China-made Highlander SUV ready for release

Shanghai, April 3 (Gasgoo.com) GAC Toyota (Guangzhou Toyota) has announced that it will launch the locally-made Highland SUV on April 12 to the Chinese market, xinhuanet.com said today. The Toyota SUV will be mass-produced at the newly built second plant of the joint venture.

The Highlander SUV was previously sold in China as an imported vehicle. The Chinese-made Highlander will have ten models avalable, to be priced between 270,000 yuan ($39,530) and 410,000 yuan. Sales staff of a GAC Toyota 4S store said that the Highlander SUV import has stopped as oredering for the China-made Highlander has started, with 20,000 yuan deposit.

GAC Toyota will deliver the first batch of the SUV by June to buyers. The locally-made Highlander SUV will offer the 2.7L mode as its flagship, which will be much cheaper than the imported one. For instance, the imported 3.5L Highlander luxury version sells for 539,000 yuan, and the Chinese-made one will sell for 410,000 yuan.

Construction of the second plant is nearing completion and the new facility will start operation soon. An earlier report said that the 3.5L Highlander model would be made by GAC Toyota, while the all-new 2.7L four-cylinder 2009 Highlander model would be assembled at the venture's new plant from imported components.

They will feature the five-speed automatic manual transmission, four-wheel-drive system, among others. The Toyota Highlander SUV, which includes the Sport, Limited, Hybrid, and Hybrid Limited variants, will rival the Honda Pilot and Nissan Murano series.