Toyota Stops Making Diesel Cars

Company representatives have reported that Toyota stops making diesel cars in Europe. Sales projections indicate that consumers are turning to the hybrid car. Could it be that we are witnessing the last days of diesel in our continent?

As reported from Geneva, the third generation of Auris will be the flagship of the Japanese company for Europe; the new line will have two hybrid versions and one with a gasoline engine .

One of the variants that will be put on the market will implement a 122-horsepower 1.8 HEV engine. Everything seems to indicate that the diesel option will not be part of this new model.

Toyota : diesel will disappear with the update of the models

If we look at the recent past, Toyota had already dispensed with the 1.4 D-4D engine in its Toyota Yaris. At present, this car is only sold in its gasoline and hybrid versions; something similar will happen with the new Aygo.

Hybrid cars are the biggest sellers by company numbers. This can be seen in the success of your Toyota C-HR, which makes us think of a future without diesel. This model has been the reference with which the company has noticed the new trend.

In fact, when the Toyota C-HR was launched, company officials thought a diesel-powered version would be necessary. But unexpectedly, revenues began to flow to the company without the help of diesel.

Numbers say everything

41% of the cars sold by Toyota in Europe in 2017 had hybrid engines. The most striking thing is that these sales represented an increase of 38% in the demand for this type of vehicle. In contrast, only 10% of the profits were generated by diesel powered cars.

According to Johan van Zyl, president of Toyota Motor Europe, the current fleet of hybrids in passenger cars “is equivalent to the diesel population” that the company had during 2015. The reading that the company has given is that   consumers are beginning to opt for these green alternatives.

Toyota is expected to stop producing diesel cars in Europe later this year, at least when it comes to passenger cars. And if they are contemplating doing so, then this idea may be in the works for other brands as well.

A look at the Spanish reality

According to statistical data from Anfac, 48.3% of the cars purchased between December 2017 and January 2018 are diesel. 46.6% run on gasoline and the remaining 5% are environmentally friendly cars. In this small group are electric vehicles and hybrid combustion vehicles.

As we can see, the figures maintain a progressive but constant decrease in the purchase of diesel cars, a trend that seems to be consolidating.

Gasoline cars experience sporadic increases in their sales and all indications are that consumers are beginning to shift to green alternatives. And this happens in Spain where the preference for diesel is historical.

Among these new user preferences would be Toyota’s new strategy. Everything seems to indicate that the laws and public policies to combat pollution are beginning to shape the preferences of drivers.

What has happened in the midst of this change in preferences?

The Volkswagen brand car emissions scandal has marked a milestone. From here, the laws and public policies of the region began to harden; For example, on September 1, 2017, the new WLTP Emissions Protocol came into force.

This new regulation will be transcendental for the European driver. The measurement of emissions may alter the cost of sale of automobiles and will also affect the Registration Tax; the latter will occur from January 2019.

In Spain, incentives have been started for drivers who register hybrid vehicles. Some citizens have bought new cars and others have chosen to do the mechanical transformation. There is an offer of aid and prizes for those who have the “green label”.

It is clear that manufacturers are aware that these measures will influence the consumption patterns of Europeans. Toyota stops making diesel cars in Europe, but there are already  rumors that Seat and Volvo have also noticed the low profitability of diesel.

The question that remains in the air is… How much time does the diesel have? It seems that little by little the forecasts of the experts are being fulfilled, and its sales volume falls year by year.