Toyota's Entire Lineup Sees Significant Price Drops in the Chinese Automobile Market
Recently, FAW Toyota officially announced a limited-time special sale event. Among them, the compact SUV Corolla Wild Released offers a comprehensive discount of up to $5,000 USD, while the compact sedan Corolla is priced below $10,000 USD, with a limited-time comprehensive discount of $6,000 USD.
In addition, FAW Toyota’s models such as RAV4 Honor Released, bZ3, and bZ4X have also seen varying degrees of price reductions, ranging from $8,000 to $10,000 USD. However, FAW Toyota stated that the models eligible for the above discounts are limited to 79,800 units. Currently, among FAW Toyota’s models, only the sales price of the Prado remains strong, with actual prices not differing significantly from the suggested retail price.
FAW Toyota Official Statement
The collapse of Toyota’s vehicle prices in the Chinese market is attributed to declining sales. In May of this year, FAW Toyota’s retail sales were 54,650 units, a year-on-year decrease of 21.9%. Its flagship product, the Corolla, suffered a sharp decline in retail sales, with only 7,693 units sold in May, down 54.96% from the same period last year when it sold 17,080 units. Overall, from January to May this year, FAW Toyota’s sales have also been in decline, with cumulative retail sales of 260,500 units, a decrease of 12.4% year-on-year.
Rise of Chinese Domestic New Energy Vehicle Brands
In fact, the difficult situation of joint venture car companies is not a new topic, especially the performance of Japanese brands in the Chinese market falling far short of expectations. Public data shows that the market share of Japanese brands in the Chinese automobile market has declined from 24.1% in 2020 to 17% in 2023, marking three consecutive years of decline.
Currently, under the price offensive of Chinese domestic brands, which are offering high configurations at competitive prices, it has become an industry consensus. This has also led to joint venture car companies no longer holding the pricing power in the industry. For instance, following models like the Qin PLUS and Destroyer 05 priced below $10,000 USD, BYD recently launched the equally competitive Qin L and Seal 06. It is precisely because of this trend that the Chinese automobile market can now acquire Toyota vehicles that are more economically affordable.
Resource Link: More About Toyota Cars
