This file photo offered by Toyota Motor Korea shows the RAV4 PHEV model.
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will launch two all-electric models under the Toyota and Lexus brands in South Korea this year to compete with its rivals amid the accelerating electrification push.
The Japanese carmaker plans to introduce the Lexus RZ SUV and the Toyota bZ4X SUV in the Korean market in 2023, the company said in a statement.
The Lexus RZ SUV will be the second pure electric model to be sold in Korea under Toyota’s independent Lexus brand following the UX300e SUV launched last year, the company said.
The bZ4X SUV is Toyota’s first zero-emission model.
The two models are part of the carmaker’s eight new models to be launched here throughout the year.
The other six are the Lexus plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the Toyota brand’s RAV4 PHEV, the Prius PHEV, the Highlander hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) SUV, the Crown HEV and the Alphard HEV minivan, the statement said.
HEVs are gasoline hybrid automobiles.
On Tuesday, Toyota began to sell the RAV4 PHEV model in Korea for 56 million won (US$43,000).
“We are planning to add more zero-emission models to the Lexus lineup compared to the Toyota lineup to woo Korean customers in this rapidly changing market,” Konyama Manabu, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Korea, told reporters during the RAV4′s launching event.
Toyota has long focused on promoting its HEV models in global markets, but now under the “Multi Pathway” strategy, it is diversifying the lineup with PHEV and battery electric vehicle models.
The CEO said the company is also considering adding a hydrogen fuel-cell electric model to the lineup in line with the general electrification trend in the automotive industry.
For all of 2022, Toyota Motor Korea’s vehicle sales fell 14 percent to 13,851 units from 16,193 a year earlier amid the global chip shortage.
(Yonhap)
