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ReprintsEurope to get Toyota small SUV
Japanese carmaker will launch new entry in fast-growing segment
Luca Ciferri
Automotive News Europe
November 12, 2007 06:01 CET
TURIN -- Toyota will unveil a small SUV for Europe at the Geneva auto show in March, entering a fast-growing segment where it hasn't been present so far. The Japanese carmaker wants to sell more than 1.3 million Toyota-brand cars in Europe, including Russia and Turkey, by 2009, up from 1.09 million last year. The new five-door small SUV will help Toyota reach its ambitious targets. It will be based on the Japan-only Ist and will go on sale shortly after the Geneva auto show. "Toyota will import from Japan a heavily rebodied variant of the Ist," Thierry Dombreval, chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Europe, told Automotive News Europe. The Ist shares a platform with the Yaris small car. Dombreval said the European version will look more rugged than its Japanese sibling.
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Currently, Toyota dominates Europe's medium SUV segment. Since 2001, its RAV4 has been Europe's top-selling medium SUV. Last year, Toyota boosted RAV4 sales 15.1 percent to 106,243 units, capturing 22.1 percent of the segment. But Toyota so far has not had an entry in Europe's small SUV segment, which grew faster than any other segment last year. Sales of small SUVs soared 63.6 percent in 2006 to 94,153 units. The small SUV will resemble the Urban Cruiser concept unveiled at the 2006 Geneva show. Toyota also plans to launch another European model. It will be a microcar based on the IQ concept shown at September's IAA in Frankfurt. The carmaker expects to sell about 80,000 units annually of the microcar, which launches in January 2009. |
You can reach Luca Ciferri at lciferri@craincom.de.
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