The French automotive industry counts a Japanese company among its players: Toyota. The Nipponese giant is based in the North, in Onnaing, and produces 1,250 Yaris vehicles per day. This exceptional momentum makes the Toyota hatchback the leading car produced in France. However, Toyota currently has no plans to manufacture electric cars in France.
Production pace on the rise
Toyota has accelerated production at its Onnaing site in northern France. The plant historically builds Yaris models for the European market, but also the Yaris Cross and Mazda 2, the latter being very close cousins of the Toyota Yaris.
This factory has operated since 2001 and serves as a major employment driver in France. The plant even expanded its production capacity to 1,250 vehicles per day in September 2026, up from 1,120 previously. To sustain this output, Toyota relies on 4,800 employees on site. Yet Toyota does not intend to shift the production line toward electric models.
Toyota stays cautious on electrification
While most of Toyota’s competitors have roadmaps steering them toward a fully electric lineup in the coming years, or at least to a very large majority, Toyota moves forward with caution in this field, sometimes seeming to lag in certain aspects.
The Japanese automaker has launched an electric-vehicle offensive. After long maintaining only the bZ4X as its sole model, the line has undergone a significant modernization and has been joined by the C-HR+, the Urban Cruiser (not distributed in France) and the bZ4X Touring. Toyota has also electrified its iconic electric pickup, the Hilux. Yet, curiously, there is still no electric city car in its lineup, and the French site does not appear to be prioritized for Toyota’s transition to EV production.
Nevertheless, northern France hosts a hub for electric vehicles, positioned between the Renault plant and the production of electric batteries: Automotive Cells Company (ACC) in Douvrin, AESC Envision in Douai, and Verkor in Dunkirk. Despite this cluster, Toyota is preparing its Czech factory to host a line for electric-vehicle production. The Kolín plant is set to grow from 152,000 to 173,000 square meters. A €680 million investment is planned, including €64 million contributed by the Czech Republic for a battery-assembly line.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s Onnaing plant is expected to continue producing hybrid cars that still adhere to European environmental constraints and demonstrate Toyota’s conviction that a multi-energy approach is preferable to a complete shift to electric, as explained by Florian Aragon, CEO of Toyota France: “We are convinced that multi-technology is the right strategy to decarbonize the automobile. We base ourselves on our customers’ uses, on existing infrastructure, and the differences in mobility.”
Benoît Chambon, vice president of corporate affairs for the Onnaing plant, adds: “our hybrid technology has become our main asset.”
