In case you didn’t know it, in a very challenging European market Toyota is bucking the odds and growing its market share quite nicely. And it’s all on the back of their hybrid technology, which is being embraced as the clean alternative to the dirty diesels there. Toyota sold some 480k cars in Europe last year, and 46% were hybrids. In western Europe, it was 60% hybrids, and they could sell more if they could get more.
And rejoining the Toyota lineup is the Camry, in hybrid form only. And among other things, the taxi market is very much in its visor. Why not? Toyota practically owns the taxi market in the US, Japan and many other countries. Their reliability is unsurpassed, and as a hybrid, it has the stellar efficiency and operating economy to boot. Watch out Mercedes!
Thanks to its hybrids, Toyota has the best (lowest) corporate CO emission average of any major player in the European market. Dieselgate has been a huge boon for Toyota in Europe, and their sales growth is only limited by supply.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s US hybrid sales have been rather stagnant. The Prius has dropped considerably in the past couple of years, but the growth of the RAV4 hybrid and other SUVS is offsetting that somewhat. And a RWD version for trucks is reportedly on the way.
The next generation of Toyota hybrids will also emphasize performance more, undoubtedly with more powerful electric motors and stouter batteries. That makes a lot of sense, as the instant torque of EVs has become the gold standard. If Toyota doesn’t yet have true EVs, they see their next-gen hybrids as the next best thing.
Paul, have you found some of the styling cues of the new Camry to be a bit…bizarre?
In particular, the relief lines in the C-pillar and most of all, the fake vents below the taillights? Those vents aren’t on all Camries but the ones that carry them – and particularly in light colors, since the fake vents are always black…
Anyway even Peter DeLorenzo has taken notice that Toyota is working to improve the driving experience of their cars and apparently it’s beginning to bear fruit.
And given the troubles that Mercedes’ cars seem to develop after they get some wear and tear on them, my choice between the two, if I made my living driving a taxi, would be Toyota hands down.
Well, pretty much all Toyotas recently have some bizarre styling cues. The Prius most of all.
I rather like the basic design/shape/proportions of the new Camry, although I would have preferred for it to be a bit taller. I think Toyota has learned from their mistakes, and is moving towards a bit less of the bizarre details. I think the new Corolla is an example of that; it looks quite good to my eyes.
I don’t obsess on the small styling details much. and just try to accept them as part of the package.
I also like the new Corolla and Camry, and they’re the first Toyota sedans that I could see myself in, so if their goal was to take styling risks to appeal to millennials, they’ve succeeded. At least in my case.
I’m probably the most untoyota person there can be but the critique of the current Camry styling seems to come mostly from the same people who had been calling them boring for the last 15 years anyway, and if Camry drivers supposedly don’t care about cars, why would they care about how the newest models look? Yeah I think there are some busy details but what doesn’t in 2019? There hasn’t been this many non functioning scoops and slats in cars and crossovers since the swansong years of the original muscle car era!
The Prius is another story. They really were never attractive cars beforehand but they were at least non-threatening and tried and true in the same way the VW Bug was. Adding aggressive styling to it to match the new lineup made what was a cute little rodent into a mangy rabid one overnight.
It’s interesting that with the new Camry Toyota seems to have moved towards a lower cowl height, once the province of Honda. And deeper side windows too. Other manufacturers please copy.
Camry Hybrid LE is the one to buy right now, Prius-aping MPG figures (53/51 iirc), a few nice extras (climate control and heated seats) over the regular LE, all in a nice driving, roomy car with good visibility. Yes there is less headroom in the back compared to the old K-platform, but overall an impressive package.
Sorta weird they’re going with the Camry rather than the completely freakin’ amazing hybrid JPN Taxi. Isn’t it?
