Toyota has started mass production of the all-new C-HR at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey (TMMT) in Sakarya, Turkey. The C-HR is Toyota’s eighth model to be produced in Europe. which joins the Auris and Yaris which is produced in the UK and France, respectively.
The new Toyota C-HR joins the Corolla and Verso, rolling off the same production line, on top of being the first hybrid to be made in Turkey. “Hybrid defines Toyota. Since the first Prius in 1997 we have steadily convinced more and more customers around the world that hybrid vehicles are one of the best solutions to today’s environmental issues,” said Moritaka Yoshida, President of the Mid-size Vehicle Company within Toyota Motor Corporation.
Underpinning the Toyota C-HR is the company’s new TNGA platform. “TNGA is our new philosophy of vehicle creation and part of our initiatives for building ever-better cars. Toyota will gradually expand the production of vehicles based on TNGA,” he added.
As the Toyota C-HR joins production, TMMT says that annual vehicle production will increase from 150,000 to 280,000. In addition to that, TMMT has hired another 2,000 staff in the months leading to the production of the C-HR, bringing the total number of staff to 5,000.
The Toyota C-HR’s 1.8 hybrid powertrain is being produced at Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK (TMUK)’s engine plant in Deeside, North Wales. The third plant engaged in the C-HR’s production is Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland (TMMP) located in Walbrzych, Poland, which is in charged of supplying the manual transmission for the 1.2-litre turbo engine. TMMP will also start to produce the C-HR’s hybrid transaxle in 2018, which is made in Japan at the moment.
