Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Toyota developing Yaris hybrid for Japanese and U.S. markets

Yaris Hybrid
According to Automotive News, Toyota has announced that they're working on a hybrid version of the Yaris to compete with lower-cost hybrids (aka the Honda Insight) that are on their way. Toyota's chief engineer told AN that the Yaris was being developed for Japan and the U.S.

Perhaps the hybrid Yaris will come in 2011 when the Yaris is expected to be redesigned? We'll see ...

LINK
Toyota Yaris Hybrid (Automotive News; subscription required)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm crossing my fingers that the Yaris redesign focuses big-time on the interior. It's a fine looking car, but it's a total penalty box inside. If they bring the interior up to Fit/Fiesta spec, or even Aveo levels of niceness, it'll get a long hard look from me.

Andy Lilienthal said...

I'll agree the interior isn't the best in its class. However, I think the first-gen Aveo had the worst interior by far. Also, the Yaris sedan's interior is nicer than the liftback. The one thing the Yaris liftback's interior is great with is storage. Lots of little compartments everywhere for stuff. Is it plasticy? Sure, but it's very practical.

I tend to think Toyota always had a bit more plasticy interiors than Honda, Mazda, or some other brands, though.

D2M said...

Am I one of the few people who doesn't mind plastic? I don't quite see what the infatuation with leather and stuff is for the hard parts of a car. As long as it looks nice and holds up well I don't much car what it's made of.

However, for the Yaris, I don't think the middle-tower thing they got going is a great idea. They really should have kept the speedometer and stuff where it traditional is.