Europe's Toyota Auris Hybrid is Competent, but Not Distinctive
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND -- Toyota is planning to offer eight new hybrid cars in the 2010s, with the goal of selling a million a year mostly in the U.S. That goal would have looked crazy a few years ago, but it's entirely reasonable now for a company that is always reinventing itself, and it's a strategy that works best with cars tailored to particular world markets. The company's new Auris five-door hatchback is an entry designed to do that for Europe and other world markets, but it's not the boldest statement the company could be making. In contrast to the Prius it's based on, the Auris tends to blend into the woodwork.
Toyota is in the catbird's seat when it comes to hybrids, having sold 2.75 million worldwide since the late 1990s. The U.S. is conquered, with the Prius owning well over half of the American hybrid market on its own, and cars like the Highlander Hybrid as gravy. Europe is a bigger challenge, but Toyota has so far sold 275,000 hybrids there. The Prius is a relatively small car by U.S. standards, but it's large for Europe, and that's why the country has unveiled a slightly smaller and more affordable sister car, the Auris Hybrid, using the Prius drivetrain.
I got a chance to kick the tires and drive an Auris in Iceland, where it is shortly to go on sale after an introduction in continental Europe a few months ago, and it offers many of the Prius' virtues (excellent fuel economy close to the Prius' 50 mpg and low 89 grams per mile carbon emissions) without presenting a distinct personality on its own. Since much of the Prius' quirky appeal lies in what it says about the owners' green intent, it's not clear to me that the more blandly styled Auris will be as attractive to buyers in the long term. Here's the videotape:
Toyota is selling 2,000 Auris cars a week, which isn't bad. "The Auris is a very important car for us," said Stephen Stacey of Toyota Motor Europe. "It's not the right size for the U.S., but it puts Hybrid Synergy Drive [the Prius' system] into a volume model for Europe." In truth, I didn't find the Auris to be all that much smaller than the Prius, and the interior dimensions were only slightly more cramped.
But Stacey admitted that while the Prius is iconic, "That's not something even its greatest fans would say about the Auris." Still, it fills a niche for the company, as part of its increasingly important hybrid strategy. Unlike its Japanese competitor Nissan, Toyota isn't convinced that battery electrics will get much market share.
"Pure electrics will remain a niche," Stacey said during his speech in Iceland. "Hybrids and plug-in hybrids, both now and for the mid-term, are the most practical way to use electricity in cars." Although some voices within Toyota voiced skepticism, the company has a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius coming in 2011 (with 13 miles of all-electric range). And it has a second-generation electric car, the FT-EV II, planned for 2012.
The new EV is seen very much as a city car, with a range of just 55 miles. According to Stacey, Toyota's internal polling shows that most people's commutes are no more than 12 miles, and a smaller battery pack means a lighter and cheaper car. Probably a bigger seller will be the electric RAV4 for 2012 that is a product of the company's collaboration with Tesla Motors.
Toyota also has a fuel-cell version of the Highlander, dubbed the FCHV-adv. I'll be testing one of those next month. Stacey said that Toyota "aims to commercialize the fuel cell around 2015." He admitted to some "fuel-cell durability and cost challenges."
It's plain that Toyota is covering all the bases, but the hybrids remain at the core of its strategy. And the Auris, while not particularly glamorous, will get the job done in Europe.
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Photo: Jim Motavalli