Toyota in Europe

EndoED 2A new concept minicar, the Endo, was introduced at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2005, designed for space efficiency, low emissions,and typical demands of the city driving-environment. The Endo follows a new “Vibrant Clarity” design concept, and signals achange for Toyota toward “more animated” models.Toyota has also understood that Europeans want built-in quality. The new Toyota Auris, launched across Europe in February2007, provides an excellent example of Toyota’s strengths in this area. Eighteen months before the start of production at Toyota’sBritish and Turkish plants, key personnel were assembled to create the standardized processes that would lead to the mostefficient production. Training of all personnel in the new processes commenced six months prior to production, to ensure completefamiliarity of all personnel with work procedures. Periodic quality checks were also built right into the production process, suchas testing of the strength of every weld in the Auris body at 15-minute intervals. Finally, a set of tests to ensure superior over-allquality for European driving conditions was devised for every vehicle coming off the production line. Thus, when Toyota designsfor Europe, it designs for built-in quality at every step of the production process.Cleaner production, cleaner carsToyota is committed to sustainable development and seeks to address the challenges of global warming and urban pollution bydeveloping a number of innovative environmental technologies and vehicles.Toyota marketed the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car, the Prius, which combines the power of a petrol engine with the clean,efficient energy of an electric motor. By the end of 2006, over 865,900 hybrid vehicles have been sold worldwide.1 STARTUP2 NORMAL DRIVING3 ACCELERATIONElectric motor onlyMotor and engineMotor and engine (Additionalpower drawn from batteries)How does the hybrid work?18 | Toyota in Europe