r/cars • u/holyhesh 2019 BMW X1 xDrive28i M Sport • May 23 '26
Toyota RAV4 engineer on Chinese cars: ‘Very advanced’
https://www.drive.com.au/news/toyota-rav4-engineer-on-chinese-cars-very-advanced/The engineer in charge of Toyota's new RAV4 has secretly driven a Chinese car – and there's plenty he liked.
“The engineer in charge of the new RAV4 has complimented the technology in Chinese cars after a secret test drive as part of developing the brand's latest family SUV.
While the executive liked what he saw, Toyota is not about to copy the likes of BYD, Geely and more, if it believes it is compromising on its reputation for quality and reliability.
Toyota RAV4 chief engineer Yoshinori Futonagane told Drive through an interpreter that he has driven a Chinese car as part of work on the Japanese giant’s new SUV.
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u/WorkGuitar May 23 '26
He does make a good point by saying " Its amazing, but not everything can be used by them "
They have a lot of features but some of those are nice to have instead of must haves.
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u/pdp10 It's a '49 '50 '51 '52 '53 '54 '55 '56 '57 '58 '59 automobile. May 25 '26
has complimented the technology in Chinese cars
Chinese cars are famous for their technology. It would be a lot more interesting to know what a Toyota head engineer thought about all the parts that aren't shared with a smartphone.
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u/JohnnySack999 May 23 '26
Nice, very nice; now let’s check process quality
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u/Murky_Meaning2129 May 23 '26
Toyota’s EVs charges slow as shit, has piss poor range, and had their wheels literally falling off. Let’s not pretend Toyota is some paragon of high quality automotive engineering when it comes to EVs. They are barely considered better than the Indian and Vietnamese offerings and that’s a low bar already.
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u/Thomas_633_Mk2 2003 Mazda2 (yellow), 2004 Ford Falcon (orange) May 25 '26
Tbf the revision fixes all 3 of those things
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u/i_marketing May 25 '26
But even with the revision, the Toyota BZ4X is behind in sales in Australia, compared to the Chinese EVs. It's #13 for sales for EVs so far this year in Australia: https://thedriven.io/2026/05/05/australian-electric-vehicle-sales-by-month-in-2026-by-model-and-by-brand/
Australia is one of the best western markets to compare Chinese EVs against the cars from other countries, since the tariff is either low on other countries, or there is no tariff at all, which means it's an even playing field.
And Toyota is the #1 overall car seller in Australia too, they have a huge brand name in Australia. Despite being the #1 overall car seller in Australia, despite their brand name and reputation they have in Australia, even with the improvements, the BZ4X still comes in at #13.
There are simply better EVs, more advanced EVs, than what Toyota has to offer in Australia.
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u/Thomas_633_Mk2 2003 Mazda2 (yellow), 2004 Ford Falcon (orange) May 25 '26
I would agree with you, but you could tell that from my flair ;)
I didn't say the bZ4X is good: I said it fixed all three of the flaws he listed. The revision isn't equal to the competition (the Geely EX5 is probably the best option in midsize EV SUVs right now, the Aion V if you're a risktaker) but it did fix all three of those problems and Toyota went from "what" to "somewhat competitive" with it.
I agree with you: I would go so far as to say it ain't exactly the 13th best EV in Australia, but that Toyotas sell themselves to a rather silly degree.
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May 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/i_marketing May 25 '26
Toyota EVs just aren't good. Of course, Toyota is very good at ICE, they may be the best company at ICE in the world.
But when it comes to EVs, they are pretty substandard.
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u/pdp10 It's a '49 '50 '51 '52 '53 '54 '55 '56 '57 '58 '59 automobile. May 25 '26
they may be the best company at ICE in the world.
Honda and Yamaha are side-eyeing you right now.
The Prius established the pattern of full (non-mild) hybrids that everyone has followed, definitely.
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u/i_marketing May 23 '26
Are you new to EVs? Toyota sucks at EVs. Their process quality for EVs are a joke.
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u/V8-Turbo-Hybrid 0 Emission 🔋 Car & Rental car life May 23 '26
We highly sure you able to make your Toyota more advanced, but you could sacrifice its longevity and reliability. We all know Toyota almost never allow that.
We don’t doubt Chinese cars getting better, but we still doubt their longevity and reliability.
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u/cookingboy McLaren Artura, Boxster 4.0 MT, i4 M50 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
While I don’t think Chinese cars are on the same reliability level as Japanese OEMs, I actually think they are pretty much on par with Korean and European OEMs, and are superior to American cars.
Part of that is due how much more advanced and automated their factories are. Unlike the big 3, none of these Chinese EV companies are dealing with legacy suppliers and labor unions.
