Toyota sees bounce with new launches in Europe

06/09/2008 01:44. BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- Toyota believes a wealth of new vehicles hitting the market next year will restore its market share in Europe, the head of Toyota Motor Europe said on Thursday.

"Meeting 2007 sales (this year) will be challenging," Tadashi Arashima told a news conference to announce an 80 million euro ($116.1 million) expansion of its research and development center outside Brussels.

"But we will launch 18 new models by the end of next year," he said, adding the last model launched in Europe was the Auris in March 2007.

Arashima said the company would launch the next generation Avensis within a month at the Paris Motor Show. A new version of its Prius hybrid and a new Lexus will follow.

Toyota believes it will sell 43,000 Prius cars in Europe this year, partly constrained by... // Automotive News