Ford Mustang Mach-E Rival Toyota bZ4X Will Ditch Its Odd Name

The all-electric Toyota bZ4X debuted back in 2021 as just the latest of several rivals in a heated space that also includes the Ford Mustang Mach-E. However, aside from being rather unique in terms of the way it looks, the bZ4X also drew a bit of criticism for its strange name, which doesn’t really make any sort of sense to most, nor does it follow Toyota’s traditional vehicle naming strategy, either. Now, it seems as if the Toyota bZ4X will in fact get a new name, some time after it hit the market.

According to Motor Illustrated, the Toyota bZ4X will be rebranded for the 2026 model year, a bit of news that surfaced via Patrick Ryan, Regional Director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada for Toyota Canada Inc., during a recent press event. It’s unclear what new name Toyota has in store for its all-electric crossover, but the current name is actually based on something – the “bZ” stands for “beyond zero,” while the “4” represents the class the vehicle competes in, and “X” is for crossover.

This certainly won’t be the first time we’ve seen an automaker change the name of an existing product, and in fact, The Blue Oval has executed the same sort of strategy on numerous occasions over the years itself. In fact, back in 2019, the Lincoln Nautilus arrived as a replacement for the MKX, which was accompanied by a total scrapping of the “MK” naming strategy employed by the luxury brand as a whole. Shortly thereafter, the Lincoln Corsair debuted, replacing the MKC, too.

More recently, FoMoCo opted to ditch its decision to apply different brand names to its hands-free highway driving assist feature as well. Originally, Ford models were slated to use BlueCruise, while Lincoln models would come with ActiveGlide, even though those features are identical. However, The Blue Oval opted to ditch ActiveGlide in early 2023 after admitting that the variance “was a bit confusing for customers.”