In Europe alone, some 781,157 vehicles were booked by customers, including 750,746 units wearing the T-badge and 30,411 Lexus vehicles representing a combined market share of 4.4%. At the same time, 480,271 vehicles were produced in Toyota’s European manufacturing facilities in Czech Republic, France, Portugal, Russian Federation, Turkey and United Kingdom.
“Furthermore, customer orders have shown an encouraging upward trend in the last quarter of 2010, which we expect to continue into 2011. We are confident, therefore, that we will be able to increase our sales volume in Europe next year without compromising our balance sheet. The competitive product line-ups for Toyota and Lexus will be further strengthened by the launch of the Toyota Verso-S and Lexus CT 200h in the first quarter of 2011,” said Didier Leroy, President of Toyota Motor Europe.
The results were helped by a strong performance in central and eastern Europe, where the company increased its sales by 8% and 57% respectively last year. Demand was also up by a combined 9% in the Nordic markets (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), but Toyota’s largest European market remains the UK with sales of 100,885 vehicles, followed by Russia with 89,262 units.
Last summer, Toyota Auris Hybrid, the first European-built full hybrid vehicle made by the carmaker, successfully joined the product line-up. Toyota Motor Europe will launching a new Verso-S MPV, while Lexus will finally release the CT 200h in the first quarter of 2011.
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