Poland - The OEM has started production of its hybrid electric transaxles at its plant in Wałbrzych, situated in the south west of the country. They will be fitted to the new Corolla Hybrid, which is being built at Toyota's Burnaston factory in the UK, and the C-HR Hybrid, which is made in Turkey.
"We started Europe’s journey towards electrification with the introduction of our first hybrid model here in 2000," recalled Johan van Zyl, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe. "Today, almost one in two of our new vehicle sales are hybrids and the level continues to grow. Hybrid technology is our key differentiator. It is one part of our ambitious electrification strategy to sell more than 5.5m electrified vehicles globally, including 1m zero emission vehicles, per year by 2030. The continued growth of hybrid in Europe allows the expansion of local production of hybrid components."
The Wałbrzych plant is the first outside Asia to house production of the hybrid transaxles. According to the company, it has created around 600 jobs in the area.
Toyota has been investing in several plants around the world in the hope of making them more efficient and boosting its competitiveness. In Canada, for example, the carmaker promised to spend C$1.4 billion (US$1.08 billion) to upgrade three assembly plants in preparation for the production of new models that are based on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA).
Similarly, a “complete replacement of current production lines” at its plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi is currently underway ahead of the introduction of the 12th generation Corolla - which is also based on the TNGA platform.
