GAC Toyota Cuts Entry-Level bZ3X Pricing to 114,800 RMB With Limited 2,000-Unit Knight Edition

Toyota’s China NEV strategy got a sharper price weapon on June 18, 2026. GAC Toyota launched the bZ3X Knight Edition — a blacked-out 2,000-unit limited run of its compact PHEV crossover — at a promotional 114,800 RMB (~$15,830), around 20,000 RMB below the standard bZ3X Comfort and the lowest sticker any Toyota-badged NEV has ever carried in China. The Knight Edition is GAC Toyota’s annual June “618” mid-year-shopping-festival play, designed to capture social-media buzz and wait-list buyers in a segment where Chinese-native rivals are setting the pricing tempo.

What’s Actually New on the Knight Edition

The Knight Edition is mainly a visual and infotainment refresh on top of the existing bZ3X PHEV powertrain. Cosmetically it adds a matte-black front grille surround, gloss-black 19-inch alloys, black mirror caps and roof rails, a Knight Edition rear badge, black leatherette seats with red stitching, a black headliner and illuminated Knight door-sill plates. The biggest functional change is a new 14.6-inch center display (up from 10.25 inches on the standard base trim) running Toyota’s own Android Automotive-derived OS with built-in HiCar and CarLink. Drivetrain hardware carries over: a 1.5-L Atkinson four-cylinder serves as the range-extender feeding a single electric drive motor, with an 18.4 kWh ternary pack delivering 110 km CLTC of EV-only range, total system output of 140 kW (188 hp) and a 4.0 L/100 km charge-sustaining figure. DC fast charge tops out at 45 kW (30-80% in roughly 25 minutes).

Pricing Stack and the After-Subsidy Picture

GAC Toyota’s “618” pricing ladder now reads: Knight Edition at 114,800 RMB (limited to 2,000 units, pre-subsidy), Standard bZ3X Comfort at 134,800 RMB, and Standard bZ3X Luxury at 149,800 RMB. After the national NEV purchase subsidy of approximately 6,900 RMB, the Knight Edition’s effective sticker drops to around 107,900 RMB (~$14,880). Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 ships standard across all bZ3X trims, including pre-collision detection of pedestrians and cyclists in low light, full-speed-range adaptive cruise with lane-centering, lane-trace assist on expressways and traffic-sign recognition.

The Competitive Read

The Knight Edition’s most direct rivals — BYD Song Plus EV (from 139,800 RMB), Chery Tiggo 8 Pro PHEV (129,800 RMB) and Changan Deepal S07 (124,800 RMB) — are all undercut on headline price. The gap closes once each model’s national subsidy and local EV purchase tax breaks are layered in, but for a Toyota-badged compact PHEV in China to lead a 100K-150K RMB-range comparison on sticker is the more notable shift. The 2,000-unit cap also lets GAC Toyota generate the marketing splash without forcing a permanent margin reset on the standard trims, while the bZ3X’s underlying TSS 3.0 ADAS bundle still trails XPeng XNGP and Huawei ADS on city-level Navigate-on-ADAS coverage. For full color-option breakdown, dealer allocation rules and the Atkinson-EREV powertrain detail, see iEVChina’s bZ3X Knight Edition launch coverage.

Source: Autohome.com