Automatic variant accounts of 66% of Toyota Yaris bookings - Report

24/05/2018 - 08:16 Toyota Yaris, Toyota Dhruv Saxena

Toyota announced the Yaris sedan for the Indian market at the 2018 Auto Expo followed by a price announcement in April and the official launch in May. The company's move to offer an automatic transmission as an option across all grades of the Toyota Yaris seems to have clicked with Indian car buyers.

Toyota Yaris front fascia at Auto Expo 2018 — The popularity of the automatic variant highlights the rise in demand for automatics in the Indian market.

As per a report from CarandBike, the automatic variant accounts for 66% of the total bookings Toyota has received for the Yaris so far. The sedan has clocked more than 5,000 bookings. Going by the statistics available, more than 3,000 of those are for the Toyota Yaris automatic.

The Toyota Yaris is offered with a 1.5 L petrol engine developing 107 PS and 140 Nm. Power is sent to the front wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission or a 7-step CVT. As per official data, the manual variant has a claimed fuel economy of 17.1 km/l while the diesel returns 17.8 km/l.

Although all rivals of the Toyota Yaris come with petrol and diesel engine choices, TKM has decided against launching a diesel variant of the sedan, at least for the time being. In fact, a report suggests that the Yaris may never get a diesel engine option.

Toyota offers the Yaris sedan in four grades - J, G, V, and VX. The entry-level Toyota Yaris J MT is priced at INR 8.75 lakhs (ex-showroom) and the J AT is priced at INR 9.95 lakhs (ex-showroom). The range-topping VX manual retails for INR 12.85 lakhs while the VX automatic variant costs INR 14.07 lakhs (ex-showroom). This makes the Yaris significantly more expensive than the Hyundai Verna (INR 7.8-12.56 lakhs), which employs a bigger, more powerful engine. There is a price difference of around INR 3 lakhs between the Toyota Yaris VX CVT and the Maruti Ciaz Alpha petrol AT.

Toyota Yaris CVT shifter at Auto Expo 2018 — The 7-step CVT-i equipped Toyota Yaris can be had in all four grades - J, S, V, and VX.

Also Read - Toyota Yaris hatchback ruled out for the Indian market

Aside from the tremendously successful Innova and Fortuner, Toyota has struggled with other products in India. The Etios twins have been unable to attract as many buyers as the company had hoped for, while the Corolla Altis has been hit hard by the rise in popularity of SUVs/crossovers. For now, Toyota has its hopes pinned on the Yaris to drive growth in India. For the future, the company has struck a deal with Suzuki to supply units of the Maruti Baleno and Maruti Vitara Brezza to be sold as Toyota products in the Indian market.

[source - CarandBike]