"Joint ventures can also deliver exceptional electric cars."

This was my thought after witnessing the Guangzhou Automobile Toyota Boshi 3X.

On March 6, the Guangzhou Automobile Toyota Boshi 3X was officially launched, priced from 109,800 yuan.

How popular was this car?

"The server crashed as soon as the price was announced and orders began to pour in."

Orders surpassed 10,000 within the first hour.

Let's delve into this intriguing joint venture model - the Guangzhou Automobile Toyota Boshi 3X.

01 The First 150,000-Yuan LiDAR-Equipped High-Level Autonomous Driving Car

The Boshi 3X boasts dimensions of 4600×1850/1875×1645mm and a wheelbase of 2765mm, making it a compact pure electric SUV.

Its competitors are clear: Leapmotor B10, BYD Yuan PLUS, Geely Yinhe E5.

The main reason for its immense attention is that this joint venture electric car has brought the price of LiDAR-equipped high-level autonomous driving models down to the 150,000-yuan range (starting at 149,800 yuan).

If an independent brand had achieved this, it might have seemed routine, as many automakers are already competing in high-level autonomous driving and making it more accessible.

But this is a joint venture car, and it's even Toyota. Can it deliver?

Previously, Leapmotor B10 claimed to be "the first car under 150,000 yuan to be equipped with LiDAR for urban autonomous driving."

They'll need to update their marketing materials overnight now.

Indeed, this is the first time Guangzhou Automobile Toyota has taken the lead in competing in LiDAR-based high-level autonomous driving.

Moreover, the high-level autonomous driving feature of the Boshi 3X is not just a marketing ploy but a genuinely usable autonomous driving solution.

Hardware Level:

1 high-performance LiDAR from RoboSense M platform

1 Orin X chip (with a computing power of 254 TOPS)

3 millimeter-wave radars

12 ultrasonic radars

11 cameras

So, how advanced is this hardware setup?

Geely recently launched the Qianli Haohan H5, which comes with 11V3R1L.

It's evident that Guangzhou Automobile Toyota has invested heavily in the Boshi 3X.

At the software level, this high-level autonomous driving system is a joint development between Guangzhou Automobile Toyota and the domestic autonomous driving supplier Momenta.

This is also the first joint venture one-stage end-to-end high-level autonomous driving pure electric car.

Many might not be familiar with Momenta.

Momenta is a leading domestic autonomous driving company that provides various levels of autonomous driving solutions to the automotive industry.

SAIC IM's high-level autonomous driving system, which is well-known, involves Momenta's expertise.

Additionally, automakers such as BYD, Dongfeng Nissan, General Motors, and GAC AION have also collaborated with Momenta on high-level autonomous driving, and models equipped with Momenta's solutions will be launched successively.

Therefore, there's no need to worry about the autonomous driving performance of the Boshi 3X.

Like domestic newcomers, the Boshi 3X can also handle highway and urban navigation, and it won't be inferior to them.

High-level autonomous driving has always been a weak point for joint venture brands, but now, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota has finally addressed this shortcoming.

02 Guangzhou Automobile Toyota Actively Embraces Change

Of course, besides autonomous driving, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota is also striving for change in other areas.

First is marketing.

At the launch event, Xu Zhisheng and Hulan performed a stand-up comedy routine, directly addressing Guangzhou Automobile Toyota:

1. Don't joint venture brands like Guangzhou Automobile Toyota lack good electric cars?

2. New players have been in the game for years. Guangzhou Automobile Toyota is too late...

3. It feels like Guangzhou Automobile Toyota is far removed from pure electric cars;

4. In my opinion, intelligence has nothing to do with Guangzhou Automobile Toyota;

5. Guangzhou Automobile Toyota is too stubborn. The car infotainment screen is small, and there are few entertainment functions;

6. The car infotainment system responds slowly;

...

Although these are all true, as a "traditionally conservative" major player, it takes courage to expose one's shortcomings in front of such a large audience.

Moreover, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota is indeed making improvements to the issues mentioned.

For instance, on the Boshi 3X, the size of the car infotainment screen has increased. All models, even the entry-level ones, come with an 8.8-inch full-liquid instrument cluster and a 14.6-inch display screen.

The car infotainment system uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 automotive-grade chip, providing a superior user experience.

Furthermore, configurations seen in new players, such as a driver's phone mount interface, a 50-watt ultra-fast wireless charger with fan cooling, front double-layered soundproof glass and rear privacy glass, a rear small table, an 8.1-inch large makeup mirror, and ventilated and heated seats (optional), are also available on the Boshi 3X.

It's evident that the product development team is indeed building cars according to user needs.

It's not just the launch event. If you visit the official website of Guangzhou Automobile Toyota and check out the product introduction of the Boshi 3X, the overall style is more aligned with new players. The product introduction page is logically clear, and the product browsing experience is on par with new players.

Guangzhou Automobile Toyota has finally come around. It's not easy.

Secondly, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota is willing to embrace major trends.

In the current fiercely competitive landscape, it hasn't chosen to work in isolation but has actively partnered with outstanding domestic companies to create top-notch products.

Besides using Momenta for high-level autonomous driving, the proportion of Chinese brand suppliers for the Boshi 3X has reached 65%, with imported parts accounting for only 1%.

Finally, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota is very sincere. The price is not inflated. The product is very new-player-like, and so is the pricing.

Of course, we've seen the results. Orders for the Boshi 3X exceeded 10,000 within the first hour of the launch event.

The effect is very impressive.

03 Guangzhou Automobile Toyota is Taking It Seriously

Although brand perception is being reconstructed in the new energy era, giving opportunities to many new brands, it's undeniable that traditional brands like Guangzhou Automobile Toyota still have a very large user base and foundation.

This is also the advantage and foundation of Guangzhou Automobile Toyota.

Fortunately, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota has seized the opportunity to launch sufficiently competitive products.

"Deeply integrate Chinese solutions with global standards and use Toyota quality to create a new player experience."

This time, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota has directly brought the price of LiDAR-equipped high-level autonomous driving below 150,000 yuan, which is a very telling signal.

You can clearly see the impact when these established giants figure it out and start to compete.

It's a case of not speaking until it's time to amaze.

So, when joint ventures also start to compete, how will independent brands respond?

This is a good question.

End.