Nope. Taxis in Germany are almost invariably mainstream sedans. It may even be mandated. It’s different in other places, like London or Japan, or…
Well, I’ve surely seen car parks and curbsides full of Mercedes E- and C-class taxis in Germany. Hadn’t thought of a mandate for standard sedans, though if anyone were to have such a rule, it would be the Germans (who also have DIN standards for wastepaper baskets and suchlike). Still, it seems like the JPN Taxi or something like it is a much more practical taxicab than a Camry—whether in Tokyo or Frankfurt or Los Angeles.
Undoubtedly the JPN is much more expensive, and used where regulations essentially require it to be used. It’s like the London cab. Or the special requirements way back in the day that resulted in the Checker.
Equivalent of about $32K for the JPN, if what I read is accurate.
Undoubtedly if Toyota felt the JPN was appropriate and competitive on the market, they would likely sell it there.
Another issue is resale: German taxis can’t be very old at all, so the resale is a significant factor in lowering the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
The biggest thing here in this story is not that Toyota is launching some huge initiative to take on the taxi market; it’s that they’re selling a large sedan again in Europe after having pulled the Camry from the market some years back. This is specifically because its hybrid drive train makes it much more competitive again against the domestic sedans in its category. The taxi business is mostly incidental, at least at this point.
Regardless of price, specialty taxis are almost always only used where mandated. Even NYC backed away from their Nissan NV200 van based Taxi of Tomorrow.
I may be mistaken but I believe that the vast majority of taxis in Germany are privately owned as opposed to the US where most major cities have large taxi business that own them and day-lease them to the drivers. German taxi drivers can take the light bar off and use the Taxi as personal transportation. It’s just one of the reasons why German taxis tend to be in much better condition than taxis in the US. A Camry would likely still be a decent car to drive around in “after hours”, something like a Taxi Of Tomorrow possibly less so.
I have no idea about this but would find it very possible that some German taxis are “wrapped” in taxi color and when it’s time to sell the car, it’s unwrapped to reveal whatever more desirable color the body is in rather than being the scarlet letter taxi ivory.
I regularly see taxis 20 years and older still in service in various German cities. Particularly Mercedes W123 and W124, but also Audi 100 C4 and others.
Huh, I hadn’t heard about NYC ditching the NV200 taxi, though I do recall reading some years ago that there was at least one kerfuffle, at least one flap, several dust-ups, and at least two furores about the spec-and-bid process that led to its adoption. (and speaking of the NV200 taxi, I recall being a little arched of eyebrow on reading that a London-taxi version of it had modified steering linkage to comply with the tight turning radius requirement for London taxis. Er…mightn’t non-London-taxi owners also appreciate a tighter turning radius?).
Good point about German taxi age limits. In Tokyo, taxis are kept on the road (in damn near perfect condition) for many years; last June I saw many Crown Comforts that were 2006 models at newest, still looking like they came off the assembly line last week. So obviously the economic calculations would be very different.
I do appreciate the significance of Toyota putting a big sedan on the European market again—a good 12″ longer than the Avensis, with about a 5″ longer wheelbase. It’ll be really interesting to see how they do with it.
The JPN Taxi is probably reasonably efficient in an urban environment, but it looks like a big box to push along on the autobahn.
Another issue is resale: German taxis can’t be very old at all, so the resale is a significant factor in lowering the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
This explains why many of taxicabs in Germany today are “never” ordered with traditional RAL 1015 Hellelfenbein paint. They have the colour foils covering the paint, which can be removed after the end of their taxi service and be sold as private passenger vehicle.
There has been long discussion over the year whether the taxicabs are no longer required to be in Hellelfenbein colour or not. Like store closure on Sundays, some of German traditions are difficult if not impossible to change for 21st century.
Not just in Germany…we have that in North America, too. Self-service gasoline is not allowed in the US state of Oregon, and despite the only other state having that rule being N’Joysey, a lot of Oregonians staunchly like it that way—”I don’t wanna get out of my car in the rain and touch a dirty gas pump handle!” (which is half a good reason because roofs aren’t allowed either), so it’s not going to change any time soon.
