New Yaris hatch debuts in the UK

Six months ahead of its local debut, the new, third-generation Toyota Yaris hatch has this week debuted in the UK.

Building on the strengths of the current model, the heavily revised light hatch retains the powertrain offerings previously offered (which in the UK tallied three), while improving styling and quality, says Toyota.

Most notably, new Yaris three and five door models ditch the centrally mounted LED instrument display, replaced with a conventionally positioned analogue cluster.

New to the range, Toyota's 'Touch and Go' touchscreen multimedia centre is fitted to all but the entry-level variant and adds Bluetooth connectivity, a USB port and reversing camera to the single-CD audio system. It can be upgraded to include satellite navigation.

As per the previous generation, Yaris is available with a choice of two petrol and one turbodiesel engine offerings, in the UK.

At the entry end, a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol leads the charge. The 51kW/93Nm powerplant is mated exclusively to a five-speed manual transmission to deliver a combined fuel consumption figure of 4.8L/100km and CO2 emissions of 111g/km.

The top-spec petrol engine, and the likely contender for the Australia-spec Yaris, is a 1.3-litre four-cylinder dual VVT-i engine, now fitted as standard (in the UK at least) to Toyota's Multidrive S continuously variable transmission. This 73kW/125Nm unit delivers a combined fuel consumption figure of 5.0L/100km. CO2 emissions are 118g/km.

Finally, the 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel offering is offered in Yaris with a six-speed manual transmission only. The strongest engine offering sees Yaris benefit from a total output figure of 66kW/205Nm while also delivering the best fuel economy returns. Yaris D-4D's official figure is a seven per cent improvement over the previous model's and is just 3.9L/100km while emitting 104g/km of CO2.

Australian Yaris variants may also receive the more-powerful 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol offered currently.

Toyota's press blurb says all engines benefit from the application of 'Toyota Optimal Drive', a range of engineering and design technologies which, combined with weight-saving measures and aerodynamics improvements, help cut fuel consumption and emissions without harming power and torque levels.

In the UK, new Yaris will be offered in four model grades with first customer deliveries expected to begin in September.

Depending on variant, Yaris is available with alloy wheels, air conditioning, stability control, fog lamps, lowered suspensions and part-leather upholstery. Top-spec models add climate control, a sunroof, auto headlamps, rain sensing wipers, electrochromatic rearview mirror and keyless entry/starter.

Yaris is available from between £11,170 and £15,385 in the UK ($16,730 to $23,040 AUD) with Australian specifications and pricing to be announced closer to the car's local launch late in Q4 of this year.

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