RZ electrical vehicle from Lexus makes local debut
Lexus South Africa new RZ, the brand’s first globally available, purpose-built battery electric vehicle (BEV), has arrived on local shores.
- Product News
- 5 March 2026
With Dongfeng entering South Africa a couple of weeks ago and with four dealerships operational now, it is interesting to look at the Chinese brand and its joint venture with Nissan (Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company - DFN), launching the new Teana at the Guangzhou Motor Show in China for the Chinese market.
What is it?
The Teana is a large sedan equipped with Huawei's latest cockpit system, HarmonySpace5.0. This system will be adopted across all grades of the Teana sold in China.
Exterior:
The exterior features a sleek, elongated and refined look. Notable design elements include the “star ring” LED , which extends from the centre of the front grille to the headlights on both sides. The twin-projector LED headlights can illuminate up to 230 metres, the longest in its class, significantly enhancing night time driving safety.
Interior:
Inside, about 90% of the surface is covered with soft pads and ambient lighting with up to 256 colour settings has been installed. The vehicle also offers a large touchscreen display with touch operation and high-precision voice control throughout the cabin, providing comfort akin to a moving smart home.
The spacious interior allows for relaxed and comfortable seating in both front and rear seats. The seats feature spinal support, ventilation, memory functions and massage capabilities. A fully adjustable footrest is also included, enhancing comfort further.
As the world’s first internal combustion engine vehicle to feature HarmonySpace5.0 as standard, it offers an in-car system that functions like a smartphone. It includes a 15.6-inch Huawei intelligent display, the largest in its class, along with an AI voice assistant capable of high-precision voice recognition and over-the-air updates.
The vehicle comes standard with a 15-speaker sound system (17 speakers for the top-grade), developed jointly with HUAWEI SOUND.
Powertrain:
It is powered by Nissan’s 2.0-litre turbo engine, delivering 179kW and torque of 371Nm.
Lexus South Africa new RZ, the brand’s first globally available, purpose-built battery electric vehicle (BEV), has arrived on local shores.
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