Toyota Europe CEO sees 2008 as transition year

TURIN, Italy, May 20 (Reuters) - The head of Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(TM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in Europe sees 2008 as a transition year as the Japanese automaker prepares to bring 18 new and upgraded models to the region by the end of 2009.

"Our key year is 2009 because we are bringing so many new models," Tadashi Arashima, president and chief executive of Toyota's European operations told reporters on Tuesday at an automotive congress in this city in Northwestern Italy.

The models to be launched include both Toyota and premium Lexus brands as well as two hybrids.

Arashima declined to give a precise sales forecast for the coming years.

In 2007, the Japanese automaker's sales volume in Europe rose 10 percent to 1.2 million units, giving it a 5.6 percent share of the market. It has about 15 models on the road, including the Auris, Yaris and Prius hybrid.

Following a news report that Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, planned to export vehicles from the United States, Arashima said he had no plans to have them shipped to Europe despite the dollar's weakness against the euro.

Neither does he plan to import the low-cost car that Toyota was developing for emerging markets.

"We are trying to develop (it) for India and Brazil," he said.

Arashima emphasised Toyota's policy to produce in Europe that at least two-thirds of the vehicles it sells in the region.