Inspired by the World Rally Championship race car, the GR Yaris takes on a completely different … [+]
Toyota is a brand very much on the rebound. Not in the financial sense though. As one of the largest manufacturers on the planet and a strong 2019 year-end-sales report in its pocket, Toyota certainly doesn’t need any help there. I’m talking about its reputation — its street cred. After the Supra went out of production in 2002 and with the Celica (a shell of the car it once was) following suit not long after, Toyota garnered the reputation of playing safe and chasing sales volume with a lineup completely devoid of any inspiring passion projects. The return of the 2012 GT86 was a baby step in the right direction and the 2018 Corolla hatchback signaled of Toyota’s return to form, but the GR Yaris could be worth more to Toyota than even the 2020 Supra.
That period of dullness from the early ‘00s up until recently has been a sticking point with Toyota CEO Akia Toyoda. He’s has motorsport in his veins, he’s a racer through and through. To see his company viewed as milquetoast all over the US did not sit well. It’s why he gave the green light to cars like the 2020 Supra, steered the development of the 2018 Corolla Hatchback and spearheaded Toyota’s new GR (Gazoo Racing) performance sub-division back in 2017. He knows Toyota has an image problem in the US and he is determined to fix it.
The GT86 and Supra certainly make a statement about what kind of cars Toyota is capable of building, but those two-door sports cars are marketed almost solely at enthusiasts — a small group die-hard fans that in no way represent the average car buyer. There’s also the TRD range, which up until recently only consisted of off-road SUVs and trucks, also only enticing to a smaller group of customers.
However, by turning the dull yet high-selling Corolla hatchback into a secretly and incredibly well-handling car, Toyota quietly slipped over 300,000 fun cars into US garages last year alone. Meaning, the large population of people who steer away from buying certain cars because “performance” isn’t a priority wound up buying a Corolla with balanced chassis, lively engine and snappy transmission. And now, their impression of an affordable Toyota isn’t a beige forgettable rental car, it’s a reasonably priced athletic hatchback .
The Toyota GR Yaris interior is barebones, but what it lacks in features it makes up in on-road … [+]
The GR Yaris, which takes most of its inspiration from World Rally Championship race car, could’ve been another win for Toyota in the US, but as of now, it’s not coming to US soil. Which, given its spec sheet, is a huge disappointment. It comes packing a 1.6-liter inline three-cylinder engine good for 268 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque and sends it to all four wheels through a six-speed manual. The bodywork gets exaggerated flares and lines and the suspension also receives a GR-tune for good measure. All of which comes at a price of approximately $36,000 with an even higher-performance version running around $42,000.
Since there’s no indication Toyota will buckle and send the GR Yaris to our shores, it seems like a missed opportunity to help further rebuild Toyota’s street cred. Seeing as how Toyota only sold 20,000 Yaris models in the US in 2019 an argument can be made saying the numbers don’t justify bringing in a niche model. However, Toyota already plans to build the very limited number of theGR Yaris, so what’s the harm in shipping a few over with the rest at some point in 2020? Giving the people another affordable, approachable and inclusive option that showcases the best of what Toyota can do is an easy win. More importantly, it’s another big step in getting Toyota back to where it was in the eyes of the people.
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