year decline in a decade. As for the reasons for the decline in sales in China, the industry believes that more reasons may have something to do with its current slow electrification transformation, especially when car companies such as BYD and Tesla are widening the gap with them in the field of electrification. Toyota has very little share of electric vehicles.

On October 25, 2022, Toyota officially launched the bZ4X model, which is Toyota's first model based on e-TNGA architecture and positioned as a medium-sized pure electric SUV, which undertakes the important task of Toyota's transition to electrification, but the car is not going well and has not caused waves in the Chinese car market. The bZ4X models are made by FAW Toyota and Guangzhou Automobile Toyota, two joint ventures of Toyota in China. New car traffic insurance data show that Guangzhou Auto Toyota has sold only more than 2, 000 bZ4X vehicles since its launch. In addition, according to the latest number of passenger associations, in January 2023, Guangzhou Auto Toyota sold 767 bZ4X vehicles; FAW Toyota bZ4X sold 287 vehicles. It should be noted that Guangzhou Auto Toyota recently announced a price reduction of 30, 000 yuan, but whether "price for volume" is effective remains to be verified.

As for the car market performance after the launch of the bZ3, it is expected to sell better than the bZ4X, but it is difficult to become a popular style. Its biggest competitor is the seal owned by BYD, and its motors and batteries are from BYD. In fact, Toyota's technology reserves are very limited.

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