Toyota bZ7 and Nissan Teana tap HarmonyOS to compete in China

At the 2025 Guangzhou Auto Show, it became clear that Toyota and Nissan are reshaping their playbook in China. With sales of foreign marques slipping and local EV champions setting the pace, the Japanese brands are moving to embed Chinese digital platforms directly into their cars — a shortcut that speeds product updates and trims development costs.

Toyota unveiled the bZ7, an electric crossover co-developed with GAC-Toyota. The model adopts Huawei’s full technology stack, pairing the HarmonyOS interface with the DriveONE system. The package brings sophisticated sensors, face recognition, and a broader set of battery configurations. It’s the brand’s first vehicle built around a fully integrated Chinese digital ecosystem.

Nissan is taking a similar route. As 32CARS previously reported, the new Teana is the company’s first gasoline model to feature a HarmonyOS media system — a clear sign that, for Chinese buyers, the in-car digital experience now carries outsized weight.

Amid bruising competition and ongoing price wars, Japanese manufacturers are working to sharpen the appeal of their lineups. Leaning into local software and services helps them stay in the fight in a segment where user interfaces, online features, and native tech integration increasingly decide the purchase. Judging by the pace of these steps, it feels less like a one-off experiment and more like a pragmatic recalibration for the market.