Toyota Oz confirms hybrid power only for its extroverted next-generation compact SUV
The 2024 Toyota C-HR will only be available in Australia in plugless hybrid form when it arrives here in the first half of 2024, despite a cleaner and more efficient plug-in hybrid powertrain also being readied for the all-new compact SUV in other markets.
Toyota Australia says its decision reflects “the ever-increasing customer demand for hybrid vehicles” in this market, where almost a third of the dominant Japanese brand’s total sales last year were self-charging hybrids.
This is the first vehicle-specific piece of intel we’ve received regarding the second-generation C-HR beyond the reveal of the near-production Toyota C-HR Prologue concept late last year, which previewed the new SUV’s exterior styling.
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Camouflaged prototypes have been spotted testing in Europe in recent months as the funky little high-rider inches nearer to its global debut, which is widely expected to take place later this year.
Today’s confirmation of a fully electrified line-up goes a long way in explaining why the new C-HR is being tested and developed in continental Europe as opposed to Japan or North America, given it’s comfortably the biggest market for electrified vehicles and is due to ban the sale of internal combustion vehicles as of 2035.
As for the Australian market, Toyota’s local division said the new C-HR will play an integral role in achieving its goal of electrified vehicles accounting for 50 per cent of local sales by 2025.
“In addition to reducing the CO2 emissions of its vehicles, Toyota Motor Corporation is also targeting carbon neutrality in all its facilities by 2030,” said Toyota .
“These measures include the introduction of new paint shop technologies which minimise CO2 emissions and the use of solar energy which aims to make plants self-sufficient in their energy use.”
Today’s revelation comes less than a week after news broke of Greenpeace’s submission to the ACCC regarding Toyota Australia’s apparent greenwashing tactics – claims that the nation’s best-selling auto brand bluntly rebuffs.
Related: Why are the Japanese auto giants so far behind the EV curve?
