Aug 5, 2009, 14:29 GMT
Tokyo - Toyota is planning to boost its hybrid segment by producing in Britain next year an Auris hatchback family sedan fitted with a combination of petrol and electric motors.
'With this decision Toyota has taken an important step in making full-hybrids available to more customers,' said Europe's Toyota boss Tadashi Arashima in announcing the decision.
Some 1.3 million units of Toyota's only hybrid, the upmarket Prius, have meanwhile been sold worldwide with the third generation model recently coming onto the market. It has an emission figure of 87 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre with consumption listed at 3.9 litres per 100 kilometres.
The Auris will have a combination of a 1.8-litre 98 hp petrol motor linked to an 80 hp electric engine that will undercut the fuel economy and CO2 figures of the Prius.
The Auris Hybrid will be produced at the Burnaston factory in Britain where the current Auris is already being built.
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