The 7-seat SUV market has previously been a segment that has not been taken seriously by OEMs. To put it simply: a 7-seat SUV can not affect the survival of an OEM no matter how best it sells, and at most it is the icing on the cake. But there are exceptions, such as toyota highlanders! Whether it sells well or not does not determine the life and death of Toyota, but the impact on profits should not be underestimated. At the moment after the two-child and three-child policies have been completely liberalized, Toyota Highlander has become a "god" general existence in this market, no matter what kind of products other OEMs produce, it cannot shake the status of Toyota Highlander.
Even so, for such a market segment with great potential, no oem will give up lightly. Based on the principle that the Toyota Highlander cannot be peeled off its skin, it must also bite its flesh, and they have launched new models one after another. The second-generation Trumpchi GS8, which has just been listed, is the potential stock that I recently saw to tear a piece of meat from Highlander's body. Although the price difference between their high-end models is nearly 100,000, and the audience is completely different, I personally feel that the comparison between them is still meaningful, and the answer given may be obvious. This article may not stop many people from happily queuing up to buy the Toyota Highlander, but it can make you question your choice when waiting in line, then the author feels that this article has a meaning!
Let's start with the appearance of the Trumpchi GS8, which uses the latest family design language, the fuel version and the hybrid version have two different styles of front faces, respectively, equipped with a front grille officially known as "Spread Wings" and "Dragon Scale Wings". The interior of the front grille of the "Spread Wings" is filled with chrome elements with a metal cut texture and arranged symmetrically in a "V" shape, highlighting a certain combat atmosphere. The bottom is also equipped with a transverse chrome trim, which blends in with the deflector decoration on both sides, and the entire front face presents a complex and layered visual effect. Another "Dragon Scale Wing" front grille is larger in size, extending to the front bumper, and the inside of the grille is filled with bright silver diamond elements, which looks more visually impactful than the fuel version of the model, and the bottom is also a bright silver front bumper, which looks more aura. The matrix headlights with opening and closing on both sides also give it a good sense of technology.
On the side, trumpchi GS8 continues the boxy silhouette of the old model, so that in addition to highlighting the sense of power of the whole vehicle, it can also ensure the riding space in the car to a certain extent. In order to echo the front face, the tail is also used in the vertical taillight group, and the interior of the lamp cavity is divided into two parts of the upper and lower symmetry, and the depth of the space is formed, and the three-dimensional sense and the sense of science and technology are stronger. When the taillights are lit, a virtual change is formed from the outside to the inside, thereby increasing the eye-catching degree of the rear of the car. At the bottom, there is a transverse black trim with a double-sided chrome exhaust.
In terms of appearance, highlander's front face still uses a trapezoidal intake grille, but the inside of the grille is filled with black dot-like elements, and the Toyota LOGO forms a flying wing shape through the trim strips on both sides, with the chrome material added to the periphery of the grille, showing a good sense of refinement. The interior of the headlight group on both sides is composed of three LED light sources arranged horizontally, which immediately improves the sense of grade compared to the much-complained halogen headlights on the old Highlander. In addition, the bottom is complemented by a shield made of black and silver matte materials to further enrich the layering of the front face.
The Highlander side still continues the old sturdy and full shape, the exterior mirrors are designed in two colors, and the lower part is equipped with dense spoke bright silver aluminum alloy wheels, taking into account the sense of fashion without losing luxury. In addition, the new Highlander has also blackened the A-pillars, B-pillars and C-pillars, and inlaid the "HYBRID" logo at the front door panel to highlight the identity of the model, changing the image of the "greasy middle-aged uncle" in the past. The rear of the car has also been redesigned, the outwardly raised taillights present a more three-dimensional visual effect, and the shape of the taillights has become more narrow and long, and the visual recognition after lighting will be improved than that of the old Highlander. Underneath is a large area of black skid plate, and the exhaust is in a hidden layout.
On the appearance alone, I personally feel that the Trumpchi GS8 is more in line with the current aesthetic trend. But it is also undeniable that the appearance of the Trumpchi GS8 is a little too aggressive, and the appearance of the new generation Highlander is somewhat too conservative to attract the attention of young consumers.
