HiLux, LandCruiser unaffected by Toyota's global diesel ban

Popular diesel variants of the HiLux, Prado and LandCruiser won't be affected by Toyota's new blanket-ban on diesel passenger cars, Australian stakeholders have confirmed.

The Japanese giant became the latest manufacturer to distance itself from diesel engines this week when it announced at the Geneva motor show that its passenger line-up would only comprise petrol, electric and hydrogen drivetrains from this point forward.

Toyota's defection was the latest in the continued fallout from Volkswagen's controversial #dieselgate scandal.

Asked whether the announcement spelled the beginning of the end for utility vehicles such as LandCruiser and Hilux, Toyota's Australian vice-president of marketing and sales, Sean Hanley, was unequivocal.

"Not at all and I want to make this clear," he said, "We will continue to build, develop and sell LandCruiser, HiLux and Prados.

"We still have a real commitment to the tradies, mining, to all the industry that uses our cars.

"What we will do though, is to dramatically increase our hybrid mix to offset any CO2 regulation that may come to Australia."

Hanley was steadfast in his desire to continue offering diesel utility and SUV vehicles in Australia, but conceded that hybrid versions could one day replace them.

"We may have different drivetrains in the future. We don't know what the future regulations will be. In saying that … we still have a firm commitment to bring those cars to those customers in the future."

Indeed, Toyota has committed to producing a hybrid version of every model it produces by the early 2020s.

Toyota recently said it would offer eight hybrids by 2020 (with new arrivals likely to include the RAV4, C-HR and Yaris hybrids) in Australia, where petrol-electric models account for less than 30 per cent of Toyota sales.

In Europe, Toyota's diesel ban will affect all passenger models - a decision Hanley said would have no bearing on Australian products, where such models are not offered.

"It's your Yaris, Corolla and equivalents in Europe," he clarified. "Our direction globally and indeed on passenger cars in Australia … RAV4 diesel is our closest variant, which is an SUV more than a passenger car.

"Our clear direction, which is aligned to the global, is that we will have three powertrain variants: hybrid electric, full electric and fuel-cell technology. They're the three things that we will focus on in the future."

Hanley said Toyota was well placed in Australia to align with global emissions regulations.

"The good news is that we have the ability to draw on all the Toyota developed markets in the world that are far more developed on CO2 regulations than what we are," he said.

"We'll have the potential to draw on those three drivetrains to suit our market."