Nominally it’s prohibited for “safety” reasons (because gas station conflagrations happen all the time where self-serve is allowed…), but whatever the real reason—jobs creation is a plausible answer—it means you’re going to sit there in your car waiting (and waiting…) until one of the attendants to get around to you, you’re going to crane your neck to keep an eye on ’em to make sure they’re putting in the grade of fuel you said, you’re going to wait some more after the tank’s full until the attendant gets around to you again, if you’re paying by credit card you’re going to wait some more while the attendant gets around to doing the payment dance for/with you, and you’re probably going to get out of the car anyway because if there’s any window-washing or oil-checking or anything else getting done, it’s gonna be you doing it. But on the bright side, that gives you the opportunity to have a look at the gasoline they sloshed on your car (it’s not their car!) and retrieve the gas cap from wherever it was carelessly tossed and/or make sure it was replaced all the way tightly.
Still, there are enough things Oregon does well that aside from grumbling from time to time I don’t get too worked up about this what they don’t.
I regularly see taxis 20 years and older still in service in various German cities. Particularly Mercedes W123 and W124, but also Audi 100 C4 and others.
You regularly see W123s! Seriously? I am more than a bit surprised. And somewhat dubious. Even the W124s seem a bit unlikely at this stage.
Well I live in Germany, so…..yes.
Well I live in Germany, so…..yes.
Maybe you could shoot some for us? That would make a great post here, “The Vintage Taxis of Germany.
Yes, Sartzi Golames is correct. I’ve seen a few Mercedes-Benz W123 taxicabs still rumbling through the streets in Munich and Erlangen. What surprised me the most was that none of them had Historical numberplates.
When I see one, I’ll try to snap some photos…
Taxis in Germany are almost invariably mainstream sedans. It may even be mandated.
It isn’t mandated that the taxcabs be mainstream sedans. Volkswagen Touran, Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Toyota Pruis are very popular alternative to the sedans. Sometimes we’d see Mercedes-Benz V-Class vans as well as occasional Porsche Cayenne and Jaguar I-Pace.
I should not have said “sedans”. What I meant to say was “mainstream cars”, as I’m quite aware of the MOVs and wagons in taxi service. My point is that there aren’t (to my knowledge) specialized taxis in service, like the London cabs or the Toyota JPN.
There’s even a Lada Kalina taxi in otherwise posh Munich.
Not everyone that buys a Toyota ends up buying them exclusively forever after but it’s the rare person that completely strikes them off their list after owning one or more. The cars just tend to do what 90% of people need them to do 90% of the time and usually without significant fail. You wouldn’t think it’d be that hard to figure out the magic formula but apparently it is. Good job on Toyota for sticking with and expanding hybrids, it works and is transparent for most people without significant (if any) downsides.
The “magic formula” has been solid platforms serving for long periods of time. If you look at the Tundra, for example, it’s badly outdated in most ways compared to the big 3. But it is far more reliable. I would guess that Toyota probably amortizes their major investments out for a longer period of time than anybody else, which would also allow them to put better engineering and quality control into them to start with.
Phil, if you ever get a chance, read “The Toyota Way.” It is a little out of date now but the philosophy of the company remains the same. Toyota designs its products to be absolutely reliable. Their engines are bulletproof and contain top grade materials. Their longevity is legendary.
They do it with volume and very long engine runs. The Toyota ZR engine family (the one in the Corolla) goes back to 2007 and will be around a lot longer. Others include their 3.5 V-6 in the Camry and other products.
What you exchange for this bulletproofedness is a kind of “meh” driving experience. I saw a 2019 Camry on the weekend my cousin had rented and it was a good car, but the doors didn’t have a healthy “thunk” like in my VW.
I haven’t driven the 2019 Corolla and hear it is better than the last generation which I really disliked. It was like driving a fridge.
Yes. Lean is Toyota’s very public secret to success. The Toyota Way is probably the best Lean book out there and it’s an interesting read for automotive nerds like us.
Regarding Satan’s Fuel in Europe: Euro 6d Temp from September 1 onwards.
