Source | Yuan Auto

In early November, FAW Toyota launched the new Asia Dragon.

There's no need to elaborate on the price and specifications—after all, maxing out both has become standard practice for any new car launch in China. What's truly intriguing is that Toyota has actually allowed this model—currently exclusive to the Chinese market—to be designed so that it's "hard to tell apart" from the current Crown. As is well known, the Toyota Crown is regarded as one of the quintessential symbols of Japan's automotive industry, and Toyota's rule-breaking in China has once again been made concrete.

It must be said that over the past two years, Toyota has become increasingly "unruly" in China.

On the product front, GAC Toyota was the first automaker to leverage its Chinese partner's technology in a joint venture to build a hit intelligent electric vehicle. On the business model front, Toyota's moves—from implementing its 2025 plan to build a wholly owned plant in Shanghai for Lexus pure electric vehicles, to this year's decision to let GAC oversee both "north and south Toyota"—have been so bold that no one in the industry can match them.

At this stage, Toyota's performance in China remains volatile. Data shows that in the first half of 2026, Toyota's sales in China, including Lexus, totaled 694,700 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 17.1%. But compared with peers in a similar or even worse situation, Toyota's subsequent highlights and possibilities are clearly greater under a series of bold adjustments.

More critically, it is foreseeable that Toyota's "counterattack" in China will become more precise and more fierce.

01 Lexus + Huawei?

Regarding Toyota's next big move in China, media reports have already suggested it may involve Huawei.

According to sources from self-media outlets such as ZAKER Auto and some industry influencers, the first model from Lexus's wholly owned Shanghai plant—scheduled to begin production in 2027—will fully adopt Huawei's HarmonyOS intelligent cockpit, and some models will also use Huawei Qiankun smart driving software and hardware solutions.

Considering that GAC Toyota has in fact already used a large number of Huawei software and hardware solutions in the bZ7—such as HarmonyOS Cockpit 5 and DriveONE Huawei electric drive—it is not entirely groundless for Toyota China to choose to deepen cooperation with Huawei on Lexus.

For a Japanese luxury brand that previously stood aloof and long maintained fully imported status, if its first domestically produced car fully embraces the automotive intelligence supplier with the strongest Chinese sentiment—and if the news is true—then this move by Lexus and Toyota China can absolutely be called "within reason, yet unexpected."

This may well be a win-win.

Previously, the market's expectations for Lexus's locally produced pure electric models were basically all focused on price. After all, in the new energy era, Toyota as a whole has not gained widespread recognition from Chinese consumers in the luxury car or even mid-to-high-end segment.

As a reference, the bZ7 launched by GAC Toyota this year—even with Momenta assisted driving, Huawei intelligent cockpit, air suspension and other features—can only be described as lukewarm in the 200,000 yuan class market, with retail sales long hovering between 1,700 and 2,200 units, less than one quarter of the bZ3X, whose starting price is 109,800 yuan.

For Lexus and Toyota China, if consumers' expectation for the Shanghai plant is merely a "cheap version" of a Lexus electric car, this is obviously not conducive to subsequent development. But with limited market appeal in its own intelligent electrification track, how to support high value is another major problem. In this context, Huawei is obviously a very good way to solve the problem.

As for Huawei, its automotive business has also reached a point where it needs to boost momentum. Data shows that although HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility and Huawei Qiankun's "five realms and two borders" launched more than 10 new cars this year, overall sales are not better than when AITO alone dominated. Various signs indicate that the market has already shown a certain degree of "Huawei-family car" aesthetic fatigue.

To make the auto circle cheer again, Huawei needs some "surprise guests." The previously much-rumored Maserati counts as one, and Lexus certainly counts as another.

02 The confidence to pull off stunts

Of course, not every bold attempt by Toyota in China can succeed. For example, the aforementioned GAC Toyota bZ7—and if we roll the timeline further back, there are also two FAW Toyota electric cars developed by BTET.

BTET, namely BYD Toyota EV Technology Co., Ltd. Tianyancha APP shows that the company is jointly held by BYD and Toyota, with each holding a 50% stake.

Toyota's spirit of "pulling off stunts" in China has not diminished because of setbacks. On the one hand, there is the factor that the domestic electrification market really cannot be abandoned; on the other hand, it also comes from the confidence provided by its core fuel vehicle base.

According to new car terminal retail data from the China Passenger Car Association and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the past six months (May 2026 to October 2026), the sales champion of domestic fuel vehicles was the FAW Toyota RAV4 Rongfang. As a compact SUV with an official guide price starting at about 170,000 yuan, such a result is very rare.

In addition to the FAW Toyota RAV4 Rongfang, the performance of the GAC Toyota Camry is also noteworthy. This mid-size sedan has had sales exceeding 10,000 units for 14 consecutive months. In the era when fuel vehicles dominated the market this might not have meant much, but today such performance can be called leading by a wide margin.

By comparison, the Honda Accord has not broken 10,000 sales in 9 months, and the last time the Nissan Altima squeezed into the "monthly sales of 10,000 club" was December 2024. As for Volkswagen's Magotan and Passat, they also had moments this year when they fell out of the 10,000 monthly sales range.

Although it sounds a bit like "picking the general from among dwarfs," it is a fact that Toyota's fuel vehicles are more resilient than those of most foreign brands.

Is it because Toyota's brand is stronger? Probably Volkswagen, the representative of German brands, would be the first to disagree. Is it because Toyota's price cuts are more aggressive? The Nissan Altima, already selling at the 100,000 yuan level, smiles without saying a word.

In the final analysis, the reason Toyota's core fuel vehicle base can stand firm is still that it dares to try and dares to break rules. This is vividly reflected in the fact that the FAW Toyota Asia Dragon can even "betray" the Crown.

People all say Toyota is conservative, but how many automakers today dare to say they are bolder than Toyota?

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