New Toyota Avensis - a case of more and less
Author: David Miles
Published: 08 December 2008
On sale in the UK from January 2009, the British built new Toyota Avensis D-segment upper medium, range offers more but will sell in fewer numbers than before. The five-door hatchback body style has been dropped from the range which now comprises of four-door saloons and five-door Tourer estates. Toyota says hatchback body styles are not as popular with customers in this sector.
The all new Toyota Avensis is built at Burnaston Plant, Derbyshire with some engines, the 1.6 and 1.8-litre petrol units, supplied by Toyota’s Deeside plant in North Wales.
Ironically the 1.6-litre petrol engines are not destined for the UK market as Toyota say from their experience the larger 1.8-litre unit is more popular in the UK market.
Miguel Fonseca, Managing Director of Toyota GB said last week at the international press launch for the new Avensis range, “Due to the very tough market conditions we expect to sell around 12,000 Avensis models in a full year of which 10,000 will be to fleet and company sales.”
He added, “For the first time the most popular body type will be the Tourer estate versions which will account for 55% of sales and 66% of all Avensis UK sales will be diesel models with the new 2.0 D-4D unit taking 50% of total registrations. Of the four specification levels, T2, TR, T4 and T Spirit, the TR grade will account for 73% of our sales, a reflection of the greater value and specification offered on our feature model.”
With prices revised to take account of the lower 15% VAT level Avensis saloon prices start from £15,760 on-the-road and rise to £23,000, and Tourer models start from £16,740 and rise to £24,570.
Fonseca said, “Following the reduction in VAT our new Avensis models are more or less the same price as outgoing versions, basically budget neutral, but they represent around 10% added value for customers because of increased size, better specification, higher residual values and more fuel efficient engines.”
He added, “We will be offering the widest powertrain Avensis has ever had and this is a direct response to feedback from our customers, especially fleet operators. The petrol line-up which features our new Valvematic variable value timing and variable valve-open duration, starts at just 154g/km of CO2 and petrol engine emissions overall from the 1.8 and 2.0-litre units have been reduced by up to 26%.”
The diesel engine line-up has the main selling 2.0-litre D-4D 126hp engine with CO2 emissions of 134g/km and 2.2-litre D-4D diesel units with 150 and 177hp power output with CO2 figures of 147 and 157g/km respectively.
Fonseca also revealed that the Avensis is the first core model in the Toyota range to benefit from the new Toyota Optimal Drive technology. He said, “We have optimised the efficiency of our engines and transmissions, bringing tangible benefits to our customers. In practise this will lead to benefit-in-kind and running cost advantages for company car drivers with no compromise on engine performance and driving pleasure.”
The new Avensis 1.8-litre Valvematic has a benefit-in-kind tax rating of 18% representing a saving of £453 over the outgoing Avensis VVT-I which was rated at 25% BIK. The new Avensis D-4D has a BIK rating of 18%, instead of the previous 20% representing a reduction of £151 in BIK tax.
Fonseca added, “The initial residual values for our new Avensis from CAP are very positive. Over the usual 36 month/60,000 mile period they are rated at 33 to 36%. This is better than our main competitors, the Mondeo, Insignia, Passat and also better than our current Avensis.”
In the early 2000s UK sales for Avensis were 18,000 units, this year they will be around 15,000 units and next year less as Toyota reduces production in line with expected demand throughout Europe.
The new Avensis follows the now compulsory path of offering more size, more interior space, more specification, higher quality, better fuel economy, lower exhaust emissions and a greater road presence, just its rivals.
These include the Ford Mondeo, the Vauxhall Insignia, Honda Accord, Citroen C5, VW Passat, Renault Laguna and the premium Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and Mercedes Benz C-Class. Toyota’s own Prius Hybrid and Lexus models also now compete for sales in this diminishing market sector.
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