Toyota's decision to establish a a manufacturing plant in Europe was announced in 1989 and Toyota Manufacturing UK was established in December that year. There are two manufacturing plants in the UK representing a total investment in excess of £1.85 billion and currently approximately 3,100 members are employed. The vehicle manufacturing plant is located at Burnaston in Derbyshire, the engine manufacturing plant is located at Deeside in North Wales. The first car, a Carina E, drove off the production line on 16 December 1992. The new Avensis replaced the Carina E in 1997 and by 2008 a third generation Avensis had been launched. In 1998 a second model, the Corolla, was introduced and in 2001 a new generation Corolla was launched. In 2007, production of the Auris, the new Toyota hatchback, started replacing the Corolla. Production of the Auris Hybrid, the first full mass-produced hybrid in Europe, began in 2010. The Avensis has now been discontinued, and in late summer 2018 the company announced that a new Corolla Hatchback and Touring Sports would replace the Auris models early in 2019. Burnaston is the exclusive European production centre for the new Corolla. The Saloon model will be produced in Turkey.
