*This article is reproduced from the autocarweekly WeChat official account.
Author: Linghuchong
The fourth-generation Highlander is undoubtedly a heavyweight vehicle at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show. It is not so new after all, as it has been two years since its debut, but when it arrived in Shanghai with the GAC Toyota prefix, it still became the focus of attention and occupied the C position of GAC Toyota’s booth.
The status in the market, my friends, is a knowledge point.
Every seven-seater SUV wants to defeat the Highlander, and their goal is to become the Highlander. Just like everyone who complains about high house prices in the city, they all hope to have their own house in a city with high house prices.
However, they will not go to Hegang to buy houses, where the house prices are low. It’s human nature. The warrior who defeats the dragon will eventually become the dragon. When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you. The Highlander is always being criticized and questioned by everyone, and the reason is simply that it is the benchmark. And the benchmark is born to be challenged and questioned.
It did not sell well in 2016 and 2017 without Ruijie, and although its sales were the highest in 2018, 2019, and 2020, there was not much difference with the second-ranked Touareg. However, as a benchmark, it does not rejoice in good fortune, nor does it bemoan adversity. The overall automobile market has nothing to do with it, so it just goes with the flow. Let the production and sales data of China’s automobile industry rise and fall, and it will still calmly sell about 100,000 units a year with a higher price. Who remembers that it was overtaken by the first place in sales by more than 30,000 units in 2016?
It’s a bit like the houses of Vanke before 2015, when buyers would rather pay an additional 200,000 yuan for tea instead of buying the adjacent Country Garden. There must be countless people shouting here that they will never buy the Highlander if it doesn’t reduce its price! But if you really want to walk around the market with real money, you will always end up back in the Highlander’s arms. Those who bought Ruijie in 2016 and those who bought Highlander were both happy, but when looking at the residual value in 2021, the Highlander is at 66% while the Ruijie is less than 50%, which is a bit incomprehensible.
Is the difference of a few thousand yuan so important to people who spend 300,000 yuan to buy a seven-seater SUV? Wrong! What they most dislike is being questioned about their investment perspective as a successful middle class! Every 985 that aspires to achieve financial freedom through finance will tell you that they entered the stock market in 2008 and did not buy a house in 2015, but bought funds in 2021, right?
Or, buying a Highlander is like long-term savings. With a currency depreciation of more than 12% per year, calculate the residual value of a Highlander, and it directly outperforms inflation!
Therefore, it is not too much for Toyota to attach great importance to this “cash cow”.The technology ecology system is quite complicated, but if you categorize it, you will find that basically it is all about execution for greater safety. As Didi Chuxing CTO and CEO of autonomous driving, Zhang Bo, expressed, improving road safety is the initial intention of developing autonomous driving.
First of all, the architecture has been changed to TNGA-K.
TNGA-K is aimed at Toyota’s mid-size and large-size cars, which have yielded countless high-value models, such as the Lexus RX, Lexus ES, Asia Dragon, Camry, RAV4, and Highlander. Each of these models has the best driving performance and quality in history. For the seven-seat SUV Highlander, which is aimed at families, this is simply perfect.
We are not young anymore. Now we pursue a sense of luxury in terms of driving performance, for ourselves as well as our families.
In terms of power, the fourth generation of Highlander has a 2.5L naturally aspirated engine plus a motor to form a hybrid system, which is the Toyota Hybrid System (THS) II that we have seen. The maximum power of the engine is 141 kW, and the maximum comprehensive power is 176 kW. It is said that the fuel consumption is 6.1 L/100 km. The third-generation Highlander, which is equipped with a 2.0T engine, has a fuel consumption of 8.2-8.9 L/100 km according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the maximum power of the 2.0T engine is only 162 kW.
Do you suddenly feel that the 2021 Highlander is not so attractive anymore? Shouldn’t you wait for the 2.5L hybrid Highlander instead of buying the 2.0T version?
No need to worry. When Honda Odyssey announced its i-MMD system, the 2.4L version of Odyssey directly experienced a small sales peak. Latecomers, while enjoying the quietness and acceleration brought by i-MMD, still remembered the glory of the Earth Dreams engine.
Classic things are always valuable, and discontinued things are the real hot items in the second-hand market. A decent sea-view apartment.
Toyota also knows that the selling point of the Highlander’s design is its burly and majestic appearance. However, the family-style design language brought by TNGA-K platform really goes toward a young and sporty style. The popularity of Camry and Venza is also related to this positioning. Therefore, Highlander still tries to maintain its image of heaviness and muscularity as much as possible, with a trapezoidal mouth design and smoother contours. A chrome plating is added, and a very large front lip is used to create a sense of width.
Yes, it’s bigger now. The length, width, and height of the fourth-generation Highlander are 4950 mm/1930 mm/1730 mm respectively, which is 60 mm longer, 5 mm wider, and 10 mm higher than the previous generation, and the wheelbase is increased by 60 mm, which undoubtedly provides more spacious interior space. Of course, the third row is still emergency use, and the comfort is still not as good as that of MPV, after all, it’s an SUV.
If the previous generation Highlander was a bit wild, then the fourth-generation Highlander is a product that emphasizes urban SUV attributes from the inside out. In the present where even tough off-road vehicles need to focus on comfort, the idea is absolutely clear.
Although the interior design looks more avant-garde, when you sit inside, you will find that no matter how it changes in appearance, the position of the functional area is basically consistent with the old model. In addition, the high-end models are all equipped with 12.3-inch full LCD instrument panel, 12.3-inch central control display, 10-inch color HUD head-up display, and electronic streaming media rearview mirror, showcasing luxury.
The latest Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 system will definitely appear on this car, but will a series of related functions such as lane departure warning with steering assist, lane keeping assist, forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic braking, and road sign recognition be standard in the entire series? This remains to be further revealed.
This car will have the option of two-wheel drive/four-wheel drive. The four-wheel drive version is equipped with the E-FOUR electronic control four-wheel drive system, which is the same system as the hybrid SUV on the Venza and RAV4. The torque distribution between the front and rear axles can be precisely controlled between 100:0-20:80, which can climb slopes, cope with complex road conditions, and achieve escape actions. However, off-road is not its specialization, improving stability when encountering wet, slippery, and snowy road surfaces in daily driving is its fundamental significance.
Yes, it can outperform the third-generation Highlander, but according to Toyota’s habits, the third-generation Highlander will not be discounted, which eliminates the dilemma for consumers when replacing models, whether to buy a new car at a premium or an old model with a discount.
Of course, other benchmark challengers also appeared at the auto show.
# The First Automotive Toyota Crown Land Cruiser and Highlander Are Sister Cars
The first automotive Toyota Crown Land Cruiser and Highlander are sister cars based on the new generation American Highlander XSE model. The Land Cruiser has a sporty package and a “nobler” Crown logo, which undoubtedly heralds a brutal dogfight between the two cars.
The Buick Anke Wei Plus AVIA is also eager to try its hand at the seven-seater SUV market. The Buick Anke Wei once defeated the benchmark of five-seat SUVs, so does the seven-seat Anke Wei Plus have a chance to overthrow the benchmark of seven-seat SUVs?
Whatever, the Highlander never cares about the strength of its challengers.
Its strategy is always calm – I will take away 100,000 of this year’s seven-seat SUV sales, and you can take the rest, don’t be polite.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.