A competitive electric vehicle (EV) market has driven big price cuts from the likes of Polestar and Peugeot, but Toyota won’t be following suit.
That’s despite slow sales for the bZ4X, which launched in February and has failed to make waves on Australia’s EV sales charts since.
“There are sometimes reasons why you have to move with the market, but you can never afford to move with the market at the expense of those who’ve bought before,” Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing, told CarExpert.
100s of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
“It’s a difficult proposition for people that have bought a car, and then you wind it back not once, not twice, but three times – I think that is not a good practice, and not a practice Toyota will be going down.
“That erodes confidence and trust, and we pride ourselves on the trust we’ve built. Before you do any actions on any car, the number one rule is put a customer lens across it. What does it mean to them? What impact are you going to have on them?
“Reducing pricing or putting massive incentives on is the laziest option first up. Build trust and knowledge, it works 100 per cent of the time … there’s no easy way. There’s quick ways that’ll give you a short-term hit, but that’s all they’ll be, a short-term hit.”
Since its debut in February, the 717 examples of the bZ4X have been delivered in Australia. That puts its ahead of its Subaru Solterra twin (326) and alongside the $20,000 dearer Mercedes-Benz EQA (766), but well behind the best-selling Tesla Model Y (14,602).
Mr Hanley insists the bZ4X wasn’t launched in search of sales supremacy, and is instead the first step in Toyota’s broader electric strategy.
“The car is doing what we expected it to do. It’s Toyota in Australia’s first entry into the full battery electric vehicle market, and when we look at how it’s going we assess it very differently to how much volume it’s doing,” he told CarExpert.
“Clearly in a competitive world, and given Toyota’s market position, everyone expects we’re launching that car to be number one. In actual fact that’s not quite correct.
“We certainly don’t launch the car to not sell them, that wouldn’t be correct either. When we launch that car, it’s our entry level into the BEV market,” he said, likening the bZ4X to the first Toyota Prius in Australia.
“And we quickly try to interpret and understand what you’ve gotta do to sell a BEV in the Australian market. What’s the best experience? What’s the best pricing structure? What’s the best finance structure? What are the things we need to impart to the consumer to give them confidence about this product and this technology?”
The prices of numerous bZ4X rivals have been cut throughout 2024, led by the popular Tesla Model Y.
Its price has fallen by $9500 since March 2024, while the Model 3 is now $7000 cheaper than at the end of the first quarter.
Tesla hasn’t swung the axe hardest in Australia, though. That honour belongs to Peugeot, which discounted the e-2008 by a whopping $25,000 earlier in 2024.
Polestar recently cut $5000 from the permanent sticker price of the 2, and added the equipment from the Pilot Pack to the list of standard equipment. It earlier this year offered more generous discounts, however.
Over at Ford, the Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit have both been treated to significant price cuts as well.
MORE: Everything Toyota bZ4X
