Toyota Yaris has been officially unveiled at Auto Expo 2018. The premium segment sedan will rival none other than Hyundai Verna, Honda City and Maruti Ciaz in the country. Toyota lacked presence in this segment from a long time as their Etios sedan was not listed under this segment.
The top spec Etios ended almost close to the first diesel variants of all other brands. Toyota Yaris is presently available in certain south Asian markets and also carries the Vios/Yaris Ativ moniker in select countries. The car looks quite competitive as its headlights are highly inspired from their own Corolla Altis sedan.
Yaris comes with impressive taillight design, Toyota specific front fascia with LED daytime running lights, shark fin antenna and decent set of alloy wheels. On the inside, Toyota Yaris is quite basic in comparison to others, flaunting black interior with basic silver finish on panels and steering wheel.
For this, Toyota has used a dual tone interior finish specifically for India. . Reliability was never a question on Toyota cars and Yaris will continue the same story in almost INR 10 lakh plus segment. As they claim best in class width for the Yaris cabin, it could get a clear advantage here.
Surprisingly, Toyota presently has no small capacity diesel engine that could get over the BS6 emission norms of 2020. They will launch the Yaris with a petrol engine and most probably, it would be the same unit that Toyota offers on the Etios. Buyers will get an option of 5-speed manual and 7-speed CVT on the new Yaris.
Petrol engine buyers may also love Toyota’s plan that includes bringing the hybrid version soon after the petrol variant. That could result in better sales as buyers could get diesel style fuel economy through the reliable hybrid setup. Yaris is expected to launch around mid 2018.