Patent drawings reveal stylish looks for Toyota’s new hatch, on sale next year using BMW diesel engines

The bold new design of the next-generation Toyota Auris has been previewed in these leaked patent drawings. The new Auris, 
due to be revealed in concept car form by the end of this year ahead of a 2013 launch, is the latest model to have some visual flair injected into it as part of Toyota boss Akio Toyoda’s brief to create “more characterful models”.

Images surfaced on the internet last week of the new Auris’s Japanese sister car, the Corolla. Toyota confirmed they were not wholly representative of the UK-spec car. The patent drawings obtained by Autocar were registered in Germany, and reveal the concept car that will lead the way to the more distinctive Auris production car. 

Toyoda has tasked Toyota Europe with developing the firm’s future core models for the market from the Aygo to the Avensis in size. The first model to come from this initiative is the new Yaris Hybrid, which will be followed by the new Auris.

As well as focusing on bold design, future Toyotas will put a much greater emphasis on more involving driving dynamics, something for 
which the current Auris has been criticised.

The new Auris’s platform is understood to have been engineered with a hybrid drivetrain in mind. The current Auris Hybrid had the Prius’s drivetrain engineered into it mid-way through its life, compromising on boot capacity.

Lessons learned from reducing the size, weight and efficiency of the hybrid drivetrain from the Prius and Auris to fit in the smaller Yaris will be incorporated into the new 
Auris hybrid. 

Updated versions of today’s 1.3 and 1.6-litre petrol engines are likely to carry over from launch, but the chief addition to the next-generation Auris line-up shortly after launch will be BMW diesel engines. Both 1.6 and 2.0-litre BMW oil-burners are tipped to be offered, which could help push the Auris into the mainstream.  

Toyota’s Burnaston plant in Derbyshire will be the sole factory building the new Auris hatchback. An estate model is also planned, 
as is a small saloon, but the 
UK is unlikely to take the latter due to their relative unpopularity here.

There has been speculation that Toyota is set to ditch the Auris name, in favour of a new badge or a return to Corolla. But Autocar understands the Auris badge will remain for 
the new model.

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Car review

The Toyota Auris is a spacious, but unspectacular attempt at a high quality Golf rival. Only the availability of a hybrid lifts it from obscurity

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Mark Tisshaw

mark-tisshaw-autocar
Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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Mini1 8 June 2012

http://www.carsuk.net/2013-to

http://www.carsuk.net/2013-toyota-auris-leaks/ - Yes Autocar, maybe you should do some more research before publishing articles like this.

skerr 8 June 2012

These are the Dear Qin Global

These are the Dear Qin Global concept car, and actual next gen Auris has been leaked in scan pics on other sites. 

tuga 8 June 2012

Really?

The " bold " ( ahem ) new design of the next-generation Toyota Auris has been revealed in Japan already...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehO1ZL3QCv8

 

Geordie Amanda 8 June 2012

I think Autocar should have a

I think Autocar should have a look at Carscoop pretty pronto.

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2012/06/dear-autocar-this-is-not-next-toyota.html

 

They claim you have got it wrong