For a considerable period in the past, the domestic hardcore SUV market was essentially dominated by Japanese cars. Representative models include Toyota Prado, Mitsubishi Pajero, and even Suzuki Jimny, which is known as the "off-road vehicle troublemaker".

Of course, among the above models, the most influential one is Toyota Prado.

The reason why Toyota Prado can take the lead is not only due to the endorsement of the Toyota brand but also because it indeed possesses strong capabilities. Whether it was during the "Bulldozer" era or later when it was renamed Prado, Toyota Prado has been a leader in the off-road vehicle community, both in domestic production and parallel imports. Its position cannot be shaken by any other vehicle.

This also led to the absurdly high prices of Toyota Prado in China: new cars were sold at a premium, and used cars were sold at the original price.

Until later, the Tank brand under Great Wall Motors emerged, and the popularity of Tank 300 completely changed the landscape of the domestic hardcore off-road vehicle market. Even Toyota Prado, facing the aggressive pressure from domestic off-road vehicles, saw its pricing system completely collapse.

With its product capabilities lagging behind, Toyota Prado's "legendary car" halo was also taken off.

Like all Japanese cars, when Toyota Prado lost the capital to sell cars at a premium, it meant that the era of domestic hardcore off-road vehicles belonging to it had passed.

Along with the rise of the Tank brand, although Japanese hardcore off-road vehicles have almost faded from our视野, the domestic hardcore off-road vehicle market has not ended but has become increasingly prosperous. In addition to Great Wall, mainstream domestic automakers such as BYD and Chery have also begun to develop the hardcore off-road vehicle market.

Unexpectedly, at this time, the all-new Toyota Prado has made a comeback.

In April this year, the all-new FAW Toyota Prado, which had been discontinued for many years, officially went on sale. The new car introduced four models, with a price range of 459,800 to 549,800 yuan.

As a replacement model, the all-new FAW Toyota Prado is built on Toyota's all-new TNGA-F platform. In addition to significant changes in exterior and interior design, it also adopts a full-series powertrain combination, equipped with a 2.4T gasoline engine and a hybrid system, maintaining excellent off-road performance.

Although the all-new Toyota Prado has made significant improvements compared to the previous generation, the current situation is different from the past. It faces tremendous pressure from the Tank 700 upon its launch.

Undoubtedly, from a product perspective, there is a significant gap between the all-new Prado and the Tank 700, especially in terms of intelligent configurations.

Most importantly, its starting price is more than 30,000 yuan higher than the Tank 700.

On June 17, BYD's FANGCHENGBAO brand announced information about the Leopard 8 model. Positioned as a mid-to-large off-road vehicle, the Leopard 8 has a body length of nearly 5.2 meters and a wheelbase of nearly 3 meters, significantly larger than the all-new Toyota Prado.

It is certain that the Leopard 8 will also significantly surpass the all-new Prado in technological configurations. It is said that BYD's latest high-level intelligent driving system, Tian Shen Zhi Yan, will be introduced, and a 6-seater version will also be available.

The Leopard 8 is equipped with a 2.0T turbocharged gasoline engine and a plug-in hybrid system, and its 0-100 km/h acceleration is likely to be around 5 seconds. The new car will officially go on sale in the third quarter, with a starting price of around 500,000 yuan.

With the Tank 700 in front and the Leopard 8 behind, in the opinion of Chekuaiping, the return of the all-new Toyota Prado is ill-timed, and it will be difficult for it to regain its former glory. If it doesn't lower its price, no one will buy it; but if it does lower its price, maybe even fewer people will buy it.

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