What’s Up With The Yaris?

Toyota has just streamlined the Yaris lineup and at the same time, made South Africa’s favourite runabout car a whole lot more affordable. Details below.

The Yaris, like many other Toyota models across the range, was a pioneer in the now heavily competed B Segment. When it was first introduced in 2006, it managed to achieve 25% of the B-Segment market share. Since then of course, other manufacturers have aggressively entered the market with their own offerings. The consumer now has a range of vehicles in this category to choose from. Models like the Yaris of course, VW Polo Trendline, Ford Fiesta and KIA Rio. With an increasing number of choices to be made, the public has been screaming to make vehicles more affordable for the man on the street.

Into this mix, the new Yaris was released in 2012.

The new model carried on the legacy of the original Yaris, and then some. I personally drive a new Yaris, and my instant reaction when climbing behind the steering for the first time was… ‘Mmmm, this is fun’. In fact I often took drives to the nearby Quick-shop just to get behind the wheel.

So for some odd reason, the same reason that water in the southern hemisphere goes down the drain anti-clockwise, and the fluff in your belly button is always blue, the new Yaris hasn’t lit up the charts the way it’s predecessor had… Hence this little shakeup. What this means is, Mr Consumer gets the benefit with the keener pricing which is by far the best in the class.

• The 1.0 petrol lineup has been consolidated into one model, simply called Yaris 1.0. It will be based on the previous 1.0, 5 door Xs model
• The 1.3 petrol lineup has also been consolidated to one model. The Yaris 1.3 – which is based on the previous 1.3, 5 door Xs model.
• The 1.3 CVT remains the same.
• The hybrid lineup retains it’s two models. 1.5 Xs HSD, and 1.5 Xr HSD.
• Service plans have been reduced from 4 year/60,000 km to 3 year/45,000 km. The hybrid range retains it’s 4 year/60,000 km service plan. All models also come with a standard 3 year/100,000 km warranty.
• The new list prices as at April 2013 are:
  • Yaris 1.0 Xs – R141,000
  • Yaris 1.3 Xs – R169,900
  • Yaris 1.3 Xs CVT – R181,000

So if you are in the market for a compact city car, that will take you around in style and have some fun doing it, give our Yaris a try. Trust me. Been there 😉