Dieselcar owners ‘will not be hit’

TOYOTA Ireland chief Steve Tormey (above) is confident diesel car owners will not lose out in the decision to opt out of the fuel for passenger cars.

In an interview with Motors, he said he expected strong demand and value for used diesels to continue for years.

He said the decision to end diesel passenger car production had been flagged for a while, given their success with hybrid. The mix of diesel is now 20pc against nearly 50pc for hybrid.

He said that against diesel’s declining background it was “probably inevitable” Toyota would go that way.

He doesn’t see an issue with those who currently have a diesel. “There will still be demand for second-hand diesels. Supply and demand will dictate that for a period the residual value will stay quite strong.”

He expected people will still want a good, used Toyota diesel in three years’ time.

He added: “By the same token we have been doing our upgrade-to-hybrid for free campaign for some time now, so it has been very much our strategy (to switch from diesel).”

He pointed out that a key outcome of higher hybrid sales — to 50pc or so for the first two months — is that there has been quite an impact on emissions, with battery power driving cars for longer periods of time.

He confirmed the firm has plans for people to buy smaller-engined petrols. The Ploughing last year was instructive, he revealed. They found rural Ireland was asking a lot about hybrid.

“We would see ourselves steering diesel owners into petrol and hybrid for next year. We’ve transitioned people to 20pc diesel now. So we think we have the products to get a lot of people into petrol and hybrids.”