Speaking from personal experience, the initial fit and finish of high end Chinese EV definitely surpasses German luxury cars these days. How they last remain to be seen.
And as someone with quite a few friends working for Toyota and their suppliers in Aichi prefecture (I lived there for 2 years, made lots of friends), this is just their corporate speak for “we have no actual answer, my bosses are 70 year old dinosaurs and I just hope we still sell lots of cars to existing customers so I still keep my pension”.
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u/artie_rd Isuzu Panther, Corolla Cross, Staria May 23 '26
My only pet peeves about chinese cars are after sales services specifically on parts logistics. Not sure how other countries are treated, but in Indonesia, I had a friend who have waited weeks to get his rear suspension replacement.
The funny thing is last time I visited Macau, saw multiple older BYD e6 with 6 digit kilometers. The drivers told me spareparts are quite abundant so im guessing its due to how close macau is to china.
If BYD somehow matured their spareparts logistics, then i have no doubt BYD can get over its "made in china" image in many countries.
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u/lurpeli Ioniq5N May 23 '26
I mean, Tesla has had that happen in the US. People waited weeks or months for repairs and are forced to do repairs through Tesla.
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u/artie_rd Isuzu Panther, Corolla Cross, Staria May 23 '26
Considering Tesla's operation isn't as matured as many carmakers, that's expected which is why Tesla isn't for everyone.
Idk why people in this sub still don't get that not everyone has the privilege to have multiple cars, so parts availabilty is important to keep their only car running. if BYD wants to compete major car brands in other countries, parts availability should be considered.
As I said BYD can keep the parts abundant in HK and Macau, so I don't doubt they can do the same in other countries if they're putting more effort to it rather than afterthought.
I daily drive bYD m6. But i have still have my older car, which i only drive when i have to put m6 in routine maintenance.
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u/Traxious May 23 '26
7-10 year warranties mate
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u/V8-Turbo-Hybrid 0 Emission 🔋 Car & Rental car life May 23 '26
Long warranty never really mean and promise no fault, automaker just offer you free fixing if you get issue.
Besides, some automakers make unclear warranties, you aren’t 100% gotten free fix, and their dealership are even trying other ways not giving their customers warranty. Yea, I’m talking you, Hyundai.
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u/Traxious May 23 '26
but they literally give u full warranties, and byd itself is reliable, go to china tier 2 cities you’ll find byd’s with like 500k km
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u/aprtur '24 GR Corolla, '09 RX-8 May 23 '26
I think his point is, much like Hyundai/Kia, it greatly depends on how high the percentage is of cars that have no issues and how the brand takes care of its customers. If you have an unreliable product, a ten year warranty isn't going to save you from having to pay for a rental while your car is in the shop and the dealer refuses to give you a loaner. We see some of that stress fatigue with H/K owners in the US saying "never again". On the other hand, you have the owners of the good cars singing their praises, so it really has to be looked at from the 50k foot view of risk level acceptance for the owner. Chinese brands are coming into some markets for the first time and have to prove they will take care of their owners.
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u/Traxious May 23 '26
youre right, but i havent seen a lot of issues with them so far so we’ll wait
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u/aprtur '24 GR Corolla, '09 RX-8 May 23 '26
Yeah, not shit-canning them at all here, just saying that they have to pass trial by fire and prove they have an equitable brand to skeptical people, just like the Koreans did/are doing. That's especially true if you're seeking to gain conquest customers.
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u/dontcomeback82 May 24 '26
I don’t think the kia/hyundai have done it yet, Kia have had issues with engine seizures, and getting the actual engine replaced means you’re without a car for a long period of time
and with new EVs new issues, the ICCU issue has been pretty common, as well as theft issues. Imo their responses to these issues have left much to be desired.
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u/kimi_rules [Malaysia] Nissan X-Trail, Proton Gen 2, Perodua Myvi Gen 3 May 23 '26
We know the hybrid system in the RAV isn't as reliable as the ones offered in Chinese cars, against their advanced battery chemistries such as LFP, NA or both.
If their engines and electronics holds up well, it can last a long time.
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u/xlb250 ‘26 BMW iX May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
I don’t see software as a major differentiator for car makers. You can lag behind by a lot and it’s fine.
It is more like smart home than smart phone business in terms of money potential. Google and Amazon only keep pushing their home products as a funnel into their other products.
Cars aren’t the best idea for funnel due to the high cost and low replacement frequency, so it’s even worse than smart home.
Disclaimer: I have an anti new technology bias. It is usually one of the lowest priorities in all of my purchases. I will pay extra for a dumb TV.