Toyota unveiled another concept car for its growing bZ range in China on November 15. A pure electric C-class sedan, the bZ7 concept is likely to appear in production form next year and will compete with cars such as the Xiaomi SU7, BYD Han, and Luxeed S7.
The car is likely to be a China-only sedan. Outside China, Toyota has only one fully electric car, the bZ4X, but in China, the bZ range is rapidly growing, having started with the bZ3 sedan.
Interestingly, the bZ7 concept seems identical or very similar to the Comfortable Space Concept shown at last year’s Guangzhou Auto Show. The car will be produced by the GAC Toyota joint venture and will likely go on sale in 2025.
The bZ7 has a sleek coupe-like shape. At the front, there is an enclosed face with through lights. Echoing this, the rear also features a through tail light arrangement.
Internally, it’s believed that the car is known as Project 630D. Back in May, GAC Group deliberated and passed a proposal on GAC Toyota Project 630D. This essentially agreed to go ahead with the project and a total investment of 1.588 billion yuan (218 million USD). Previous planning showed that GAC Toyota intended to launch an all-electric medium-to-large sedan this year known as Comfortable Space. It’s believed that the bZ7, Comfortable Space, and Project 630D are all the same vehicle.
Currently, the GAC Toyota joint venture sells the bZ3X and bZ4X (sold as Bozhi 4X). The FAW Toyota joint venture on the other hand has the bZ3, and bZ4X. The bZ3C will be joining the FAW lineup in the next few months having already appeared in MIIT listing back in September. Although the bZ3X already shows on GAC Toyota’s website model page it won’t start deliveries until March.
Both the bZ3X and and bZ3C cars debuted at the Beijing Auto Show earlier this year and carry on from concepts shown at the Shanghai Show in 2023. Given that time frame, the bZ7 should go on sale in the summer of 2025.
From the bZ3 sedan, Toyota’s all-electric offerings in China have heavily relied upon BYD technology for the powertrain, using both the blade battery and BYD electric motors. This also extends to the bZ3C, and it is highly likely that the bZ7 will be the same.
The bZ7 was not the only all-electric China-only model from a Japanese producer shown at this year’s Guangzhou Auto Show; the Nissan N7 sedan also debuted.
Sources: Dongchedi, Sohu, Automotive Network Reviews,
Classy design! I see a mix of Nissan, Nio and Polestar. Well done.