Toyota Australia is thinking about bringing in more electric cars from China as it looks to grow its EV line-up.
Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia’s Sales and Marketing boss, said the company is watching what its partners in China are making. He explained that Toyota already has strong ties with factories there and sees no issue with selling Chinese-built cars in Australia, as long as they meet Toyota’s standards.
Right now, Toyota only has one electric car worldwide – the bZ4X SUV. An updated version will arrive later this year, and a Touring version with more space is coming in 2025.
In China, Toyota already sells more EVs, such as the bZ3 sedan, bZ5 SUV coupe, and bigger models like the bZ7 and bZ3X SUV. These are built with local partners FAW and GAC.
Hanley said Toyota has not yet seriously considered bringing these Chinese-made EVs to Australia but admitted it would be “silly” not to look at them in the future.
For now, Toyota’s EV sales in Australia are small. Only 596 bZ4X SUVs have been sold this year, compared to 13,310 Tesla Model Ys.
Other rivals like the BYD Sealion 7 (6596) and Geely EX5 (2736) are also outselling the Toyota. Still, the bZ4X is doing better than some newcomers like the Leapmotor C10 (381) and Deepal S07 (155).
