Toyota Europe Design Development (ED²)

The evolving world of car design

A car’s design is the first thing people notice. Cars therefore need to appeal to our customers’ tastes. They need to look attractive, with comfortable, high-quality interiors. At the same time, today’s rapidly changing world is requiring designers to change their roles. Nowadays, designers are tasked with widening the scope of different design aspects. They need to take into consideration the ecosystems where vehicles are used, in addition to vehicles’ styling. At Toyota we not only build cars in Europe, we design them here too: at our European design studio Toyota Europe Design Development (ED²). 

European designs from the south of France

Toyota ED² is the European advanced design studio for Toyota and Lexus. Located near Nice on the French Riviera, it’s one of our eight design studios around the world. ED² was previously called EPOC and was based in Brussels. It moved to France in 2000. The centre aims to provide advanced concept proposals on mobility and groundbreaking designs from a European perspective. It creates exterior designs, interior designs, and CMF (Colour, Material and Finishing) designs. It also performs prototype creation and design research.

ED²'s impressive track record

Some recent successes from ED² include the Lexus LF-30 Electrified and the autonomous e-Palette shown at Tokyo Motor Show in 2019. ED² was responsible for the CMF (Colour, Material, Finishing) of the 4th generation Yaris, and the famous Coral Red colour was born. The exterior and CMF of the B-segment SUV Yaris Cross were designed on the French Riviera. ED² has also brought the future of electric vehicles to life. We collaborated with Toyota’s global creatives to develop the bZ4X advanced model shown in April 2021. Our most recent work was the Toyota Aygo X Prologue in March 2021.

Making the Yaris stand out

ED² played a leading role in defining the CMF (Colour, Material and Finishing) of the significantly updated Yaris model that launched in 2020.

Putting personality into the Yaris Cross

Designed in ED² in the south of France and produced in the north of France, the Yaris Cross is purely European, from its exterior styling to its CMF design.

A gold medal for the e-Palette

When it comes to e-Mobility, ED² is surely a medal winner! The e-Palette showcased autonomous driving when a dozen or more of these battery electric vehicles ran on a continuous loop within the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Village.

The future of mobility

At the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, the future of mobility was the topic of our booth. It proposed a future that centres on people; where cars are fun to drive and mobility solutions are available to meet each customer’s needs.

Lexus Electrified

Another scene-stealer at the Tokyo Motor Show 2019 was the Lexus LF-30 Electrified concept vehicle, designed by ED². With its futuristic form it clearly embodies the Lexus Electrified vision.

Spicing up the A-Segment

The Toyota Aygo is recognised for its bold, stand-out design in the A-segment. ED² was charged with bringing in even more boldness and spice to charm small-car buyers. The result is the Aygo X Prologue.