AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/17 Report--

On the evening of April 16, FAW Toyota bZ3 officially launched three new models with a price range of 169800-199800 yuan.

According to previously reported by Automotive Industry focus, the new car is based on the e-TNGA platform and is the first model launched by BYD in cooperation with Toyota, which is designed by Toyota and BYD provides three-electric technology, including BYD's motors and batteries. The maximum battery life in CLTC is 616km. At the same time, the new car is also Toyota's second bZ series model, different from the first model bZ4X, the new car is only produced and sold by FAW Toyota, while Guangzhou Auto Toyota does not participate 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 lines of the new car are smooth and simple, and the door handle is designed for the hidden door handle which is very popular in electric vehicles nowadays, 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 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 size, the length, width and height of the new car are 4725/1835/1475mm, the wheelbase is 2880mm, and the positioning of a medium-sized pure electric car is similar to that of Tesla Model 3. For comparison, the length, width and height of Model 3 are 4694/1850/1443mm and the wheelbase is 2875mm.

In terms of interior decoration, the new car adopts a new design style and is equipped with a vertical central control large 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 on-line style. 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.

Considering the appearance design and price of the bZ3 model, the new car is better than the bZ4X model in terms of price (FAW Toyota price range is 19.98-284800 yuan). Although the new car is the first product of cooperation between Toyota and BYD, equipped with BYD's motor and battery, in fact, the car-building concept of the new car is still dominated by Toyota, including interior and exterior development, body and chassis development, etc., so the new car is still a Toyota car, as for in the electrified era, it will take more time to verify whether Toyota electrification can be put on the right track after the launch of the new car.

Toyota, as the head brand of the domestic joint venture brand, used to rely on fuel vehicles to seize a certain market share in the domestic market, but Toyota has little sense of existence in the electric vehicle market. Even the new president of Toyota has admitted that the electric car developed by Toyota has failed.

In the Chinese market, Toyota's first pure electric model, bZ4X, is made by FAW Toyota and Guangzhou Automobile Toyota, Toyota's two joint ventures in China. Launched in October 2022, it is Toyota's first pure electric vehicle based on e-TNGA architecture, positioning medium-sized pure electric SUV, providing both front-drive and all-wheel drive. According to the retail data of GAC, from January to March 2023, Guangzhou Auto Toyota sold 767,500,462 bZ4X vehicles respectively, with a cumulative sales volume of 1729 vehicles. FAW Toyota bZ4X sales were 287, 1049 and 1729 respectively, with a cumulative sales of 3065. The combined sales of the two cars are less than 5000, which lags far behind Volkswagen's pure electricity sales in China. It should be noted that in March, both car companies launched price reduction promotions for bZ4X models, but the price cuts did not significantly improve their sales. From the analysis of the data, it is clear that it is not easy for Toyota to achieve results in electric power from the bZ4X model.

On April 1 this year, Akio Toyoda officially stepped down as president and was replaced by Heiji Sato. In a recent media exchange, Mr Sato also acknowledged the failure of the development of pure electric models. "We have failed in the development of pure electric cars and have found a lot of problems in practice," Mr Sato said. " Through the development of the bZ4X model, Toyota will rethink its business structure and establish a new R & D system in China to reverse the decline in the Chinese electric vehicle market. At present, Toyota is accelerating the adjustment of its products and strategy. According to the plan, Toyota will launch two new electric models in the Chinese market next year, and the new concept model will be unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show by 2026. Toyota will also launch 10 new all-electric models, which will sell 1.5 million electric vehicles a year.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat