Toyota Yaris Hybrid Leads Green Car Push For Japanese Automaker In Europe

Toyota is one of the world's largest automakers and Europe is one of the most important markets for the Japanese brand. In the first quarter of 2018, Toyota sold more than 280,000 vehicles in Europe, which is a growth of 4 percent over the same period last year. And while frugal and durable cars are Toyota's forte, the Japanese automaker has also seen a huge surge in demand for hybrid powertrain vehicles. Toyota offers hybrid variants across a variety of body lines but it is the Yaris family that leads sales with 65,436 units sold in the first quarter of 2018. That said, more interesting to note is that out of the total number of Yaris models sold, 33,447 units or 51 per cent were hybrids!

(Toyota sold a total of 24,900 units of Auris hybrid in Europe this year)

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India is all set to get the Yaris in its sedan body style in just a few weeks' time, where the nameplate is finally making an introduction. But for now Toyota has no plans to offer the hybrid version here. That could change in the near future as the platform is well equipped to take on a battery-electric option. Toyota has entered an alliance with Suzuki to look at making hybrid and electric models in India.

In fact, Toyota sold over 125,000 hybrid vehicles in Europe in the first quarter of 2018, a whopping 18 per cent improvement over the same time frame in 2017. That is a clear reflection of the times we live in, with diesel beginning to lose favor in parts of Europe. What is more surprising is the fact that out of every car sold in Western Europe, 55 per cent of them were equipped with the hybrid powertrain. In comparison, Eastern Europe showed a slightly lower adoption to the modern powertrain with just 12 per cent adoption.

(The Toyota Rav4 SUV is one of the most popular hybrids in Europe)

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Other popular vehicles sold by Toyota include the C-HR SUV that sold 36,500 units. Of the total figure, 29,900 of Toyota CH-R SUVs sold in Europe were hybrids - showcasing the popularity of the SUV body style + hybrid powertrain. Similar high percentage adoption for hybrid variants was also noticed in the sales of the Auris. While the Auris sold a total of 33,800 units, 24,900 units sold were hybrids. Other popular hybrids in Europe were the PROACE Verso and the Rav4 SUV. The Lexus range also sold predominantly hybrid models - as is its business case in all markets where the luxury brand operates.