Toyota bets on electric SUV to recover lost ground
A Toyota, after belatedly entering the world of electric vehicles, changed its strategy and is trying to make up for lost time. Your new bet will be the Highlander SUV, a model above the RAV4, which will become electric. The information is from Paul Eisenstein, who writes for the website Car Buzz.
Electric models for Toyota's luxury division
The novelty will not only be an electrification of the already existing model, but so much so as to even generate a version for the Lexus, Toyota's luxury division. Thus, already anticipating what will come, Toyota has already requested the registration of the names TZ450e and TZ550e with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, for example.
Expectations for the market
The change makes sense, since the Highlander sells well, becoming the second best-selling American SUV in 2023, second only to its smaller brother RAV4. However, in the first quarter of this year, sales fell by 40%. The new strategy could, however, change the game for the model, making it more attractive post-electrification. It is important to say that many loyal customers of the brand have turned to the competition, due to the lack of electric vehicles.
Variety of options in the electrical market
However, the model will not abandon the combustion engine, but in the Grand Highlander model. This, in turn, would also have hybrid and plug-in versions, for example. Currently, Toyota only has 2 electric vehicles on the Western market: the bZ4x SUVs and the Lexus RZ450e, identical underneath, but with different guises. In China, there is also the bZ3 sedan.
More flexible rules for including trams in the line
After opposing the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) initial emissions proposal, which aimed for aggressive adoption of electrics due to emissions, the brand scored a victory. This translates into more flexible rules for including electrics in your line, for example, gradually.
Expectations for the new Highlander model
Maintaining the name “Highlander” is strategic, since including this new electric car in the bZ family means associating it with the current bZ4x, whose range is 405 km, less than the category average. Furthermore, the alphanumeric nomenclature, currently used by Toyota's electrical line, is unattractive to the public, seen as confusing. Therefore, it is not known what repercussions the electric version of the SUV will create, nor whether the current alphanumeric nomenclature will be dropped at some point.
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The post Toyota works on 7-seater 100% electric SUV to replace the Highlander appeared first in Jornal do Carro – Estadão.
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