TOYOTA'S European sales for the first half of the year have reached an all-time record.

The manufacturer sold 410,841 vehicles during the first six months of 2002, up 15% from the 356,890 units it sold during the same period last year.

The Yaris sold 118,824 units and the RAV4 49,243 units, both setting records for the January to June period, with a 4% and 101% increase respectively over 2001 sales for the same period.

Toyota Corolla sales for the first half of the year were 79,885, representing a 43% rise.

'Our strong first half results clearly show that we are well on our way towards selling more than 740,000 vehicles ion 2002, up from 666,035 in 2001, said Dr Takis Athanasopoulos, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Marketing Europe (TMME).