Toyota will finally turn the Yaris into a hot hatch in Geneva
Sadly, it doesn't appear it's slated to arrive in the US. Not yet, at least.
Toyota's Yaris hatchback has been ripe for a performance variant for years, but Toyota never thought to actually build one. Until now.
Toyota will bring a hot-hatch variant of the European-market Yaris to the 2017 Geneva Motor Show in March. It will put out "more than" 210 horsepower, which is about double the current US-spec Yaris' output. It's meant to be a gap-filler between the standard Yaris and the bonkers WRC rally car, which will never be available to the public no matter how hard we complain.
It's the coolest Yaris I've ever seen, but that's not exactly a high hurdle over which to jump.
This new Yaris may also be the first road-going Toyota to rock the Gazoo name. It's been rumored that Toyota will bestow its racing division's name on more capable variants of its road cars, and a 200-horsepower Yaris feels like a good place to start.
Of course, this Yaris is likely more capable than its power number belies. Along with the power bump, it's not unreasonable to assume that Toyota will give its new hot hatch a sportier suspension and other supporting modifications. According to the two pictures Toyota issued, it'll sport some fancy vinyl, too.
As of this writing, Toyota has not yet announced if this hopped-up Yaris will arrive on US shores. If it did, it would stand as a proper competitor to the Ford Fiesta ST and Fiat 500 Abarth. The world needs more hot hatches, and it's good to see Toyota step up to fill that gap.
The Geneva-bound Yaris will also sport some updates that will be added to the entire Yaris lineup.