Toyota is planning to put an electric SUV from GAC
in its Chinese showrooms in a bid to meet local green car quotas. Called the GAC-Toyota ix4, will wear the logo of Toyota’s Chinese partner, GAC
Motors, and will be built around GAC’s lower-cost technology. This gives Toyota
a quick way to meet China’s requirements that such vehicles should account for
10% of a car maker’s production by 2019, with GAC then getting access to
Toyota’s quality control and sales channel, Reuters reports.
The report cites two unnamed company executives
familiar with the matter and goes on saying that the new GAC-Toyota ix4 will go
on sale by the end of the year. The battery electric model is based on GAC’s
Trumpchi GS4 and has been in development for two years.
The idea of selling a car derived from a Chinese
partner’s vehicle would have been unthinkable for Toyota just a few years ago,
but it gained momentum thanks to the Chinese government’s push to get more EVs
on the road.
The new GAC-Toyota ix4 is expected to use an
electric motor with 180 hp and 290 Nm of torque and use a 47kWh
battery pack for a total driving range of 310 km. Toyota is
reportedly negotiating a similar EV deal with its second partner in China, FAW
Group, but so far nothing has been finalized.
