Available from early 2014, the Verso 1.6 D-4D offers 113PS with torque of 270m from 1,750rpm to 2,250rpm and will deliver CO2 emissions of 119g/km.

The unit joins the existing 124PS 2.0 D-4D and the 132PS 1.6 Valvematic and the 147PS 1.8 Valvematic petrols.

The collaboration also includes plans to co-develop a fuel cell system, conduct a feasibility study for a jointly developed sports car platform, work on lightweight vehicle body technologies and undertake joint research into lithium-air batteries.

Didier Leroy, senior managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation, and President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe (TME), said: ‘At Toyota, we believe that tackling environmental challenges facing our industry will require more than one approach. Hybrid is at the core of our strategy towards sustainable mobility, but we also see a role for clean diesel in Europe.

‘Working together with an industry leader like the BMW Group allows us to benefit from economies of scale to reduce development costs as well as improve our time-to-market.’

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