Toyota Motor Europe (TME) is a subsidiary of

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

, overseeing operations across Europe and Western Asia, including

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, Russia, Israel, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus. TME’s activities encompass research and development, manufacturing, sales, marketing, after-sales, and various corporate functions. Headquartered in

Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, TME commenced operations in 1963.

History

TME began the manufacturing and sale of cars in Europe under an official distributor agreement in 1963. TME oversees the wholesale sales and marketing of Toyota and

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...

vehicles, parts, and accessories, and Toyota’s European manufacturing and engineering operations. Toyota employs approximately 90,000 people in Europe, with a €11+ billion investment since 1990. Toyota’s operations in Europe are supported by a network of 31 National Marketing and Sales Companies across 49 countries, a total of around 3,000 sales outlets, and nine manufacturing plants. Previous CEOs include: * Matt Harrison (2021-2023) * Dr. Johan Van Zyl (2015-2021) * Didier Leroy (2010-2015) * Tadashi Arashima (2005-2010) * Akira Imai (1999-2005) * Tatsuo Takahashi (1994-1999)

Sales

Toyota became the highest-selling Japanese car manufacturer in Europe in 1998, overtaking Nissan. Toyota Motor Europe sales peaked in 2007 at 1.23 million units, as well as a 5.70% market share. In 2021, TME set a new peak with a market share of 5.84%.Europe defined as 2020 EU27 + United Kingdom + Switzerland + Norway + Iceland In 2022, TME set another peak with a market share of 7.3%.

Operations

The Toyota Motor Europe (TME) Head Office, located in

, serves as the central hub for

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

and

operations across Europe. This strategic headquarters houses key departments overseeing European activities, including manufacturing, engineering, marketing, and sales. TME coordinates efforts with several major manufacturing centres throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, particularly in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, ensuring streamlined operations and robust market presence.

Supporting facilities

Established in 1987, the Toyota Technical Centre in Zaventem, Belgium, is home to Toyota Motor Europe’s Research & Development (R&D), Purchasing and

Production Engineering Manufacturing engineering or production engineering is a branch of professional engineering that shares many common concepts and ideas with other fields of engineering such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, and industrial engineering. Manufac ...

activities. Early in 2006, Toyota inaugurated the expansion of its technical centre. In 2007 an additional 35,000 m² was added for the expanded European design and engineering department. The Toyota Training Centre in Zaventem provides training to service instructors and engineers from all of Toyota’s European distributors. Located in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, the European Global Production Centre is a hub for teaching best practices and training production staff and supervisors from Europe. The Accessory and Service Centre of Toyota in Brussels is responsible for after-sales, conversion, and accessory operations. Its responsibilities include the coordination of Toyota's aftersales service operations, the investigation of technical issues in the field, car body and paint training, accessory development and planning, and vehicle conversion. Created in 2000 in

Nice, France Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million

, Toyota Europe Design Development (ED2, stylized ED²) concentrates on design concepts for the European market, including advanced design, design competition, and production support for European models and design research information. It replaced the Zaventem-based Toyota European Office of Creation (EPOC), founded in 1989. Since 2016, the Toyota Design Centre of Zaventem re-opened to take the weight off ED² by helping it to develop production cars, such as the Toyota Aygo X. Le Rendez- Vous Toyota in Paris is a venue for internal and public events.

Manufacturing centres

* Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic –

Kolín Kolín (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monume ...

Toyota Motor Manufacturing France Toyota Motor Manufacturing France S.A.S., or better known under its acronym TMMF, is the French automobile manufacturing division of Japanese automaker Toyota located in Onnaing near the city of Valenciennes. The company was founded in 1998 as a ...

–

Onnaing Onnaing () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Onnaing is home to Toyota Motor Manufacturing France, where the Toyota Yaris and Yaris Cross are assembled. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department ...

* Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland **Engine Plant – Jelcz-Laskowice **Engine & Transmission Plant –

Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; ; or ''Walmbrich''; or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland, seat of Wałbrzych County. Wałbrzych lies approximately southwest of the voivodeship capital Wrocław and about from the Czec ...

* Toyota Caetano Portugal –

Ovar Ovar ( or ) is a city and a municipality in Aveiro District, Baixo Vouga Subregion in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,398, in an area of 147.70 km2. It had 42,582 eligible voters (2006). The municipality includes two cities: Ovar (16 ...

* Toyota Motor Manufacturing Russia –

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(defunct 2022) * Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey – Arifiye *

Toyota Manufacturing UK Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd is the British Manufacturing in the United Kingdom, manufacturing subsidiary of Toyota. Established in 1989, the main factory is at Burnaston in Derbyshire, with an engine factory located in Deeside, North Wa ...

