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Matsuo Matsuo, president of Toyota body, a subsidiary of Toyota, reportedly said in an interview that in order to improve its competitiveness, Toyota plans to launch electric MPV models in the future, and mentioned that the main battlefield of MPV is China and Japan, and Elfa models are very popular in China.

It is understood that the Toyota body is mainly responsible for the research and development and production of MPV models and van "HIACE" as well as the production of SUV land cruisers. Katsuhiro Matsuo was promoted to Toyota body president in April, his first interview since taking office.

Toyota body chairman Yingji Shuijian, who was interviewed together, also pointed out that the current pure electric MPV models are "suddenly popular" in China, and a number of local car companies have launched pure electric MPV with a design similar to Elfa, giving themselves a sense of crisis. At the same time, it hinted: "although the timing of the pure electric Elfa is uncertain, the plan to launch in the Chinese market rather than the Japanese market is already being discussed."

According to the previous report of Automotive Industry concern, Toyota's MPV models in the domestic market include Sena, Elfa, Crown Wilfa and other models, of which Alphard is a luxury MPV developed by Toyota in response to Nissan Elgrand and Honda Elysion models. The first generation model was launched in 2002, and now it has been iterated to the third generation model.

In June this year, the new generation of Elfa officially launched, the new car launched a total of two models, the price range of 89.9-909000 yuan. As a new replacement model, the car is based on the TNGA-K platform and has been upgraded in terms of appearance, interior and configuration. It is imported and sold through the official channel of Guangzhou Automobile and Toyota, mainly competing with Mercedes-Benz V-class top configuration (646800 yuan), will law (83.90-920000 yuan) and Lexus LM (116.60-1.466 million yuan).

As an imported model, Elfa was once "in short supply" in the domestic market, and there was a situation of price increase. However, with the entry of Lantu dreamer, Teng Teng D9, FAW Toyota grivia, Geely Polar Krypton 009 and other models, this field has become more and more lively, and the competition is becoming more and more fierce, while Toyota Elfa's market share has also been gradually eroded. According to the data, Elfa sold only 21000 vehicles in 2022, down 12.23% from a year earlier.

According to the latest data, in August, the retail volume of the domestic passenger car market increased by 2.5% to 1.92 million vehicles compared with the same period last year, of which MPV sales increased by 12% year-on-year to 96000 vehicles. The top five models are Buick GL8 (11400), Teng Teng D9 (10000), Chuanqi M8 (9677), Toyota Sena (6668) and Chuanqi M6 (5405).

Compared with the car and SUV,MPV market volume is smaller, but at present the domestic pure electric MPV market competition has been quite fierce. Prior to this, Xiaopeng Automobile, the new force of car building, and ideal Automobile both said that they would launch MPV pure electric models. Among them, Xiaopeng X9, Xiaopeng's first MPV model, is expected to be officially released in the fourth quarter of this year, while ideal Motor's first MPV pure electric model will be released within this year and delivered in 2024. As more car companies lay out the market, even if Toyota launches a pure electric version of Elfa, it may face a lot of pressure. Industry insiders say that if the electric Elfa can be launched smoothly, its brother models, the Wilfa and the Lexus LM, may also launch a purely electric version.

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