Looking at the interior, Trumpchi GS8 follows the family's latest simplified design layout, with a 12.3-inch full LCD instrument and a 14.6-inch floating central control screen occupying the entire visual center of gravity, and the center console is supplemented by a penetrating black piano paint material for coverage, with a number of chrome decorative parts, so that the car presents a strong luxury technology atmosphere. The Trumpchi GS8 is also equipped with GAC Group's ADiGO 4.0 intelligent driving interconnection ecosystem, which can realize online navigation, audio-visual entertainment, AI voice recognition, line of sight screen, OTA upgrade, one-click intelligent pilot, L2+ level intelligent assisted driving, integrated parking and other functions, basically covering consumers' various car needs.
The new generation highlander continues the design of the previous American version, and the entire interior is made of two-color stitching and mixing. Although the new Highlander has added a new full LCD dashboard (top model) and a 12.3-inch suspension central control touch screen (8 inches for low-end models), it is not new at the moment, and it can even be said to be a bit outdated, but compared to the old Highlander, the improvement is still very obvious.
In terms of interior, although the new generation Highlander once won the honor of "Ward Top Ten Interiors", Toyota is still the conservative Toyota, and its interior can be said to be outdated Trumpchi GS8 for more than one era!
Let's look at the space again. From the perspective of size, the Trumpchi GS8 is almost comprehensively ahead of the Highlander, but in actual experience, the spatial performance of the Trumpchi GS8 is almost the same as the Highlander, and it can only be said that the Highlander does have a hand in space utilization. Of course, it has to be admitted that the Trumpchi GS8 is more expensive in the material of the seat, which also makes its seat more advanced. It is worth mentioning that the Trumpchi GS8 is available in a 6-seat version, which highlander does not have. The third row of the 7-seater midsize SUV is basically used in emergency situations, and the same is true for these two cars.
Looking at the power, the Trumpchi GS8 provides two options of fuel version and hybrid version, of which the fuel version model is equipped with a GAC Trumpchi Julang power 2.0TGDI engine, with a maximum power of 185 kW (252 hp) and a peak torque of 400 Nm, matching Aisin's third-generation 8AT transmission; the hybrid version is equipped with a 2.0TM engine + Toyota's new fourth-generation enhanced version of the THS II. hybrid system, of which the maximum power of the engine is 140 kW (190 hp), and the peak torque is 320 Nm Meters, matching E-CVT gearbox. In addition, both powered models are available with an optional four-wheel drive system.
All Highlander series are equipped with Toyota's 2.5L gasoline-electric hybrid system, of which the maximum power of the engine is 141 kilowatts (192 hp), the transmission system matches the E-CVT gearbox, the declared value of the 100-kilometer fuel consumption of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is 5.3L/5.8L, and the high-end model is also equipped with an E-FOUR electronic four-wheel drive system.
The Trumpchi GS8 has a richer power choice than the Highlander, and the fuel version has a lower threshold, but the fuel consumption is also relatively higher. The hybrid system of the hybrid version of the two cars comes from Toyota, the power is almost the same, and the fuel consumption performance is basically the same.
In order to reflect the fairness, select the hybrid version of the two cars for comparison. The two models are the Trumpchi GS8 2022 Dual Engine Series 2.0TM Two-Wheel Drive Premium Edition (seven-seater) priced at 228,800 yuan, and the Highlander 2022 Dual-Engine 2.5L Two-Wheel Drive Elite Edition 7-seater priced at 274,800 yuan.
From the configuration table, although the Highlander is much more expensive than the Trumpchi GS8, the performance of the Trumpchi GS8 in terms of configuration is basically better than the Highlander, which is enough to prove that the Trumpchi GS8 has shown enough sincerity.
In contrast, Highlander has few advantages other than a higher price. If you want to force an advantage, it may be Toyota's joint venture status and many years of reputation, but it requires you to get it at a higher price and at the expense of rich configuration, is this really worth it? Do you have anything to say about the Trumpchi GS8 and Toyota Highlander? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to communicate.