Στο Παρίσι παρουσιάστηκε και η Touring/Wagon έκδοση του νέου Toyota Auris. Στιλιστικά, εκτός από τον τρίτο όγκο, τις σχάρες στην οροφή και το ότι είναι μεγαλύτερο κατά 285 mm, δεν έχει καμία αλλαγή και μηχανικά θα είναι διαθέσιμο με τους ίδιους κινητήρες με την hatchback έκδοση, ενώ για πρώτη φορά την C-Segment κατηγορία, θα υπάρχει μια υβριδική έκδοση. Οι πωλήσεις του θα ξεκινήσουν από τα μέσα του 2013.
[Πηγή: Toyota]
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New Auris Touring Sports
- Touring Sports variant for the Auris model range
- The first wagon available in the C-segment with a full hybrid powertrain
- 285 mm longer than hatchback with increased luggage capacity
Brussels, Belgium –
The new Toyota Auris Touring Sports makes its world debut at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, adding the popular wagon body style to the model range’s comprehensive choice of powertrains.
Wagon variants currently represent 25% of the mainstream C-segment sales mix, and the new Auris Touring Sports will be the first wagon in the segment available with a full hybrid powertrain.
Combining versatility and dynamic design without compromising loadspace or luggage capacity, the new Auris Touring Sports represents a further diversification of Toyota’s application of its HSD full hybrid powertrain.
Design
As with the new Auris hatchback, the Auris Touring Sports’ bold, dynamic exterior design maximises the aerodynamic benefits of the model’s reduction in overall height, and the dynamic improvements offered by its lower centre of gravity.
Sharing its 2,600 mm wheelbase, the Auris Touring Sports is 285 mm longer than the hatchback, all of which is dedicated to the extended loadspace of the new wagon. The new Auris Touring Sports shares the hatchback’s new frontal design, which combines Toyota’s Under Priority design language with Keen Look detailing to give the new wagon a powerful yet elegant road presence.
In profile, the wagon also shares the hatchback’s steeply raked windscreen, which flows into an extended roofline featuring anodised aluminium roof rails and an integral rear spoiler. The extended, three-panel side glazing features blacked-out pillars, including a piano black finish to the B pillar, and is underscored by chrome-accented trim above the bodywork’s powerful, rising beltline crease.
To the rear, the Auris Touring Sports features a new bumper and tailgate design, with the loadspace sill set 80 mm lower than that of the hatchback and the number plate raised to maintain balance in the proportions. As with the rest of the Auris range, a new, wraparound rear combination lamp design reinforces the dynamic shape of the rear wing, new D pillar design and rear screen.
Toyota Press Conference speech – Paris 2012
Didier Leroy, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe
Paris, France –
Good morning everyone and welcome once again to Toyota.
As we have just seen Toyota is defined by better. Because we believe there is Always A Better Way to create even better cars. This belief comes from the Kaizen philosophy which has always directed the best of Toyota. Not just in our engineering and manufacturing but also our approach to creativity and innovation.
And here’s a fantastic example – the GT86! It’s a great product – a car that’s light weight fun to drive exciting to look at and within the reach of many customers. Sales have just started and it’s receiving a very warm welcome.
And as you can see today we are making GT86 even more appealing to people who want to customise their vehicle and boost performance by adding a Toyota Racing Development accessory range via our retailer network. As you know the GT86 was developed in partnership with Subaru taking key elements from each company. It was simply a better way to create a leading product.
The theme of finding a better way through the use of strategic partnership is also demonstrated by our most recent agreement with PSA. This agreement covers the sales and marketing of light commercial vehicles from the first half of next year.
It also includes collaboration on the next-generation products and is an agreement that we expect to remain in place beyond 2020. And you are no doubt aware that we recently announced the intention to extend our strategic partnership with BMW. We plan to work together in a broad range of areas from fuel cell technology through to future sports cars.
That’s for tomorrow but let’s concentrate on today.
