Toyota to build the Auris hybrid in Britain from mid-2010+

TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo -
Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it will produce a hybrid version of the Auris
hatchback in Britain from mid-2010, which would mark the first European-built
full hybrid for the Japanese automaker.

Toyota's European unit will manufacture the engines of the gas-electric hybrid
Auris at its plant in Deeside, North Wales and assemble the car at its factory
in Burnaston in England. Toyota did not disclose production figures or delivery
plans.
Toyota, which currently builds hybrids in Japan, the United States and China,
said it aims to boost its presence in the European market, where it still
remains a minor player, by distinguishing itself ''through the strengths of its
hybrid technology.''
The Auris has sold more than 370,000 units in Europe since the model was
introduced in 2007, the automaker said.
A Toyota official said the automaker will reallocate its resources from diesel
engines, which remain popular in Europe, to hybrid technology in line with
President Akio Toyoda's policy to focus on and globally expand its pioneering
hybrid technology.
''Toyota has taken a significant step forward in ensuring that full hybrids
become more accessible to a wider range of customers,'' Toyota Motor Europe
President Tadashi Arashima said in a statement. ''Such efforts are crucial if
we are to see more low-carbon vehicles on European roads.''
The world's biggest automaker, which anticipates heavy losses for the second
consecutive year, aims to weather the current downturn in the auto industry
through robust sales of its hybrids, particularly the new Prius.
Demand for hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars has been growing in Japan and
other countries on the back of government tax breaks and scrap incentives for
eco-friendly vehicles.
''This is a welcome and forward-looking investment in Britain from a world
class manufacturer,'' Peter Mandelson, British secretary of state for business,
innovation and skills, also said in a statement.
==Kyodo