Toyota made waves when they unveiled the intricate-looking C-HR at the Geneva Motor Show, and although the model’s design might be polarizing, the Japanese car maker wants to see it become a hit.
In a recent interview with Automotive News, Toyota Europe CEO Johan said Toyota expects to sell between 50,000 and 100,000 C-HRs in Europe, with a whopping 70 percent of the sales to be the hybrid variant.
“We are quite bullish. We think the driving dynamics are very good. The styling is strong – some may even say it is polarizing – but that is what we wanted to do. We wanted to show a different face”, said van Zyl.
The C-HR comes with either an 115 hp 1.2-litre turbo unit or a 122 hp 1.8-litre hybrid. The latter was borrowed from the Prius, delivering less than 90g/Km, of CO2 emissions, which Toyota says is “unrivalled within its segment”. The Japanese car maker wants hybrid to account for half of its European sales by 2020, and the hybrid C-HR is part of the plan, targeting new customers with its risk-taking appearance.
The model is produced at the company’s plant in Turkey, being the first factory outside of Japan to produce a model based on Toyota’s TNGA platform. When asked where the U.S. variant of the model will be produced, Johan van Zyl said it’s not decided yet.
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