[bmw_lover]

The Toyota Yaris has not been a success in the Indian market and some of it can be put on the increasing affinity towards SUVs along with Crossovers. So to cash in on the trend, Toyota could be considering the Yaris Cross for Indian market to woo buyers.

Remember the Etios Cross? Toyota, at one point, did enter the crossover genre with this model, But it was later discontinued. The Yaris cross could be their attempt to re-enter this space.

This a crossover based on a hatchback, which interestingly, is offered in some international markets under the very brand name Yaris. But in India, Toyota decided to use this name for the sedan. In fact, the sedan version we get here seems to be hurried job by adding a boot to the hatch back version just like Maruti did with the Dzire. Have a look at pics first.





Additional/noticeable design elements include black cladding, black roof and side mirrors along with an updated front bumper, skid plate and 16-inch alloys. The overall body form looks more compact and tight. The Yaris Cross gets a 30 mm ride height increase and a tweaked suspension. I would prefer the car in a dual-tone option with a black roof and quirky body colors along with roof rails. On the inside the only change seems to be leather trimmed seats with contrast red stitching.



The interior is also all black unlike the sedan and comes with sporty elements while the engine continues to be a petrol unit along with a CVT option, which is also present in the sedan, albeit now BS6 compliant.

The Cross should regain lost ground in the sales battle for Toyota in the sub-20 lakh segment and could mirror the success of Fortuner and Innova. If the launch gets a successful response, Toyota should probably kill the sedan and bring in the hatchback version as well for the sub-10 lakh segment to sit beside this crossover and rival the i20. It should give their entire line up an overhaul with a good facelift to the Altis. Personally, I also feel that Toyota should do away with the 'Yaris' name for this cross altogether. Why attach a new model with an unsuccessful model?



I expect the car to be priced at a premium i.e. above the flagship sedan version, which should still be OK considering the wow factor it possesses. But Toyota being Toyota could mess it up in the engine tuning department by being too conservative. Anything less than 150 HP will be really sad. Also, Toyota should not skimp on features like it has done in the sedan.



The model also deserves a sports iteration from their TRD division with 180 HP tune along with red accents thrown in.

According to bangkokpost.com, the car has already been unveiled in Thailand and has already been on sale in Indonesia and some other markets like Japan since 2018.

The below pic from autonetmagz.com confirms the presence of a sporty version on sale in Indonesia since 2018.



So, it seems the car is ready for launch in almost every iteration. Don't know why the delay then.

Sources
Yahoo news, Bangkokpost, Autonetmagz, Autocarindia, Overdrive, Few japanese websites

Interestingly an old autocar article indicates Toyota was contemplating this cross for India in 2018 as well.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ajmat]

Saw plenty of them in Bangkok. Toyota should have brought this to India and competed with the Swift and i20.

[tushky]

Am i the only one who feels that this car is already looking old? Especially the interior. The design looks like it is from 2015 era. Launching in 2020 will be a bad idea.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by tushky

Am i the only one who feels that this car is already looking old?

+1. At best, it reminds me of the Renault Captur - and that's not a good sign at all!

This will disappear without a trace, like the other contenders of the beefed-up-hatchback segment, i20 Active, Cross Polo, Etios Cross, Avventura etc.

[SideView]

I think this looks way better than yaris sedan (atleast from the pic) back reminds of the kicks.


Source: Autocar


Why is it so difficult for Toyota to come up with a good looking car?

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by bmw_lover

Toyota could be considering the Yaris Cross for Indian market to woo buyers.

Is this a rumour that Toyota are considering the Yaris Cross?

Originally Posted by bmw_lover

I expect the car to be priced at a premium i.e. above the flagship sedan version, which should still be OK considering the wow factor it possesses.

The Yaris or the Yaris Cross or whatever it is will die a second death if the car is priced at a premium

Internationally the next generation Yaris is expected to be launched in 2020. The new generation car is on a all new platform, with new interior and exterior designs, and with a range of new engine options. Even if that new generation car gets launched in India at a "Toyota Premium" price the car may still die. Even if Toyota are considering the new generation car (4th generation) I can understand to some extent this article but hoping to launch the cross of the existing generation (3rd generation) is just a joke.

https://newsroom.toyota.eu/new-toyot...or-urban-life/

The all new Toyota Yaris has been designed to meet the increasing challenges of everyday urban life.

Today’s compact car customers are amongst Europe’s most demanding and they typically undertake their busy lives in congested urban environments that present them with ever-increasing challenges.

They expect their car to deliver style and practicality. They want it to be easy to park, agile in the city and comfortable on longer journeys. They expect leading levels of safety and the lowest possible running costs. In addition they are more environmentally aware than ever before and seek relevant solutions that fit their daily schedule and surroundings.
And, of course, they also prefer these attributes to be delivered at an affordable price.

To respond to these ever-increasing demands, the new Yaris brings Toyota’s New Global Architecture (TNGA) philosophy to the compact car segment for the first time.

For the new Yaris, this is delivered through the first use of the new GA-B platform, and the first use of the new TNGA 3-cylinder, 4th generation hybrid system.

[saisree]

Looks like Etios cross on steroids and has design cues of Hyundai i20 Active. This looks too old to compete with Seltos. Battle already lost. The only cross over that has seen a success is Honda WRV. Rest all are resting in their yards.

Toyota should concentrate in bringing the Raize or rebadge Brezza to Toyozza

[motorworks]

I do not think Toyota is planning to launch a hatchback version of the Yaris. Logically the Hatch will have to be below the sedan, and that is where they already have the Glanza. And the Yaris itself has been such a failure by the segment standards Toyota must now be thinking only of Cars based on Suzuki, like the Brezza.

There is only one reason for Toyota to actually consider the Yaris Hatchback. And that is because they would have already made sizeable investments in localising the Yaris sedan, so a hatchback version may be financially viable, just to give that whole parts bin a new shot. But there is no escaping the fact that whether its a hatchback or a so called cross over, it has to be priced below the sedan. I hope Toyota is not naive to do otherwise.

[ani_meher]

So we are discussing rumoured facelifts of unlaunched cars now? The Jimmy and Swift sports decade long dream threads are enough, I guess. No need for yet another thread discussing the impossible.

IIRC Toyota made it clear that there won’t be a hatchback Yaris in India.

[TheHelix0202]

The Toyota Yaris is a good product, no doubt. But value for money? Not so much. But this version of the same looks much better to me than the sedan does (The aggressive face design that’s so not C-segment sedan-ish). I feel only if Toyota would ditch that Nissan Kicks-like rear, tone down the plastic and chrome garbage, give it a BS-6 compliant engine with 125+ BHP (more than any and every C-segment sedan or SUV) and price it under 10 Lakhs (not happening), it would see reasonable numbers. But they’ve killed the sub-10 lakh segment so much with flops, that people hardly tend to look past the image of these cars as taxis.