Toyota has  "dropped" its diesel and a petrol engine from the Auris range, said vice president Didier Leroy at Tokyo Motor Show.

TheToyota Auris range will bid farewell to its 1.6-litre turbodiesel and 1.33-litre petrol engines as part of a refresh for 2018 which will see the line-up of hatchback and Touring Sports wagon models enter the New Year with a choice of just two powertrains, a 1.8-litre petrol-electric hybrid or direct-injection 1.2T turbocharged petrol engine.

Toyota has said it's moving away from diesel.

At last month's Tokyo Motor Show executive vice president Didier Leroy said that, as current diesel models came to the end of their production lives, they would be replaced by hybrids.

He said: "My personal opinion - and this is my personal opinion - is no, we’ll not launch another diesel car,” reported the Irish Times.

Avensis, RAV4, Verso and Land Cruiser are still available with a diesel engine option in the UK, but a spokesman told Automotive Magazine that the diesel mix is “very small” for all but the flagship 4x4.

He added that around 80% of C-HR SUV sales had been hybrids in 2017 before adding that, even before the huge acceleration of hybrid sales over the last year or so, the diesel mix for retail customers “was 7% and will be significantly less now”.

Toyota has also taken the decision to discontinue the Auris’s Active trim grade, making Icon the new entry point to the line-up.

As a result the Auris’s new entry-level now comes with 16-inch alloys, a reversing camera, front fog lights, power windows, six-speaker audio with DAB, automatic air conditioning and a shark fin antenna as standard.

Icon Tech models add cruise control and Toyota Touch 2 with Go, adding navigation and connectivity functions to the multimedia system.

Design grade adds styling tweaks, including 17-inch, 10-spoke alloy wheels, black side sills, Alcantara upholstery, sports front seats and rear privacy glass, together with cruise control.

Design also adds front and rear parking sensors, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, auto-folding door mirrors, dusk-sensing headlights and rain-sensing wipers.

Toyota’s range-topping Auris Excel models deliver the more advanced Toyota Touch 2 with Go infotainment package, which includes voice command and text-to-speech functions and 3D mapping.

Additional features include Intelligent Park Assist, LED headlights, smart entry and push-button start, heated leather seats and dual-zone climate control.

The 2018 Auris hybrid models are on sale from December 1 with the 1.2T versions available from early in the New Year.

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