Toyota BZ4X "Amazing Ace": Sensitive users, difficult car companies

"Amazing".

On June 23, in response to the recent "overseas recalls" and "design defects" of Toyota BZ4X circulating on the Internet, they learned through the official release channels of Toyota China and the verification of our insiders and insiders of the car company:

This recall is the Toyota BZ4X sold in the United States, Europe, and Japan; the reason for the recall is that the possibility of loosening the wheel bolt has hidden safety hazards; Toyota BZ4X has not yet produced and sold in China, so it does not involve the Chinese market.

The reason why the reason to recall overseas in the Chinese market was due to the launch conference of GAC Toyota BZ4X, which was originally scheduled to be on June 17, and was suddenly announced on the same day.

Subsequently, a famous car judge also "broke the news" on social networks for an emergency stop: there were defects in the battery management system of the vehicle. Since then, in combination with the information of "overseas models cannot be charged in cold environments", Toyota BZ4X has the sound of "design defects" and is also rapidly fermented.

Today's official response has naturally dispelled the media and users' concerns about the recall and whether it involves the Chinese market. For Toyota BZ4X, the public opinion direction in the past few days can be described as "a false shock." But so that we also face a reality that must be faced:

The outside world is extremely picky about the new energy transformation of traditional car companies, and it is far more difficult to face than expected.

As a work of Toyota's electrification transformation, Toyota BZ4X is essentially a "pressure car".

Take the task of pioneering and tentative market feedback on it. All Toyota's difficulties encountered in electrification will act on this body as soon as possible. But similar, it can quickly understand the true status of the new energy era in the "actual combat".

The difficulty of traditional car companies' electrical transformation is the conversion of car manufacturing logic and the closure of brand assets.

Different from the mature experience accumulated in the fuel vehicle era, electrified transformation requires car companies to build cars with a new logic.

This involves research and development ideas, technical routes, supply chain selection, production running -in, marketing methods, etc. Everything is difficult to start. Earlier, Toyota is good at the field of fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles. It will naturally face too much unknown to use pure electric platforms.

At the same time, the current market format is relatively complicated. Because of the earliest enrollment, the new forces have already occupied a high position on the market and public opinion. And a lot of autonomous car companies are also using a complete development strategy and a more pragmatic price belt to capture the market. Unlike the "closed eyes" of the fuel vehicle era, they will not buy the wrong car. Now users have too many choices in the field of electric vehicles. With a little new wind, the user immediately shifted his attention.

Therefore, users are sensitive, and it is difficult for car companies.

Moreover, after the recent attacks of new forces in the field of electric vehicles, users refresh their awareness of brand assets.

The advantage of the new forces is that there is no previous brand assets, and they will use the release attitude to impact the market. It can be said that every minute is creating new brand value.

The market also shows a welcome emotion on this attitude, because the solidified market has not developed. The opportunity for the market to give new forces is to break the situation with bold. In this way, we can break the consumer cognition and brand asset system established in the era of fuel vehicles.

Although traditional car companies have put on a full -scale attitude, their background color is still cautious. Because its brand assets are built in the era of fuel vehicles, huge user bases and systems created for many years can not be able to respond quickly.

Although the elephant turned around, it was slow. In the era of electric vehicles, it is fast. However, the advantage of cautiousness is that they can stand firmly in the fast -paced outside.

From this perspective, Toyota BZ4X is actually very dangerous this time.

Whether it is an urgent stop conference, or responding to overseas recalls in the Chinese market, everything happened before the official listing of Toyota BZ4X. It can even be said that the front of the problem is to usher in a time difference for Toyota BZ4X.

Over the years, Toyota has always been known in the global market for users with safe and peaceful products.

Once the problem is exposed after mass production and listing, it is really large negative. The cost of remedy in the later period will be difficult to estimate, and the brand image will be severely lost.

In the new energy era, for traditional car companies that are struggling to transform, it is a high degree of pressure: on the one hand, it is to keep up with the rhythm of development under the reality of "slow". On the one hand is to transfer brand assets in the fuel vehicle era to the era of electric vehicles.

So one step can't go wrong.

Fortunately, the Toyota BZ4X first avoided potential risks in advance in the Chinese market.

Obviously, the cancellation of this conference and overseas recalls will form a part of the development of Toyota BZ4X in the Chinese market.

First of all, although the current Toyota BZ4X is suspended through listing and avoids potential risks, it will inevitably reduce the premium of the Toyota brand according to the established node.

Although the models of brands such as Tesla and Volkswagen were postponed for various reasons, at this moment, the rapid development of the domestic electric vehicle market not only made users more sensitive, but also reduced the "fault tolerance for the brand's fault tolerance Spend". This is also the first resistance to Toyota BZ4X in the Chinese market.

Secondly, it will further deepen the attitude of potential users to wait and see. In the price belt of Toyota BZ4X, the models available for choice are quite abundant, which means that during the wait -and -see period, some potential users will switch to friends. For Toyota, it is necessary to have a psychological preparation for the future of the future. In addition, there is a layer of most realistic tests. This overseas recall has added new challenges to Toyota BZ4X's marketing, channel construction, and user operations in the Chinese market.

Re -promotion of brand image and re -establishment of consumption expectations will be the reality that Toyota BZ4X must face in the Chinese market in the next stage.

Of course, from a optimistic perspective and a long -term perspective, Toyota BZ4X currently faces the cost that Toyota must pay at the electrification transformation stage. R & D system, market insights, user operations, manufacturing, etc. all need to be polished based on the requirements of the electrification era.

It can even be said that through this experience, it will also help Toyota's in -depth localization in the era of electrification in China.

Ordinary brands will treat the difficulty as a crisis.

The brand with vitality will regard difficulties as an opportunity to transform again. This is responsible for its own brand and the responsibility to users. Obviously, this is what Toyota has been doing.

The electrification transformation of Toyota BZ4X and Toyota will be full of challenges in China in the future.

China is the world's largest electric vehicle market, and it is also leading the global vehicle market's electrification transformation trend. Therefore, the competitive intensity and business model of the Chinese market are also the world's most complicated. The electrification transformation of traditional car companies represented by Toyota, if it can explore a feasible development model in the Chinese market, it will also take the lead in the global market. At the same time, it also has a certain demonstration role for other future key markets.

However, although the vision is beautiful, we still have to recognize the reality: Traditional car companies have a hard time electrical transformation, but we must continue to move forward.

Toyota's current pace on this road is accelerating steadily.

- END -