The European mid-size segment is feeling the pressure these days as consumers are fleeing towards premium offerings or different categories altogether like crossovers, abandoning cars such as the Toyota Avensis, which is expected to sell a little over 29,000 units in Western Europe this year, down from 55,706 in 2010, according to an IHS Automotive forecast.
While Toyota plans to offer a hybrid version of every model sold in the region by 2020, company boss Didier Leroy specifically excluded the Avensis when asked by Autonews Europe about the matter in a recent interview, casting a doubt in the car’s future.
“Do we plan to introduce an Avensis hybrid? No,” Leroy told Autonews. “Do we have a plan to introduce in the next five to seven years a hybrid model in the mid-sized segment? The answer is clearly, yes,” he said adding, “It’s very tough to be in the mid-sized segment in Europe”.
IHS Automotive said the mid-sized segment in Western Europe will have its lowest sales this decade, tumbling to under half a million units in 2014, from over 800,000 in 2011. The auto industry analyst said it expects Honda to kill the Japan-made Accord in Western Europe in 2015, with the Avensis to be axed in 2018.
Theoretically, one option for Toyota could be to sell the North American Camry in Europe, though; it has attempted to do so in the past without much success.
By John Halas
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