The Beijing International Auto Show, which opened on April 25, is like the epitome of the current domestic auto market: the east wind of intelligent electrification is blowing thousands of waves, and all kinds of "far ahead" are dizzying, but under the excitement is the extremely involuted market, the price war that continues to break through the offline line and the deep anxiety in the hearts of car people.
From the domestic market to the global auto industry, the fundamental reason for the accelerated tearing is that the market competition has broken the original balance, new players, new gameplay, new stories, new public opinion fields, and new consumption environments.
In fact, the more turbulent and impetuous the external environment, the more we need to be firm in our hearts and think rationally. It is gratifying that we can still find such a long-term vision and down-to-earth enterprise at the Beijing Auto Show.
Toyota, which is misunderstood, simply refuses to go with the flow
The author wants to talk about Toyota, over the years, when domestic and international friends are all in new energy, the world's largest automaker, has been crowned with a "conservative" hat. But if you look at Toyota's latest announcement at the Beijing Auto Show, you will know that this should be a misreading.
At this year's Beijing Motor Show, Hiroki Nakajima, director, executive officer, vice president and chief technology officer of Toyota Motor Corporation, came to the scene and brought the Toyota booth with the highest "power content". The company released two latest localized R&D results - "bZ3C" and "Bozhi 3X".
Among them, "bZ3C" uses "Reboot" as the concept keyword, creating a lively and iconic shape, and a self-travel space that allows young customers of Generation Z to renew their mood. "Cozy 3X" is aimed at the younger generation of home users, and the concept of "Cozy Home", which means a comfortable mobile living room, creates a comfortable and comfortable large space.
The two new models are scheduled to be officially launched in the next one year, and will be equipped with the latest Toyota autonomous driving assistance system and intelligent cockpit, bringing a safer and more comfortable driving experience, and will provide customers with a new value experience.
Together with the "bZ Satisfied Space Concept" concept car unveiled at last year's Guangzhou Motor Show, Toyota's bZ pure electric exclusive series lineup will continue to evolve.
Toyota's booth not only has a high "electric capacity", but also "wisdom content" is not inferior to the new forces and the "second generation". Toyota's latest LF-ZC, which embodies the concept of an innovative model, is a tangible vehicle for software-defined vehicles (SDVs) that are seamlessly connected to social infrastructure. As an SDV that can read the needs of users first and grow on its own, "LF-ZC" will meet the needs of different customers through the integration of hardware and software, and provide a personalized, convenient and pleasant travel experience. And according to the manufacturer, this car, which embodies the concept of an innovative model, is not far away, and it will be released globally in 2026.
Anyone who knows Toyota knows that it is by no means lagging behind in electrification, and even has a deep technological accumulation and leading edge in the field of motor electronic control and solid-state batteries. With Toyota's technical reserves, it can be "as fast as the wind" in the switching of oil and electricity, but Toyota has chosen to promote the transformation of its business in China with "inheritance and evolution" rather than "subversion and innovation" as the key words.
The reason behind this is that Toyota does not want to follow the crowd and rush for quick success. It examines its own development strategy from the perspective of the world's mainstream car companies.
It is good for users, enterprises and society that is the responsibility of mainstream car companies
First of all, instead of following the trend to promote new products and then relying on price reductions to boost sales, Toyota chooses to deeply cultivate the local market and rely on ways to better meet the needs of Chinese users to gain long-term market competitiveness. Therefore, on the one hand, the company changed the name of Toyota Motor R&D Center (China) Co., Ltd. (TMEC) to Toyota Intelligent Electric Vehicle R&D Center (China) Co., Ltd. (IEM by TOYOTA) to enhance its local independent R&D capabilities and accelerate the development of electrified models, and on the other hand, it has carried out extensive and in-depth cooperation with Chinese partners to gather China's advanced technology and superior resources in the field of new energy to empower products.
