Toyota Welcomes Royal Visitor At The Mobility Roadshow

His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh visited the Toyota stand at The Mobility Roadshow last week where he met Falklands War Veteran, Simon Weston OBE. Prince Philip visited the Mobility Roadshow to view the latest innovations designed to help people with disabilities, including the new swivel seat in the Toyota Yaris.

Toyota had a record number of test drives with 575 visitors taking the opportunity to evaluate its wide range of vehicles and adaptations on the famous Donington circuit.

Simon Weston believes the success of the Mobility Roadshow is due to companies like Toyota understanding disability needs: “The desires of people with a disability are the same as able-bodied customers, but their physical needs make it that much harder.

“The biggest benefit of the show is the accessibility to try different mobility adaptations and vehicles all in one location to see if they suit you and suit your disability. Where else in the country could you try so many different vehicles and adaptations?” he added.

The Toyota Yaris was a popular choice at the show with many visitors giving feedback on how they would improve the adaptation. Simon test-drove the Toyota Yaris with the new swivel seat in the week leading up to the show and spoke to visitors about its benefits:

“The Toyota swivel seat aims to encourage disabled people into a car. If manufacturers can cure small problems for mobility customers, such as easier access to the vehicle with a swivel seat, it can transform people’s lives. Dealing with disability is all about functionality and the need to enhance the quality of one’s life.”

Tim Copland, National Leasing, Rental and Special Sales Manager for Toyota summed up the appeal of the Mobility Roadshow: “It is a one-stop shop for disability demonstrating the best available products on the market. Toyota was among many companies at the show demonstrating the latest developments in addressing mobility needs to try and make disabled people’s lives easier.”

Free to visitors, the Mobility Roadshow is the world’s largest outdoor mobility event. The show appeals to a wide audience as there are eight million disabled people in the UK.

ENDS

Notes to Editors Around eight million people in the UK have mobility problems. The 1.57 million of these who receive the Higher Rate Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance qualify for assistance under the car-provision scheme run by the charitable body Motability. Some 400,000 people currently run vehicles obtained through Motability, which can also provide charitable grants to cover adaptations or advance payments in cases of severe hardship.

Most Toyota vehicles are available under the Motability scheme, but the Yaris, Corolla and Verso versions of both are the most popular choices. The majority of Toyota dealerships have Motability First Class accreditation, which means that they have suitable facilities for disabled visitors and trained specialist staff to make them feel welcome and to advise on vehicles and adaptations to controls.

More customer information on the Toyota Motability scheme is available from local Toyotadealerships, the Toyota Mobility helpline, 0845 602 1727 or the Toyotawebsite www.toyota.co.uk