Toyota has ended production of its British-built Avensis in response to dwindling demand for the Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport rival.
Avensis sales in the UK fell to just 3473 units last year, a drop of 1660 on 2016. In Europe, just 25,319 examples were sold – less than half the number achieved by the Mondeo.
A source told Autocar that this has now convinced Toyota to cull both the Avensis saloon and the Avensis Touring Sports estate (pictured below) from production at its Burnaston plant, leaving just the Auris to be made at the Derbyshire factory.
A spokesman for Toyota Europe said “we are monitoring the D-segment as it declines and suffers from heavy discounting”, suggesting the Avensis may not be replaced. This echoes comments from Toyota Europe boss Johan van Zyl, who recently told Autocar that the company was “not decided yet” what the future would be for the model.
The Avensis, which peaked in demand in Britain in 2004 when 26,011 units were shifted here, has long been one of Toyota’s lowest-selling models.
Our source suggested that Toyota may choose to introduce a saloon version of the upcoming Auris, which will be marketed as the Corolla abroad, in its place, but that the saloon segment’s falling demand may prevent that.
Toyota has been particularly aggressive in its line-up revisions in recent months, dropping several low-selling diesel models, including the RAV4 and Auris, from its range in a bid to improve efficiency.
The Japanese company has pledged to end the sales of all diesel cars by the close of 2018 as it ups investment in hybrid and electric technology in a bid to enhance the sustainability of its models. It recently revealed a new 2.0-litre hybrid set-up that is the most thermally efficient powertrain in production.
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