Reports Say Toyota Will Drop iQ City Car in Europe

Toyota Motor Corp. is phasing out the European version of its iQ city car in 2014, according to media reports.

British enthusiast magazine Autocar quotes Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez, who says Toyota told him it would end production of the $14,000 iQ for Europe next year. Bez says that decision is one reason Aston Martin announced earlier this month it will drop the slow-selling Aston Martin Cygnet, a $49,000 version of the iQ.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that the company handling Toyota imports to the Netherlands says it was advised by the Japanese carmaker that the European iQ would go out of production next year.

Toyota has declined to comment specifically on the reports, saying only that production of the iQ will continue.

Toyota unveiled the iQ in concept form at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show. The car went on sale in Japan in 2008 and in Europe a year later. Analysts say the next-generation iQ is due in about 2015.