FAW Toyota Asian Dragon – the allure of TNGA’s flagship model
Good times make the lucky ones, and bad times make the great ones. This classic quote flowing in the long river of history always reminds people of those winners in life who are struggling despite the difficulties. In fact, the growth process of lucky people and great people also reflects the world of all walks of life, and for the automotive industry, there is never a shortage of heroes who stand out in adversity.
Since the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, the global economy has inevitably been mired in a quagmire. In the automotive industry, there are many brands that cannot survive after being in trouble, but there are also those who have struggled to move forward despite the trend.
The fruit of the perfect combination between the group with deep roots in China and the group that has been deeply cultivating the Chinese market for decades is that it has shown strong resilience under the heavy blow of the epidemic. Knock-out products have shown strong product power during the epidemic, holding a rock-solid position for FAW Toyota’s market layout after the epidemic has passed.
The reason why the Asian Dragon has been able to overcome obstacles in the difficult times of strong enemies and economic recession is still due to the customer reputation accumulated since the launch of the best-selling model in 2019, as well as the dimensionality reduction of competitors such as China and Japan after the launch of the 2.0L model lowered the price threshold.
The sales story written in the 12 months since its listing is the most powerful evidence of the overall strength of the Asian Dragon. As for why the Asian Dragon can occupy a favorable position in the Longtan tiger’s den of the joint venture medium-sized car market as a rookie, in the final analysis, it is because the TNGA structure gives it a unique platform advantage.
When it comes to TNGA, its significance to Toyota is no less than that of quattro. Toyota has broken out of the traditional industrial chain and derived a disruptive R & D and production system, which has revolutionized the entire brand from the inside out. This concept is specific to every aspect of a car, which is a complete change – TNGA has realized many seemingly contradictory needs of the Asian Dragon in a dialectical and unified philosophical way, and this is also the root of the Asian Dragon’s emergence from rivals such as Passat, Maiteng and INSPIRE.
Among these contradictions, perhaps the most difficult dilemma for automakers is the conflict between increasingly tight environmental protection policies and consumers’ increasingly demanding requirements for power. However, this contradiction has found a perfect solution under the TNGA architecture – the TNGA 2.5L Dynamic Force Engine not only curbs the energy loss of the exhaust and cooling ends, but also increases the thermal efficiency to 41% that rivals are amazed by high-speed combustion and VVT-iE (motor-driven intelligent variable valve timing system).
In addition, the transmission system also provides a powerful channel for the power under the TNGA architecture, which allows the Asian Dragon to accelerate smoothly and smoothly, but also gives it amazing fuel economy, especially the fuel consumption of the dual-engine version is only 4.3L/100km with the help of the electronic continuously variable transmission (E-CVT). Even if the theoretical fuel consumption is too conservative, the measured fuel consumption of 5.4L/100km from the authoritative media will not lie. Combined with the recent oil price, the cost per kilometer is only 3 cents. This alone is enough to capture the hearts of consumers who value fuel consumption.
The importance of TNGA to the Asian Dragon lies not only in the flawless powertrain, but also in the safety performance of the Asian Dragon to a new height. In the most rigorous US IIHS crash test, the Asian Dragon achieved excellent results in multiple sub-tests with G (excellent review), and finally won the top safety evaluation of "Top Safety Pick +", which also makes Passat and Maiteng who have been struggling in the Chinese market for decades feel ashamed. The reason for such a commendable performance is mainly the improvement of the rigidity of the body by high-strength hot-pressed materials.
In addition, in the field of active safety, Toyota Group’s proud Toyota Safety Sense (Toyota Collision Avoidance Assist Package) integrates PCS pre-collision safety system, LDA lane keeping system (including steering control function), AHB automatic adjustment high beam system and DRCC dynamic radar cruise control system, plus 10 SRS air bags as standard in the whole system, creating a great safety wall for the occupants of the car. The auxiliary control configuration such as PVM panoramic monitoring system, BSM parallel blind spot monitor, and RCTA rear blind spot warning system on the reversing side solves the worries caused by the blind spot of vision to the owner.
Of course, Asia Dragon’s success is not only due to the TNGA architecture. The smart experience built by the perfect combination of mobile phone connectivity and smart security is also a key part of attracting consumers to choose Asia Dragon. The Baidu Carlife human-machine interaction system used by Asia Dragon allows mobile phones to seamlessly connect with in-vehicle multimedia systems via USB or Wifi, integrating driving navigation, Bluetooth calls and audio-visual entertainment into car life.
The auto market is competing with the law of the jungle every day. Today, joint venture B-class cars such as Taurus, 508 and C6 have long been reduced to a thing of the past. After the big wave, the only remaining models such as Teana, Maiteng and Passat will be the most worthy enemies of the Asian Dragon in 2020. After the epidemic gradually fades, FAW Toyota Asian Dragon will also have the last laugh with the platform advantage and high-quality smart travel experience given by Toyota TNGA.
Because the Asian Dragon, which shares the GA-K platform, has far more comprehensive strength than the B-class car, which makes the Asian Dragon have almost no equal opponents in the joint venture B-class car market. Of course, we also hope to see the Asian Dragon face more challengers in the future, because the crisis consciousness formed by the challenges of elite soldiers such as Passat, Maiteng, INSPIRE and Accord will allow the Asian Dragon to continue to evolve, providing consumers with an unparalleled car experience, and future competitors who come to fight will further motivate FAW Toyota to provide more outstanding car purchase options like the Asian Dragon.