Auris models become star players

Toyota is working hard to make sure its next line-up of Auris models become star players in the UK fleet market.

Company officials are using advice from fleet specialists, residual value experts and leasing companies to guarantee their compact car range is packaged and structured to be among the strongest propositions in the C-sector, Toyota GB managing director Jon Williams told Fleet News.

“This segment is at the heart of the corporate market and we have a full focus on it. We’re doing all we can to make sure everything is built around the corporate customer.

“We believe we have a product that’s right for the fleet market and right for the individual corporate customer. With its balance of diesel, petrol and hybrid technology, this is a great product and we’re taking the market very seriously,” he said.

Underscoring the research effort is Williams’ aim to lift the Japanese firm’s share of the segment from three per cent to five per cent over the next three years.

“With an entry price of £14,495, the hatchback we will launch in December will be competitive and a particularly outstanding hybrid and diesel package for the customer who is interested in quality and low cost of ownership,” he said.

Making their world debuts at the Paris show were the Touring Sport, built alongside the hatchback at Burnaston, Derby, and the Verso – the first Toyota engineering project to be carried out in full by the company’s European R&D centre.

Available in summer, the Touring Sport will not be just another estate car, claimed Williams. “Our first Auris wagon is a fully designed concept with lots of interior space. In hybrid form it will be a category first and will win us incremental business because having batteries mounted beneath the floor means there’s no impact on loadspace or practicality,” he said.