14 Jun 06
You don't see many of these around, Toyota's Avensis taking less than 9% of sales in its market sector, in a sector that is rapidly declining in Europe anyway. Comprehensively outsold by the likes of the Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall/Opel Vectra and Volkswagen Passat, just 144,180 have found homes across Europe since it replaced the Carina back in 2002.
The mainland Europeans may have overlooked the Avensis saloon, hatchback and estate range somewhat, but in the UK, it has been more popular - not least because it is built in Burnaston, Derbyshire. With the collapse of MG Rover, the scaling-down of Vauxhall production in the UK and the pulling-out of Peugeot, it's now one of a pretty rare breed: the British-made car. Although the D-4D diesel engines are made in Poland, the petrol engines are made in Deeside, North Wales, adding to the homegrown content.
Not that the Avensis appeals on purely patriotic grounds alone: it has consistently proved itself in customer satisfaction surveys and reliability studies. The Mk2 model, launched 2003, was awarded what was then the best-ever five-star score in the Euro NCAP crash tests and is still one of the higher achievers in its class, thanks to a comprehensive standard nine-airbag safety system, including a 'bag to protect the driver's knees in a front-end impact.
Yep, it's reliable, it's well-built, it's safe... but there has to be a catch somewhere. The Avensis's most major drawback has been that, well, it simply isn't very exciting. No, let's not mince words: it's dull. Very dull indeed.
