2018 Toyota Yaris gets a head start; bookings cross 5,000 and waiting period soars

Toyota Kirloskar Motor launched Yaris sedan in India as the rival to Honda City and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz on May 18. Despite being offered only in the petrol engine variant, the B-segment sedan seems to have got an overwhelming start.

Toyota Yaris bookings crossed 5,000 units
Waiting period is up to two months
66% of all Yaris booked so far are automatic units
1,000 units of the Yaris delivered on May 18

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), the Indian subsidiary of Japanese carmaker Toyota has launched its new B-segment sedan, the Yaris on Friday (May 18). Priced from Rs 8.75 lakh to Rs 14.07 lakh ex-showroom across India, the Yaris is offered only in petrol mill while its prime rivals, Honda City and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, are available in both petrol and diesel engines.

Toyota Yaris sedan debuted in India at Auto Expo 2018IBT Media/ Ken Sunny

Despite being offered in the petrol engine variant, the Yaris seems to have generated an overwhelming response. The company already has received over 5,000 bookings for the Yaris. "We will be launching in most of the metros in a couple of days. Delivery (of sedan Yaris) will start from today (May 18). We already have two months bookings. We crossed 5k," Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Vice-President, B Padmanabha told PTI.

TKM revealed the prices of Yaris in April and bookings were open from last month. The company had received over 60,000 enquiries till Friday and deliveries of first 1,000 units of the Yaris also took place on the same day.

Toyota Yaris is powered by a 1.5-liter Dual VVT-i petrol engine that develops 105bhp at 6,000rpm and 140Nm of torque at 4,200rpm. The mill comes mated to either seven-speed continuously variable transmission (CVT) or six-speed manual transmission. The CVT variants will get paddle shifters.

The Yaris is available in four variants (J, G, V, and VX), both in manual transmission and automatic transmission. The automatic variants are in high demand and account for 66 percent of all Yaris booked in India so far.

Toyota Yaris hatchback up next?

Soon after the launch of Yaris sedan, there were rumours that TKM may also launch the hatchback version of the Yaris sold in the global markets to India. N Raja, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motors clarified it saying the company has no plans to launch the Yaris hatchback in India. Though Raja didn't specify the reason for not bringing Yaris here, it is understood that the premium pricing of the hatchback which is not ideal for price-sensitive India market is the primary reason.