Workbench Logo
Workbench Logo
Workbench Logo

Toyota predicting diesel decline as hybrids gather pace

Over a quarter (26.4%) of Toyota’s 108,900 UK sales were hybrids last year, and the bulk of those were the Yaris and Auris which were the UK’s biggest-selling alternative fuel vehicles. This year, the brand is aiming for 110,750 UK sales, with around 31% to feature a hybrid drivetrain, according to general manager of Toyota vehicle marketing, David Hilbert.

A large part of that increased share will come from the RAV4, which gained the segment’s only hybrid drivetrain – with two or four-wheel drive – as part of a mid-cycle facelift at the start of the year. Half of UK customers are expected to opt for the hybrid, though that’s largely because four-wheel drive will no longer be offered with a diesel engine.

Traditionally retail-weighted, 115g/km CO2 emissions for the two-wheel drive hybrid are expected to tip demand back towards fleets, particularly user-choosers, as this is lower than the new BMW-sourced 2.0-litre diesel’s 123g/km emissions, Hilbert said:  “When we’ve introduced hybrid into the range, the diesel mix tends to wipe out,” he explained.” Customers tend to move from diesel to hybrid.”

Hilbert also sees strong user-chooser demand for the production version of the C-HR, a sub-RAV4 crossover which will be available with a hybrid drivetrain later this year. It’s expected that the sales mix will be as hybrid-weighted as the Auris, in which 56.8% of customers opt for the hybrid version.

A claimed 60% of all hybrids sold globally, and 75% of those sold in Europe, are Toyotas or Lexus products. Last year, a fifth of its total sales volume had a hybrid drivetrain and it’s aiming for at least half to be hybrids by 2020 – including in the UK. That shift is already well underway at Lexus, with 96% of its 13,271 UK sales featuring hybrid drivetrains last year.

For more of the latest industry news, click here.

Alex Grant

Trained on Cardiff University’s renowned Postgraduate Diploma in Motor Magazine Journalism, Alex is an award-winning motoring journalist with ten years’ experience across B2B and consumer titles. A life-long car enthusiast with a fascination for new technology and future drivetrains, he joined Fleet World in April 2011, contributing across the magazine and website portfolio and editing the EV Fleet World Website.

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.