[PrideRed]

One important thing to notice here is that the Yaris prices apply across India. Come Bangalore, the base petrol variant is actually cheaper than base City by about 10-15K! Of-course the top end variant is priced too high but I feel majority of the action happens in SV/V, S/SX, VDi/ZDi space. When you bring in J/G to this, they seem to be competitively priced. The downer however I see is these are introductory pricing . Knowing Toyota, moment they see good amount of bookings, prices shall be hiked every now and then.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by Sudeep_Kimster

And a price hike is imminent in near future, considering these are dubbed introductory prices.

What car makers actually mean by "introductory prices": If you still buy them at these prices, we will go ahead and hike them again.

But if sales do not meet their target numbers, these prices are here to stay. Take a look at what happened to the introductory prices of the Renault Captur... Barely few months after launch, it is available with hefty discounts today!

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

If the sales number ends up being second to City also, Toyota would be happy with their higher margins...Let us see how this 4 horse race evolves in the coming months...

While having the option of an AT from the base variant being the only USP, the car misses out on diesel powertrain. Also, the competition is well established, and there are not many reliability issues with any of its competitors either - so Toyota reliability is not something they can keep selling in this segment at least. I expect to see the least-flamboyant Yaris at the bottom of this super four sedans.

[motorworks]

A quick look in Carwale reveals the on road pricing for Bangalore. While it does look like the top end variants are expensive, the base seems very attractive. The J MT is around 10.5 L OTR and the J AT is around 12L OTR Bangalore. I do not know what are the features lacking in this J variant, but no one offers 6 airbags at this cost for sure. Also I do not think Honda and Hyundai have AT less than 12 L.
Even the base Hyundai Verna EX AT petrol is around 13.3 L. And the city is more than 14L.

[Yieldway17]

One thing people here underestimate City for is its rear space. I saw people here say Verna was going to kill City when it was announced and yet here we are with City doing moderately well even with its features not remotely on par with Verna. I hugely believe that rear space in addition to its name recognition is the reason. Parents and families really like what they see in the back in City.

From the initial impressions, Yaris has same space or even less rear space than Verna? That's not going to be well received at all by people who prefer this category. But I can see people upgrading from hatchbacks/compact sedans to like what they see.

[anshumandun]

Had Toyota priced the Yaris lower than Honda City (and above Verna), won't it give a message to the common man that Toyota accepts City as the segment leader? Yaris will become the "Second best" car in its segment even before sales start. That's not a perception Toyota wants to have about Yaris at launch time.

I feel the pricing is more of a "brand image" decision than a sales volume driven decision. This combined with segment first features (roof AC, all Discs, front parking sensors) just to give a message that now we can get a better equipped car at same price as a City. So essentially they are projecting Yaris as the new market leader.

Of course, the City (even Verna) has better engine and transmission than the Yaris but with better low end drive-ability that the common man will experience in short test drives, it is not going to be a deal-breaker for most people.

I blame Honda for pricing the City too high and setting up this trend.

[Nazzy]

The official website is updated with the Pricing information (by State) and the e-Brochure

[Turbo_ak]

From what I read on autocar, the J variant seems to be decently kitted for a base variant, especially by Toyota standards. With Seven Airbags, ABS, EBD, Projector Headlamps, keyless entry, cooled glove box, four speaker audio system, rear armrest, driver seat height adjust etc, they have the basics covered.

[revintup]

Here is a screenshot of the Yaris e brochure

Credits : Toyota

[rangarx]

Was that you at Taj Bangalore Airport inside White Yaris around 6 PM that Saturday? Missed you. Said that, the presence is seriously lacking and the identity is strictly average for a car costing 15 big ones. Looked narrower too. Not sure how it would look at bright shades though!

On pricing, the greed of Toyota is expected. But just look at the way the sedan market moves with the pricing strategy! I'd say except Ciaz Petrol, all other mass selling sedans are overpriced!!

[navin]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

the parameters of driveability, ride quality and features on offer, which left them very impressed..

While I can agree on the ride quality, the City offers both more features and a better engine and transmission.

Originally Posted by GTO

Toyota has gone mad!

Whoever is in charge of Toyota's pricing strategy deserves to be fired.

That and the arrogance at the dealership. 2 of my classmates and I were all potential Yaris customers. We decided to meet at Madhubhan Toyota in Lower Parel yesterday.

I got there before my classmates and tried to get the attention of the sales people to little avail.

They would not even accept my request for a booking of the Yaris. They asked me to "come back tomorrow'.

When I asked for a catalog they said the same: "Come back tomorrow".

When I asked which colours would the Yaris be offered in I was met by a stony silence. The sales people were either clueless or confused.

