Toyota launches upgrade to hybrid for free 181 promotion

TOYOTA has kicked off the 181 sales drive in the run up to Showtime, the national sales event which takes places from Wednesday 8th until Saturday 11th November by launching the ‘Upgrade to Hybrid for Free’ campaign which makes it even easier for Irish consumers to switch from diesel to hybrid.

2017 saw the first significant drop in consumer demand for diesel, with market share dropping from 72% of sales in 2016 to 65% this year. It is predicted that diesel will only account for 55% of new car sales in Ireland in 2018 and will drop much further by 2020.

This year, hybrid has accounted for 30% of total Toyota sales and is estimated to rise to 45% in 2018.

The future residual value of a hybrid vehicle will be up to 6% higher than a diesel vehicle, as indicated by Toyota Financial Services (Toyota Ireland’s new financial provider) and through research, it is clear that the future resale value of a vehicle is of major concern to Irish customers, making hybrid the smart choice for 181.

With higher resale values, low APR’s from 2.9% and trade in, trade up bonus of up to €4,500 plus scrappage on diesel vehicles, Toyota has offers to suit all driver requirements. In addition, increased levels of free specification on hybrid models as well as price reductions, mean it’s never been easier for Irish drivers to make the move to hybrid.

Highlights across the Toyota range of seven hybrids include;

1. RAV4 - €2,000 price reduction on RAV4 hybrid Luna Sport

2. Auris - €2,200 of free specification on Auris Luna Sport hybrid including satellite navigation with connected services, 17” alloys wheels and sports interior trim 3. Yaris – 2.9% APR on all Yaris hybrids Where a hybrid option is not available on a model, customers can avail of other special offers. Corolla customers can switch from diesel to the Luna Sport petrol and receive €1,400 worth of free spec including satellite navigation, heated seats, retractable mirrors and 17-inch alloy wheels. On Aygo, customers can avail of APR’ s from just 2.9% with Toyota Safety Sense and rear-view camera.

Michael Gaynor, Marketing Director at Toyota commented, “As Irish motorists begin to question the future resale value of diesel vehicles, we see a tipping point where customers will accelerate a move either into hybrid or back to petrol for 181. Toyota is in a strong position with the widest range of hybrid models available on the market, in addition to a great range of petrol engines.

To truly live our brand promise of Built for a Better World, we want to lead the market into more environmentally friendly vehicles that have significantly less nitric oxide emission than diesel, hence why Toyota was the first brand to introduce a diesel scrappage scheme exclusively to hybrid”.