TOYOTA TO ENTER CHINA’S EV MARKET
Japanese carmaker partners GAC to sell battery-powered SUV, meet China’s production quota
TOYOTA Motor Corp is taking an unprecedented route to meet China’s stringent green car quotas: its showrooms will sell an electric vehicle (EV) without the Japanese company’s distinctive triple-oval logo.
Instead, it will feature the label of GAC Motor, Toyota’s Chinese partner, and will be built around GAC’s lower-cost technology.
The move — a first for Toyota — will give GAC access to the Japanese carmaker’s stringent quality control, prestige and sales channel.
For Toyota, it presents a quick way to meet Beijing’s requirements that such vehicles represent 10 per cent of production by next year.
According to two company executives, Toyota plans to start selling the GAC Toyota ix4 by the end of the year.
The car is a battery-powered compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) based on GAC’s Trumpchi GS4, and has been in development for two years.
Selling a car derived from a Chinese partner’s vehicle would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. But the idea gained momentum at Toyota because of the Chinese government’s push to get more electric vehicles on the road, said the executives.
The government mandates have spurred other new alliances, such as Ford Motor Co’s agreement to develop electric vehicles with Zotye Automobile Co.
Ford is waiting for regulatory approval for its partnership, which calls for designing and manufacturing several jointly developed EVs and selling them through a new China-only brand.
According to Jeff Cai, a senior director at JD Power & Associates, some of GAC’s cars, such as the Trumpchi GS8 corssover SUV, already stacked up well head-to-head with vehicles marketed by global carmakers.
“The GS4 is a good car with acceptable quality.”
He said the GS4 ranked No. 1 among Chinese brands and No. 3 among all brands for initial quality in the compact SUV category.
Under the new Chinese regulations taking effect next year, carmakers must amass credits for so-called new-energy vehicles equivalent to 10 per cent of annual sales by this year.
That level rises to 12 per cent for 2020. New-energy vehicles are defined as all-electric battery and plug-in electric hybrid cars.