Eventually I got frustrated, I asked for the manager. And after a few minutes a manager emerged. I had to introduce myself. So I did.

When she came to know I am a "Mod at TBHP" everything changed. By this time my classmates had also arrived and we were offered catalogs, coffee, tea, and eventually got to see the insides of the "Phantom Brown" Yaris VX.

This bugs me. Why does one have to use leverage? Why is Toyota being so cagey?

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Exterior design it looked smaller than City, with a narrower feel.

When you get inside, the feeling was similar. Everything is built really well but the design didn't look premium or luxurious...it was lesser than the City when it came to legroom, headroom and width of the rear bench.

What is good is the dynamics and suspension setup. Ride quality is very superior to the City and can take on any road conditions without transmitting much into the cabin.

Cabin NVH and insulation is also very good with the outside environment getting sealed off completely when you close the doors and roll up the windows.

The Yaris would have been a rockstar if it was even 60-80K below the City

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Coming back to the pricing, well they started at the right place for the low end model, but 18 Lakhs OTR for a top end CVT? You must be joking or plain stupid!

My thoughts exactly.

Good car. Nice dynamics. But the G, V and VX variants are overpriced.

Only the J CVT petrol compares favourably against the City. The G V and VX variants of the Yaris do not offer better value than the V, VX aor ZX CVT variants of the City.

Can Toyota cut prices? How soon? As GTO said above, "Whoever is in charge of Toyota's pricing strategy deserves to be fired".

The long and short of it : The Yaris is not a bad car, considering the market and the competition it is just overpriced.

BUT is anyone at Toyota listening?

[Asish_VK]

Toyota Prices their cars high because they can ! And people will buy it.
Be it the Innova or the Fortuner or even the Land Cruiser/ Prado.

They are cashing in the brand pull the badge have. That being said, I think only the Top end variants are priced high (Which is lesser than what I expected it to be, knowing how Toyota prices their cars).

Toyota is offering CVT at the lower variants too, coupled with the Legendary Toyota maintenance and Quality, Yaris will sell in good numbers for sure.

[chaudh2s]

Originally Posted by GTO

Honda & Hyundai can beef up their safety features a lot easier than Toyota can cut prices now. Toyota has shown its cards and it's not a pretty sight.

Lest we forget, Hyundai has a killer arsenal in its line-up that neither Honda nor Toyota do - a Diesel Automatic! Variant to variant, it's priced in the ballpark of the Yaris CVT (doesn't have a base though). Trust me, the Verna diesel engine & transmission are WAY superior to the rubberband-inflicted CVT of the Yaris. And we haven't even gotten discussing the fuel efficiency of a Diesel AT vs Petrol AT!

Calm down Sir!! You are taking the pricing too personally. Your role as an enthusiast reporter, is to report honestly the pros and cons of a vehicle, and we all know how good you are at it!
Rest, the company has all the right to give/remove features, price it at will. The customer if they see value in it, will buy else dump it. Its a fate thing am talking about here. But, it will give me atleast, some sort of satisfaction to see this product fail, knowing how greedy the company is and still people are feeding the frenzy.

[cmani0000]

Nice pricing strategy from Toyota, I think they are competing with Corolla and have priced lesser than that, Well done!

With G variant priced at 10.56L EX showroom, I think Verna EX MT or CITY VMT would be a better choice (I am just mentioning a worthy alternative ignoring the fuel type)

So my bet would be on one of these -
City VMT - 9.99L
Verna EX MT - 10.32L

P.S: Will cancel my Yaris booking soon.

[aviraj]

All this does is give a good cushion to price the Ciaz, Vento, Rapid, Verna and maybe even the Honda city a bit higher in the next iteration. This is exactly how the segment becomes costlier in the long run. All it takes is one manufacturer to spoil the party.

[i74js]

This is a sensible pricing looking at Toyota. They have retained the market of Etios twins and have carved out a space for what they want to sell / offer to Indian customers.

The availability of best in class active & passive safety features along with CVT and evergreen reliability of bigT. We all have made it a point in past that companies should focus at safety instead of ICE & allied gimmicks for entry level trims and this is what Toyota has done exactly.

A buyer can get a proper no nonsense sedan with safe white body, crash tested platform , seven air bags and CVT in around 10 Lacs. And their 1.5 litre petrol motor is not bad and can compete K14 (Suzuki) and 1.6 VTVT (Hyundai). Honda will continue to sell its top end CVT for what it offers whereas Toyota will pick up the base trim sales.

I can even see some Dzire AMT customers visiting Toyota showroom soon.

It is a good deal !