2018 Toyota Yaris: 5 things you need to know

The Yaris is Toyota’s much-awaited sedan which is likely to reach showrooms soon. Positioned between the Etios and the Corolla Altis, the Yaris will compete with the Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Ciaz and others. Compared to the Etios though, the Yaris feels a lot more desirable; and while its styling isn’t very exciting, this car packs in just the right amount of kit and comfort to be a practical and very competitive contender in the segment. Here are five things that you should know about this upcoming sedan:

Dimensions
Compared to cars like the City (4,440mm) and Ciaz (4,490mm), the Yaris is shorter in length, measuring 4,425mm. The car has a slightly shorter wheelbase, too – 2,550mm – as compared to the City’s 2,600mm and Ciaz’s 2,650mm. However, the Yaris is as wide as the Ciaz at 1,730mm. On the inside, space is huge with generous amount of room and ample seating comfort.

Engine
Toyota will be offering the Yaris with a single 108hp, 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol engine available with a 6-speed manual gearbox alongside a 7-step CVT (automatic transmission). There’s also a possibility of the Yaris being made available with a petrol-hybrid, at a later stage.

Features
Toyota is likely to give the Yaris several features so as to compete with its well-loaded competitors. Among most of the kit that we’ve come to expect out of a car in its segment, the Yaris will feature some segment-first features like gesture control for the touchscreen infotainment system, a tyre pressure-monitoring system, 60:40 rear seat split, adjustable three-neck restraints for the rear seat, roof-mounted rear air-con with ambient lighting, a powered driver’s seat and front parking sensors.

Safety
Not just segment-first gizmos but Toyota has even loaded the Yaris to the brim with a segment-first safety kit. It gets all-wheel disc brakes, seven airbags (including a driver knee airbag), Hill-Start Assist, ABS, EBD and ESP. A similar-specced Yaris has been awarded five stars in ASEAN NCAP crash tests, which is very reassuring.

Price
The Yaris will be manufactured in India at Toyota’s plant in Karnataka. The plant will also use a high percentage of localised parts, indicating that this car is likely to be priced very competitively with an estimated range of Rs 8.4-13.5 lakh (ex-showroom), undercutting the Honda City’s price of Rs 8.7-13.7 lakh.