Lexus International President Watanabe Takashi poses for a photo beside the luxury brand’s first all-electric RZ 450e large SUV during a press event at CONNECT TO cafe in eastern Seoul on June 21, 2023, in this photo provided by the carmaker.
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) – Lexus Korea on Wednesday launched its first dedicated pure electric vehicle, the RZ 450e, to meet growing local demand for EV models and to be in line with its plan to go all-electric by 2035.
The RZ 450e large SUV comes with a 71.4-kWh lithium-ion battery and the e-TNGA battery electric vehicle (BEV) only platform developed by its parent company, Toyota Motor Corp., Lexus Korea said in a statement.
The zero-emission model can travel up to 377 kilometers on a single charge and is capable of producing 312 horsepower.
“Electrification is gaining speed in South Korea amid a growing demand for environment-friendly vehicles. Korea is an important market for Lexus to understand the latest trends in the automobile markets,” Lexus International President Watanabe Takashi said in a press conference.
He expected the ratio of battery electric vehicles in Lexus Korea’s lineup to rise in the coming years.
On top of the all-electric RZ 450e, Lexus launched the fifth-generation RX SUV’s plug-in hybrid electric version, the RX450h+, in the Korean market.
The RX 350h gasoline hybrid and the RX 500h F SPORT turbocharged gasoline hybrid performance models are also available.
The RZ 450e sells for 85 million won-93 million won (US$66,000-$72,000) depending on options, while the RZ models are priced at 97 million won-116 million won.
Last year, Lexus launched the NX plug-in hybrid electric model in the Korean market.
Toyota Motor and its independent Lexus brand will introduce a combined 30 BEV models in global markets by 2030 and aim to sell 3.5 million BEVs by the same year.
In particular, Lexus is targeting to sell 1 million BEVs by 2030 and replace most of its vehicles with BEVs by 2035.
As of June last year, 98 percent of Lexus vehicles and 93 percent of Toyota models sold globally were gasoline hybrid models.
Toyota Motor aims to launch the all-electric bZ4X SUV in the Korean market by the first half of next year.
Toyota plans to keep some of its gasoline hybrid models in its lineup to meet demand in markets where it takes time for local governments to establish charging infrastructure, such as in Southeast Asia, compared with advanced countries.
This file photo provided by Lexus Korea shows its fifth-generation RX plug-in hybrid electric model (L) and the brand’s first all-electric SUV, the RZ.
In recent years, Japanese carmakers have struggled with weak sales in Korea due to the lingering impact of trade tensions between Seoul and Tokyo that began in 2019.
In July 2019, Japan tightened regulations on exports to South Korea of three high-tech materials critical for the production of semiconductors and displays.
In August, Japan officially removed South Korea from its list of countries given preferential treatment in trade procedures.
The Japanese moves were widely regarded as retaliation against court rulings here that ordered Japanese firms to compensate South Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
But Toyota and Lexus’ sales began to improve in Korea recently, helped by new models.
From January to May, Lexus’ vehicle sales more than doubled to 5,295 units from 2,410 during the same period of last year. Toyota’s sales jumped 35 percent to 3,012 autos from 2,237 during the cited period.
(Yonhap)
