On April 7, LEXUS announced that it will launch its first exclusive pure electric model in the world in the form of online release on April 20, the new Lexus RZ.
Lexus said that as the first model of LEXUS Lexus Electrified's next step, the new RZ fully explains LEXUS's understanding and thinking about the future of electrification.
As we all know, in the domestic market, traditional car brands, especially electric vehicles produced by luxury brands, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, etc., are not the opponents of China's new car-making forces such as Weilai, Ideal, and Xiaopeng, so can Lexus break this spell?
Toyota half a beat slower
To answer this question, we must first clarify the fact that Japanese cars, represented by Toyota and Honda, have a very low sense of existence in the field of electrification, so that they are basically ignored. The Lexus RZ is Lexus' first pure electric platform model, and the challenges are conceivable.
At the year-end press conference of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association at the end of 2020, Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda was still "shelling" electric vehicles, rather than actively embracing "electrification". At that point in time, China's "Wei Xiaoli" has attracted global attention.
"The more electric cars we make, the worse the carbon dioxide emissions. If all cars were running on electricity, Japan's electricity would quickly run out. Akio Toyoda said.
In fact, this is not the first time that Akio Toyoda has shelled an electric car. It is normal for Toyota to slow down half a beat on the all-electric route.
Who is the Lexus RZ?
It is reported that the Lexus RZ positions a pure electric compact SUV, based on the e-TNGA architecture, and shares an electric platform with Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra.
The same platform, the same compact SUV, means that the Lexus RZ in terms of body size and power, with toyota bZ4X, Subaru Solterra is very likely.
The data shows that the toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra body size is exactly the same, with a length, width, height and wheelbase of 4690mm, 1860mm, 1650mm, and a wheelbase of 2850mm.
In terms of power, Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Soltera are available in both front-drive and four-wheel drive models, the front-drive version of the motor maximum power of 150kw, the four-wheel drive version of the front and rear motors maximum power of 80kw, the total power of 160kw, equipped with 71.4 kWh of electricity.
Taking the Toyota bZ4X as an example, its single-motor version of the WLTP has a cruising range of 516 km and an energy consumption of 14.3 kWh/100 km. The dual-motor version of the WLTP has a range of 470 km and an energy consumption of 15.8 kWh/100 km.
Referring to these two models on the same platform, it is expected that the LEXUS Lexus RZ will be close to these two cars in terms of body size and power parameters.
So, how to distinguish the Lexus RZ from three homologous models? Interior and exterior design will be the core difference.
The new Lexus RZ still retains the family's classic spindle design, and the design lines retain the sharpness of the fuel car version of Lexus, which makes it easy to connect this car with the traditional Lexus brand. At the same time, in order to reflect the characteristics of electric vehicles, the front face of the Lexus RZ adopts the popular fully enclosed design. This combination of new and old design concepts is a common practice in the industry.
The Lexus RZ is also highly recognizable in interior design. In the interior, the RZ adopts the rein design concept that continues from the LF-Z Electrified concept car, the central control area adopts a wrap-around design, and adopts an upper and lower flat handle multi-power steering wheel. These designs, especially the design of the steering wheel, make the Lexus RZ very ahead of the curve and full of a strong sense of the future. Of course, with reference to the steering wheel design of Toyota bZ4X, its domestic version is still replaced by a circular design, which is inevitably regrettable.
Write at the end:
The data shows that in 2021, BMW's iX3 annual sales will be 22446 units, and with its same price, even many models of higher price Weilai ES6, the annual sales volume will be 41474 vehicles, close to twice that of bmw iX3. Initially, the official price adjustment occurred less than half a year after the BMW iX3 was launched, the price dropped by 70,000, and the main model fell to the same price level as the NIO ES6 starting model, rather than being as high as the original. This means that the BMW iX3 originally planned to cut a wave of leeks in China, but then Chinese consumers did not buy it at all, and BMW had to lower its "arrogant" head and reduce the price of sales.
Mercedes-Benz's EQA experience is similar to that of the BMW iX3. As a compact SUV, its listing price is as high as 365,800 yuan, but the current dealer offer is only 278,800 yuan (source: Autohome), a drop of nearly 90,000 yuan, and the sales volume is much worse than the BMW iX3. According to the data of 2021, the cumulative sales of Mercedes-Benz EQA in the two months of the year were only 327 vehicles, and the cumulative sales of only 512 vehicles in January and February this year.
Audi's e-tron also has this situation: the cumulative sales volume in 2021 is only 1564 vehicles, and the cumulative sales volume in January-February 2022 is only 143 vehicles. Similarly, when the car was launched, a high price was released: 54.68-64.88 million, while the current dealer offer has dropped sharply, and all three models on sale have fallen by more than 100,000 yuan (the quotation source Is Autohome). Even so, it's still hard to save the Audi e-tron's sales. This means that luxury car brands, including BBA, and their electric vehicles have lost the light of their "luxury brands" in the Chinese market.
So, can lexus RZ break this spell? I think there are big challenges. The reason is that electric vehicle brands such as Weilai, Zhiji and domestic brands such as BYD, Xiaopeng and Ideal have risen in an all-round way, and there is no shortage of consumers. Among them, Weilai Automobile and Zhiji Automobile, whose model prices have cut into the price range of 400,000 yuan, and this price range was previously controlled by brands such as BBA and Lexus. But now, in the field of electric vehicles, luxury car brands such as BBA and Lexus no longer have the innate sense of superiority of luxury brands.