Toyota adds to current account
OYOTA must be quietly confident that years of developing cars with electric motors helping out their petrol engines is going to pay off - big time.
And nowhere more decisively than in the Yaris, the company’s small family car that has just been comprehensively updated without actually producing an all-new version.
Around half of the expected sales will still go to an all-petrol model, with a new and larger engine aimed at improving real world economy, but the hybrid petrol/electric version is destined for great things.
Like capturing four of every 10 new Yaris sales, and that with a car starting at a not inconsiderable £15,995 for an entry level hybrid, which only a tiny one per cent of new Yaris buyers will take.
Most will upgrade to an Icon level car, happy to find £17,595 or settle for increased monthly payments on the personal contract plans that nearly everyone uses today to put themselves into a new car every three years or so.
Don’t fancy the added expense of a hybrid, despite its official 85.6mpg and 75g/km from the 98bhp powertrain? Then Toyota will point you towards the two purely petrol models, using either the 1.0-litre unit from the old car or a new 1.5-litre, up in capacity from the previous 1.3-litre in the hunt for better real world economy, soon to be reflected in new and more realistic official consumption tests.
If you already own a Yaris you might spot that the French-built new one has a fresh and more aggressive face, modestly smoothed over rear and a dash of low down chrome along the side, all with the intention of adding a touch of style.
The inside has been similarly gone over, with new trim and clearer instruments and a centrally mounted screen that can conjure up a host of clever additions to add practicality to your journey, including satellite navigation on some versions, or help pass the time.
One app called ‘glass of water’ shows just that and rewards a smooth driver by not slopping its imaginary contents over the lip. Yes, really.
So the Toyota engineers have been all over it in a detailed way, paying attention to items like the exhaust silencer, shock absorbers, power steering and the way engine is mounted in the car.
The result is a resounding success, producing a Yaris that is deliciously quiet at any sensible speed and almost silent at a town trundle on the uniformly wonderful roads of the Netherlands, where the newcomer was launched to the press.