GAC Toyota Slashes Camry Price in Response to BYD's Car Price War

GAC Toyota Motor, Toyota's joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group, has significantly reduced the price of the ninth-generation Camry by nearly CNY30,000 (approximately USD4,173) in response to rival BYD's recent revival of China's car price war.

The latest Camry 2.0 L hybrid, launched on March 6, now starts at CNY171,800 (around USD23,898), representing a 15 percent decrease compared to previous models. Additionally, this new version is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, boasting a higher configuration than its predecessors.

GAC Toyota is undoubtedly aiming to reverse the downward trend in Camry sales through this price cut. Shipments of the Camry plummeted by 27.7 percent in January, with only 16,400 units sold, and its overall sales for the previous year dropped by 10 percent to 225,500 units. As GAC Toyota's flagship model, this decline had a significant impact on the company's annual sales, which decreased by 7.3 percent to 901,000 units.

BYD initiated a fresh round of the auto market's price war following the Lunar New Year holiday last month by reducing the prices of its fossil fuel-powered cars to stimulate sales. The move was quickly followed by Cadillac from the United States and Volkswagen Passat from Germany.

Chinese car brands are gaining popularity in China, surpassing foreign-branded joint ventures in terms of market share. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Chinese vehicle brands expanded their market share to 56 percent in 2023, compared to 38.4 percent in 2020. In January, Chinese brands further increased their market share by 8.8 percentage points, reaching 60.4 percent.