TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Leading Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp will launch a fuel-efficient ultracompact car in Europe around 2009 amid growing demand for small cars, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The vehicle will be based on the four-seat iQ, a prototype ultracompact Toyota exhibited at this month's Frankfurt auto show, the business daily said, without citing sources.
Measuring just 2.98 meters long, the iQ is around 80 centimeters shorter than the Yaris subcompact, Toyota's mainstay car in Europe.
Toyota is targeting annual production of 100,000 units, Nikkei said.
(1 US dollar = 114.72 yen)
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