Currently reading: Geneva motor show 2012: Toyota FT-Bh

Geneva concept car - the Toyota FT-Bh - shows just how efficient city cars can be

The Toyota FT0Bh concept has been shown for the first time at today's Geneva motor show. Toyota says it is an innovative new concept car that promises a “total vehicle” approach to reducing the overall CO2 emissions of a city car.

The Japanese firm said the concept is “an ultra-lightweight, full hybrid city car study, designed to achieve low emissions within an economically viable production framework”.

During the project, complex manufacturing processes and expensive raw materials were deliberately avoided in favour of those already commonplace within the industry. It’s an approach that should make the FT-Bh a viable car for the future, albeit one with typical concept car looks.

Elsewhere on Toyota’s stand at Geneva, there was a world debut for the new Toyota Yaris Hybrid. This super-frugal supermini uses a new 1.5-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine mated to an electric motor and nickel-metal hydride battery pack. Its combined power output is 99bhp.

The £24,995 Toyota GT 86 made its European debut at Geneva alongside NS4 and FCV-R concepts, first seen at the Detroit and Tokyo motor shows respectively. Completing Toyota’s line-up was the diji concept, first seen as the Fun-vii at Tokyo last year.

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J400uk 11 February 2012

Re: New Toyota city car confirmed

Is there really room for another Toyota city car alongside the iQ, Aygo and Yaris?

gathome 11 February 2012

Re: New Toyota city car confirmed

I must agree with LP what is the point of a long low sleek vehicle for city use. For city use you need a shorter taller vehicle. (Murray's T25/7 springs to mind.) For urban use which implies short journeys (in terms of distance), but because of congestion long in terms of time. A shorter more erect vehicle improves visibility, and takes up less of the limited road space. Incidentally, as one who used to drive very low cars (Caterham & Westfield, I am very aware of the limitations caused by a low vehicle on the open road where an undulating road limits forward visibility and the ability to see opportunities to overtake, despite being in a vehicle with exceptional acceleration.

zthomasz 10 February 2012

Re: New Toyota city car confirmed

LP in Brighton wrote:
Sounds promising, but why does the sketch show an ultra sleek concept that would surely not be ideal for an urban environment

Maybe it's something like a smart roadster?

Amazing how similar this sounds to gordon murray's latest endeavor, the "answer to a question no-one asked" (Copyright lesia44). Considerign nobody asked the question, an awful lot of companies are trying to produce an answer.

Maybe it is related to Gordon Murray's city cars. We know that the T26 was a design study for a city car for an unnamed japanese customer.