Confident Toyota raises its iQ

Oct 2 2008 Steve Hughes

Confident Toyota raises its iQ

TOYOTA has released final details of one of the most important new models heading for the UK next year, the diminutive iQ city car.

One sale here from January, Toyota says it is so confident of the model's desirability that it is taking orders immediately - even though prices have yet to be announced.

The company is predicting 80,000 sales throughout Europe next year for the newcomer that is regarded as the ultimate jam-buster for increasingly congested cities.

At just 2,985mm long, 1,500mm high and 1,680mm wide it will fit into the smallest of parking spaces yet can carry three adults and a child and travel at motorway speeds with none of the restrictions that apply to electric-powered city cars.

A sliding seat configuration allows an adult 190cm tall to sit in the rear seat behind a front passenger of the same height.

The shoulder-to-shoulder distance between the driver and front passenger is 50mm wider than in a Yaris while the seating layout means there is enough room for three adults plus either a child passenger or luggage behind the driver.

Initially there will be just a single one-litre petrol engine on offer with a five-speed manual gearbox or a continuously variable transmission system that Toyota calls Multidrive.

The engine will produce 67bhp and in manual transmission mode will achieve economy of 65mpg and emissions of just 99g/km.

This keeps the iQ under the 100g/km threshold for vehicle excise duty although with Multidrive transmission the CO2 figure rises to 110g/km.

A new 1.3-litre petrol engine with Stop & Start technology will be added later in 2009 and although a 1.4-litre diesel will be offered in some European markets, it is not expected to be available in the UK.