Automotive News Europe — 2024-06-14
Automotive Industry
The Japanese automaker’s Europe boss, Yoshihiro Nakata, places priority on establishing “a sustainable business model as we move toward the carbon-neutral wall.”
Becoming Europe’s No. 1 brand by overtaking Volkswagen in new-car sales is “not a key objective” of Toyota, the company’s top executive for the region told the Automotive News Europe Congress here on Wednesday, 12 June 2024.
Toyota has been Europe’s No. 2-selling automaker for the last two years because of strong demand for its hybrids.
Toyota sold 828,484 cars in the region in 2023, while VW brand sold 1.36 m, according to figures from industry association ACEA.
The automaker, however, has no plans to outsell VW brand in Europe, even though it is ahead of VW in global sales.
“Being the volume No. 1 OEM is not the key objective for us,” Toyota Europe CEO Yoshihiro Nakata told the Congress here on Wednesday. “The more important thing is how to establish a sustainable business model as we move toward the carbon-neutral wall.”
In the first four months of 2024 Toyota closed the gap on VW brand after increasing sales 17% to 324,357, according to figures from market researcher Dataforce.
VW brand’s sales were flat at 445,226 through April 2024.
BMW was third at 261,163.
About 70% of Toyota’s sales in Europe are either full hybrids, plug-in hybrids or full-electric vehicles. In Western Europe, the figure is nearly 100%, company figures show. Most are full hybrids, with Toyota’s sole full-electric model, the bZ4X, reaching just 17,381 sales in 2023, according to Dataforce.
Toyota Europe’s top-selling model through April was the Yaris Cross, which was also Europe’s best-selling small SUV after overtaking the VW T-Roc. It’s the first time a predominantly electrified model has led Europe’s largest segment. Dataforce figures show 94% of Yaris Cross sales were hybrids.
Maintaining the lead in Europe’s biggest segment will not be easy.
“It's quite difficult to say whether we can keep this position or not,” Nakata said.
Toyota’s sales have boomed in 2024 partly due to its strength in the minicar segment, where the Aygo X has moved into the No. 2 position after four months behind the Fiat Panda with sales of 35,742, up 36% from the year before (2023), according to Dataforce figures.
Currently, the Aygo X is Toyota's only model not offered with hybrid technology, but Nakata said this could change.
“I appreciate that our brand residual value is relatively higher when we have hybrid technology. So, if we can, we will introduce the hybrid system in the Aygo – as long as we can maintain an affordable, accessible price,” he said.
Toyota also sells strongly in the compact segment with the Corolla hatchback and wagon, which was third in the segment through April 2024 with 49,649 sales, leaving it behind the VW Golf and Skoda Octavia. Sales of the Toyota compact rose 24% through four months.