Big carmaker stops selling diesel cars in Romania

Toyota Romania, the local subsidiary of Japanese group Toyota, the world's largest automotive manufacturer, will eliminate diesel versions for its Yaris, Auris and RAV4 models sold on the local market. The only models for which Toyota still sells diesel versions in Romania are the ones that don’t have hybrid versions. However, even the Avensis medium class model may remain without a diesel version starting next year. The only models that will still be sold with diesel engines will likely be the Land Cruiser SUV and Hilux pickup. “We have no more diesel versions in out inventory for Auris and RAV4. For Avensis, we still have diesel cars but we don’t know if we will also have them next year. Our focus is now on hybrids,” a local Toyota dealer told Ziarul Financiar. The carmaker has adopted this strategy on most European markets. However, Romania is still a market where diesel engines are popular due to the low consumption. Toyota diesel car sales represented less than 10% of the total sales volume in the first 11 months of 2017, according to official data from the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA). Meanwhile, the Japanese producer sold over 1,770 hybrid cars, 2.4 times more than in the first 11 months of 2016. Hybrid sales, on which Toyota is the local market leader, represented 47% of the company’s total sales (3,749 units in 11 months). editor@romania-insider.com