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Toyota unveils two additional electric vehicles for Chinese market

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Toyota unveils two additional electric vehicles for Chinese market
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Toyota enters the Chinese electric car market with the launch of its first electric sedan and plans to introduce two more models next year as part of its “beyond zero” lineup. Despite being the world’s largest automaker by vehicles sold, Toyota has been slow to invest in fully electric cars.

Toyota’s bZ3 electric sedan, which was announced in October, has received 5,000 orders since sales began on Sunday, according to Toyota’s joint venture with Chinese state-owned automaker FAW. An official WeChat account post stated that deliveries are set to commence this year.

The BZ3 model uses a battery from BYD and boasts a driving range of over 500 kilometers (310 miles) on a single charge. Its prices start at 169,800 yuan ($24,643), which is lower than the prior starting price of 189,800 yuan announced in December. By comparison, the Han sedan from BYD starts at 209,800 yuan, while Tesla’s Model 3 starts at 229,900 yuan in China.

Toyota has launched its bZ4x electric SUV in China with prices starting at 199,800 yuan. However, it is yet to see substantial sales in the market, unlike Toyota’s Rav4 which was the sixth highest-selling SUV in China last year, as per the China Passenger Car Association. Toyota has also unveiled two new electric vehicle concepts at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show: the bZ Sport Crossover Concept and the bZ FlexSpace Concept. Both models are set to be launched in China in 2023.

The bZ Sport Crossover Concept and the bZ FlexSpace Concept were unveiled by Toyota at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show on Tuesday. Both models, set to launch in China next year, were developed jointly by Toyota and Chinese state-owned companies. The bZ sports car concept sedan was developed in partnership with BYD and FAW, while the bZ FlexSpace concept SUV was developed with GAC.

Foreign automakers in China were required to work with local partners until the end of 2021, and Toyota has also been developing hydrogen as a power source. At the auto show, the company announced that its first factory outside Japan dedicated to hydrogen fuel systems would begin production in Beijing next year.

Over the past few years, the sales of battery-electric and hybrid passenger cars in China have surged, backed by government policies aimed at increasing the adoption of new energy vehicles. In March, approximately one-third of new passenger cars sold in China were from this category, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.

Toyota’s China wholesale sales through joint ventures with GAC and FAW exceeded 1.8 million vehicles in 2022, according to the association’s data, which is on par with top-seller BYD and second-place FAW-Volkswagen.

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