[CaliforniaKnight]

Is this the same Yaris that is debuting in India.
If Yes, its such an eyesore .A 5Yr old Honda City,looks much classier than this confused car.
Even the plastics inside are not something to be comfortable with.

PS:This display car is photographed at Al-Futtaim Motors,U.A.E.

[GrammarNazi]

They haven't compromised on safety, which makes the variant differentiation absolutely brilliant.

As long as they get the 1st variant pricing about right, atleast initially, the Yaris would be saved from being a sales dud.

It'd be a win win because Toyota has a plant with huge production capacity & the line producing Etios & Liva, could be put to some use.

[benbsb29]

I feel the Yaris will do well, as compared to the Etios. Factors in favor are that its a global product, and also they haven't skimped on safety. While it wont win any beauty pageants, it surely looks palatable. Typical Toyota modus operandi.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaKnight

Is this the same Yaris that is debuting in India.
If Yes, its such an eyesore .A 5Yr old Honda City,looks much classier

Well, it looks well proportioned to me and given the safety and other features, if priced correctly (by Toyota standards) this should be a hit. Seeing the marketing efforts being done by Toyota already, it does appear they are serious about this model and will target numbers.

Remember, ownership experience and the after-sales service of Toyota is such a big factor here, that Toyota can actually price this 10-20 % higher than a Honda and still become a leader.

Thanks for posting the pictures

[Nav-i-gator]

Happened to see the Yaris showcased in Ambience mall, gurgaon this weekend. Can only see the exterior (and only sneak the interiors from outside), as it was out of bounds. My first impressions:

1. Tyres look small and out of proportion with the car.
2. Width seem to be lesser than segment rivals. However, knowing Toyota's brilliant packaging prowess, It should have interior space on par with (or even maybe better than) the City.
3. Front is a bit quirky, quirkier than the City. Takes away the clean "classy" looks of, say, rapid and even Ciaz.
4. Rear is boring, just like the segment rivals (barring Verna, which looks smashing at the rear).
5.The pseudo-stitching pattern on the dash looks BAD to me, esp on the steering wheel. It fails to even conceal that it's a fake pattern.

Overall, my feeling is that it will sell, and sell well. There is nothing overly enthusiastic to it, but nothing to put off a customer too. My guess is - it would reorganize the pecking order in its segment chart if priced correctly (read: matched to the City).

[ani_meher]

I hope Yaris comes in lower version AT with all safety features. The AED prices converted to INR say that the prices range from 10.5L to 14L. If this difference of 33% between top version and low version with all safety features is maitained in India, Yaris will fly off the shelf.

[Sankar]

Those who are planning to be early birds I will suggest waiting before buying one.

[asitkde]

I have a 1 year old VW Polo GT TSI (MY 2017) and a 5 year old Honda City (MY 2012). In a few years time, I will be looking for a sedan, and I will surely consider this. The reasons are as follows.

1. In my 35 years of car ownership, I once owned a Toyota (Celica GT), in the US, and that was the most worry-free and satisfying car-ownership till date. I had to practically do nothing except changing engine oil and filter at the prescribed intervals.

2. Toyotas are never champions of the looks (the 1986 Celica was a looker though). Even their best selling Innova etc are eyesores to me. Lately they are addressing the looks department, but still far away from reaching timeless neutral solutions like the VW cars. But in all other ways, they score decent to very high.

3. There are several segment-firsts in this car, and the foremost of them are the safety features including seven airbags and all-around disc brakes.

4. They are also bringing in a modern engine and 7-speed super CVT.

5. All of the above in general applies to the Corolla too, with more space and more superior quality overall, but this car fills in the very important void that perfectly suits buyers like me (for whom the Corolla might be bit of a stretch).

6. It is a global model, and I think Toyota is bringing it to India without much alterations in the important areas.

Other Observations:
Let me also mention, while in the market for a sedan 5 years ago, I also test-drove the Etios and liked quite a few things about the car. It has a decent petrol engine with a pleasant steering. However, we decided against it mostly because of the sub-stabdard interior. NVH level was also less than satisfactory. But with the iterations over time, it is still a reasonable car I believe. A few of my colleagues own the Etios, and they know their cars are not going to turn any heads on the streets, but they are very very happy with the overall experience.

