At Full Chat

In the nicest possible way, Toyota is beginning to scare me. Not content with producing cars which, according to countless owner surveys, are just about the best-built and most reliable in the world, the company is repeatedly proving itself to be more profitable than any of its rivals. Build quality and customer satisfaction levels are both strong and, if anything, are getting stronger.

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By Mike Rutherford

25th May 2005

And the product range isn't in bad shape, either. Put aside upmarket Lexus, funky Scion in America and the budget Daihatsu badges, and Toyota's line-up alone is frighteningly strong. The Prius petrol/electric hybrid is a worthy reigning European Car of the Year, while the Corolla Verso is hugely underestimated, not least because it offers a couple of extra seats cleverly hidden in the boot, something many rivals lack. And with apologies to the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and Range Rover Sport, the revised Land Cruiser is the most capable 4x4 I've driven in the last six months.

When you study the Toyota range in all its glory, it is arguably more comprehensive than any other available in Britain. There's three sizes of SUV, a little sports car and a coup΃©, plus large and mid-sized seven-seater MPVs. There's also a fleet of saloons, estates, hatchbacks and superminis. But now the cute Aygo city car provides the icing on the cake, enabling Toyota to call itself the most complete mass car producer on the planet.

So what if the 1.0-litre city car is made by workers in the Czech Republic? If first impressions are anything to go by, it's built to the Japanese firm's exacting standards. A basic Aygo is capable of nearly 100mph, more than 60mpg and will cost between ΂£6,500 and ΂£7,000 - considerably less than some versions of the justifiably deleted Indian-made CityRover. A Toyota of this quality for this money is nothing short of astonishing.

In the same week that I drove my first Aygo, I also spent a couple of days in Germany with the new 177bhp Avensis, which happily cruises, with Lexus-like refinement, at around 135mph. Toyota's new sports model, you enquire? No, it's the D-CAT (Diesel Clean Advanced Technology) version, which manages nearly 50mpg in everyday conditions. And don't assume the hi-tech, self-proclaimed "cleanest diesel in the world" is expensive to maintain. Toyota says the car needs no more than 4.2 hours in the workshop during the first five years of its life. I'm amazed Jaguar was daft enough to allow Toyota to come up with the D-CAT name - the firm even cheekily chose Jag racing green for the badge.

I'm impressed by the way Toyota is conducting itself these days. Its awesome new diesel may be made in Poland, but the Avensis is still built in Burnaston, Derbyshire. The Midlands used to be MG Rover's manor, but Toyota can now claim the historic car-producing region as its own. It's already employing hundreds of British workers to produce thousands of British-made vehicles a year. Long may it continue.