Toyota will soon enter the mid-size sedan segment in India and the details about the vehicle are already out. Toyota Yaris will be launched in the Indian market on 18th May and Toyota will officially start taking the bookings from April 22. A few dealerships have also reportedly started taking unofficial bookings at a payment of Rs. 50,000.
Toyota’s entry in the segment is highly awaited. Even though Toyota will not offer a diesel engine with the Yaris, it will get a long list of features that are a first for the segment. One such feature is the 7 airbags it gets. None of the car manufacturers in India offers a seven-airbag system in the affordable segment. Toyota will not be the first manufacturer in the segment to do so but it will also offer the 7 airbag system in all the variants of Yaris, including the base. This is a surprise as none of the manufacturers offers such high level of safety in the base versions of affordable cars in India.
There will be a bunch of other first-time features in the Yaris too. The long feature list includes electrically adjustable driver seat, gesture sensing touchscreen infotainment system, ambient lighting, roof-mounted AC vents, tyre-pressure monitoring system and 60:40 split rear seats.
The Yaris will be available with the only 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine. It produces a maximum power of 108 PS and 140 Nm of peak torque. The car also gets a 6-speed manual transmission and a CVT automatic transmission. Interestingly, the CVT will also be offered in all the variants starting from the base. This is the first time that a car gets more automatic variants than the manual variants in the Indian affordable segment. The Yaris will get a 7-stepped CVT automatic that will give the feeling of gear changes.
The Yaris is expected to carry a price tag of around Rs. 8 lakh in India when launched and will take on highly competitive cars like the Honda City, Maruti Ciaz and the Hyundai Verna.
[“Source-cartoq”]
