The 120,000 yuan Camry put Toyota on the hot search, but pulled Japanese cars off the altar

Every manufacturer wants to be on the hot search. Some car companies even bring out their CEOs to do live broadcasts, but they may not be able to get on the hot search. In fact, it is not that troublesome. Isn't it better to just give benefits to consumers directly, such as the people's shopping mall Pang Donglai, or the "120,000 yuan Camry".

So, why is Toyota acting like this after just a few days of not seeing it?

If it was an old model that was reduced in price, everyone could understand it. But this time, the ninth-generation Camry, which was only launched in March this year, was trending on the Internet. In the past, Toyota would have raised the price of the car for two years and scolded the customers, saying, "What's the point of buying a car worth 100,000 yuan? If you don't buy it, get out of here."

This is the situation, this is the matter.

Now, the Camry, which has the halo of "new generation", can't even last a few months.

Has the performance of this generation of Camry declined? No, from the product point of view, Toyota has paid enough attention to Chinese consumers.

The ninth-generation Camry has a very youthful appearance, and is equipped with a large central control screen, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, and L2-level driving assistance functions that Chinese consumers like. It also cooperates with Huawei to create an intelligent voice recognition system. The overall performance far exceeds that of the previous generation of products.

But consumers don't seem to accept it. From February this year to now, Camry has been excluded from the club with monthly sales of 10,000 units, just like Mickey falling into a pot of batter, the more it struggles, the harder it is to get out.

Just three years ago, Camry was still the dream car of many people, but now even a fire sale cannot buy it market share. From its introduction in China to the present, the globally popular Camry has never been so miserable.

The product performance of the new Camry has been greatly improved, and Toyota has not had any large-scale quality problems in China. It also has a solid user base, and many people are loyal fans of Toyota.

So, how did the Toyota Camry, which seemed to have everything in place, end up in this situation?

It's nothing, times have changed.

In the era of new energy, domestically produced cars are too strong.

Take the ninth-generation Camry as an example. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip and L2 intelligent driving assistance, although never seen in previous Camrys, have considerable advantages over joint venture cars of the same level. However, these things have been popularized in domestic new energy vehicles of the same price for several years. Now it is difficult for Camry to attract consumers' interest if it uses these things again.

Mobile phones from three years ago, regardless of whether they are flagship, PRO, or MAX, will only appear on Xianyu, where they are sold at a discounted price, in the Chinese market.

Toyota's hybrid models have always used fuel efficiency as their main selling point, but no matter how fuel-efficient they are, they can never reach the level of pure batteries.

In addition, Toyota's long-term low configuration and high price has also given domestic cars an opportunity to rise.

Low configuration and high price is the most prominent problem of joint venture manufacturers. In Toyota's opinion, configurations such as heated rearview mirrors and reversing images are high-end configurations, but these things are very common even on Wuling models.

Domestic consumers have long been disgusted with this problem of joint ventures, simply because the previous range of choices was too narrow. After the rise of domestic cars, especially domestic new energy vehicles, they abandoned these joint venture brands at the speed of light.

In addition, missing out on the new energy boom has also caused a fatal blow to Toyota. If Toyota can start early and launch new energy models that meet user needs, it will not be difficult for Toyota to continue its glory in the Chinese market with its strong brand influence.

Why is Toyota so stubborn? Because it chose the wrong technology tree from the beginning. Akio Toyoda has never concealed his disdain for pure electric vehicles.

Toyota has the capital to be arrogant because its scale is indeed large. In the past three years, its global sales have been over 10 million vehicles each year. This has given Toyota an illusion that it can dominate the industry's technological trends on its own.

However, Toyota has forgotten one fact. As a country with incomplete sovereignty and other countries stationing troops on its territory, when has it ever been able to dominate even a small international matter such as the technical route of a certain industry? Semiconductors, LCDs... Hasn't it suffered enough losses in these industries? Moreover, denying your technical route is a small price to pay. Waiting for you to mature and harvest is the normal requirement of the American father for it.

China is different. China is a responsible major country that can decide its own path and let others follow it.

In the past decade, the annual sales volume of passenger cars in China has been over 20 million. Such a supermarket has rapidly transformed to new energy, mainly pure electric, plug-in hybrid and extended-range vehicles. This is the confidence and strength to change the global automotive industry landscape.

Under the influence of multiple unfavorable factors, Toyota's sales began to face a major crisis. From January to May 2024, Toyota's sales in China were only 630,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 10.3%. Moreover, this was the result after a number of main models were significantly reduced in price.

Toyota has suffered a complete setback in all vehicle models, including the 120,000 yuan Camry, the 80,000 yuan Corolla, the 230,000 yuan Highlander and the 150,000 yuan Avalon. Toyota is now in a state very similar to that of domestically produced cars when they first started out. Everything it says is just a sophistry and everything it does is wrong.

The domestically produced cars of that time have now made a comeback and become the leaders in the new energy era. Is it possible for Toyota to make a comeback in China? Yes, but the possibility is close to zero.

Domestic new energy vehicles are gaining momentum, and the possibility of a collective collapse in the short term is not great. Toyota has fallen far behind. So far, the only new energy vehicle model that can sell in large quantities is the small verification code Toyota bZ3, but this car uses BYD batteries and power platform, and the "pure blood" Toyota bZ4x sold more than 7,000 units last year by relying on a big price cut, and the cumulative sales from January to May this year were only 13 units.

Domestic new energy manufacturers are arguing over batteries, motors, electronic controls, smart cockpits, smart driving, high-voltage fast charging, and super charging piles. They are arguing because they have made progress, but Toyota, due to its weak technology, has no chance to even get a word in.

This brings up a big problem. When Toyota, the leader among the three major Japanese car giants, has no say in the price cuts, how should its Japanese brothers, who have been directly pulled down from the altar, cope with the Chinese market?

Thirty years on the east side of the river, thirty years on the west side of the river. The Japanese system is now not in any position, and its sun is setting in the west.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.