Toyota Hints at Plan to Add Small SUV in Europe

Toyota Motor Corp. appears to be moving closer to adding an all-new, small crossover vehicle at its factory in Valenciennes, France, Automotive News Europe says.

Toyota announced early last year that it would invest €400 million ($442 million) to add a second model at the facility. The model, along with an updated version of the Yaris small car, will ride on a variant of Toyota’s TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) called GA-B.

The retooling program also will hike annual capacity at the Valenciennes plant to 300,000 units from the current 220,000 vehicles, ANE says.

Toyota says the new chassis can accommodate a range wheelbases, vehicle heights and track widths; support both torsion beam and multi-link rear suspensions; and enable models with “appealing proportions” and distinctive styling.

 ANE notes that Toyota has been slow to add an entry in Europe’s fast-growing small SUV market.