Sorry, in German:
https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/abgas-diesel-fahrverbote/abgasnorm/test-euro-6d-temp/
That’s an interesting set of results, given recent history (Chrome helpfully translated it for me).
Hi Daniel,
Going back to your talking about odd rules in certain places…
In Indiana car dealers aren’t allowed to sell cars on Sunday. That rule must go back awhile. It was inconvenient for me when Sunday was my only day off. Can’t buy alcohol on Sunday either but I don’t drink so I never cared.
Actually, the very strict Protestants (Gereformeerd/Reformatorisch) in our Bible Belt even shut down their company-websites on Sundays.
Classic vehicle shows, or any other event where a certain level of joy is involved, are always held on a Saturday in that region. Never, ever on a Sunday.
All those examples mentioned here must have something to do with Sunday being the day of rest.
The neighbor of our nearby Toyota dealership is in the taxi-business. So you know what they drive… Below their latest vehicles.
On the left in the picture the ProAce (1.6 liter PSA diesel), on the right the Verso (1.6 liter BMW diesel).
That ProAce is Toyota’s vote of confidence in PSA quality, as it is designed and built by PSA as a rebadged Citroën Jumpy/Peugeot Expert.
Yes, the ProAce is a full PSA product, either with a 1.6 or 2.0 liter turbodiesel.
Toyota and PSA have been in bed for quite a while now, with their Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107/Citroen C1 joint venture going back to 2005. I think it was mostly designed by Toyota, although I’m sure PSA had input too, and shared development costs.The gas engine is a Toyota, and the diesel a Ford/PSA joint engine (DLD).
Toyota hybrids probably make up 40% of the taxi fleet in Las Vegas. Mostly Prius and Prius v, but the Camry is starting to come online, as well as the RAV4. The Hyundai Sonata hybrid is starting to join the fleets as well.
The HUGE real-world MPG gains come from the ability to sit in taxi lines at the hotels and run the a/c without having to run the engine.
“Dieselgate has been a huge boon for Toyota in Europe”
Is “Dieselgate” being defined as the VW cheating scheme? Or more broadly as the EU’s headlong forced-rush into Diesel when it decided that low CO2 was preferable to low particulates and other chemicals that actually foul the air and make people sick?
I don’t see where the first would have much impact on Toyota selling hybrids, but the second puts Toyota in a sweet place to take advantage of the European change of heart over the unintended consequences from over-dieseling.
The diesel cheating scandal just drastically sped up the rush away from diesels that had been building for many years. And it wasn’t just VW; turns just about all the European diesels weren’t meeting the actual expected emission levels, due to cheating and/or fudging on the testing scheme, which was riddled with loopholes. The new testing scheme is very demanding, and can’t be gamed.
The reason why air quality kept being so bad despite the newer emission standards is because the standards weren’t being enforced. So the industry basically ruined it for themselves by fudging, cheating, and gaming.
Now that they’ve all been exposed and subject to various degrees of repercussions from their crimes, misdeeds (including collusion between Mercedes and BMW) and other bad faith dealings, the public can’t get away from them fast enough. Well; actually there’s a whole contingent that wants to keep diesels and is anti-EV, like the Yellow Vest Movement in France, mainly rural blue-collar demographic. It’s become a big political backlash. A bit like the pro-coal thing in the US, but not quite exactly the same. They feel the regulations which essentially mandate a growing percentage of EVs is too much change, and not in their interests. Undoubtedly rural folks are not going to be served by EVs very well. These diesel lovers may well just not be able to drive into the cities anymore.
From what I am hearing from my German friends, a lot of folks are miffed that a supposedly certified clean product ended up not being so. It also illustrates the cozy arrangement the German car makers and regulators have, ie the car makers basically. They resent that they are no longer allowed to drive in certain places. That doesn’t make much sense because hardly anyone takes a car into a German city anyway.
The “yellow vest” thing is a lot more than anger about having the value of your car thrashed. There is a really nasty underside in Germany and it is making a comeback.
