Added on May 9, 2016  The News Wheel   , , , ,
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Toyota Reaches 10 Million European-Built Vehicles

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Toyota Europe facility

Toyota has reached 10 million vehicles built in Europe

Some milestones are worth celebrating: your college graduation, the first time you get a proper job, the birth of your child. But none of those compare to Toyota’s latest milestone, which is a whopping 10 million vehicles built in its factories around Europe.

Toyota’s European manufacturing dates back to 1971, when the very first Toyota vehicle was built in Portugal. That vehicle was a Toyota Corolla which was built from a knock-down kit by Salvador Caetano. Today, Toyota builds its vehicles at six European factories, and also has three facilities that produce engines and transmissions, such as the one in Deeside, North Wales. In total, the automaker has facilities in seven different European countries, including but not limited to the UK, France, and Portugal.

Currently, three out of every four Toyotas sold in Europe are built within the continent. This includes Europe’s biggest sellers—Yaris, Auris, Avensis, and Verso. Later this year, Europe will also take on production of the C-HR and RAV4—the former being built in Turkey and the latter at the Toyota Motor Russia facility in Saint Petersburg.

Since Europe is a key market for Toyota, the automaker even styled the popular Yaris, Auris, and Avensis at its ED2 design center in France. The three models were also developed at Toyota’s technical center in Belgium.

In addition, Toyota celebrated another milestone in Europe—surpassing 150,000 hybrid sales in its UK market since the original Prius went on sale in 2000. Today, the automaker offers six hybrid models in Britain, including the new RAV4 hybrid and the acclaimed Auris Hybrid.