Toyota is betting on two brand-new small crossovers to increase its market share in Europe – the Yaris Cross (B-SUV) and the upcoming Aygo successor (A-Segment). Matthew Harrison, Toyota Europe CEO, explained the significance of their new high-riding models.
“The vast majority of our growth is coming from the Yaris Cross introduction”, Harrison said to AutoNews. This is Toyota’s first attempt into a crowded segment which is Europe’s second-largest overall with 1.73 million sales.
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The Toyota Yaris Cross, first unveiled in April 2020, will start production soon in Valenciennes, France, where the regular Yaris is produced. The jacked-up supermini is sharing the GA-B platform with the new Yaris but has a redesigned and larger body measuring 4,180 mm (164.6 inches) long, 1,765 mm (69.5 inches) wide, and 1,560 mm (61.4 inches) tall, allowing for more room inside the cabin.
The hybrid version – which is expected to be the most popular of the range – combines a 1.5 VVT-i engine with two (FWD) or three electric motors (AWD-i), producing 114 hp (85 kW / 116 PS) and 120 Nm (88.5 lb-ft). The fact that the Yaris Cross is available with all-wheel-drive is considered a competitive advantage in the B-SUV segment, as the only other models currently offering that option are the Dacia Duster, the Suzuki Vitara, and the Hyundai Kona.
In 2020, the B-SUV market leaders in Europe were the Renault Captur (177,556 sales), the Volkswagen T-Roc (158,776 sales), and the Peugeot 2008 (156,150), with almost every carmaker offering at least one proposal in this segment. Toyota is expecting an 8% share and 150,000 sales for the Yaris Cross in 2022, placing it in the top 5.
The second high-riding model is the successor of the Aygo (A-Segment), previewed by the Aygo X Prologue Concept in March 2021. Given that many automakers are abandoning the A-Segment due to the small profit margins with electrification not being an option for budget vehicles, Toyota is betting on increasing its market share with the new model.
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Despite its age, the current Toyota Aygo is still going strong. In 2020, it ranked third overall in the A-Segment with 83,277 sales, behind the Fiat Panda (144,348 sales) and the Fiat 500 (137,267 sales). The current and the previous generation of the Japanese city car were part of a collaboration with Peugeot and Citroen who built the sibling 108 and C1 models. For the next generation, the French stepped out of the deal, but Toyota decided to keep developing the Aygo as a standalone model.
The new Aygo – based on a shorter version of the Yaris’ GA-B architecture – is expected to debut in autumn 2021, with production starting at Toyota’s factory in Kolin, Czech Republic, before the end of the year. The low CO2 emissions of Toyota’s mostly-hybrid range mix, allow the automaker to offer the Aygo in ICE-only variants, making it affordable to the masses. Furthermore, the crossover-inspired styling will attract young buyers, contributing to a sales increase compared to its predecessor.
With two brand new models that could be placed among the market leaders in their segment, Toyota is optimistic about the future. Recently, Toyota revised their sales targets for Europe to 1.2 million for 2021 (up from 1.1 million) and 1.5 million in 2025 (up from 1.4 million).
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