ACEA Accepts Toyota Motor Europe’s Application For Full Membership

As anticipated, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) announced that it has accepted the application of Toyota Motor Europe (TME) to become a full member of ACEA. The Japanese carmaker’s membership will start in January 2008. Back in May, ACEA had announced that its members would take a formal decision on June 8 at the association’s general assembly. Until now, ACEA had 13 members: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, DaimlerChrysler, FIAT, Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Commenting on the announcement, ACEA’s President and CEO of Fiat Group stated, “We welcome Toyota Motor Europe in our midst and are convinced TME will make a valuable contribution to the work of our association. ACEA and TME share the same challenges and concerns with regard to EU regulation and our sector’s competitive strength. Together we will give even more vigorous input to the on-going process of improving the EU regulatory framework and the “better regulation” agenda of the European Commission.”

On Toyota’s behalf, Tadashi Arashima, President of Toyota Motor Europe stated, “We are very proud to have been accepted as a full member of ACEA. We now have an important presence in Europe and so joining the European automotive association was the next logical step. We look forward to working more closely with fellow members on the issues confronting the industry.”