The Toyota Avensis is no longer available for order.
Production, which takes place in Toyota’s Burnaston plant in Derbyshire, will cease in the coming weeks as the last orders are fulfilled. After this, the only Avensis models left will be dealer stock. The Burnaston factory has been subject to £240 million in investment last year to upgrade it for production of cars using the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.
The Avensis makes way for the Camry hybrid, with the Camry name returning to the UK after a 14-year hiatus. Sales of the Avensis have been slow, given the decline of D-segment saloons as buyers opt for SUVs. Toyota sold 3473 examples of the Avensis in 2017, compared with 3921 RAV4s.
News of the Avensis’s demise follows Toyota's confirmation that the Verso MPV has been taken off sale. The two models were the last to be offered with diesel engines in the UK apart from the Land Cruiser, which is considered by the company as a more specialist product.
The RAV4 diesel was cut from the range earlier this year. Toyota confirmed last year that it would not launch any more diesels in Europe, as the industry turns to electrification and demand plummets amid the ongoing diesel debate.
Toyota predicts that Avensis and Verso customers will now opt for the new Camry hybrid, the Toyota C-HR (particularly for Verso buyers) or the upcoming Auris, which arrives later this year on the much-lauded TNGA architecture.
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