In the data released by the Passenger Association at the beginning of this year, the overall sales of the MPV market in 2022 did not increase but decreased, with a total sales of 943,000 units, a year-on-year decline of 12.6%, but split the data, you will find that the sales of low-end MPV models have fallen seriously, such as Wuling Hongguang's sales fell by 36.2% year-on-year, and Fengxing Lingzhi's sales also fell by 15.0% year-on-year, while the sales of mid-to-high-end MPV models have hardly changed, and Toyota Xena such models are still quite eye-catching.
Therefore, further efforts in the mid-to-high-end MPV market have also become the consensus of many automobile manufacturers in recent years. Today, let's take a look at those mid-to-high-end MPV models that will be officially unveiled in the second half of the year.
New Toyota Elfa
Toyota's mid-to-high-end MPV, the biggest selling point is not the unique design, nor simply space or comfort, and even from the configuration point of view, Alpha now has no advantage. But based on the performance of all aspects, as well as the word of mouth of the Toyota brand, in the end, those East Asian tycoons still have to spend a lot of money to buy Elfa.
The spy photos of the new Toyota Alpha have been exposed recently, although a new styling design is used, but at first glance there is not much sense of premium, and even because the size of the grille is too large, resulting in a strange front face ratio of the new Alpha. Interestingly, perhaps because the Lexus LM has fully met the needs of local tycoons, the logo of the new Alpha has been changed from the exclusive logo to the Toyota logo.
In the previously exposed new Alpha interior official picture, it can be seen that the front row of the new Alfa still does not have many highlights, whether it is the center console multimedia system or the LCD dashboard, it is a familiar style, but its roof will be designed on both sides of the double sunroof, the second row of seats is quite high and equipped with a multi-function touch screen. So the question is, how much are the local tycoons in the country willing to raise the price for the new Elfa?
Volvo EM90
After the Volvo EX90 medium and large electric SUV has successfully opened up a new market, the first pure electric MPV model may soon meet us. However, this MPV, tentatively named EM90, is not from the SPA2 architecture, but is likely to rely on the vast architecture of SEA, and will be given priority to the Chinese market.
Since Volvo EM90 is still in the stage of rendering, a lot of information has not been announced, but from the perspective of the expansion space of SEA's vast architecture, the wheelbase of Volvo EM90 may be about 3300mm, and the space performance is even better than the polar krypton 009 of the same architecture.
It is worth noting that the 7,200-ton giant die-casting machine has been used in the production process of Extreme Krypton 009 to create a large one-piece die-casting rear end aluminum body, and the final effect is also quite satisfactory, with bending stiffness increased by 11%, torsional stiffness increased by 9.5%, deformation reduced by 16% in the event of impact, and nearly 80 parts and nearly 800 solder joints. Whether it is safety standards or the technical content of production, this is very much in line with the positioning of Volvo EM90.
Ideal MPV
Code-named W01, the first all-electric MPV model of the ideal car, is scheduled to be released this year, and is likely to eventually bear the name "M9". According to the project overview, the ideal MPV body length is 5300-5400mm, body width 1900-2000mm, body height 1800-1900mm, and wheelbase is 3200-3400mm.
According to the official teaser image released by Ideal Auto, the ideal MPV renderings designed by netizens "Acura King" caused a sensation on the Internet, and Li Xiang, chairman and CEO of Ideal Auto, even said in the comment area of the renderings: "Compared with the real one, this can score 60 points." But at the same time, he also said: "You have too much poor sense of technology."
From other news, the number of screens in the ideal MPV car will definitely not be less, and the size is also worth looking forward to, and the use of 5nm process Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip, AI computing power can reach 30TOPS; In other words: the Snapdragon 8155 can have 4 screens, while the Snapdragon 8295 can have 11 screens with a chip.
Xpeng X9
He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xpeng Motors, recently said on social media that it will open the "young" MPV market with the new MPV Xpeng X9, and according to previous news, Xpeng X9 is scheduled to be officially released in the fourth quarter of this year.
In the spy photos of Xpeng X9, not only can you recognize the Xpeng family-style through-type LED light strip and split headlight design at a glance, but the dual lidar integrated in the headlight position is also worth paying attention to, as well as the hidden door handle. What's more interesting is that Xpeng X9, as an MPV model, uses a slip-back design and a spoiler to increase the sense of sportiness, I don't know if this shape will affect the performance of the interior space too much.
Interestingly, on the eve of the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show, Xpeng Motors also released the SEPA2.0 rocking platform, which includes the X-EEA electronic and electrical architecture, the new intelligent driving technology XNGP and Xmart OS on-board intelligent system, and the 800V XPower electric drive platform, and the MPV model happens to be within the scope of the SEPA2.0 rocking platform. If Xpeng X9 really comes from the SEPA2.0 platform, its competitiveness will definitely be greatly improved.