New-look Yaris does what it does best

The latest incarnation of Toyota’s best-seller maintains its most popular features, writes Julie Marshall

The Yaris has been a winner for Toyota with sales buoyant since it was first launched back in 1999 as a replacement for the Starlet supermini.

Demand outstripped supply but, it was not just the car-buying public which took the little car to its heart.

In 2000 Yaris won European Car of the Year (only the second Japanese vehicle to ever do so) and the same year was also crowned Japanese Car of the Year.

Second and third generations soon followed and by October 2011 the two-million th car rolled off the production line in France making it Toyota’s most popular car in Europe.

The Yaris Hybrid arrived in 2012 and due to its popularity had a mid-life refresh in 2014 and another in 2017.

By 2020 it was time for a whole new model and generation four was launched as a hatchback only.

Poweredbythenew1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid petrol engine it promised low emissions and greater fuel economy with the ability to run for short distances on electric power alone.

Thencametherally-derived Yaris – the GR – with permanent all-wheel drive and a new 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine.

It was voted Northern car of the Year 2021 by the Northern Group of Motoring Writers – the first time in the awards’ 16-year history a performance car has taken top spot.

Toyota has not rested on its laurels though.

Earlier this year a whole new model emerged, the Toyota Yaris Cross, already taking a top honour in being named Best Small Crossover in the 2022 UK Car of the Year Awards: the overall Car of the Year Title was won by Hyundai’ s Ioniq 5 earlier this month.

Yaris Cross might be a new model but it is built on the same platform as the hatchback and shares the same hybrid electronic technology.

Basically it’s a small SUV, Toyota’ s first foray into the class and to my mind it works – and works well.

It has all the attributes of an SUV but in a compact, easily manageable package that still manages to have enough space for five passengers and a practical amount of luggage space.

It looks beefier than the ‘ordinary’ Yaris but not so chunky as to lose its mass appeal.

Toyota’s have a reputation for reliability and longevity – born out by the number of Mark One Yaris’ still floating about.

As a hybrid, it plays very much to its green credentials and careful drivers will be rewarded by a fuel economy of mid fifties. In our case, a week of mixed driving delivered an average of 55mpg and with a bit more effort it could have been even higher. The trick is to watch the display and adapt your driving style accordingly.

Being an SUV the driver sits a bit higher and gets a good ahead – all-round view is also good.

Driven here is the Yaris Cross in Dynamic trim – fourth of the five trim levels – with a nine inch multimedia system and smartphone integration, adaptive cruise control, a raft of driver safety aids, 18 inch alloys and LED lights.

There’s also a reversing camera, heated front seats with lumbar support for the driver, automatic air conditioning and push button start.