At this Beijing Auto Show, Toyota officially announced that it will open a strategic partnership with Tencent Group. The two companies will give full play to their respective advantages, and Toyota will combine Tencent's advantages and capabilities such as AI model, cloud, and digital ecology to empower Toyota's SDV and other mobility products, and jointly create a diversified mobility future.
Secondly, Toyota fully takes into account the objective situation of China's vast territory, complex market and diversified user needs, so it adheres to the core idea of "multi-path".
Nowadays, both the top-level design and the automotive industry have gradually realized that electrification should not be pursued in one step, because of technical bottlenecks and infrastructure limitations, electric vehicles cannot provide users with a worry-free travel experience in a short period of time, and it is also a loss for enterprises, which is unsustainable. Therefore, instead of pursuing rapid growth, we should learn from Toyota, focus more on key technologies related to the core pain points of electric vehicles, such as solid-state batteries, and make the popularization of electrification a matter of course through technological breakthroughs.
At the same time, Toyota is also standing in the dimension of the whole industry chain and the whole life cycle of automobiles to practice the goal of carbon neutrality. In its view, the economy of the whole life cycle of products, the recycling and reuse of resources such as batteries, and the energy conservation and emission reduction of fuel vehicles are of greater significance and contribution to the realization of carbon neutrality.
Therefore, Toyota has always adhered to the balanced development of BEVs and HEVs, and actively deployed hydrogen energy technology. At this year's show, in addition to the all-new pure electric models, Toyota also exhibited a series of new HEV models equipped with new and upgraded hybrid systems. Including "all-new Camry", "all-new Prado", etc., they not only have better power performance and higher reliability, but also have been upgraded in design, with a more high-end and technological sense, so that the audience can clearly perceive the evolution of the product. According to Toyota, they will also strengthen their PHEV lineup in the future to fully cover all power types.
In addition, I deeply admire Toyota's "Mobility for All" philosophy, which provides freedom of travel for all. At the auto show booth, we saw the GR Yaris, a high-performance sports model for car enthusiasts that will be officially introduced this year, and the Bozhi 4X Robotaxi, which is a joint venture between Toyota and Pony.ai. In the future, Toyota will also actively develop welfare products, and plans to introduce pure electric welfare models this year to further enrich the product lineup. At the same time, it has launched operation services such as welfare car rental to provide safer and more comfortable travel options for the elderly and disabled.
Cars are not only a means of transportation for daily commuting and driving, but Toyota wants to help people enjoy the joy of freedom through mobility.
Summary:
There is an old Chinese saying that if you don't want to go fast, you can't do it too much. As a global veteran car giant bred by oriental culture, Toyota clearly understands this truth; it has tasted the sweetness of the rapid rise in the wind of the times, and has also experienced the bitterness of the changes and development setbacks of the auto market, and has formed a complete set of Toyota's car-making philosophy, which advocates a lean, pragmatic, and enduring quality.
Therefore, in the face of today's great changes in the auto market, Toyota will not blindly seek speed, in its view, eager to follow the trend to grab dividends, but may be chaotic, steady and steady to promote their own plans, is the true nature of "mainstream car companies".
In fact, if you take a closer look at Toyota's past remarks and the three major transformation directions of "electrification", "intelligence" and "diversification" proposed by Toyota, you will find that Toyota is formulating its own development strategy with a longer-term vision, a more stable attitude and more thoughtful thinking.
An industry expert once commented on Toyota's transformation strategy: "Toyota is not resisting electrification, it just thinks more than others." Toyota's decision was made to be good for users, the company, and society. ”
Entering 2024, the automotive industry, which is mired in the vortex of involution and trapped by the problem of product homogenization, may slowly begin to understand Toyota's responsibility. The fast-paced new energy track requires Toyota-style rational thinking to help the industry re-establish correct values. We also hope that more mainstream car companies can respond to the current industry challenges with stronger strategic determination, and play an important role as a "ballast stone" and "rudder" for the healthy development of China's auto industry.