Toyota says it will build small hybrid car in France
09-24-10, 09:35 PM
#1
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Toyota says it will build small hybrid car in France
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...309249977/1193
Toyota Motor Corp. said today it will build a small hybrid car in France. The company did not give the name of the hybrid it will produce at its plant in Valenciennes, northern France, but media reports have said it will be a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Yaris subcompact.
The small hybrid will be the second hybrid car built by Toyota in Europe after the Japanese automaker started production of the Auris hybrid compact hatchback in England last June.
Toyota said production of the small hybrid will start in 2012.
"This decision fits in Toyota's strategy to extend the full hybrid technology to an increasing number of models," the company said in a statement.
Since 2000, almost 300,000 Toyota and Lexus hybrid models have been sold in Europe and sales are climbing steadily, Toyota said.
Valenciennes has been the European production site for the Yaris since 2001. The factory has a production capacity of 270,000 vehicles a year.
The automaker will invest 53 million euros (about $71 million) to get the Valenciennes plant ready to make hybrids.
Toyota plans to launch several new hybrid models in Europe in the coming years. The company said it aims to have a hybrid version of all Toyota and Lexus models by the early 2020s.
Toyota rival Honda plans to unveil a hybrid version of its Jazz subcompact at the Paris auto show later this month.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...#ixzz10VqoM3M8
The small hybrid will be the second hybrid car built by Toyota in Europe after the Japanese automaker started production of the Auris hybrid compact hatchback in England last June.
Toyota said production of the small hybrid will start in 2012.
"This decision fits in Toyota's strategy to extend the full hybrid technology to an increasing number of models," the company said in a statement.
Since 2000, almost 300,000 Toyota and Lexus hybrid models have been sold in Europe and sales are climbing steadily, Toyota said.
Valenciennes has been the European production site for the Yaris since 2001. The factory has a production capacity of 270,000 vehicles a year.
The automaker will invest 53 million euros (about $71 million) to get the Valenciennes plant ready to make hybrids.
Toyota plans to launch several new hybrid models in Europe in the coming years. The company said it aims to have a hybrid version of all Toyota and Lexus models by the early 2020s.
Toyota rival Honda plans to unveil a hybrid version of its Jazz subcompact at the Paris auto show later this month.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...#ixzz10VqoM3M8
09-26-10, 02:28 PM
#2
Lexus Connoisseur
Hmmmm that must be the FT-HS. I guess we will find out later this week! 
09-26-10, 08:46 PM
#5
Lexus Champion
sacre bleu!
09-27-10, 06:21 AM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
France? 
i guess the high salaries and laughable working hours are slightly preferable to the egregious tariffs. 
i guess the high salaries and laughable working hours are slightly preferable to the egregious tariffs.
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09-27-10, 09:43 AM
#8
Lexus Fanatic
Toyota rival Honda plans to unveil a hybrid version of its Jazz subcompact at the Paris auto show later this month.
09-27-10, 09:47 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
(In fact, I consider myself very lucky, in today's world, to have the pension and benefits I do, though I admittedly worked hard for them (and took very little time off) for many years).
09-27-10, 10:04 AM
#10
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I hope Honda does a better job on this one than they did on the Insight. The Insight is well-built, with the typical Honda Swiss-Watch quality and precision, but its lumpy IMA drivetrain and Munchkin rear-seat room are both underpar. The CR-Z also shows some unrefinement in its IMA drivetrain, too.
09-27-10, 12:19 PM
#11
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09-28-10, 04:33 AM
#14
Those Happy-Go-Lucky days in France for factory workers are coming to a close, Paul. France, like some other European countries, has had to deal, recently, with the increasingly harsh realities of the economic world. Even UAW workers here in the U.S. no longer make, on the average, what they did just a few years ago.
(In fact, I consider myself very lucky, in today's world, to have the pension and benefits I do, though I admittedly worked hard for them (and took very little time off) for many years).
(In fact, I consider myself very lucky, in today's world, to have the pension and benefits I do, though I admittedly worked hard for them (and took very little time off) for many years).
Toyota are no fools, they could build in any one of the European countries and take advantage of lower labour costs elsewhere and tariff-free distribution, but it must make economic sense for them to build in that plant which has already been pretty successful while building the Yaris.
I've done some work for Renault-Nissan and the French are pretty hard taskmasters when it comes to controlling costs, looking for savings in production and re-engineering components to make them cheaper to produce.
09-28-10, 05:01 PM
#15
It's a bit of a myth that auto workers in France are all on high wages. The average French car worker earns two-thirds of his German counterpart and up to 40% of his colleagues will be temporary workers on salaries of around $1300 a month (correct me if I'm wrong but that's not a great wage in the US). Yes, they have a shorter working week but are actually pretty productive in the hours they do work.
Toyota are no fools, they could build in any one of the European countries and take advantage of lower labour costs elsewhere and tariff-free distribution, but it must make economic sense for them to build in that plant which has already been pretty successful while building the Yaris.
I've done some work for Renault-Nissan and the French are pretty hard taskmasters when it comes to controlling costs, looking for savings in production and re-engineering components to make them cheaper to produce.
Toyota are no fools, they could build in any one of the European countries and take advantage of lower labour costs elsewhere and tariff-free distribution, but it must make economic sense for them to build in that plant which has already been pretty successful while building the Yaris.
I've done some work for Renault-Nissan and the French are pretty hard taskmasters when it comes to controlling costs, looking for savings in production and re-engineering components to make them cheaper to produce.
