Toyota hopes to gain ground in the subcompact segment with the newly-updated 2012 Yaris.
These days, you never know where a new car might first show up. While most makers continue to rely on major auto shows, such as those in Detroit, Frankfurt or even Beijing, industry planners have been looking for ways to avoid getting lost in the crowd.
The unveiling of the next-generation Honda CR-V, for example, is scheduled for the upcoming Orange County show, the little cousin of the big Los Angeles Auto Show. And now, it seems, music fans attending the big Lollapalooza concert in Chicago were the first to get an in-the-sheet-metal look at the all-new 2012 Toyota Yaris.
The image above, supplied by Toyota, provides a better sense of the new subcompact than the pics that came out of the show, though the following interior shot, first posted on Cars.com, gives a look that Toyota didn’t provide of a distinctly redesigned interior.
The basic dimensions of the 2012 Toyota Yaris are familiar. But the longer nose of the new 5-door hatchback appears to be designed to give the small car a bigger feel, something that might appeal to American motorists who have traditionally steered clear of microcars.
The 2012 Toyota Yaris will abandon the unpopular center-mounted gauge layout.
The interior is a decidedly different matter. Gone is the center-mounted display that came in for frequent criticism from owners as well as potential Yaris customers. The gauges have been positioned directly in front of the 3-spoke steering wheel – which appears to feature some basic controls for the hatchback’s audio system.
Those who saw the car up close describe it as more Scion-like, which translates into a Yaris that is richer in features and design than the typical Toyota econobox with a more textured and detailed cabin featuring contrasting colors and soft-touch materials. The version on display at the Lollapalooza included a variety of standard features, including air conditioning, tilt wheel, auto-down driver’s window, CD audio and Bluetooth.
Whether those will be standard on the base 2012 Toyota Yaris L model remains to be seen, but the Japanese giant is facing some increasingly tough competition in the subcompact segment from not only the traditional Japanese brands but new entries like the Ford Fiesta, redesigned Hyundai Accent and new Chevrolet Sonic. Significantly, the updated 2012 Nissan Versa sedan will come with many of those features as standard gear on even the lowest-priced version. (Click Here for a review of the new Versa.)
According to literature available at the Lollapalooza tent, the new Yaris will feature a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with either stick or automatic gearbox options. In various trims it will get 29 to 30 mpg in town and anywhere from 35 to 38 mpg on the highway. That’s enough to put it in mid-pack, but well behind both the standard Accent and the eco version of the Fiesta, both pushing the 40 mpg boundary.