Toyota has formally begun delivering a brand new vehicle at its Derbyshire plant that it says will play a “critical role” in its abitions in Europe.

Earlier today, the Japanese producer held a function at its Burnaston manufacturing plant to commence the start of production of the all-new Toyota Corolla.

The vehicle is the new replacement for the Auris, a vehicle which they had been manufacturing at the Burnaston site since 2007.

Burnaston is making two adaptations of the Corolla – a hatchback and an estate known as the Touring Sports.

As indicated by the Toyota, the new Corolla will begin sales in Europe in February and will be the first Toyota model to offer clients the decision of two self-charging hybrid powertrains.

The Corolla offers a selection between a redesigned 1.8 litre motor (that is built at the Toyota’s Deeside motor plant in North Wales) or a 2.0 litre hybrid powertrain. There will be no diesel version available.

The new vehicle’s are being built following a £240 million cash injection in Burnaston by Toyota. The money has been used to introduce a new and more efficient method for building vehicles at the plant called the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.

It has seen offices at the industrial facility overhauled with new equipment, technologies and systems. Toyota say it has incorporated the instalment of in excess of 200 high-speed robots.

Toyota’s choice to invest in the facility and develop the new Corolla at Burnaston is a huge lift for the site, especially in light of the uncertainty of the UK vehicle industry due to Brexit.

Today’s ceremony was attended by some of Toyota’s top boosses, including president and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, Dr Johan van Zyl, who said that the new Corolla would play “a critical role” looking ahead.

Dr van Zyl, stated: “Toyota Manufacturing UK was our first major manufacturing enterprise in Europe and we have invested more than £2.75 billion in its operations since the start of production in 1992.”