The 1980s brought further consolidation of our European activities and the development of exciting new ventures that helped us establish a stronger presence in Europe.
Designs for Europe
ED2 played a key role in helping us realise our ambition to build a new car to replace the ageing Starlet. It was to reflect customers’ growing environmental awareness by offering much improved fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions. This demand was clear both in Japan, and in Europe where super-minis were accounting for around a third of all new car sales. ED2’s goals were to produce a car that was compact in size, yet had a spacious and comfortable interior, designed to appeal to European tastes.