That is for the simple reason that the changes ARE too much. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would be just your garden variety Green Party member here. It is one thing to agree to a gradual reduction of emissions with natural extinction of older vehicles (with the odd ones remaining as collectors vehicles) but what the powers-that-be have in mind is wealth destruction for vast numbers of Europeans. At some point, enough is enough (do not be deceived by the gains the Greens made in the recent EU Parliament elections; those were mostly voters defecting from ossified Social-Democrat and Labour parties).
And it’s not just rural oiks. I (a professional with academic qualifications) cannot see why, having slaved all my life to finally get my dream car, I am looking at a future in which it will be effectively confiscated due to an extreme, and not factually based, political belief.
The Greens do not hold office in any of the major European countries, and the last time they did ended in 2005 in Germany. It’s far too easy to blame “the Greens”, especially concerning emission legislation that’s been promulgated in 1999 and entered force in 2010. It still baffles me “the Greens” somehow get the blame for the duty to enforce environmental laws – like all other laws – yet the carmakers who’ve caused the persistent failure to meet the air quality standards by committing outright fraud mostly get away with it. Both financially and in the eyes of the public.
I still know a few people in the taxi business. Here is what they tell me about Toyota hybrid cars:
-They go at least 1,000,000 km without doing ANYTHING to them. Then it’s usually a new battery.
-The brakes last at least 300,000 km.
-The cars do 5.0 L/100 km in real world traffic.
These are not fanbois and they were actually operators of big sleds in the past. The taxi operators that didn’t switch to Toyota all went broke.
It’s no surprise that Toyota has taken over the taxi market of developed countries. Even Berlin was full of Prius cabs when I was there last time.
However, the 2nd and 3rd generation Prius instrument clusters burn out at about 400,000 km when used around the clock in taxi duty, so you won’t see many Prius taxis with odometers over half a million kilometers.
Can’t the cluster just be replaced? Most modern cars keep the odometer data in the ECU anyway. I doubt it’s legal in Germany to drive around without a functioning IC and am sure it’s tested annually by the TuV.
Meanwhile, in Portugal we are still full of Mercedes taxis, with a couple of BMW and Audi’s.
Now the premium cars are slowly being replaced with Citroën and Dacia vehicles, so slowly French cars are affirming themselves as cheap to buy and run
If nothing else, the Camry’s (and Prius’s) astonishing reliability in taxi use should permanently torpedo the once widely-held notion that FWD cars are just too delicate for this sort of heavy-duty usage.
Notice German Camry Hybrid costs $44k, that is $15k more than US, wonder what is the reason, import taxes or regulation added on?
In my opinion, Collora Hybrid is probably a better choice the new Camry is quite big for Europe.
The argument over ther merits of new JPN taxi misses few points, it is designed to be a taxi, smaller size with large interior space, and wheelchair accessible.
The old Euro midsize Avensis has been discontinued which is probably the main reason the Camry was brought back. Effectively the size difference wasn’t that big anymore anyway. Lower trim Avensis models are effectively replaced by higher trim Corollas, and the Corolla wagon with its longer wheelbase is barely smaller than the old Avensis wagon. All of them are mainly hybrids now, according to a dealer I talked to a few months ago.
I actually think Toyota should take a step further and make their enthusiast cars hybrid too. Make the next GT86 with the upcoming RWD hybrid drivetrain, turning it into a cheap, desirable hybrid car, and let Subaru make the next BRZ with the H4.
And the Supra should have been based off the Lexus RC but also with a hybrid powertrain, maybe some variation of the Camry’s V6 (good enough for the Lotus Evora) paired to an electric motor…
The weird thing is I recall most of the early press releases on the new Supra claimed it going to be a Hybrid. Perhaps I’m mixing it upwith the NSX though, both seemed to have parallel protracted developments.
A lot of people are making a stink about the mandatory slushbox anyway, so it wouldn’t exactly be extra upsetting having a hybrid drive.
Wow, that top picture. Photoshop skill level 100.