Honda City used to be a great car till the third generation. My car (second iteration of the 3rd generation) still does not have a single rattle of any kind or any slight problem of any sort (except the horns sometimes catching cold) after more than 5 years on rough Kolkata roads. But some of my colleagues and neighbours who own the 4th generation are already complaining about a few niggles. In addition, personally I feel (especially after driving the 1.2 TSI for a year), Honda should give away the 1.5 iVTEC to Jazz and WRV and let the City graduate to a better engine. Make no mistake, the 1.5 iVTEC is a wonderful engine, but it cannot match the 1.2 TSI. Any way, my conclusion is, Honda City is no longer the king of this segment, as many others have also suggested, and there is room in this segment for a new car, especially from a brand like Toyota.

I hope the Yaris would have higher seating positions than my City. For people like us waiting to be senior citizens soon, the ingress and egress are important parameters while buying a car (the GT TSI is better in this respect to the City). Can anybody comment on this?

[drhoneycake]

Here are some pictures from my side. The Toyota Yaris promotions were on at my wife’s office. Due to my constant nagging to share them with other tBhp folks, She was kind enough to click some pics and send them to me. Pardon me if the pics aren’t great, it wasn’t clicked by me.

[searacer932]

Everyone is saying that it looks better than the Etios. Yes, no doubt it does look better than Etios but then the Etios itself is not a benchmark for comparision on the looks and the interiors!

Originally Posted by Sankar

Those who are planning to be early birds I will suggest waiting before buying one.

Any reason for this comment?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by searacer932

Everyone is saying that it looks better than the Etios. Yes, no doubt it does look better than Etios but then the Etios itself is not a benchmark for comparision on the looks and the interiors!

well, initial comparisons are first within the family, like how younger children are compared with older

Any reason for this comment?

Ha ha, you need to see some of the posts from his Innova thread, as you may have noticed, due to heavy localization on Crysta, there were a lot of issues observed in the initial months including brake pads/ rotors, tyres and even some noise from the engine. Expect heavy localization on Yaris from day 1 also, unless they plan to go for CKD route for a couple of months, so this friendly advise

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by searacer932

Everyone is saying that it looks better than the Etios. Yes, no doubt it does look better than Etios but then the Etios itself is not a benchmark for comparision on the looks and the interiors!

I am interested to know how spacious is this, compared to Ciaz and City. I am yet to see this in person but considering seriously (for automatic). We all know how practical and spacious Etios is. Dimension wise Yaris looks much bigger than Etios too but i am not liking the front design. Somehow it is not growing on me. Also the car feels less wide because of that front view.

Good to see Toyota going all out marketing before the launch. If this is on display anywhere in Bangalore, please let me know guys !!

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaKnight

Is this the same Yaris that is debuting in India.
If Yes, its such an eyesore :Shockked
Even the plastics inside are not something to be comfortable with.

PS:This display car is photographed at Al-Futtaim Motors,U.A.E.

This was exactly my reaction too. I have lived in the Middle East a few years back and several friends of mine owned the Yaris. That was the cheapest Toyota Sedan in the market at that time (used to sell at around Bahrain Dinars 5500-7000 about 5-6 years back). Unless Toyota has dramatically improved the car, the one I have sat inside had very hard plastics, and vary basic features as this was a basic offering, poor NVH levels and positioned well below the Corolla. Its competition was the Honda City and Nissan Tiida then.

I am sure this will be sold as a "premium" offering in India with a price that will make one's eyeballs pop out in surprise. Ideally Toyota should have brought Yaris to India instead of Etios, however with the Etios already here and now pretty much a cabbie's favorite, this needs to be positioned higher to justify a car between the Etios and the Corolla.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

Its competition was the Honda City and Nissan Tiida then.

I am sure this will be sold as a "premium" offering in India with a price that will make one's eyeballs pop out in surprise. Ideally Toyota should have brought Yaris to India instead of Etios, however with the Etios already here and now pretty much a cabbie's favorite, this needs to be positioned higher to justify a car between the Etios and the Corolla.

You mentioned Honda city was the competition then. And now top end Honda city sells for 17-18Lakhs in Bengaluru. The yaris shown in the Dubai pic looks like previous gen. Specs on Toyota website show they are loading it with features.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I am interested to know how spacious is this, compared to Ciaz and City. I am yet to see this in person but considering seriously (for automatic).

It's not as big as the Ciaz. The space inside is comparable to the city.

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

We all know how practical and spacious Etios is. Dimension wise Yaris looks much bigger than Etios too but i am not liking the front design. Somehow it is not growing on me. Also the car feels less wide because of that front view.

I see many of those practical design elements being compromised on the Yaris for the sake of aesthetics. Aesthetics and features sells more than durability, practicality and the engineering robustness these days. People tend to put price on a vehicle based on how the plastic feels rather than how usefully/ergonomically designed that part is.

I'll reserve further comments on the design elements till I see the car in flesh.