As far as its looks go, the Yaris is cuter than a bunny with pink ribbons. It follows the two-bubble formula of many superminis with large googly headlights,
smooth fluid surfaces, wheels at the corners and about as much glass as can be accommodated by its limited size in order to help alleviate any claustrophobic sensations. It's also expected to grow significantly to keep up with European B-segment rivals that have grown considerably over the past few years
The interior is as nice as can be expected in a car that will likely try to squeeze in under the $13K price line for its most basic rendition. The gauge cluster remains over the centre stack for cross-pond cost-cutting, but the three large, vertically stacked knobs for the HVAC system are surrounded by satin-finish faux nickel plastic, a touch of class for bargain basement shoppers.
One mystery is whether Toyota will drop the ECHO name in Canada, as it has become a respectable franchise in the subcompact genre, and is a frequent top-ten seller overall. From a global perspective, though, manufacturing thirty thousand ECHO badges for Canadian-market Yaris trunk lids hardly makes the greatest sense, and Toyota, I'm sure, likes to do things that make sense.
Toyota plans a full North American introduction of both new vehicles at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, November 2. The new RAV4 might already be on sale and on the streets by then as a 2006 model, but the Yaris will only hit showrooms next spring as a 2007 model.
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| The Yaris interior is as nice as can be expected in a car that will likely try to squeeze in under the $13K price line for its most basic rendition. (Photo: Toyota Canada) |
The interior is as nice as can be expected in a car that will likely try to squeeze in under the $13K price line for its most basic rendition. The gauge cluster remains over the centre stack for cross-pond cost-cutting, but the three large, vertically stacked knobs for the HVAC system are surrounded by satin-finish faux nickel plastic, a touch of class for bargain basement shoppers.
One mystery is whether Toyota will drop the ECHO name in Canada, as it has become a respectable franchise in the subcompact genre, and is a frequent top-ten seller overall. From a global perspective, though, manufacturing thirty thousand ECHO badges for Canadian-market Yaris trunk lids hardly makes the greatest sense, and Toyota, I'm sure, likes to do things that make sense.
Toyota plans a full North American introduction of both new vehicles at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, November 2. The new RAV4 might already be on sale and on the streets by then as a 2006 model, but the Yaris will only hit showrooms next spring as a 2007 model.
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