Toyota plans to start production and sales of a small electric sedan powered by BYD batteries by year-end as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Chinese company, three people close to the Japanese carmaker said.
The bZ3 sedan, only for the Chinese market for now and co-developed with BYD, will be the second model in the new Beyond Zero (bZ) series of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from Toyota, which has been criticized by activists and green investors for not embracing BEVs fast enough.
The first bZ car — the bZ4X sport-utility vehicle — was to hit the market in China earlier this year, but a global recall of the car forced Toyota to suspend production of the model globally.