Toyota finds itself in something of a cleft stick with Yaris. It has enjoyed giant-killing successes with its World Rallycar Programme since 2017, in a much-modified version of the car that, in hybrid form, has sold over 500,000 examples alone, since its 2012 introduction. Of course, Yaris history goes back to the turn of the Millennium, when it was first produced at the Valenciennes plant in northern France, which underscores its importance to Toyota (£270m has just been invested at the factory).
You can rest assured that the new Yaris will continue rallying, which also insists that a GRMN sporty model will form part of the range’s future. However, it is all-change for the Yaris hybrid, which will now be powered by a new generation, 1.5-litre, three-cylinder petrol-electric engine. Details are scant at present but a punchy 1.0-litre unit is also expected.
Compact dimensions set Yaris apart from its rivals, where new cars tend to grow larger with each successive iteration. Interestingly, Toyota has reduced Yaris’s overall length by 5mm, but increased its wheelbase by 50mm and also its width by 50mm, while 40mm reduction in the height, without cramping the cabin, extols the benefits of the new platform. New lines in the flanks add dynamic value. While lamps all feature LED technology and include turn indicators that alternate with the daytime running lights.
The interior pursues a ‘less-is-more’ principle, with an open and spacious area for the driver and front passenger. High-quality materials include an innovative felt trim finish for the door panels and, for the first time in a Yaris, a soft-touch dashboard for enhanced refinement. Toyota has concentrated heavily in terms of tactility, operation and sound of the controls, colours, illumination, shapes, patterns, graphics and overall appearance, as it intends to make the new Yaris the car of choice in the compact segment.
Its ergonomic cockpit is developed around the concept of ‘hands on the wheel, eyes on the road’, using three interlinked sources: the central touchscreen, a TFT multi-information display in the instrument binnacle and a 10.0-inch full-colour head-up display that projects key driving data and warnings, such as navigation prompts and speed limits, onto the windscreen, within the driver’s field of view. The steering wheel size has been reduced for better visibility.
Toyota is more confident with its battery technology these days and the hybrid unit is now a lighter lithium-ion, rather than nickel-metal hydride type. It is said to provide 15% more power than before, allied to a 20% improvement in fuel economy. The new model promises the highest standards of connectivity and safety, Toyota boasting that the new Yaris will be THE safest car in class, when it is launched officially next year.
