Toyota Unveils New Future Yaris in Japan

Just the Facts:

•Japan's new Vitz previews America's next Yaris.

•Styling is all new, with a big push on fuel economy.

•A hybrid model is also in the works, likely in 2012.


TOKYO — Unveiled Wednesday in Tokyo is the latest from Toyota, the new Vitz. This car, in essence, is expected to come to the U.S. as the next Yaris.

Nissan, Honda. Subaru and Mazda have all refreshed their subcompact offerings in Japan of late, so Toyota is now ready to up the ante with this first full redesign of the Vitz/Yaris since 2005.

Although the stakes are high, Toyota has essentially played it safe with this third-generation Vitz.

Yes, the styling is more expressive and, it seems, strongly Eurocentric (with more than a nod, perhaps, toward France's Renault). But underneath, this is a safe evolution of a well-established product. The platform is essentially a carryover, even though the wheelbase is up almost 2 inches and overall length stretches 4 inches to a new 153 inches.

The payoff is extra cabin space, especially in the back, but bigger news in Japan is the car's fuel economy. It may be academic for America, but on home turf, Toyota has reshuffled the existing 1.3-/1.5-liter engine, putting a lot of emphasis on the 1.3.

One trick version of that, with engine stop/start, returns a class-leading 62.3 mpg in Japan's 10.15-mode fuel cycle. The 1.5 that comes to the U.S. continues on with 107 horsepower and stars in the Vitz RS, the raciest of the new Vitz family at launch.

This RS spinoff runs with massaged grille and bumper treatment and gets 16-inch alloys and sport seats. An Activematic CVT option, with steering-wheel paddle shifters, is also on the RS menu, as an alternative to a stock five-speed manual shifter.

Inside, Toyota has gone for a simple, functional dashboard design with a long, thin metal panel running along the middle, plus a conventional main gauge cluster that's easy to get to know, if not terribly inspiring to look at. The makeover also brings all-new seats.

A hybrid model is also in the works but, we hear, won't appear until well into 2012.

Inside Line says: Toyota goes for a new look with the redesigned Vitz/Yaris, which may or may not lure new buyers into the fold. Whatever you think of the styling, this is a major new player for Toyota at home that's on a mission to sell 10,000 units a month, and counting. — Peter Nunn, Correspondent

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and currently operates 14 manufacturing plants, including one under construction. There are more than 1,800 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sold more than 2.05 million vehicles in 2009. Toyota directly employs more than 35,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $23 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota's annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers totals more than $25 billion. Toyota currently produces 12 vehicles in North America, including the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Matrix, RAV4, Sienna, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra, Venza and the Lexus RX 350.

See also:  http://www.toyoland.com/toyota/plants.html

Toyota Adjusts Yaris Future

Below is a future car article by the automotive experts at Motor Trend Magazine.
Hybrid Version of Next-Gen Small Car Planned


By Paul Horrell

Toyota's subcompact cars plans have been knocked sideways by the recession. The company was planning a new generation version of its Toyota Yaris that would feature the innovative engineering of the tiny iQ, but it will now instead rebody the current Yaris (pictured) for 2012.

However, in search of ultra-economy, Toyota will make a hybrid version -- a full hybrid, as opposed to the mild-hybrid system in the Honda Insight. Toyota plans to release hybrids across its range. In Europe it is launching an Auris -- the European Corolla-equivalent hatchback -- with Hybrid Synergy Drive. Toyota executive Takuo Matsui told MT "I strongly hope [we will make a Yaris-size hybrid] and I am pushing R&D for it."

Honda will shortly install its IMA hybrid system from the Insight into the Fit.

The iQ is still expected to come to the U.S. as a Scion. It's a tiny, 118-inch-long, 3+1-seater hatchback that manages to be so space efficient by utilizing several all-new packaging solutions around the engine, plus a redesigned differential, firewall, steering system, and air conditioner.

The original plan was to design a range of subcompacts longer than the iQ but with the same packaging solutions and front platform, yielding a very spacious five-seat car, and an additional seven-seater a little bigger than a Honda Fit. But now, the need to save money on retooling Yaris plants means the current car will get a straightforward rebody.

This strengthens the case for a hybrid Yaris. Packaging the hybrid system under the iQ’s snub hood would have been near impossible, whereas in the current platform it will be easier. Even so, making a hybrid small car cheap enough to be worthwhile, both for the manufacturers and consumers, is an enormous challenge.

Meanwhile, as previously reported here, the iQ will form the basis of Toyota’s pure-electric car for America in 2012. The EV will share most of its exterior panels with the gas version.