Toyota plans to end diesel production ... by the end of this year
TOYOTA is to end production of diesel cars in Ireland and the rest of Europe by the end of this year amid dwindling sales and demand for its hybrid electric vehicles.
The move – which was welcomed by Environment Minister Denis Naughten – is the latest nail in the coffin for what has been dubbed ‘dirty diesel’.
Instead, Toyota is to boost its sales of petrol-electric hybrid cars.
The car manufacturer made the announcement yesterday ahead of the Geneva Motor Show, at a press conference in the Swiss city.
Johan van Zyl, president and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor Europe, said: ‘Toyota will stop selling diesel passenger cars in all European markets by the end of this year. In some markets they will be phased out even faster – some by the end of this quarter.’
Mr Naughten said: ‘I welcome Toyota’s leadership on this. As a country we have no option but to move towards a zero-emissions vehicle society to help protect our environment, improve our health and to ensure the next generation doesn’t suffer from complacency or inaction now.
‘Climate change requires all of us to make changes and Toyota’s initiative will significantly help lead us on our low-carbon journey.’
The CEO of Toyota Ireland, Steve Tormey, said he was ‘proud’ to be in the driving seat of a company that is willing to make the ‘difficult decision’ to lead the Irish market out of diesel and help deliver cleaner air quality for our future and that of our children’s’ children.
‘Similar to the Irish Government, Toyota too has a vision for a zeroemissions society, which we believe can be a reality by 2050,’ he said.
Latest figures show Irish motorists are turning away from highly polluting diesel cars – with new sales down almost 4,500 in January compared to a year ago. Just 21,174 diesels rolled off forecourts in January compared to 25,557 in the same month in 2017 – a drop of 17%.
Under the Project Ireland 2040
‘Help protect our environment’
plan, the Government says no petrol or diesel cars will be sold in the country after 2030. Following that, no NCT certs will be issued for nonzero-emission vehicles after 2045.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry told the Irish Daily Mail last night that while it doesn’t normally comment on individual manufacturers’ decisions, it felt it was important to note that in the first two months of this year, over 57% of new cars registered were diesel.
‘Clearly diesel vehicles have an important role to play both in business and rural communities,’ a spokeswoman told the Mail.