Record hybrid sales push Toyota Motor Europe market share and volume gains

Karl Schlicht, Executive Vice-President of TME, said: “Our hybrid models – the majority of which were produced locally in Europe – continued on a successful upward trend. Together with our strong C-segment product offensive in both Western and Eastern Europe means that we’ve grown sustainably for the third consecutive year even as the automotive market we operate in shrank by an estimated 2%.”

Hybrid Highlights

Toyota is the clear leader for hybrid vehicle sales and production in Europe. European Toyota and Lexus sales of hybrid vehicles reached an all-time high in 2013 totalling 156,863 units, up 43% year-on-year. Hybrid models now make up close to a fifth of total TME sales. In Western Europe (1), 28% of all Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold are hybrid models.

Hybrid vehicle production for Toyota in Europe has doubled to reach a record 116,383 units produced at the company’s manufacturing facilities in France (Yaris Hybrid) and the United Kingdom (Auris Hybrid and Auris Touring Sports Hybrid).

After achieving successive monthly sales records during the final three months of 2013, the Yaris Hybrid ended the year with sales more than doubling year-on-year reaching 49,774 units, an increase of 25,041 units from 2012.

2013 was a record year of sales for the Toyota Auris Hybrid, topping 39,348 units (up 66% from 2012).

Launched in 2013, the Auris Touring Sports Hybrid accounts for 60% (15,175 units) of all Auris Touring Sports sold during the year.

The introduction of the Lexus Hybrid Drive-powered IS 300h in 2013 now completes the existing Lexus hybrid product line-up with sales reaching 5,984 after the first few months of sales.

Hybrid-powered models accounted for 94% of all Lexus vehicles sold in Western Europe in 2013.

Toyota Highlights

In 2013, Toyota renewed the C-segment with the Auris, Auris Touring Sports, the New Corolla – the world’s best sold model – as well as the C-segment MPV, the Toyota Verso, strengthening the company’s product offering, all four models of which are produced locally in Europe.

The Toyota Auris model range (including: Auris, Auris Hybrid, Auris Touring Sports and Auris Touring Sports Hybrid) reached sales of 131,928 in 2013, up 59% year-on-year. The model has been a constant feature in the Top 5 of its segment during the year.

December proved to be a record month for the Toyota Corolla with sales reaching 9,384 units, up 45% from the same month in 2012. During the full 12-month period, Corolla sales increased by 7% year-on-year to 67,987 units.

Toyota has established itself as a firm contender in the C-segment ending the year with an estimated 6.7% segment share.

Toyota Verso was another solid performer during the year with sales of 39,320 units, up 5.3% from the previous year.

The New Toyota RAV4, launched earlier in the year, proved popular in Europe with year-on-year sales increasing by 42% to 95,168 units.

An annual Toyota sales record was set in the Caucasus (2), Israel and Kazakhstan in 2013.

Lexus Highlights

Launched in the second half of 2013, the new Lexus IS range is already proving to be popular with the IS accounting for over one quarter of total Lexus sales in the closing months of the year. The strong performance of the new model helped the Lexus brand end the year on a positive note, posting full year sales of 43,281 units.

Full year sales of the IS range tripled year-on-year to 7,562 units, with some 80% belonging to the hybrid variant, proving to be a major challenger in a segment traditionally dominated by diesel powertrains.

The upward sales trend of the Lexus ES continued with a record month of sales in December. Year-end sales of the ES range totalled 2,673 units.

Sales of the Lexus LS more than doubled year-on-year in 2013 with sales of 952 units.

Lexus achieved record annual sales volumes in six European markets in 2013 including: Russia, France, Kazakhstan, Israel, Norway and the Caucasus.

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