Production of the incredibly eagerly anticipated all-new Toyota C-HR crossover has begun at the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Turkey.
The 1.8-litre hybrid engines, which are anticipated to make up 70% of sales, are being built at Toyota’s engine plant in Deeside, North Wales, in which Toyota Manufacturing UK has invested an additional £7.1million in order to bring the hybrid engine into production.
The C-HR sits on Toyota’s new Global platform, known as TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture), which has the benefits of a low centre of gravity and very rigid body construction for better ride and handling characteristics. This is the first example of a Toyota model using TNGA being built outside of Japan, and will increase production numbers for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey to 280,000 annually, including the Corolla and Verso that are currently manufactured there, with an additional 2,000 staff being taken on to accommodate for the extra capacity that C-HR has created.
A ceremony was held at the Sakarya factory earlier today, and Dr Johan van Zyl, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe (TME) had this to say:
“The Toyota C-HR is a hugely important product for the whole of Toyota. The crossover segment is growing fast and this is our very strong entry into the segment.”
His sentiments were echoed by Moritaka Yoshida, President of Toyota Motor Corporation’s mid-size vehicle company, who also made the company’s commitment to hybrid technology clear:
“Hybrid defines Toyota. Since the first Prius in 1997 we have steadily convinced more and more customers around the world that hybrid vehicles are one of the best solutions to today’s environmental issues. We have now sold more than 9.5 million hybrids globally.”
Toyota C-HR is an extremely good-looking model with excellent driving characteristics, fantastic fuel economy and class-leading emissions thanks to its hybrid drivetrain which combines petrol and electric efficiency without the need for plugging in.
The C-HR is a truly European model, with 134 of the 135 suppliers of individual parts for this all-new model based in Europe, with engines from Deeside and transmissions from Poland.
The C-HR is due with us in early December – register your interest now over on our C-HR page.
