Toyota adds 5-door Yaris to U.S. lineup
Click above image for a gallery of the Yaris 5-door
Small cars are back en vogue thanks to lofty fuel prices. As a result, Toyota is completing is Yaris lineup in the U.S. by finally adding the 5-door liftback to its list of offerings for the 2009 model year. Available in other markets (including Canada) since inception, the 5-door Yaris occupies roughly the same footprint as the 3-door, but is a lot more practical if you're going to be carrying backseat passengers frequently. Its powertrain will mirror the other Yaris offerings, and we're assuming it'll get the optional sport appearance package available on the 3- and 4-doors. Those sport models, by the way, get a new body kit and interior color schemes for MY09. Other '09 changes include the availability of cruise control on the hatch, as well as the addition of standard front side airbags and rear side curtains. Toyota hasn't released pricing or photos of the U.S. spec Yaris 5-door yet. We imagine the former won't stray too far off from the 3-door. In terms of photos, the gallery below shows you the base UK-market 5-door. Move the steering wheel over and you've pretty much got it. At least now when I catch the occasional episode of Psych, I won't be muttering that the blue 5-door Yaris the lead characters drive isn't available in the U.S.
[Source: Toyota]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
BlackCanary 10:36AM (7/01/2008)
wow, that is really ugly. Fit is darn pretty next that Jelly Bean.
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Joe K. 10:54AM (7/01/2008)
Those that sell them, are sometimes heard referring to the hatches as "roller skates"...
Disgruntled Goat 11:18AM (7/01/2008)
Call me crazy but I think that looks a lot better than the Fit. The proportions of the Fit always seemed way off to me, like it was too tall or something. It may look like an egg but I like it. Now if they could just lose that stupid center dash cluster.
Ken Stamper 12:35PM (7/01/2008)
Couldn't disagree more. I think it looks good, much better than the sedan. Hatchbacks always look weird to Americans though because there just aren't many of them on the road.
Bob L. 10:38AM (7/01/2008)
Yes! Now, how about you Ford?
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Xcountryflyer 1:10PM (7/01/2008)
Hallelujah, I've been hoping they'd bring the 5DR over. The 4DR sedan is so inefficient space-wise for such a small car and so awkward to boot. The 3DR is a bit limiting for taking more than 1 person. Hope it is successful for them.
Gstill 10:44AM (7/01/2008)
It looks ten times better as a four-door, in my opinion.
The Fit still looks better.
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BLS 10:43AM (7/01/2008)
They have been using this car in Psych set in Santa Monica, CA and up until now it really threw off my suspension of disbelief. This is great news because now I can enjoy Psych that much more. Other than that I am unaffected.
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BLS 12:01PM (7/01/2008)
Guess I didn't read the whole post. Funny how no one else cares about stuff like that.
Dude 12:25PM (7/01/2008)
This always bothered me too.
Wonder if they will do a Toyota/Psych commercial now that the actual car exists in the US
L. Gordon 12:52PM (7/01/2008)
Actually, I think Gus' car in Psych is a 4-door Echo - the show started before the Yaris came out. You could get those in Canada, too, which makes sense, because they film the show in Vancouver.
djSyndrome 10:50AM (7/01/2008)
The Fit definitely looks (and drives) better, but Honda refuses to send enough of them to America to meet demand.
I always assumed the reason the 5-door wasn't offered here was because of the Scion xA/xD. Now we'll get to see which one sells better - the Scion with its better equipment, or the Yaris with its lower base price and better mileage.
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Joe K. 10:56AM (7/01/2008)
You're absolutely correct that the xA was the reason there was no 5-door Yaris...
Avinash machado 10:54AM (7/01/2008)
Once Ford launches the new Fiesta, the Yaris might lose a lot of sales. Why buy the beast, when you can buy the beauty for the same price?
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the law 12:58PM (7/01/2008)
Opel- Saturn Corsa is better looking than the lot.
Von Pinto 11:14AM (7/01/2008)
And about flipping time. The 5-door Echo, available in Canada, and as the Yaris in Europe looked so much more proportionate than the Echo coupe and sedan, with it's tumorous trunk-graft that we had here. SHould have sold that daddy here in the first place.
The addition of the 5-door to the Yaris lineup finally makes this car at least worth considering to me, even though I'd still chose a Fit over it as long as a Fit is available...
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Tool 10:57AM (7/01/2008)
Toyota has struggled for years to have a good NBC "new basic car" in their line-up.
It took over a decade of failure (Tercel, Echo, et al) to final get the recipe right.
For what it is, the new Yaris is a pretty decent little car.
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Gregg 11:14AM (7/01/2008)
The Tercel was quite successful in its day. Back when it sold well in the 1980s, hatches were more popular than they are now.
Stratojet 12:45PM (7/01/2008)
I live in Canada ,east coast , and the Yaris,Echos, Tercel have been a major factor here. The small car market in Quebec is in the 60 to 70 %. USA will most likely go the same route, at last.
Ugly or beauty is not a dcision factor anymore here:
Yaris
Element
Ridgeline
Matrix
Camry
All ordinary looking but extraordinary reliability and gasoline efficient.
KorruptioN 11:08AM (7/01/2008)
Suzuki needs to bring their European Swift to North America, stat.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/16/suzuki-swift-coming-to-the-u-s-in-2010/
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