Toyota today announced that it has commenced production of the new Yaris Hybrid at its Valenciennes plant with the first vehicle to roll off the production line going to a customer in northern France.
The hybrid version of the third generation Yaris uses a new, more compact version of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain that is demonstrated in the video that follows. The company claims that the HSD system does not impede on passenger or boot capacity, which are identical to the non-hybrid versions.
The Yaris Hybrid has an average fuel consumption of just 3.1 lt/100 km (75.9 mpg US) according to the European Test Driving Cycle and emits 79 g/km of CO2.
Makomoto Sano, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing France (TMMF), said during the ceremony celebrating the beginning of the Yaris Hybrid production: “We are proud to starting building the first full hybrid model in the B-segment in Europe. Having the model produced here, also means a brighter future for TMMF and the Valenciennes region. With petrol prices increasing ever more, we believe that we have the perfect fuel efficient product for the urban customer in this segment.”
The Valenciennes factory, which has been operational since 2001, has assembled more than 2.1 million Yaris models. Upgrading it for the production of the hybrid version required an investment of €25 million (US$32.7 million). According to Toyota, this brings the total investment in TMMF for the new Yaris to €125 million (US$163.8 million).
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