On May 31, GAC Toyota officially launched the 2024 Highlander, offering 8 smart electric hybrid models and 3 380T models. Prices have been reduced significantly, with discounts up to 5.3 million. The elite 5-seat hybrid model now starts at 229,800 yuan (31770$). Highlander has been a popular choice in the SUV market for over a decade, and the 2024 model has been upgraded to meet current market demands. This event also showcased Highlander’s unknown hardcore quality.
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2024 Highlander Model Introduction The 2024 Highlander maintains the same appearance as the current model, with classic styling and familiar Toyota elements. Changes include the switch from Hybrid to HEV on the dual-engine model badge and the removal of the light blue accents on the logo. The size of the midsize SUV also fits well with Chinese perception of the size of this type of vehicle.
The front of the car is tall and full, with a coordinated overall appearance. The traditional front grille has a wave shape that highlights its sporty and youthful attributes, while the chrome trim adds a touch of sophistication.
The 2024 Highlander’s body dimensions remain at 4695*1930*1750mm, with a wheelbase of 2850mm. The side profile is straight, especially the rear roof, ensuring ample headroom for third-row passengers in the 7-seater version.
Compared to the exterior, the 2024 Highlander’s upgrades are mostly focused on the interior and features. The interior design continues the current layout, looking decent and not outdated, but with a touch of delicacy and luxury. New ivory noble and elegant interior, as well as Rococo patterned metal brushed trim and premium perforated NAPPA leather seats, executive exclusive seat adjustment buttons, intelligent touch warm light reading lamp and other features are added. From the perspective of immersing in luxury space, the cabin of the 2024 Highlander becomes more exclusive and luxurious.
In addition, the 2024 Highlander has upgraded to a 12.3-inch LCD instrument panel and a 12.3-inch center control screen. The split design is more practical than the common shared screen design. The 12.3-inch LCD instrument panel can change themes, link with driving modes, and display more information.
The car system now uses the mainstream 8155 chip, increasing computing power and making operation smoother. Added Huawei’s voice recognition system and more supported car apps. Enhanced three mainstream smartphone connectivity functions, upgraded remote control features, added headlight flashing + horn function, and door/trunk opening/closing function. “Zero-error” Toyota Pilot advanced intelligent driving is standard across the board. Facial recognition and rich app market are also included.
The quiet cabin of the new car has been upgraded, with 17 upgrades to soundproofing materials in five areas. Soundproofing material density has been increased by 80% and thickness by 83% in the dashboard, main and auxiliary driver floor, second-row floor, trunk floor, and central aisle. The new car is also equipped with a boss key on the front passenger seat, with the second-row seat back adjustable to 38° and the second-row seat sliding up to 180mm. The already quiet Highlander will now be even quieter inside the cabin.
In terms of power, the new car will continue to use the current powertrain. The gasoline model is equipped with a 2.0T engine, with a maximum power output of 248 horsepower and peak torque of 380N·m, paired with an 8AT transmission. The hybrid model is powered by a HEV hybrid system consisting of a 2.5L engine and an electric motor, with a total system power of 181kW. The engine has a maximum power of 139kW and peak torque of 236N·m. Depending on whether it is two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, the electric motor has a maximum power of 134kW or 174kW, respectively, and is paired with an E-CVT transmission.
GAC Toyota Quality Museum Explores Unseen Quality During the launch event of the 2024 Highlander, GAC Toyota set up the “GAC Toyota Quality Museum” exhibition, revealing dozens of advanced technologies and quality management measures for the first time. Showcasing the hardcore strength of “factory original quality”. The visit to the GAC Toyota Quality Museum exhibition was very interesting, experiencing firsthand Toyota’s rigorous and advanced manufacturing and management practices in a non-stop production environment.
