The first bZ car - the bZ4X sport-utility vehicle - was to hit the market in China earlier this year, but a global recall of the car forced Toyota to suspend production of the model globally. The car is roughly the same size as Toyota's Corolla model but with a bigger back-seat section, the sources said. There are no plans for Toyota's other joint venture with GAC Motor to produce the bZ3, the three sources said. Toyota has long advocated a small car that does not compromise on comfort as the best way to popularise BEVs, but it has struggled to produce one. The bZ3's smaller sedan configuration has become feasible chiefly because of BYD's thinner lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) Blade battery technology.

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