**Vehicle Assembly Plant –

Burnaston Burnaston is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is about southwest of the city of Derby and has a population of 1,531. It contains the headquarters and vehicle manufacturing plant of Toyota M ...

**Engine Plant –

Deeside Deeside () is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the England–Wales border, Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee t ...

Toyota also operates a joint venture plant with

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

and

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

in Valenciennes, France.

Other facilities

Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe - Cologne, Germany. Research, development and manufacturing for motor racing activities.

Environmental activities

In 2008, Toyota began its European sustainable plant program at two manufacturing companies in France and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The activities are supposed to emphasize the role of nature in creating production sites that are in harmony with their natural surroundings. TMMF (Valenciennes, France) and TMUK (Burnaston and Deeside, UK) will ramp up efforts in Europe by serving as the industry benchmark for sustainable production of vehicles and engines. Each plant will pilot activities to help realize 2010 environmental targets, including a 25% reduction in water use by Toyota’s European manufacturing network. Toyota intends to adapt these methods for their plants globally if successful.

Vehicles designed by Toyota ED²

Production cars (partially or totally designed by Toyota Europe Design Development): * Lexus SC (2001), *

Toyota Yaris The is a supermini/subcompact car sold by Toyota since 1999, replacing the Starlet and Tercel. Up to 2019, Toyota had used the Yaris nameplate on export versions of various Japanese-market models, with some markets receiving the same vehicl ...

I (2001), *

Toyota Avensis The is a mid-size/ large family car built in Derbyshire, United Kingdom by the Japanese automaker Toyota from October 1997 to August 2018. It was the direct successor to the European Carina E and was available as a four-door saloon, five-door ...

II (2003), * Toyota Corolla Verso II (2004), * Toyota Yaris II (2005), *

Toyota Auris The is a compact car derived from the Corolla, manufactured and sold by Toyota. Introduced in 2006, the first generation three/five-door hatchback shared the platform with the E150 series Corolla, while the second generation five-door hatchb ...

I (2006), * Toyota Avensis III (2009), *

Lexus IS The is a compact executive car ( D-segment in Europe) sold by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota, since 1998. The IS was originally sold under the nameplate in Japan from 1998 until 2005 (the word ''Altezza'' is Italian for 'height' or 'high ...

III (2013), * Toyota Avensis III Restylée (2012), * Toyota Verso Restylé (2013), * Toyota Land Cruiser J150 Restylé (2013), * Toyota Avensis III Restylée (2015), * Toyota C-HR (2016), * Toyota Yaris III Restylée (2017), * Toyota Yaris IV (2020), *

Toyota Yaris Cross The is a nameplate used by the Japanese automaker Toyota for two vehicles in the subcompact crossover SUV category (B-segment). The nameplate first appeared for the crossover SUV counterpart of the Toyota Yaris (XP210), XP210 model Yaris base ...

(2020), * Toyota e-Palette (2020), * Toyota bZ4X (2021). Concept cars: * Toyota CS&S (2003), * Toyota Motor Triathlon Race Car (2004), * Toyota Endo (2005), * Toyota Urban Cruiser Concept (2006), * Toyota Hybrid X (2007), * Toyota IQ Concept (2007), * Toyota FT-86 Concept (2009), *

Toyota FT-CH is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, producing ...

(2010), * Toyota ME.WE (2013, with the Studio Massaud), * Toyota C-HR Concept (2015), * Lexus LF-SA (2015), * Toyota i-TRIL (2017), * Lexus UX Concept (2017), * Toyota e-Care (2019), * Toyota e-4me (2019), * Toyota e-Trans (2019), * Toyota e-Racer (2019), * Lexus LF-30 (2019), * Toyota Aygo X Prologue (2021), * Toyota Compact Cruiser EV (2022), * Toyota bZ Compact SUV (2022), * Toyota C-HR Prologue (2022). Other works: * Skyjet and yacht for the movie '' Valérian and the City of a Thousand Planets'' (2017), * Toyota e-Chargeair (2019), autonomous H2 charging system, * Lexus "Lunar Concepts" sketches for ''

Document Journal ''Document Journal'' is an independent culture, arts, and fashion magazine founded in New York in 2012. Published biannually in the spring and fall, the magazine is printed in book format and distributed globally. ''Document'' focuses on Ame ...

'' art magazine: Lexus Zero Gravity, Lexus Cosmos, Lexus Bouncing Moon Roller, Lexus Lunar Cruiser, Lexus Lunar Mission, Lexus Moon Racer and Lexus Lunar (2020)

References

External links

*
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe official site
{{Authority control Toyota Companies based in Brussels Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1963 1963 establishments in Europe