For passive safety of vehicles, having a strong body can better resist external impacts, protecting occupants in the car. 29 years ago, Toyota first used the GOA body technology, connecting A/B/C pillars into a “hierarchical structure” to ensure better body strength and rigidity. The use of high-strength steel is essential. In the body frame, high-strength steel above 440-1500Mpa accounts for 62%, with 1500Mpa ultra-high strength steel used in key areas. Additionally, 1190Mpa reinforcement is used in the door hinges to ensure they can open smoothly after an impact. With the support of 6000 welding points in the Highlander, it can better resist structural deformation from impacts and improve the vehicle’s strength.
The Toyota Highlander’s GOA body has been certified for safety by various organizations and countries, including IIHS, NHTSA, ANCAP, C-NCAP.
There is a saying that there are only two types of hybrid in the world, one is Toyota and the other is other brands. This shows that Toyota’s hybrid technology holds a high position in the global hybrid market. Toyota’s hybrid system uses a large displacement engine + small battery layout. Based on the planetary gear power splitting structure, using a small power battery can achieve efficient combination of fuel and electricity operation. Through 30 years of algorithm iteration, optimizing engine and three-electric efficiency, achieving strong power and low fuel consumption performance. The planetary gear power splitting structure can achieve vehicle advantages in all scenarios. It has the advantages of starting with pure electric drive, quiet with zero fuel consumption, normal driving in urban conditions with low fuel consumption and stability, strong power and no energy waste during high-speed constant speed driving, acceleration and overtaking with dual engine drive, maintaining speed, and so on.
In the factory, stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly, essential processes in car manufacturing, are carried out smoothly every day at this global model plant. On the stamping production line, 90% of large stamping parts can be made in-house. Using Komatsu’s fully automatic intelligent high-speed servo stamping line customized exclusively for Toyota, parts are more precise and stable, with a shaping time of less than 4 seconds for a complex part. To ensure the quality of stamped parts, Toyota adopts 100% precise inspection to eliminate risks from subjective perception.
The automation rate of the fourth welding assembly has reached 100%, with 815 high-speed robots, 260 sets of CNC modules, 95 AGVs, and 18 sets of vision guidance systems. The production line can fully track the quality of welds, ensuring a 100% pass rate for welds.
The painting workshop uses more advanced technology. Compared to traditional phosphating technology, the coating has stronger adhesion, durability, and environmental friendliness. With Toyota’s self-developed iX spraying technology, the product’s appearance quality and durability are significantly improved. At the same time, the body’s anti-corrosion and acid-alkali resistance performance are also further enhanced.
Toyota’s exclusive clip-on color change system can change colors in just 10 seconds, allowing multiple cars to be painted in line and increasing production efficiency for niche color models. Meanwhile, GAC Toyota is the first domestic manufacturer to introduce AI detection technology, ensuring color deviation is within Toyota’s standard range with the help of optical automatic detection equipment.
The final assembly workshop is where the whole vehicle is born, their pursuit is “zero defect rate.” To improve assembly efficiency, the final assembly workshop adopts a “川” shaped production layout, reducing the distance of parts handling by 27%, significantly saving time and improving logistics efficiency, calculated to save over 100 hours of parts transportation time per day. The unique multi-platform switching hoist system can support different wheelbase models, based on this to create a flexible production line, achieving mixed-line production of multiple vehicles. Toyota’s unique chassis assembly line with on-the-go matching equipment can achieve 100% on-the-go matching on the main line, vehicles move and match on one side, saving time for workstation movement, reducing at least 10 workstations compared to industry workshops, efficiency increased by 30%.
Furthermore, the QIS quality management information system can monitor 100% of key torque tightening and liquid filling data through a traceable, feedback-enabled, and judgmental human-machine interaction system to ensure a stable high-quality management system is achieved. Before the vehicle leaves the factory, it must undergo comprehensive quality inspection before being released to the market. Inspectors with the SQA logo are the final line of defense for product delivery. They use the same methods and standards as the “Toyota Global Shipping Quality Inspection” to ensure that qualified products are delivered to users through over 1500 checks and feedback.
Summary: The 2024 Highlander not only meets current consumer market demands, but also upgrades the vehicle to meet actual consumer needs, with a very competitive price. Visiting the factory, we felt Toyota’s consistent commitment to quality, which explains why Toyota’s products are loved by global users.