We’ve found a better way to race – at the highest level with the ‘TS–Oh-30’ hybrid in the World Endurance Championship. The car has shown itself to be a winner. At both Le Mans and at Silverstone it was seen as a genuine challenger and then it went on to win in only its third race in Sao Paolo just two weeks ago.I believe we surprised our competitors and many people have told us they are very impressed by what we’ve been able to achieve in such a short time.
‘TS–Oh-30’ shows that Toyota’s Hybrid system really is a better powertrain technology. It also shows that hybrid can deliver winning performance in an efficient way. The great thing about our hybrid system is that it can be applied across a range of green alternatives – such as full hybrid Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cells. No other manufacturer has such a flexible yet integrated approach. This is not by chance. We showed our belief in full hybrid long before anyone else.
Some of our competitors are still introducing their first hybrid models here in Paris. In the meantime we have already sold four and a half million full hybrid vehicles worldwide including over four hundred and fifty thousand here in Europe. This experience has helped us develop a range of powertrain technologies so our customers always have the best available option for their needs. As you know the market for electric vehicles is still full of uncertainty.
We have seen that customers are not yet willing to compromise on range and they don’t like the time needed to re-charge the batteries. So even if we are ready with our production version of the iQ EV we think a plug-in hybrid solution offers A Better Way than pure electric for most customers needs.
We have created an efficient solution for people who want a longer driving range but still want to drive in pure EV when commuting. It’s the Prius Plug-in Hybrid a car that gives the best of both worlds. A car which delivers the 25 kilometres of pure electric driving needed for 70% of Europe’s daily journeys and has the backup of an efficient hybrid system to deliver a range of over 1,200 kilometres.
Enough to travel from Paris to Madrid without recharging or refuelling. The Prius Plug-in Hybrid is already meeting our expectations in terms of sales. Despite only launching in July we expect to sell 4,000 units this year. For 2013 we expect to sell around 10,000 units in Europe – far more than any pure electric car or so-called range-extender vehicle.
Hybrid Synergy Drive is also at the heart of our vision for fuel cell vehicles. The main challenge is infrastructure. We believe we can unlock volume and bring system cost down but only when sufficient refuelling networks are in place. This will happen so in 2013 we will increase prototype testing in the US Japan and here in Europe. And we remain on track to begin selling our first fuel cell vehicle by 2015.
Our fuel cell car will emit no harmful emissions at all and will have a driving range of around 700 kms. We think this will be the ultimate eco-car. Of course a better way tomorrow has to be matched by better ways today. We believe it is much better to sell larger numbers of accessible low emission cars than very few with zero emissions.
Our view is that sustainable development should be available to all not just to the privileged few Worldwide we now sell more than 100,000 low emission fuel-efficient hybrids every month
And in Europe we expect around 15% of our sales volume this year will be hybrid products. That’s 115,000 full hybrid Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold in Europe this year alone. And importantly most of the full hybrid cars we sell in Europe are also produced in Europe.
So you can appreciate how hybrid technology is giving us an advantage and helping us to grow through locally-made products. Yaris and Europe This trend of leveraging our European production facilities will continue.
Building from today’s strong manufacturing base we have a clear objective to locally produce around 75% of the cars we sell in Europe. Today our market share stands at just over 4.5% an increase of around 10% compared to last year. We’ve sold over 560,000 cars so far this year and we’re well on track to achieving our objective of selling more cars in 2012 than we did in 2011 profitably and sustainably despite the challenging market. It’s another increase towards our medium-term sales target of 1 million units in Europe.
Yaris is key to our growth. Sales this year are already 25% up compared to 2011. In fact Yaris is the only car in the B-segment which has increased both volume and market share in 2012.
That’s an outstanding result. This great progress is strongly supported by the recently launched Yaris Hybrid. Customers have responded extremely well to this car. It’s clearly playing a major role in making hybrid a natural choice for B-segment customers.
It’s agile cleverly packaged and looks great. And with hybrid it has unique appeal. Thanks to the know-how and experience gained over the last 10 years at our plant in Valenciennes I’m proud to say that the Yaris Hybrid just like all Yaris is produced here in France. Our manufacturing efficiency in this country also means that we will start exporting Yaris from France to North America from next year.
