Toyota prices its latest mid-size sedan Yaris at Rs 8.75 lakh, to take on Honda City
Even though Toyota has started taking bookings (through a payment of Rs 50,000) of Yaris, the official launch and deliveries of the cars will take place next month
Toyota Kirloskar Motors, India's sixth largest car maker, has priced its mid-size sedan Yaris starting at Rs 8.75 lakh, pitching it against segment favourite Honda City.
In an announcement on Wednesday, the company said that the new sedan will be available in four variants with the top-end version priced at Rs 14.07 lakh. These introductory prices have been kept uniform across the country and will be revised at a later date.
Apart from Honda City, the Yaris will take on Skoda Rapid, Volkswagen Vento, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Hyundai Verna. Toyota has offered an automatic gearbox option with every variant of the Yaris — a first in the segment.
Even though Toyota has started taking bookings (through a payment of Rs 50,000) of Yaris, the official launch and deliveries of the cars will take place next month.
The car will be offered in a 1.5 L Dual VVTi Gasoline Engine with a 7-speed CVT (Continuous Variable Transmission) or 6 speed MT (Manual Transmission) options.
“Toyota Yaris will be on display across all Toyota dealerships in India and customers may book for the test drive immediately,” said N Raja, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
The car is equipped with power driver seats, roof mounted air vents for rear passengers, hand-gesture-controlled infotainment system, paddle shift for CVT with cruise control, 7 Airbags, anti-lock braking system with EBD and vehicle stability control, to name a few features.
This will be Toyota's fourth sedan in India after Camry, Corolla and Etios.
The Yaris undercuts the Honda City by a small margin. The City is priced at Rs 8.91 lakh (Ex-showroom, Mumbai).
The mid-size sedan segment, where Toyota has launched the Yaris, sees a monthly volume of 15,000 units. Its launch comes at a time when growth has been flat in this segment as consumers have either shifted to sports utility vehicles or premium hatchbacks. Hyundai's new Verna was the last new product launched in this segment, when it hit the markets last year.
For Toyota, Yaris comes into the market after a long lull in its product pipeline. It has not launched any product below the Rs 10 lakh price point since it launched the Etios (2010) and Liva (2011).
Innova Crysta remains the largest selling product for the company.