A few days ago we brought you a story on an innovative Toyota concept car called the LQ that will debut at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. Closer to reality is the all-new Toyota Yaris, which broke cover yesterday.

Smaller, but bigger

The Yaris you are looking at is the vehicle that will go on sale in Europe, which is not yet confirmed for South African introduction. This latest generation of the Japanese automaker’s popular small car is underpinned by Toyota’s New Global Architecture (TNGA). Toyota claims that they used “advances in active and passive systems to create the world’s safest compact car.”

The all-new Toyota Yaris is said to be shorter, wider and lower than the current model and the use of intelligent packaging maximises interior space. Yaris’ overall length has been reduced by 5 mm, but its wheelbase is up by 50 mm. Overall height is down 40 mm without losing any headroom as the driver and passengers sit lower. The reduction in length was done to make the small car more agile in increasingly crowded CBDs. You can take a brief walkaround the new Yaris in this video on our YouTube channel.

All-new Toyota Yaris facia

Speaking of the cabin… Toyota says the interior design follows a ‘less-is-more’ principle. Materials include a felt trim finish for the door panels and a soft-touch instrument panel. Information is presented to the driver from three sources: the central Toyota touchscreen, a TFT multi-information display in the instrument binnacle and a 10-inch colour head-up display.

Hybrid power

Toyota has chosen to debut the new model with the company’s all-new 1,5 hybrid Dynamic Force system. While the company hasn’t divulged any power figures yet, it claims that the powertrain is: “More responsive with a 15% increase in combined power and a more than 20% increase in fuel efficiency”. This small hybrid system is derived from the larger, 2,0 and 2,5-litre systems that were introduced in the new Corolla and RAV4 models abroad. Other drivetrains will include 1,5- and 1,0-litre three-cylinder petrol engines in some countries.

Toyota Yaris generations