Today we’re also launching the new Yaris Trend bringing extra character and refinement to the Yaris line-up. From the start of 2013 Yaris Trend will attract design-focused young city customers people who love its black and white colour scheme and unique styling. The next step in our growth plan is to strengthen our offers in the strategically-important C-Segment to deliver even better products.
This is where we will further leverage the strength of our European production facilities starting with TMMT in Turkey. They will be producing the new Verso. The current Verso is highly appreciated for its interior versatility and space. Now we will attract new Verso customers – people who are looking for a bolder design.
They will benefit from an improved 2 litre D-4D engine delivering better driving performance and lower CO2. They will enjoy a more dynamic drive and a more refined interior.
In June this year Toyota worldwide vehicle production passed 200 million units since we started 75 years ago. The key to building and maintaining such global success lies in the C segment products we’ve produced and sold. Built on a solid foundation of quality, durability and reliability our global success in this key segment is second to none.
We launched the Corolla in 1966 – and with over 39 million units sold – it became the world’s best-selling car. For more than forty-six years Toyota’s C segment products have been a main area of strength for our company. Today in Europe we have three models that we consider part of the ‘Corolla family’ the Corolla the new Verso you’ve just seen and of course the Auris. Since we introduced it just over 5 years ago it’s done a good job for us in terms of attracting new customers particularly the hybrid version.
Customers have told us what they like about the Auris and they’ve also highlighted some areas where we could make the car even more appealing. Of course we’ve listened carefully to that feedback but this time we went even further by adding an extra push to the kaizen philosophy I mentioned earlier. The result is the new Toyota Auris a car which of course embraces the Corolla DNA of quality, durability and reliability but also reflects the personal passion of our President Akio Toyoda.
It features a more dynamic exterior – with the bolder more confident design being the first full execution of the new face of Toyota. Built in our plant in the UK we expect the new Auris to be the new ‘centre of gravity’ for Toyota in Europe. And here it is. Ladies and gentlemen the all-new Toyota Auris!
Based on a new architecture with a lower stance the new Auris has been inspired by Toyota’s desire to make more engaging cars. The engineers focused on weight management chassis design and optimised packaging. The result is a well-balanced car with improved dynamics but also reduced fuel consumption and emissions.
It is agile and aerodynamic with a low driving position and centre of gravity. The spacious interior is marked by refined high-quality materials. Smart packaging means no compromise on boot space for the Hybrid version. Everywhere you look you see that Auris is a great example of Always making better cars.
We’re introducing a balanced engine mix – with a pan-European sales plan of one third petrol one third diesel and one third hybrid.
That makes the new Auris the only vehicle to offer such powertrain variety in the C segment and reinforces Toyota’s commitment to bring full hybrid technology to the widest possible audience. The new Auris Hybrid will have the lowest overall emissions in the segment.
I’m not only referring to CO2 I’m also talking about NOx and particulate matter the emissions that have a negative impact on Air Quality. In fact just like all of our full hybrid products the new Auris Hybrid emits virtually no particles or NOx. And it will be fully available from launch meaning customers can drive the segment’s cleanest car very soon.
And I have even more good news about Auris. Today we are previewing a brand new variant to maximise our C segment offer. This is the Auris Touring Sports – representing an even better way to deliver dynamic design in a versatile product. It’s the first wagon in the segment to include a full hybrid powertrain alongside petrol or diesel options demonstrating our belief in hybrid as a mainstream offer. And as with all new Toyota hybrids clever battery packaging means no compromise on boot space. This Auris Touring Sports will also be produced in the UK alongside the Auris hatchback.
Ladies and gentlemen. Toyota in Europe is growing again. More importantly, we are growing profitably and sustainably. Two years ago I outlined Toyota’s 3-year plan for Europe. Steps 1 and 2 in 2010 and 2011 were achieved successfully despite some very challenging external factors. This year we will complete step 3.
This is the step of building upon the solid foundations we’ve put in place over the last two years to return Toyota in Europe to profit and sustainably grow our business towards 1 million units. Ladies and Gentlemen thank you for your attention and please join me for the Lexus Press Conference which starts in a few minutes.
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