Why is Highlander called the benchmark for midsize SUVs? This can be answered from sales, from 2007 to import into the country, and then in 2009 by GAC Toyota to achieve domestic production, as early as 2020 Highlander's cumulative domestic sales exceeded 1 million, is the first domestic sales of millions of medium-sized SUVs.
This also leads to the fact that every mid-size SUV listed in China, whether it is a joint venture or independent, will invariably compare with Highlander, intending to challenge Highlander's position in the mid-size SUV market. But the result is also obvious, no model in more than a decade has posed a threat to the Highlander in terms of sales and influence.
The reason why Highlander's status is difficult to shake
In the author's opinion, there are two main reasons why Highlander's status is difficult to be shaken, one is Toyota's strong product strength, and the other is excellent quality. The reason why other medium-sized SUVs are difficult to challenge Highlander is either that the influence is not as good as Toyota, or the product strength is not enough, and the car companies that can both have both are only Volkswagen and Honda in the market.
First of all, volkswagen in the SUV market has always been taking a dislocation of the way of competition, Tiguan L or Tanyue although the official positioning is a medium-sized SUV, in fact, in terms of size is between the compact SUV and the medium-sized SUV, and Tuang, the positioning is significantly higher than the Highlander, in the price is also unattainable.
Although Honda also has medium-sized SUV products, wrapped in UR-V and Guandao, and also has a good product force, with 1.5T and 2.0T two choices, of which the 2.0T model is equipped with a 9AT gearbox. But the problem with the UR-V and Guandao is that they are both large five-seat medium-sized SUVs, while the Highlander is seven,and the lack of seven-seat SUV products is also Honda's biggest shortcoming in China.
With the intensification of competition in the domestic auto market, major car companies are constantly deepening their market segments, and the same is true for Honda. Just recently, Dongfeng Honda announced its latest new car layout, in addition to updating a large number of models on sale, there is a new car codenamed "C-SUV", which is likely to become Dongfeng Honda's first seven-seat SUV model.
Honda Pilot entered China, how competitive is it?
There is a lot of speculation about this new car, code-named C-SUV, and the highest voice is that the new car will become Honda's first seven-seater SUV model in China. In fact, Honda has launched seven mid-size SUVs many years ago, but it has not been introduced domestically.
In North America, Honda Pilot has always been the sworn enemy of Highlander, and now Honda Pilot has developed to the third generation of models in North America, according to the current product cycle, the third generation of Pilot is still listed in 2015, and it will not be too far from the fourth generation of models.
It can be seen that Dongfeng Honda's new car code-named "C-SUV" may be the fourth generation Pilot model, which will fill the gap that Honda does not have a seven-seat SUV in China. From the perspective of competitiveness, Honda Pilot also has enough strength to call the Highlander.
At present, the 2022 models on sale in North America have reached 4991mm in length and a wheelbase of 2819mm, which is also superior in the mid-size SUV market, and also adopts a 2+2+3 seat layout, compared to Highlander's 2+3+2 seat layout, Honda Pilot's second row is more comfortable in the experience.
In terms of power, the Honda Pilot sold in the North American market is equipped with a 3.5L V6 engine, but this power system is unlikely to be introduced into The country, and instead of the 2.0T+9AT powertrain of the UR-V, honda's 2.0T engine has stronger power than highlander's 2.0T model in China.
In addition, according to Honda's hybrid layout in China, the outside world also speculates that the new car will launch a hybrid model selection. At present, there are two sets of domestic Honda's hybrid system, one is 1.5L hybrid, and the other is 2.0L hybrid. However, even the comprehensive power of the 2.0L hybrid system is only 135kW, while the comprehensive power of Highlander's 2.5L hybrid system reaches 183kW.
Obviously, Honda's 2.0L hybrid system is completely insufficient in power to support the size of medium and large SUVs, which may be the reason why the UR-V and Guandao have not had hybrid models so far. If Honda Pilot wants to launch a hybrid model after entering The country, it must launch a 2.5L hybrid system like Toyota, which is difficult to achieve in Honda's current situation. Therefore, after honda pilot enters the country, it is still probably the rate of all-series fuel models.
Write at the end:
Honda Pilot, as a seven-seat medium-sized SUV that can match Highlander in terms of reputation and influence, if introduced into China, it will inevitably have an impact on Highlander's sales, and the phenomenon of buying Highlander at a higher price will never return.
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