Toyota announces a price drop on its bZ4X, to boost sales in the Chinese market. the prices for the bZ4X now start at less than $25,000 (169,800 RMB). The automaker will launch the bZ4X in China in October last year, with starting price of around $29,000 (199,800 yuan).
Japanese automakers, such as Toyota, have been lagging when introducing electric vehicle technology. Toyota has only sold 3,844 bZ4X models in China through January, accounting for a mere 0.26% of the fully electric vehicle market. Despite Japanese automakers accounting for 19% of the overall auto market in China, they only represent 0.35% of the EV market. Meanwhile, China’s pure electric vehicle share crossed 20% in 2022 as automakers like BYD, Geely, Tesla, NIO, Xpeng, and many others work to ramp production. To boost sales and remain competitive in China, Toyota is slashing prices on the bZ4X by 15%, or 20,000 RMB ($4,300), with the starting price now at 169,800 RMB ($24,800), according to CarNewsChina.
Toyota is sweetening the deal with an optional solar charging module that the company claims can provide over 1,000 additional miles (1,750 km) of driving range per year for 20,000 RMB ($2,800). The two joint ventures (FAW-Toyota and GAC-Toyota) that sell the bZ4X made the price adjustments at the same time.
Accelerate development
The news comes shortly after incoming Toyota president Koji Sato claimed, “Now that the time is right, we will accelerate BEV development with a new approach,” as he’s expected to implement an “EV-first” approach when he takes the reins in April.
After Tesla’s price cuts in China, we saw several automakers respond with similar actions. For example, EV maker XPeng announced it slashed prices last month on its most popular EVs by up to $5,300. To claim market share and satisfy the growing demand for sustainable transportation, Toyota is now doing the same with a significant price reduction on its first electric SUV. Toyota’s bZ4X was still the best-selling Japanese EV in China last quarter as the automaker looks to get back on track. With Sato set to take over in April, it seems like Toyota is going after the biggest market for EVs in China. In addition to the price reduction, GAC Toyota is also offering consumers low-interest loan offers and trade-in subsidies of at least RMB 5,000.
The bZ4X is available in two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive versions. The front-wheel drive version has a maximum power of 150 kW and a maximum torque of 266.3Nm and is equipped with 50.3 kWh and 66.7 kWh ternary lithium battery packs with a CLTC range of 400 km and 615 km respectively.
