00:01 Speaker A
Toyota isn’t shying away from electric vehicles, launching the all-electric next-generation 2027 Toyota Highlander. Now, Finance’s Pras Subramanian brings us the latest news. So, Pras, some automakers are shying away from electric vehicles. Toyota, still looks determined.
00:23 Prath Subramanian
Yeah, I think that’s an interesting move, right? Now there is a three-row EV SUV to be launched, and that is the Highlander. See, the original Highlander was a gas-powered car, and with the advent of the Grand Highlander, a larger SUV, that disappeared. Now they’re plugging this Highlander EV in there, right? So it’s still three rows uh 320 mile range uh interesting there. Well, the dimensions inside are pretty nice, and it’s a sleek designer look with sharp edges. But the big issue here is that these larger EVs can be a bit pricey, and customers really want them, right? So, you know, uh David Crist, uh Toyota North America vice president, was at the debut event last night and here’s what he had to say about why the Highlander does make sense as an electric vehicle.
01:10 David Crist
We believe pure electric vehicles are an important part of the industry and we want to offer a variety of products to our customers. We’re going from 1 to 4 by 2026, so we’re really excited about the options for our customers, not only in terms of price, but also in terms of scale and functionality.
01:31 Prath Subramanian
Toyota will sell four electric vehicles this year. The new Highlander, uh bZ, which is their pre-existing electric car, is kind of like uh like a RAV4. You have the CHR, which is a smaller electric car. Then there’s the larger bZ Woodland, which is like an expanded version of the bZ. So they’re trying to have some electric vehicle portfolio. But no, Toyota is strong on hybrids, too. So, they’re kind of trying to hedge their bets.
01:54 Speaker A
Do they, do we have a price for this product? Did they reveal it?
01:58 Prath Subramanian
We don’t have prices yet, but the main competitors are the Kia EV9, which is very popular, and, er, its twin, the Hyundai Ionic 9. Kia prices start around $55,000. So I expect Toyota to start there as well. But, you know, Toyota has better name recognition, better value, uh in terms of the brand itself. So maybe they’ll charge more, but they can’t be too high, right? Because then you will lose customers.
02:22 Speaker A
Well, I read your very good report on this. You mentioned how they would assemble this Highlander in Kentucky, USA. What are the merits of this decision?
02:32 Prath Subramanian
I mean, look, the tariffs. One size bigger? So when the battery modules are built in Kentucky, they will be built at a factory in North Carolina in the United States. So, you will avoid all this. Now, you import materials from some places and you have to pay tariffs on them. But this is a purely American-made electric car, a large electric car. I believe you don’t get that much in the US other than the uh Rivian R1S. Korean automakers produce in Korea, right? So, uh, well, actually, they’re going to start manufacturing in Georgia as well. So it’s all part of local production and electric cars are part of that.
02:59 Speaker A
OK Thank you, Plath. Appreciate it.
