If you follow automotive news closely, you will know that Europe intends to wage war against Chinese electric car manufacturers. There is even an investigation, the first results of which have already been published, into illegal state aid provided by Beijing to manufacturers.

Nevertheless, Chinese electric cars are gradually gaining a foothold in Europe, but they are not so cheap if you look closely. The MG4 stands out with an environmental bonus that allows it to appear at a base price of €25,000 at entry level and with a bonus of €5,000. Next year, with the new bonus scale, he could avoid this in France and his price will rise to €30,000.

Overall, this would put this MG4 pretty much on par with the Peugeot e-208 (which will continue to be eligible for the bonus), for example, while BYD, another Chinese manufacturer making waves in Europe, has its model priced at as a rule, correlate with other electric vehicles. For example, the BYD Seal sedan is even more expensive than the Tesla Model 3.

What if the “danger” came from somewhere else?

At the same time, almost no one looks towards Japan, which has long sworn only to hybrids, but domestic manufacturers have already started, as best they can, for several years transition to full electricity. And in the next few years, it may well pay off, and sooner than we think.

Take the example of Toyota, which has recently changed direction and which has also accelerated its energy transition with huge investments to meet the goals set by Akio Toyoda, the brand’s former chief executive, before he left. Their purpose? Sell ​​3.5 million electric vehicles per year by 2030.

Japanese manufacturers join forces

Toyota has also partnered with Subaru, which has announced it wants to push electric cars more convincingly, as well as with Suzuki, among others. If the alliance with Subaru is already felt through the connections between bZ4X and Solterra, the partnership with Suzuki is not yet, but it will certainly be interesting as well.

Toyota would develop its bZ2X with Suzuki and could offer small, 100% electric SUV by 2025. Suzuki, which has always specialized in small cars, is already working with Toyota on hybrid cars such as the A-Cross and Swace.

This alliance can go even further. The Japanese press also mentions a sort of zero-emissions Aygo X, at least in terms of size. Toyota has registered the name FT-3e for this car: “FT” stands for “Toyota of the Future”, the “3” indicates the segment it belongs to (under the bZ4X’s “4”), while the “e” clearly stands for “electric”.

The Europeans are also polishing their weapons

Will this be the final model name? It’s too early to say. Perhaps we will already see it at Japan Mobility 2023, which will open on October 26 in Tokyo.

In any case, well-known European electric cars costing less than 25,000 euros, which should arrive in large numbers from 2024 (Renault 5 E-Tech, Citroën ë-C3, Volkswagen ID.2, etc.), will have competition, and it does not necessarily have to come from Chinabut rather from another country, where cars are already very much a part of the European automotive landscape, and factories are also already well developed on the Old Continent.

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