Toyota Hiace panel van - discontinued in the UK from 2012

Back in January, I lamented the passing of the Toyota Hiace, puzzling over why Toyota had claimed to have no suitable Euro 5 engines, when clearly it did.

The answer may now be clear — the Japanese company will be selling rebadged PSA Peugeot Citroën vans in Europe from mid-2013. The new van will be based on the Citroën Dispatch / Peugeot Expert — near enough a direct replacement for the Hiace.

The agreement also includes collaboration on next generation vehicles which are to be produced by PSA Peugeot Citroën.  The collaboration is expected to last beyond 2020.

Toyota Motor Europe will participate in the development and industrial investment costs for the next generation product. There are no plans for the two companies to enter into capital tie-ups or joint production.

Toyota Motor Europe President and CEO, Didier Leroy:

“The Light Commercial Vehicle segment is an important one for us in many markets throughout Europe. By joining forces with PSA Peugeot Citroën, we have found a good solution for our loyal customers following the recent discontinuation of our own Hiace model.  We already enjoy a successful joint-venture partnership with PSA Peugeot Citroën in the small car segment and they are a leader in the European light commercial vehicle market, with a solid reputation for quality and versatility.”

As mentioned above, PSA and Toyota already collaborate in the small car segment — the Peugeot 107, Citroën C1 and Toyota Aygo are all the same car.

Not the real Hiace

The tie-up probably makes sense for Toyota, as it will no longer have to produce a separate version of the Hiace for European markets.

The bonneted Hiace model (pictured above) that was sold in European markets is a special European design — the standard Hiace is a cabover configuration (here’s a picture on Toyota’s Australian website). This model is the ‘real’ Hiace and sells well in Asia, the Middle East and Africa but is not acceptable in Europe — as far as I can tell, because it doesn’t comply with our crash test requirements (but I stand ready to be corrected).

Update: The European model Toyota Hiace was built at Toyota’s Ovar factory in Portgual. According to this article on Just-Auto.com, just 152 have been built so far this year and only 304 were built in 2011. It looks like the time had come for the Euro Hiace to make a dignified exit.